Many business schools use open-ended essay prompts, which are usually variations of “I wish the admissions committee had asked me…” or “What is a question that you wish we had asked?” The most common among these open-ended questions is the optional essay, where you have free rein to discuss anything you feel is important, something you do not have the opportunity to address anywhere else in your application.
What’s the best use of this wide-open space? Our clients are often uncertain, and nervous about making a mistake in what they choose to write about. In this post, we will guide you in making the optional essay work for you by using it to round out your profile. It’s an excellent opportunity, once you know how to optimize it.
Before you start thinking about a topic to write about, consider how many other “open spaces” you already have in the application. You might have both an optional essay and another open-ended question, or you might have only one.
Optional Essay Strategy 1: Putting profile weaknesses into context
If the optional essay is the only place where you can write about a topic of your choice, you could use it to explain any weakness or inconsistency in your profile, particularly one that would be noticeable to the adcom. If the school hasn’t asked about weaknesses anywhere else in the application, this would be a wise use of the space. Examples of noticeable weaknesses would be if your grades plummeted at some point when you were in college, if your GMAT score is lower than the school’s average, and if you had an employment gap of six months or longer. You could have legitimate reasons for any of these issues. For example, perhaps you had to undergo surgery or were dealing with another serious health issue, you had a death in the family, or you took on too many extracurricular activities or work responsibilities. All of these situations would naturally have depressed your performance.
Aim to write a short, clear, direct response. Don’t be vague about the circumstances you’re describing. If you are unclear or ambiguous in your explanation, the adcom might start guessing at scenarios and reasons for the poor showing, possibly assuming something much worse than the reality.
Still, keep perspective about what might reflect poorly on your profile as a whole. There is no need to explain a single C+ grade from your freshman year. You’re not behind in the achievement sweepstakes because you hadn’t launched your own nonprofit or business by the age of 21. You don’t have to apologize for not spending your undergrad years at an Ivy League school.
When using the optional essay to address a weakness, it’s not enough to present the relevant context surrounding the situation. You also need to explain what you learned from it or did afterward to improve or change the outcome to the extent possible. Were there circumstances beyond your control? Did you fail to use your best judgment (common and understandable in very young adults)? Either way, don’t make excuses, but be sure to demonstrate that the circumstances that led to your lower performance are a thing of the past. Provide evidence that you have learned how to handle such situations should a similar one arise in the future.
The optional essay almost always comes right at the end of the essay portion of the application and will therefore probably be the last thing the adcom reads. Do your best to give them something positive to remember you by.
Optional Essay Strategy 2: Highlighting your well-rounded personality
On a brighter note, since MBA application essays often focus heavily on work examples, career goals, and/or why you are interested in attending a particular school, you can use the optional essay to reveal a more personal side of yourself to the adcom. This can establish that you are a well-rounded and interesting individual who would be a welcome addition to the class.
If you simply come across as “the project manager with the 740 GMAT,” you risk blending in with too many of your competitors, losing a potentially critical advantage. Similarly, you almost certainly will have already written about leadership, so don’t be repetitive by using the optional essay to discuss a secondary leadership role, even if it was incredible and you’re very proud of it. Instead, really stand out as “the project manager who used skydiving as a team-building exercise,” “the investment banker who teaches salsa dancing to senior citizens,” or “the marketing manager who taught herself two additional languages in her spare time.” Now that is an application to remember!
Open-Ended Essay Strategy
So, how should you approach an open-ended prompt like “I wish the admissions committee had asked me…”? Let’s start with how not to respond to it. Believe it or not, some applicants will waste this opportunity by discussing bland “catchall” topics – for example, “I wish the admissions committee had asked me how I achieve excellence in everything I do.” Please don’t do this. This type of answer usually ends up being way too generic, even arrogant.
You can definitely take a more lighthearted approach here and write about an aspect of yourself that is uniquely, distinctively, memorably you. Lighthearted does not mean frivolous. For example, you might say that you wish the committee had asked you about the book that changed your life, your favorite musical instrument, the historical personality who fascinates you the most, the moment you realized you weren’t a kid anymore, or what you admire most about a friend, relative, or mentor. Pick a subject for which your enthusiasm is genuine, because it will provide insight into you on a more personal level. It is almost sure to make your writing livelier, more interesting, and memorable. And here’s another bonus: beyond the work experience and academic abilities you have already written about, these answers can convey your potential value as a member of the incoming class and the teams you will work with.
You could also consider responding to the prompt with any of the following: “What do I do for fun?” “How did my grandmother’s immigrant journey from Korea influence my values?” “What have I learned about the creative process from learning to build websites?” “Why was getting fired from my first job one of the best things that ever happened to me?” The sky’s the limit!
Open-ended essay questions in your MBA application present fantastic opportunities for you to round out your candidacy for the adcom. At a minimum, you can bolster your profile by explaining any deficiencies in it and proving that you have addressed them. Moreover, you can surprise the adcom by unveiling a more personal, memorable aspect of yourself that will make you stand out for all the right reasons!
Do you need help answering these questions or any other MBA application questions? Schedule a free consultation with an Accepted admissions pro who will answer your questions and help you get accepted.
By Judy Gruen, a former Accepted admissions consultant. Judy holds a master’s in journalism from Northwestern University and is the co-author of Accepted’s first full-length book, MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools. Want an admissions expert help you get accepted? Click here to get in touch!
Related Resources: