Candidates often fret about striking the right balance between confidence and arrogance in their essays. For example, you might have difficulty choosing the better choice from between the following statements:<\/p>\n
Example 1: \u201cAt the Stanford GSB, I will take advantage of the newly designed curriculum to\u2026<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Example 2: \u201cAt the Stanford GSB, I would take advantage of the newly designed curriculum to\u2026<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Or between these statements:<\/p>\n Example 1: \u201cAfter completing my MBA at Harvard Business School, I will pursue a career in\u2026<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Example 2: \u201cAfter completing my MBA at Harvard Business School, I would aspire to a career in\u2026<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n In each set of examples, you are choosing between certainty (\u201cI will\u201d) and diplomacy (\u201cI would\u201d). Considering these options, you might ask yourself, \u201cIs the first option too presumptuous?\u201d or \u201cIs the second option too weak?\u201d The answer is that neither of these examples is \u201cright\u201d; each candidate needs to choose an approach that is consistent with his or her personality. However, the key is to maintain consistency\u2014mixing the two styles is distracting to the reader and can seem sloppy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"