Top 10 Mistakes Indians make in MBA essays

Manisha Misra

Who am I?

- Dog lover - Voracious reader - Yoga enthusiast - Businesswoman - Change management consultant But what would matter most to you: - GMAT 760 - Alumni HEC Paris - Admission Consultant

MBA: A life changing decision

It gives an opportunity to re-evaluate your life, both from a professional & personal aspect.

The 2nd step towards MBA – application

Sometimes, it’s the first step. And there is not hard and fast rule on which aspect of getting to

the B school you should target first.

Mistake #1: Not proof reading the essays

• Rule of thumb: NO spelling mistakes, NO typos, NO grammatical errors in the essays. • Read your essays aloud, so that what your eyes have missed, your ears can catch. • Take help from your friends, parents, siblings, or the CV team to proofread again for you.

Mistake #2: Getting too technical/ using jargon• Do not assume that the person reading your essay knows about your industry, and its lingo. • Do not get too technical.• Write for the layman/outsider. • Do not crowd the essay with management jargon in order to impress the adcom.

Mistake #3: Ambiguous goals

• What’ worse than not knowing what you want to do with your life – not knowing it well enough!• If you yourself are not sure, how will you convince the adcom – at best, you will sound confused, and at worst, desperate to just make it to the US/Europe• If you want to get into strategy consulting, tell the adcom how did you arrive at this decision, how will your experience, your academic qualifications and/or your inclinations will help you make the transition, and how will this particular school will help you get there.

  Mistake #4: Quitting jobs to prepare for GMAT

A career gap is not a deal breaker. However, you should take into cognizance the following

• Do not have the Ostrich syndrome – you don’t mention the break and hope that adcom will overlook the gap

• Explain the break in either one of your essays or in the section where they ask you to tell them more about you.

• Taking a break is your decision and adcom doesn’t judge you for doing that. However, taking a break to prepare for GMAT is not taken particularly well by adcom.

Mistake #5: Not focusing on the learning

• We tend to get into far too much detail about a situation and its background, but don’t pay as much emphasis on the learning. • The takeaways section is arguably the most important part of your essay. • This section is what tells the adcom who you are, rather than what you do.

Mistake #6: Not structuring the essay well • The idea/s in the essay should flow from one paragraph to another• Start with a list of topics you want to deal with in each paragraph. • Tie the last sentence of the previous paragraph with the first one of the next paragraph.• Explore & develop your ideas – do not leave them unfinished.

Mistake #7: Copying from the B-school website• In order to prove ‘fitment’ , don’t rip entire chunks of text from the B-school website and try to fit it into your essay. • Borrow themes from the B-school website, by all means – but do NOT copy-paste.

Mistake #8: Vague answers to ‘why B-school’

• Your answer for ‘why a particular B-school’ has to indicate that you’ve really done your research well. • Get as specific as you can – talk about which club, which professor, what past companies, which geography interests you pertaining to that school• Test your answer by replacing the B-school name with another. If your points still hold true, then its an indication that your answer is not specific enough.

Mistake #9: No leadership experience

• Volunteering is great, with or without the MBA application in the picture. • But B schools are not really interested in your concern for the poor – they want to see the leadership you have demonstrated.• For example, donating blood is not impressive from the adcom’s point of view, however, organizing a blood donation drive in your school/housing society/office is definitely worth a mention. And, don’t forget to include your learning!

Mistake #10: No personal branding

• There are various parts of the application – most notably the essays, resume and recommendations • Don’t make the mistake of considering them as distinct, stand-alone aspects • Make sure these aspect tie together to form your ‘personal brand’– Do your essays have common themes?– Do the experiences and skills in your essay align with your resume? – Do your recommendation letters verify your achievements?

• This would also help you identify repetitions in your application.