We’re guessing this is some of the strangest advice you’ve ever received about your MBA application, so let us explain ourselves: First of all, we both know you do your best work when you are most yourself. But how can I be myself if I’m dead, you may ask. Excellent question, grasshopper.

It is not that you want to write as if you ARE dead, but rather as if you are removed from the constant buffeting of popular opinion that surrounds you, often obscuring the trajectory of your professional life. In novelist Jeffrey Eugenides’ recent talk to a group of young, award-winning writers, he offers this pivotal perspective:

Fashion will come at you from two directions, from outside and in. You might start noticing what’s getting attention in the press. You might begin to forget the person you are in order to write and sound like someone else. Alternately, you might be tempted to repeat yourself. To follow the fashion of your own previous work, to stop exploring, learning and trying new things, for risk of failure…Fashion is the attempt to evade that principle: to be the echo of someone else’s success and, therefore, to create nothing that might create an echo of its own.

The constant molding of self to fit this parent’s idea of success or that billionaire’s approach to business strategy can be dangerous, skewing you away from the original source of inspiration that led you to your passion in the first place.

What would you write your application essays about if you thought no one was looking? Might you be a bit more honest, a bit more daring, a bit more vulnerable?

Today, more than ever, business is about creating consumer experience. Your essays need to offer the Admissions Committee an experience—an exploration of who you are and what you really care about. And one that is not adulterated by what you think you should be writing. Trust us, the very last thing the AdCom wants is a safe regurgitation and amalgamation of the 5,000 other MBA essays they’ve read this year alone.

Imagine what you’d write about—what you’d DO—if you were dead. If you weren’t so worried about what everyone else thought about your life. From there, begin. As Eugenides concluded:

Just remember what Doug Fister of the Detroit Tigers said: “Stay within yourself.” And, most of all…[d]on’t censor yourself. Don’t go along with the crowd. Don’t be greedy. Don’t be cheap. Young as you are, play dead—so that your eyes will stay open.

Read the full text of Eugenides’ talk at: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2012/12/jeffrey-eugenides-advice-to-young-writers.html.

Cheers,

Ivy Eyes Editing

www.ivyeyesediting.com

If you’ve begun writing your MBA application essays, you’ve contemplated using (or have already used) a surfeit of business jargon. We don’t have a problem with language that supports your business acumen; however, we do have a problem with jargon that obscures your action.

Verbs like “optimize” and “maximize” and “streamline” are prime culprits – they allow applicants to gloss over the nuances of their management or leadership approach. They’re fair game for a consulting engagement pitch deck or a resume bullet. However, in your essays, your readers are looking for your step-by-step action and thought process; they are trying to determine precisely what kind of leader and manager you are (and will be).

In your MBA essays, it’s your responsibility to lift the veil on your leadership style and professional experience. For those of you with less experience than others, the temptation will be even greater to obscure concrete action with  jargon. The truth is, your application readers will have a clear sense of what you’ve accomplished given your age and industry, and there will be little room for interpretation. Wharton knows the plight of a junior business analyst. However, excessive use of jargon immediately raises the question: What is this applicant hiding, and why?

Your best bet is to employ language that is forthcoming and precise, and lay all your cards on the table. So, stop worrying about what you have NOT accomplished in your career to date. Your ability to precisely speak to what you HAVE accomplished will be much more critical to your candidacy.

Cheers,

Ivy Eyes Editing

www.ivyeyesediting.com

We love this essay prompt from Stanford GSB for one reason: there is nowhere to hide (narratively speaking). Well, there are a few places to hide, but they’ll be obvious to your reader. Here are a few of them:

-Other people/influences in your life (“Wow Uncle Bill was really something”) and tangential backstory.

-Accomplishments and resume bullets (“Nothing feels better than optimizing a supply chain”).

-”Right” answers, pat answers or beauty pageant answers (“I want to serve the underserved”).

The best answers to this question will get at the core of “the why”. Because that’s what catapults you beyond the beauty pageant stage, the resume or the secondhand account of other people’s lives; it thrusts the reader into YOUR heart and mind. What are the real drivers behind the things that you do? What matters to you, how have you focused your time and energy upon that very thing – and why was it worth it?

Many of our clients can grow frustrated in continually asking themselves “why” certain things matter to them and others do not. That’s because they’ve never asked the question before. Why do we hold certain values dear? Why do we feel pride after some achievements and not others? The depth of answers to these very questions will separate acceptable and exceptional responses to this complex, revealing prompt.

Cheers,

Ivy Eyes Editing

www.ivyeyesediting.com

Many applicants will find it difficult to isolate a single epiphany or turning point. However, if you are to make a convincing case for why you need your MBA,  you’ll need to envision connectivity between past and future. Don’t gloss over moments of tension or uncertainty – reveal what you see. Ultimately, your ability to define your past will enable you to fully immerse yourself in your present, and even divine your future.

Cheers,

Ivy Eyes Editing

www.ivyeyesediting.com

Cover Letter (up to 500 words)

Please prepare a cover letter seeking a place in the MIT Sloan MBA program. Your letter should describe your accomplishments, address any extenuating circumstances that may apply to your application, and conform to standard business correspondence. Your letter should be addressed to Mr. Rod Garcia, Senior Director of Admissions.

