MBA Application Editing: Top Tips and Tricks
As admissions consultants, we find immense enjoyment in editing essays and short-answer responses in MBA applications. Yup, we’re nerds like that. Guilty as charged! But it’s because these personalized parts of the application are make-or-break for your admissions chances. B-Schooled host Erika, a consummate word wrangler, has done a deep dive into this issue on the podcast. Below, we’re sharing an overview of her MBA application editing advice to help business school aspirants make their responses as high-impact as possible.
Curious about your chances of getting into a top B-school? Take the first step toward your dream with a free 15-minute advising session with an SBC Principal Consultant.
MBA Application Editing 101: Banish Overused Words and Phrases
Not every MBA applicant is a natural writer, so we call your attention to some tired words and phrases you should avoid. In general, remove adjectives and adverbs that add no value to your story and may weaken your message. A non-exhaustive list of examples you should take a red pen to include:
| Key | Unique |
| Very | Really |
| Interesting | Important |
| Amazing | Bandwidth |
| Leverage | Synergize |
| Get the ball rolling | At the end of the day |
| Think outside the box | Hit the ground running |
Another common pitfall for MBA applicants is writing flowery sentences overloaded with descriptions. Often, you can find shorter ways to say the same thing. For example, instead of saying, “My long-term career goal is to run an ed-tech firm,” you could say, “Eventually, I want to run an ed-tech firm.” Also, look out for the unnecessary “of.” Saying “I wanted to exceed the expectations of my client” could have been written as “I wanted to exceed my client’s expectations.”
These seemingly small deletions can significantly strengthen your response. By making simple tweaks like these, you can ensure that every word in your essay is impactful and contributes to your narrative.
Lastly, MBA applicants often wonder whether it’s OK to exceed the word or character count. Responses entered into a text box within the application typically have a hard cut-off. Some schools have applicants paste their essay responses into such fields, so you must stay within the prescribed limit.
While we caution applicants against exceeding the word count, you have some wiggle room with PDFs. Remember that admissions committee readers know what 500 words looks like. So, do your best to stick to the rules.
Short Text Fields on the Data Form
We have an entire podcast episode about the MBA data form, so check that out for several helpful tips. Here, we’ll focus on the fields that ask you to describe your accomplishments, most significant challenges, or extracurricular activities. You often have no more than 200 characters available for these text fields.
So, the biggest takeaway is to not answer in complete sentences. If the field asks about your responsibilities, don’t write, “My responsibilities are…” or “I am responsible for…”. In fact, you don’t even need to begin your answer with “I.”
Here’s an example from an actual SBC client, which you’ll note are direct statements that begin with action verbs:
- Oversee global finance and operations for youth development programs in 5 countries.
- Manage organization-wide accounting matters, assist management with donor invoicing and reporting, monitor firm-wide cash flow and advise management on limitations.
Ideally, you will use wording that is different from what’s on your resume. Here is your chance to tell the AdCom something new or provide other details. Also, note that the number five is not spelled out. While grammar rules dictate you should spell numerals from one to nine, that doesn’t apply to situations where you’re constricted by character count.
You should use shortcuts like these whenever possible. So, for the words million, billion, or thousand, use capital M, B, or K instead. Rather than writing plus, use + if you can. Heavily used words such as startup and nonprofit don’t need hyphens, either.
Finally, we have thoughts about Oxford commas—the final comma between the last two items in a list. It’s OK to omit them throughout your MBA application materials, and it’s advantageous to do so when constrained by character count. Save those extra spaces for meatier content.
Make Thoughtful Topic Choices
Sometimes, MBA applicants want to share anecdotes that, while compelling, require a complicated or lengthy setup. When that happens, you may need to choose a different achievement or story. It’s best to pick a more straightforward example whose setup doesn’t require 80% of your word count.
Examine your essay with a critical eye, and ask yourself, “Is every single word in my response necessary to make my point and answer the question?” Am I showing—not telling—something that reveals what I would bring to the program to benefit my classmates? If the answer is no, find other stories where you can spend most of the word allotment describing your contributions and results.
When it comes to MBA application editing, we recommend setting aside your completed essay drafts for a few days. Afterward, you can revisit them with fresh eyes, and you’ll likely discover words or sentences that aren’t critical. Or consider engaging SBC’s hourly editing services for your essays. An expert wordsmith on our team can offer excellent strategic and objective advice to maximize your essays’ impact.
While editing might not become your newfound passion, we hope this article and its companion podcast have provided you with valuable strategies to streamline your MBA application editing process. Business schools value succinct communication. Trimming down unnecessary words and focusing on impactful storytelling will strengthen your application.
Remember, conveying your experiences and aspirations clearly and effectively ensures that every word contributes to a compelling narrative. If you need further assistance, don’t hesitate to reach out for personalized guidance from our expert consultants. Good luck!
***
Stacy Blackman Consulting offers multiple services to meet your MBA application needs, from our All-In Partnership to test prep to hourly help with targeted tasks. Contact us today for a free 15-minute advising session to talk strategy with a Principal SBC consultant.
Here’s a snapshot of the caliber of expertise on our SBC team.
Ashley
Ashley is a former MBA Admissions Board Member for Harvard Business School (HBS), where she interviewed and evaluated thousands of business school applicants for over a six year tenure. Ashley holds an MBA from HBS. During her HBS years, Ashley was the Sports Editor for the Harbus and a member of the B-School Blades Ice Hockey Team. After HBS, she worked in Marketing at the Gillette Company on Male and Female shaving ...
