Some thoughts on the essay writing process

Now that I've had time to digest my initial success of at least finishing a first draft of all my essays, I have some thoughts that might be helpful to others out there just starting the essay writing process or those true early-birds who may not be applying this year but are just reading through the MBA blogging community:

1. Start Early. This is listed first for a reason. It's imperative. It will allow you to avoid stress, allow time for others to review, and allow you to take a week or so off w/out reading them and then come back w/ a fresh set of eyes. Plus, it will probably take longer than you think... things come up, work gets busy, and before you know it, there's a little schedule slippage. If you start early enough, this won't cause a problem.
2. A caveat to #1 - I would not suggest you start writing ravenously when essays start appearing in July. I did this and spent time wring most of my Columbia essays before I realized that, for me, those wouldn't be due until Jan. Figure out which deadlines come first, which schools makes sense to write to first (i.e., you're comfortable with the questions), and THEN go to town.
3. Be strategic in your essay writing approach. This has many facets. For an individual school, you may want to jot notes down for each essay and then take an overall look - did you fit all your good stuff in there? do you have to force it (probably not good)? will your essays portray the general picture you'd like to give adcom? Also, look across the schools. I personally liked writing my HBS essays first, with their stringent 400 word limits. It made me focus on the most important pieces of what I wanted to say. In the longer essays for other schools, I took that core piece I had created and expanded on it. Some others may like the opposite approach, but my point is, consider which works best for you before you start writing.
5. Tailor your essays for each school. Yes, my career vision is the same regardless of school, but I might highlight certain pieces of it more than others in one school vs. another. I think this is obviously important for the Why School X question. You don't want to speak generically about what you like about School X... do your research and then SHOW them you are crazy about their school b/c you've done your "background check" and you totally dig them! Great resources for this information are websites, current students, alums, and school magazines.
6. Recognize the role of reviewers. First, love them. They are taking time out of their schedules to help you. They will give you great insight. Give them time to do it right and help you out. Also, know that if you have carefully crafted your essay to read 399 words and the limit is 400, you will have that totally blown to hell by the time you are done w/ it. Yeah, I definitely didn't realize that until I had spent way too long working to the world limits... *sigh*.
7. Make sure what you tell your recommender about your career goals, strengths, weaknesses jives with what you are putting in the essay. If there's a disconnect, it may raise some eyebrows (why didn't the applicant communicate clearly what they want to do w/ this degree to their recommender?)
8. Don't discount your extracurriculars. I personally think they are a great way to show uniqueness... especially for people like me (consultants) who comprise a large portion of the applicant pool. I initially shied away from talking too much about sports. I thought it seemed childish for some reason (like... aww... the little girl likes to play games with her friends). Anyway, I found I could write passionately about my sport and what it taught me and still sound mature. I think that brought some life into my essays.
9. Don't forget that you chose to do this. :) Have some fun w/ your stories and use that creative writing you might not get to use at work (I don't get to be overly creative with wording in client deliverables, but I love descriptive vocabulary words that can bring text to life).

I wish I had a 10th point to round out my list ... but I'm just out of advice. :)

I went on the Wharton S2S forums today for the first time in awhile. I was afraid they'd be like the BW boards (all about stats and whatnot). Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised. I was searching for something in particular, and I found out what I wanted to know fairly quickly. So, I am no longer banning those from my life (I'm sure that will hamper my productivity, which has already dipped to lower levels than I would like... oh well).

Done and done

I finished the last of my essays today. Finally! Now they are all out for revisions. Phew... I am so happy to have at least the initial weight of completing them off my shoulders. I gotta unwind from all that writing, so I'm not going to put anything more here for now... just wanted to share!

Forte Forum

Last night I attended the Forte Forum. I joined the fray a little late b/c of traffic. Upon arriving at the Forum, I did a quick tour to identify the schools I wanted to talk to. They all had tables set up throughout the room. I had about 45 minutes before the first panel started, so I wanted to talk to at least a few of them before then.

I started with Wharton. The Wharton rep was nice... she encouraged us all to gather around the table, so if someone had a question we were curious about, we'd all get to hear the answer. Some people had fairly specific questions, and the ones that were general were things I already knew. She did suggest I reach out to the head of a student club if I was interested in it to learn more about what they do (good idea!).

From there, I moved on to HBS. OK, I really like my alma mater, but I didn't get the friendliest vibe from the reps. It's not that they were unfriendly, but I sort of felt like they just wanted to get my question over with and move on. Maybe b/c I was late and they were fatigued... who knows. Anyway, I did pick up a brochure (which I thought didn't exist offline), so that was good.

I heard the Michigan rep speak more about the MAP program, which was really helpful. She gave more examples of the projects and talked about how you're placed in one. Picked up a new brochure there too (for women).

