March 19, 2010, Newsletter Issue #208: Fear Not The Essay - Writing Your Way Into An Online MBA Program

Tip of the Week

The admission criteria for many online mba programs include things like a Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university, official transcripts, excellent GMAT scores, a resume, letters of recommendation, and the dreaded essay. For many people (no matter how prestigious their employment status) writing an essay evokes instant anxiety and insecurity. Sure they can string articulate sentences together, but to write an evocative personal essay, the writer has to be able to neatly package a concise narrative on their accomplishments.

If your goal is admission into one of the many distance learning mba programs, and you’re faced with the dreaded essay, here are some tips to break the task down into something more manageable:

Jot down, in point form, all of your business and personal accomplishments from the last five years.

Write down these headings (in this order, all of them related to your professional life):

Where I’ve been (professional accomplishments)

What personal strengths helped me to accomplish the above

What strengths do I want to build on

How will an online mba help me build on my strengths?

What new goals have I set for myself?

How will I achieve my new goals through an online mba?

Now, go back and write five or six sentences under each category. Elaborate as much as possible. Go back, remove the headings, and you’ve got yourself the first draft of your personal essay! Ultimately, you want to tell a story about your professional life: where you’ve been, where you want to go, and how you plan to get there.

About LifeTips

Now one of the top on-line publishers in the world, LifeTips offers tips to millions of monthly visitors. Our mission mission is to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Expert writers earn dough for what they know. And exclusive sponsors in each niche topic help us make-it-all happen.