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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.
Guru Spotlight |
Jennifer Mathes, Ph.D. |