By then, it was time for the alumnae panel. This was my first chance to accurately gauge how many people were there... I guess around 250 - 300? They had four women speak about their business school experiences. They stressed that an MBA can transform your skill set and advance your career. They all had different views on what the MBA was all about... some said it was the connections, some the skill set (my person view is that it's really all of those things). They all agreed that B-school teaches you how to break down a problem in a clear, structured way for analysis. It teaches you a new way of thinking. They also warned that the career search starts IMMEDIATELY when you hit campus, so be prepared so you can take full advantage of it. Also, FYI, Forte is going to be hosting online chats w/ alumnae and current students on 10/3 and 10/5, if anyone wants to check that out.

After the panel, it was more school-by-school action. I finished up the night by talking to the remaining schools in which I have an interest. I got a few more people to contact for my very specific questions, but I think most of the general stuff I heard at the tables were things I had heard before. There was an admissions panel at 8:15, but I decided to go home instead.

I saw several people from work there that I didn't know were applying to b-school. I even sawpeople I work w/ manning the tables as alumni. That was a little weird b/c of this specific situation: one of the girls just started here a few weeks ago and she's on my team. So her manager sent her to talk to me about how to be successful at the company and just generally answer any questions she had. Now, the tables are reversed. I'm sitting there asking her how to be successful in writing applications to get into b-school and how to be successful once I'm in. Haha. Well, now I know I have another resource in my company if I have specific questions.

Anyway, I'm not sure this review was particularly helpful for any other applicants, but I would encourage you to stop by a similar event if you have a chance. The real value was in being able to access the admissions staff if you have specific questions and get a feel for how they interact w/ applicants. Hearing from the alumnae was interesting too. Oh, and the brochures, if you are as enamored with them as I am. :)

Till later!

Double Booked

I just realized that I agreed to attend two events tomorrow... dinner w/ my Mom, Aunt, and Uncle, and the Forte Forum. As much as I'd like to go hang out with my family, I feel it's very important for me to attend the Forum to learn some more about the schools I'm interested in. Once I told my Mom about the conflict, she said wouldn't allow me to come to dinner anymore b/c she thinks I should go attend the Forum. She's very supportive of this whole MBA endeavor! My Aunt also encouraged me to go. So, I guess that's that. I'll post a review if I learn anything new and interesting. Tomorrow will also be exactly 1 month prior to my first due date (HBS)! Yikes.

I finished up the Duke essays today and got a start on the Michigan ones this weekend. So, with any luck, essay writing will be completed by next weekend. After that, it's reviewing, writing applications, and checking on recommenders. I've taken a new approach to getting MBA stuff done. Whenever I come home from work, I am too distracted. It's just very hard to focus intently in a 1 BR apartment b/c my husband is usually watching TV and if I go into the bedroom, I inevitably fall asleep. Soooo... I've decided just not to come home from work! Haha... it's not as bad as it sounds. When I finish my actual work, I switch gears and open up my essays or applications and start writing. Staying at my desk for another hour or two per night has really helped me make some additional progress. It's sort of like the library was at school... a sanctuary for private thought and contemplation. I never thought I'd view my work desk like that, but there you have it!

Wharton Online Application Up and Running

Ask and ye shall receive! :) I mentioned in my post this morning that I was waiting for that and now it's up. Voila!

I wish all of life was so convenient...

Online App

In my efforts to at least start all the online apps, I have been filling out some of the basic informatin. I was surprised how long it took me. It definitely made me realize that I need to leave ample time to complete that portion of the application process as well. Some of it is a little confusing too. HBS asks about part-time work and they say to include summer internships. So, I'm guessing I am supposed to include all part-time work I held in college? I mean, I don't mind putting those on there, but is it really helpful for adcom to know that I sat at a desk in front of the pool for several hours a week? I guess it shows I have some crucial time management b/c I was working, playing a sport, and taking a full load of classes, but it just doesn't seem all that relevant. Now, I would agree my summer jobs were important b/c they really helped steer me toward my current work. The app also asks for salary and most of my part-time stuff was hourly wage. Argh. Oh well... I'll figure it out. If all else fails, I'll just email the admissions office for some clarification.

Speaking on online apps, I read on -tvu's blog that LBS had gone live with its online application. Yeah! That's 4 of my 5 first round schools that have released the app. Only Wharton is left... and what is taking so long with them? I figured they would have it available by now! I can tell you I will be anxiously awaiting that release. Mostly b/c I want to get all my recs out the door.

Ciao a tutti!

Labor Day Weekend

Thank you to Cornfed and Hobbes for thoughtful responses to my last post... I appreciate your thoughts and suggestions! I am going to attend some info sessions in the next week to try to make a more informed decision. If I think a visit is really going to help me as I move forward through this process, I'm going to go ahead and do it. Otherwise, I'm going to wait until interview decisions come out. I do appreciate that I have the privilege of proximity, but I still want to carefully consider the visits.

Anyway, I'm back from the middle of nowhere (which was great, btw). Luckily, with a whole house full of early risers, my family made sure I wasn't so lazy that I did nothing but be a bump on a log. I managed to almost finish my Duke essays. I still have one to finish up (my favorite one), but I know exactly what I want to write... hopefully that will translate into fairly quick writing and reviewing! I can't believe it's just over a month until the first deadline... scary! Gotta kick everything into high gear now.