Blog: Archive for the “Application Tips” Category

Virtually every week, as part of our Monday Morning Essay Tip, we offer a “how to” and a “how not to” example. This week, we cannot offer a simple illustration, because we are focusing on the issue of humor, which is nuanced and can be deemed appropriate only with a full understanding of the context … Read More  

Recently, a prospective candidate emailed mbaMission with the following question: “What is the most basic stylistic error that candidates make when writing their essays?” Our answer: unnecessary repetition. Although repeating a word within a single sentence or in consecutive sentences does not constitute a grammatical mistake, it can still be grating to a reader’s “ear.” … Read More  

English, thankfully, is a language without many gender-related problems, but some do exist, and being gender neutral in MBA application essays can be important. In general, a key way to avoid such problems is to pluralize—to talk about groups rather than individuals. Consider the following examples: a. “Today’s manager must be financially literate to do … Read More  

Candidates who have an obvious weakness—such as a low GPA or GMAT score or a prolonged gap in work experience—often worry that they are destined to attend a virtually anonymous business school. Whenever such applicants ask admissions officers how their weakness might affect their candidacy, they hear the straightforward and common refrain “We look at … Read More  

One way to save words in your application essays and short-answer responses is to pluralize nouns whenever possible. Singular words often require an article such as “a,” “an” or “the.” These words add unnecessarily to your word count, and they can clutter your page without contributing to your argument or style. Consider the following example: … Read More