| Crafting an intricate admissions essay is perhaps the most daunting part of applying to business school. Applicants shouldn't sit down to write without direction, so U.S. News asked Jeremy Shinewald, founder and president of the business school admissions consulting firm mbaMissionand graduate of the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business, to offer insight on how to write a piece that will set you apart from the competition. 1. What do admissions officials typically look for in essays? What qualities should applicants try to highlight? There is a common misconception that admissions officers are looking for something precise and that they possess a secret that candidates need to unlock. These days, applicants read blogs and accept the opinions of armchair experts [that] reinforce stereotypes about "types" of candidates who get accepted. But, the truth of the matter is that there is no secret "type" that attracts admissions officers and that admissions is not a simple science—if it were, admissions officers would just post criteria on their websites and skip the costly process of searching the globe for great applicants. So, we advise candidates to eschew the oversimplified 'scientific' perspective and instead to profoundly explore their own stories and present sincere pictures of who they are and what they can offer that is distinct and interesting. "Gaming" the admissions process by pandering to a stereotype that is not true to applicants' experience only 'sells' candidates' weaknesses and ignores their strengths. To that end, I offer two quotes: "Because we want to discover who you are, resist the urge to 'package' yourself in order to come across in a way you think Stanford wants. Such attempts simply blur our understanding of who you are and what you can accomplish." — Stanford Graduate School of Business Admissions Director Derrick Bolton "(Consultants) can help you with this anxiety around what a business school wants to hear. Which is exactly the question you shouldn't be asking. It should be what you want to say as an applicant." — Harvard Business School Admissions Director Dee Leopold | 
