HOW TO START WRITING YOUR SECOND MBA APPLICATION ESSAY
Once you’ve started writing your first MBA application essay and have got it to 95%-99% completion, you can now start tackling your second MBA application essay. The second target school (the school on your MBA target list with the second earliest deadline) should go through the whole process again (outlined in school one's process) starting at around week four or five. A good rule of thumb is to estimate one-third less time for the second school than the first. Of course, this depends on how similar or dissimilar the essay questions are, but once you get the hang of it, it will become easier.
For example, both Wharton and Chicago Booth’s second MBA essay question's are somewhat similar:
An MBA is as much about personal growth as it is about professional development. In addition to sharing your experience and goals in terms of career, we’d like to learn more about you outside of the office. Use this opportunity to tell us something about who you are. (Chicago Booth)
and
Taking into consideration your background – personal, professional, and/or academic – how do you plan to make specific, meaningful contributions to the Wharton community? (Wharton)
Both MBA essay questions are more of a personal essay question.
Let’s say you start with Wharton, you bang it out and get to know the ropes. Since these two essays are similar, there’s maybe 30% to 40% overlap of content that is transferable. For example, from Wharton question two to Booth question two, or even Kellogg question two. Either way, you get the hang of it, you know the themes, you understand what the school is looking for.
NOTE: Any goals essay will be transferable from school to school, within reason. Such as Booth essay question one: How will the Booth MBA help you achieve your immediate and long-term post-MBA career goals?
Again, there will be content you may like better than what was written for the first school application. Usually, the content consists of more effective, efficient or refined descriptions of goals, leadership or impact. Then go back to school one and edit it for another pass. At this point, both schools will be 99% done (with essays).
Be careful though, don’t rob Paul to pay Peter.
Consider the S-curve: the time you spend on your essay questions versus the quality you add. A great example is that many clients at Amerasia Consulting spend 70% to 85% of their time on Harvard - because that’s their dream school. But what they are really doing is robbing Paul to pay Peter.
An example is when we’ll be getting closer to the deadlines, there are too many cooks in the kitchen (shopping around essays), many bad ideas crop up and we’re trying to shoot them down. Before you know it, there are only two or three weeks left to complete Stanford and Wharton and... you panic! This is not the right way to go about things. Ask yourself, “Are the changes I want to make to my Harvard essay worth it?" MBA applicants always want to be 110% perfect for Harvard. But the amount of time that is required, is it really worth it?
Avoid cruft.
Additionally, look at it from the admission committee's perspective. Are they going to care if you’ve added this information? Is this information even relevant because most of the time it’s not? You see people getting nervous and ploughing everything in at the end, but what they’re actually doing is adding cruft (unnecessary wordiness).
Get your second MBA application essay to 99% complete or somewhere in that range. Set it down, walk away, and go to the next school application.
Let’s take Stanford as an example. Get Stanford to 95% to 99% complete, then go back to the first school (Harvard). Hopefully by the time you have finished up Stanford's second MBA application essay you’ve become a better writer. Now you can go back and add your finishing touches to Harvard to make things a bit more concise.
NOTE: Because HBS does not have a word limit, it does not mean you can just spout off anything. If you are going over 1000 words, that’s too long.
Some of Amerasia Consulting’s prior clients have gotten into HBS and have written around 800 words (anywhere from 750-850 is sufficient). One client with exception, got into HBS with 1500 words (still, a little long). A lot of times it comes down to your geography and your professional background. Therefore, generally international students will come in around 1100 -1200 words.
The main point to remember is to consider the S-curve and consider the trade offs you’re making when investing your time on the different MBA school essays.
Never be afraid to stop one school's essay when it’s pretty good, and move on to the second MBA application essay. Same thing for the third school, fourth school and fifth school.
And lastly, consider the overlap of content between the schools’ essays. This should indicate how you could plot your course — as some schools might help you with the other schools’ questions.