4 Cases Where MBA Applicants Should Write an Optional Essay

To write or not to write an optional business school application essay…that is a question that concerns many MBA candidates each season. Some schools ask for you to address only extenuating circumstances in this section. Meanwhile, others take a broad approach and ask whether there’s anything else about  your candidacy you would like to share with the admissions committee.

Our advice? First, complete your entire application package, except for the optional essay. Don’t worry about that piece of the puzzle just yet. Then, review your application to see if there is something extra you would like to communicate that you cannot address elsewhere in the application.

The following advice should be considered within the context of your overall strategy and target business school(s), but these areas are prime material for the optional essay.

Use the Optional Essay to Address Academic Weaknesses

A grade of C or below on your undergraduate transcript will give the admissions committee pause. They will want to know why, and determine whether it’s an outlier in your overall academic record. Strike an upbeat tone here and avoid excuses. Make sure you emphasize your improved performance either later in your college career or in subsequent work or classes since college.

Explain your issue clearly and focus the balance of your essay on looking forward. Explain what have you done in the recent past to prove your skills and intelligence. If you have a new GMAT score or took classes in calculus or statistics, you have a solid case for improved academics.

Use the Optional Essay to Address Employment Gaps or Major Career Changes

You don’t have to explain a short gap between school and a secured job, but something like several months between two jobs should be addressed.

Did you use that time off to do volunteer work in Guatemala, or care for an ailing parent? Maybe you used the time away to focus on an entrepreneurial dream unencumbered by the 9-to-5 grind. Ideally you can point to additional education, training, volunteering or traveling that you engaged in while unemployed.

If you recently switched careers and feel concerned that the admissions committee may not see how you arrived at the conclusion that an MBA would help further your professional aspirations, use the optional essay space to make an airtight case for why you want to go into this new field and show that the decision was reasoned and well-thought-out.

Use the Optional Essay to Address  Choice of Recommender

Not every applicant feels comfortable asking their current employer for a recommendation letter. Perhaps they aren’t ready to let their boss know of their MBA plans, or maybe there is a personality conflict that might not lead to the most glowing recommendation. Sometimes, the issue is that the applicant hasn’t worked with the supervisor long enough for him or her to comment meaningfully on the candidate’s performance.

Whatever the reason, you should briefly address your decision not to seek a recommendation from your current supervisor in the optional essay space. The admissions committee understands the various circumstances which may prevent it, but you need to explain why anyway to eliminate any doubts or wrong assumptions about the quality of your working relationship with your employer.

Use the Optional Essay to Convey Information That Adds to Your Candidacy

This is where you can introduce information about yourself that you simply couldn’t find a way to incorporate elsewhere. If you are a re-applicant, the optional essay is the ideal place to explain what you have done since your last application to strengthen your case for admission – such as receiving a promotion – which would signal career development and leadership. Even if you don’t have a clear-cut development to describe, you can use this space to explain how you have improved your thinking, career goals or fit.

Finally, if you don’t have a weakness to address and the school has an open-ended optional essay question, this is opportunity to provide information you couldn’t work into the other required essays.

For example, if you have an unusual background, hobby or extracurricular experience, this may be a chance to showcase your unique profile. Check out these “optional essay” videos submitted by past MBA applicants to Babson College and MIT Sloan School of Management for inspiration.

The optional essay truly is optional. So take advantage of it if necessary, but exercise good judgement and restraint.