1. Introspect and conduct a thorough self-assessment. Outline the turning points in your life and identify major milestones and failures.
2. Think about yourself professionally and personally- business schools want to know both aspects of your personality.
3. Research on the program you’re applying to. Don’t craft essays that show that you have not duly studied about the program, its offerings and your fit.
4. Don’t just parrot the school’s offerings mentioned on the school websites. Show that you’ve made the effort to find out more about the school.
5. Don’t list data points. Share experiences while adhering to the scope of the prompt of the essay in question. SHOW, DON’T TELL.
6. Present strong communication skills. Spelling and grammar errors, incorrect punctuation spell disaster.
7. Look at the essays as an opportunity to share your personality and uniqueness. Use them to solidify the impression the admissions committee might get from the other components of your application.
8. Tailor your essays to particular school requirements.
9. Follow directions and always stay within the word limit.
10. Answer the question or sub questions asked. Do not leave out any section of the essay question unanswered.
11. Share the most meaningful work and life experiences as examples to corroborate the point you’re trying to make. Also clearly show the value of these experiences.
12. Don’t make the mistake of writing generic GOALS essays.