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mbaMission Releases New Optional Statement Guide!

Is your GPA lower than your target school’s average? Is your GMAT score uneven? Do you have a gap in your work experience? Most business school candidates have at least one irregularity in their profile and must consider whether to write the optional essay to explain it. And, of course, if you decide you do need to write one, you need to know how to do so effectively. In our mbaMission Optional Statement Guide, we present a variety of scenarios in which one should—as well as should not—write an optional essay, and advise you on how best to mitigate your weaknesses and accentuate your strengths in such essays.

The mbaMission Optional Statement Guide provides crucial guidance on how to properly use the optional essay to address “issues” within one’s candidacy (and when not to), and includes 15 sample essays.


Jeremy Shinewald

Jeremy Shinewald  

In addition to being Founder and President of mbaMission, Jeremy Shinewald is a Darden MBA, published author, and the recipient of Poets&Quants’ Lifetime Achievement Award in MBA Admissions Consulting. With more than 20 years of experience and a background as a professional speechwriter, he combines deep industry insight and exceptional storytelling skills to help applicants create powerful, distinctive MBA applications.

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