We love Sloan’s cover letter essay, because it gets applicants primed and ready for the the real endgame MBA admissions – landing the perfect job. This of course causes many applicants to default to some of the classic but staid cover letter moves, which include:

-Superfluous communication style, e.g. “I am writing to apply…Please feel free to contact me at your convenience…” Whether you’re applying to Sloan or Google, your reader doesn’t have time for this fluff, nor do they appreciate it. Get to the core of your message.

-Lack of justification. So you’re an adaptive leader and a strong communicator – what tangible evidence (supported by your resume) can you offer? More importantly, can you weave that evidence into a succinct, meaningful story of impact? Remember, your cover letter should not read like a series of resume bullet points; it should actually read as a fuller, more narrative-driven version of your resume.

-Failure to step outside one’s self. Though Sloan doesn’t ask ‘why Sloan’ in this prompt, a successful cover letter artfully shows an understanding of the organization and culture to which you are applying. How do you fit into the culture at Sloan? How is this supported by your past accomplishments? Companies, like academic institutions, are looking for candidates who can hit the ground running and gel with their communities, so it will behoove you to think about this angle and set yourself apart from some of the more blatant self promoters.

-Readability. If you’ve ever worked in recruiting or spoken with a recruiter or admissions officer, you know the basic temperament. These are people who wade through hundreds (even thousands) of cover letters. To break through your reader’s ennui, your cover letter must be memorable. Fresh, bold language can be a tremendous tool in your arsenal. So, consider veering from the classic cover letter tropes, and thinking about striking a balance between the formal and the conversational. Just because this is ‘business correspondence’ does not mean your writing should be devoid of humanity.

Looking for support on your MBA applications or cover letters? Visit www.ivyeyesediting.com for details on how we can help you present fresh, magnetic materials.

Cheers,

Ivy Eyes Editing

www.ivyeyesediting.com

You’re at a point in your professional life where you’ve done some things, you’ve seen some things, you’ve met some people, and you’re ready for the next big step in business school. So ready, in fact, that when it comes to discussing your past work in MBA applications and interviews, you gloss over your past with sentences like, “In my career at Deloitte, I grew exponentially as a team player and thought leader, elevating my communication skills and my business acumen to become a more valuable asset to my organization at large.”

Instead of articulating the specific avenues of impact you had within your department or organization, you gesture broadly at the role you played, and what you learned. And rather than mustering the insight to define those ways in which you were most challenged and those in which you grew, you fall back on trite commentary about how you could be “more of a team player” (there’s that pesky term again!). None of this reads as the slightest bit interesting or forward-looking to an MBA AdCom. So what does?

Targeted self-reflection grounded in the detail of actual events from your professional life.

While it may be exhausting to consider reexamining events you’ve already left in your past, the value of doing so can distinguish you from the rest of the applicant pool. Some relevant questions to ask yourself as you begin the essay-writing process:

• What did you do?

• How did you do it? With whom did you work to come to the end result?

• What impact did your actions have on your colleagues, your team, your organization/company, or your broader field?

Now that you’ve wrung some clarity out of your past, it’s time to reflect on how this might inform your future. More questions to consider:

• If you’re brutally honest, how might you do that better in the future?

• How did this inform your current perspective on the arena of business in which you’re most interested?

• What do you need to learn—and what skills do you lack—that would transform your current performance and have a larger impact in ways most meaningful to you?

MBA application essays are more humanistic than we’ve ever seen them, and the AdCom will respond increasingly well to the kind of real thought processes that come from honesty, creativity, and a desire for positive change. Gone are the days of the B-School buzzword. Authenticity is here to stay.

Cheers,

Ivy Eyes Editing

www.ivyeyesediting.com

If you’re an MBA applicant, you are inevitably addressing your short-term and long-term career goals in an essay format. You also may between 25 and 30 years of age, with a good bit of career experience. You also may be disillusioned or even disgruntled with your current position, and seeking your MBA to explore new avenues.

Are you unique? No.

We work with MBA applicants every week who are in the position described above, and the area where they have the most trouble is plotting out their career goals. Their inner monologue includes questions like the following:

-I don’t even know what my options are. Where can I go from here?

-I’ve worked in finance but I actually want to explore something more creative. Do my goals seem too bushy-tailed and unrealistic? Is it ok to express dissatisfaction with my years of experience in banking?

-Are my goals a believable extension of my skill set and resume?

There’s no question that your goals must have viability and a connection between the short term and long term; however, we have found nearly every applicant defaults to [relatively] easily attainable career goals. What we push for are goals that are bolder. In fact, we encourage applicants to scrap the term “goals” altogether (which itself seems inspire inspired, lucid writing like a morphine drip)—we ask applicants for their “bold career action plan” instead. For some applicants this means fleshing out their entrepreneurial dreams; for others it involves exploring a transition plan from finance to marketing.  Regardless, there is no “right” answer!

One upside of bolder career action plans is that they provide the chance to really flex your business acumen. What paths are possible? What market opportunities currently exist or might exist in 10-15 years? Who are your career role models, and how have they accomplished similar objectives—how do you plan to follow in (and depart from) their footsteps?

Bolder career action plans also give you the chance to think big and wear your heart on your sleeve. Chances are you are able to more authentically articulate your goals when you’re discussing something you REALLY want vs. something you think you should want (or something you think the admissions committee thinks you should want).

Essay questions like Stanford GSB’s “what matters most to you and why?” prove that MBA programs are no longer seeking cookie cutter applicants, but more daring visionaries. So, push the envelope. Be bolder.

Cheers,

Ivy Eyes Editing