1. Remember your reader. In application essays and resumes, applicants often get caught in the technicalities of their work, losing their reader in jargon. Keep it simple in order to make your discussion easy for your non-specialist audience to understand. Such clarity will help the reader to appreciate the nature and significance of your work.
2. Be specific. Specifics are of the utmost importance in application essays, as the adcom wants to see details of what you’ve accomplished in the past, what you would like to achieve in the future, and how you are a good fit for the particular MBA program. Explaining the reasons for your interest in the school will also help to differentiate you from the many other applicants arguing their case for a place in the MBA class, as they will show that you not only have clearly articulated goals, but also that you have a deep understanding of the MBA program and how it is uniquely appropriate for you*. Though applicants sometimes worry about the word limit, it is important to keep in mind that you can replace often vague and generic points with specific ones without adding any length. For instance, rather than stating that you would make a great and lasting impact on X industry, you can state that you would do A and B.
3. Focus on fully realized successes. In approaching essays about an accomplishment or achievement, applicants should focus on stories and projects in which a positive outcome has been accomplished or is ensured, as potential successes are not actual ones. Talking about a project that is ongoing or that is just starting to come together will not be as meaningful as one in which an applicant has already displayed leadership, initiative and creativity in accomplishing a goal. Though ultimate impact may have not yet been observed (an example being that increased profit has yet to be realized), one’s goals in the project should already have been attained (meaning, for example, that an applicant already built and motivated a team to achieve the desired end).
4. Think strategically when delving into anecdotes that are highly personal. While breaking up with your college sweatheart may have had some impact on who you are today, you’ll want to be careful about using personal matters as the basis for an essay. While there are certainly exceptions, we find that examples from the professional sphere or from extracurriculars typically make for stronger, and more compelling, essays, as they speak to the things that the admissions committee cares the most about, including qualities and skills that relate to professional success.
5. Keep it current. In considering which examples to explore in an application essay, one should choose college and post-college experiences to elaborate on, as these experiences will appear to have the most relevance for your application and provide the greatest insight into the person you will be on the campus of the MBA program. In other words, if your essays prominently feature stories from high school, you are likely making a strategic mistake. Younger applicants may find examples from college their strongest, as they may not have accrued the same leadership and teamwork experiences that older applicants with more work experience have. All applicants, though, should include at least one recent story in their set of essays.
6. Put yourself at the center. In talking about your future goals or in elaborating on your work experience to date, you will want to put yourself in the picture, indicating what you would like to do in the short and long term or what role you specifically played in the various projects or assignments at work. Your application essays are meant as an opportunity to provide the adcom with greater insight into your candidacy and what sort of business person you are and will be in the future. Thus, elaborating on what others have done or talking generally about the state of your industry of choice will not appear a meaningful discussion unless you can demonstrate how the material relates to you and pertains to your goals and interests.
7. Follow the guidelines. Many times applicants attempt to tweak the font size, spacing, or margins in their application essays in an attempt to stay within the various schools’ page limits. The admissions committee, however, will not be fooled. Rather than playing with the formatting, focus on making your discussion clear and concise. | 
