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When most business school candidates read an essay question, they interpret it quite literally. For example, when the Yale School of Management asks applicants “What will you contribute to the Yale SOM community, and how will being part of it help you extend your professional vision?” many applicants assume that they must answer each subquestion within the broader question in the exact order in which they were asked. However, this is not true. Such questions are indeed quite flexible, and at times, by pursuing your own structure, you can better engage your reader.

We have found that with regard to overrepresented candidates who have unique professional goals, one strategy that can be quite helpful is leading with goals instead of professional history. After all, “typical” experience is not as captivating as unusual (but realistic!) ambitions. So, the Indian technologist who plans to open a boutique hotel or the male investment banker who aspires to start a competitive windsurfing circuit can use these bold goals to stand out from the start.

We must emphasize, though, that such candidates need to have (and show!) a compelling connection to their goals, and we do not suggest that overrepresented candidates strive to imagine or create “wild” goals just to catch the admissions committee’s attention. However, if you have a profound connection to an unusual goal, then responding to a school’s questions in a differing order and ensuring that your goals are out front could make a difference.

Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand, but the educational experience itself is crucial to your future, and no one will affect your education more than your professors. Each Wednesday, we profile a standout professor as identified by students. Today, we profile Arnold Barnett from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

MIT Sloan’s George Eastman Professor of Management Science, Arnold “Arnie” Barnett (“Communicating with Data”), is an expert in applied mathematical modeling with a focus on problems related to health and safety, and he is widely considered one of the nation’s leading experts on aviation safety. According to students we interviewed, he is known at Sloan for being able to make statistics not just comprehensible, but fascinating and even funny. Sometimes, according to an April 2012 MIT Sloan Students Speak blog post, he even dresses in vibrant and colorful outfits to help get his point across. For example, when teaching about a California court case, Barnett wore a Hawaiian style shirt to make the statistical aspects of the case more “real” to students. Despite what some might consider the somewhat dry nature of his subject matter, Barnett has been honored by Sloan students with teaching awards no less than ten times, including the Teacher of the Year Award in 1995 and 2008. One second-year student we interviewed noted in particular “his humorous approach in examining the world.”

For more information about the MIT Sloan School of Management and 15 other top-ranked MBA schools, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.

Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday.

Given that you have significant time still before next year’s first-round application deadlines, you have the opportunity now to take some extra steps to ensure you submit your strongest applications possible. One such step is doing some background work on your recommenders to make sure your choices are indeed “safe.”  After all, if you are playing by the strictest interpretation of the rules of recommendations, you will not know what your recommenders ultimately write about you. So, by doing a little intelligence work in advance, you can better understand whether you are making the right choice, before you commit to a certain individual.

By doing some “intelligence,” we mean, where possible, contacting past colleagues in a discreet and diplomatic way to find out what their experiences were like with your potential recommender. For example, was your potential recommender a generous advocate or was he/she a disinterested third party who had a tendency to be harsh? Clearly, learning more about your target recommender’s approach in advance can help you understand whether or not you should offer him/her this important responsibility. Past colleagues can also guide you in how best to manage your recommenders, which can be just as important as choosing them. Knowing up front that your recommender is a procrastinator or performed better after being given a list of accomplishments from which to work can help ensure the best letter possible and can prevent you from inadvertently antagonizing your recommender or delaying the process.

Beginning an essay with a famous or eloquent quotation is a common practice and one that business school candidates can use to capture a reader’s attention. For example, an applicant might use a quotation as the very first line of his or her essay:

“The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.”
– Theodore Roosevelt

Roosevelt’s words are as true today as when he spoke them. The essence of a manager is…

Another option is to embed the quotation within the first line of the essay, as shown in the following example:

As Peter F. Drucker said, “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” I have found the distinction between management and leadership especially important…

There is really only one rule about using quotations: do not overdo it! One grand quotation per application (not per essay!) is sufficient—but it is certainly not mandatory. When deciding whether to include a quotation in one of your essays, consider the following:

• Does the quotation fit the essay’s main theme?
• Does the quotation reflect who you are or what you believe?
• Does the quotation enhance the essay?

If you answer “yes” to all of these questions, making the quotation a part of your narrative just might be a good idea.

Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand when they select a program to attend, but the educational experience at business school is what is crucial to your future, and no one will affect your education more than your professors. Each Wednesday, we profile a standout professor as identified by students. Today, we focus on Ashleigh Shelby Rosette from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Among Poets and Quants’ “The Best 40 B-School Profs Under the Age of 40,” Ashleigh Shelby Rosette, an associate professor of management at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business who teaches “Negotiations” and “Leadership, Ethics, and Organizations,” is known for challenging her students to think critically about how to become better leaders and business professionals. Rosette is a member of the PhD Project, a nonprofit organization promoting diversity among business school faculty, and her recent publications include such titles as The White Standard: Racial Bias in Leadership Categorization; Unearned Privilege: Race, Gender, and Social Inequality in U.S. Organizations; and Agentic Women and Communal Leadership: How Role Prescriptions Confer Advantage to Top Women Leaders. One student praised her influence beyond the class setting: “Ashleigh is refreshing with respect to being a B-school educator, because she encourages deep reflective thought, conflict, and uncomfortable conversations—things you need to be comfortable with in the real world. And while her teaching is unparalleled, it is her accessibility outside of the classroom that is most remarkable.”

For more information about Duke Fuqua and 15 other top-ranked business schools, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.