Monday Morning Essay Tip: Past vs. Present Tense
June 2nd, 2008 | Posted in Monday Morning Essay Tips, Blogroll
Virtually all MBA admission essays are written using the past tense, which makes sense, as candidates are obviously discussing past experiences. While the past tense is quite “user friendly,” an alternative choice can be to use the present tense to heighten the immediacy of the experience and draw the reader into the story.
Past tense: “I arrived in my supervisor’s office at 11 am; we tabled the deal no less than fifteen minutes later. Then, the two of us sat by the phone, casually chatting about baseball, and waited. When our CEO finally called two hours later, we discovered that we had indeed submitted the winning bid….”
Present tense: “I arrive in my supervisor’s office at 11 am. Fifteen minutes later, we table our deal. Casually chatting about baseball for two hours, we wait by the phone, until it finally rings. It is our CEO, who informs us that our offer has been accepted….”
The examples above do not represent “right” and “wrong” but offer the candidate a choice between two different styles, both of which are equally “right;” in terms of making a choice between them, this depends entirely on the skill of the writer. (It can be quite difficult to execute in the present tense, and we recommend that candidates undertake the task with caution.) Further, this choice also depends on the content and context of the story – the present tense is an option when there is “high drama” and is not necessarily appropriate for every essay.
Subscribe to RSS
top