×Kerry
Kerry is a former member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS). During her 5+ year tenure at HBS, she read and evaluated hundreds of applications and interviewed MBA candidates from a wide range of backgrounds across the globe. She also led marketing and outreach efforts focused on increasing diversity and inclusion, ran the Summer Venture in Management Program (SVMP), and launched the 2+2 Program during her time in Admissions. Kerry holds a B.A. from Bates College and ...
×Pauline
A former associate director of admissions at Harvard Business School, Pauline served on the HBS MBA Admissions Board full-time for four years. She evaluated and interviewed HBS applicants, both on-campus and globally. Pauline's career has included sales and marketing management roles with Coca-Cola, Gillette, Procter & Gamble, and IBM. For over 10 years, Pauline has expertly guided MBA applicants, and her clients h ...
×Geri
Geri is a former member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS). In her 7 year tenure in HBS Admissions, she read and evaluated hundreds of applications and interviewed MBA candidates from a diverse set of academic, geographic, and employment backgrounds. Geri also traveled globally representing the school at outreach events in order to raise awareness for women and international students. In additio ...
×Laura
Laura comes from the MBA Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS) and is an HBS MBA alumnus. In her HBS Admissions role, she evaluated and interviewed hundreds of business school candidates, including internationals, women, military and other applicant pools, for five years. Prior to her time as a student at HBS, Laura began her career in advertising and marketing in Chicago at Leo Burnett where she worked on th ...
×Andrea
Andrea served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at Harvard Business School (HBS) for over five years. In this role, she provided strategic direction for student yield-management activities and also served as a full member of the admissions committee. In 2007, Andrea launched the new 2+2 Program at Harvard Business School – a program targeted at college junior applicants to Harvard Business School. Andrea has also served as a Career Coach for Harvard Business School for both cu ...
×Jennifer
Jennifer served as Admissions Officer at the Stanford (GSB) for five years. She holds an MBA from Stanford (GSB) and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Jennifer has over 15 years experience in guiding applicants through the increasingly competitive admissions process into top MBA programs. Having read thousands and thousands of essays and applications while at Stanford (GSB) Admiss ...
×Erin K.
Erin served in key roles in MBA Admissions--as Director at Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and Assistant Director at Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB). Erin served on the admissions committee at each school and has read thousands of applications in her career. At Haas, she served for seven years in roles that encompassed evaluation, outreach, and diversity and inclusion. During her tenure in Admissions at GSB, she was responsible for candidate evaluation, applicant outreach, ...
×Susie
Susie comes from the Admissions Office of the Stanford Graduate School of Business where she reviewed and evaluated hundreds of prospective students’ applications. She holds an MBA from Stanford’s GSB and a BA from Stanford in Economics. Prior to advising MBA applicants, Susie held a variety of roles over a 15-year period in capital markets, finance, and real estate, including as partner in one of the nation’s most innovative finance and real estate investment organizations. In that r ...
×Dione
Dione holds an MBA degree from Stanford Business School (GSB) and a BA degree from Stanford University, where she double majored in Economics and Communication with concentrations in journalism and sociology. Dione has served as an Admissions reader and member of the Minority Admissions Advisory Committee at Stanford. Dione is an accomplished and respected advocate and thought leader on education and diversity. She is ...
×Anthony
Anthony served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he dedicated over 10 years of expertise. During his time as a Wharton Admissions Officer, he read and reviewed thousands of applications and helped bring in a class of 800+ students a year. Anthony has traveled both domestically and internationally to recruit a ...
×Meghan
Meghan served as the Associate Director of Admissions and Marketing at the Wharton MBA’s Lauder Institute, a joint degree program combining the Wharton MBA with an MA in International Studies. In her role on the Wharton MBA admissions committee, Meghan advised domestic and international applicants; conducted interviews and information sessions domestically and overseas in Asia, Central and South America, and Europe; and evaluated applicants for admission to the program. Meghan also managed ...
×Amy
Amy comes from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where she was Associate Director. Amy devoted 12 years at the Wharton School, working closely with MBA students and supporting the admissions team. During her tenure at Wharton, Amy served as a trusted adviser to prospective applicants as well as admitted and matriculated students. She conducted admissions chats with applicants early in the admissions ...
×Ally
Ally brings six years of admissions experience to the SBC team, most recently as an Assistant Director of Admission for the full-time MBA program at Columbia Business School (CBS). During her time at Columbia, Ally was responsible for reviewing applications, planning recruitment events, and interviewing candidates for both the full-time MBA program and the Executive MBA program. She traveled both internationally and dome ...
×Erin B.
Erin has over seven years of experience working across major institutions, including University of Pennsylvania, Columbia Business School, and NYU's Stern School of Business. At Columbia Business School, Erin was an Assistant Director of Admissions where she evaluated applications for both the full time and executive MBA programs, sat on the admissions and merit scholarship committees and advised applicants on which program might be the best fit for them based on their work experience and pro ...
×Emma
Emma comes from the MBA Admissions Office at Columbia Business School (CBS), where she was Associate Director. Emma conducted dozens of interviews each cycle for the MBA and EMBA programs, as well as coordinating the alumni ambassador interview program. She read and evaluated hundreds of applications each cycle, delivered information sessions to audiences across the globe, and advised countless waitlisted applicants. ×
