Almost all business schools allow applicants to write an optional essay of some kind. A smaller subset steers you towards specific topics that they want to hear about if they’re relevant to you. A typical business school’s essay remains an extremely open-ended invitation to talk about exactly; things that are not addressed anywhere in the application that you would like the admission committee to know.
So now, should you write an optional essay? Most business school applicants do write optional essays. Moreover, take out the thought that optional essays are for “excuses”. The committee may be overworked, but they’re also professionals fetching qualified and diverged applicants, and the optional essays created one opportunity to show the admission committee you’re one of the right fit. If applicants are tired of writing essays, consider how admissions officers must feel about reading them. Though each one has their own reason to write, some common benefits of composing an optional essay are as follows:
- As the school cuts down the space available on essays to tell your story, think of optional essays as an essential opportunity.
- Optional essays showcase your extra effort to get admission; just like visiting the campus for the second time shows your intense interest in a school.
- Optional essays are most used to mitigate the admission committee’s concerns about applicants’ weaknesses.
The range of optional essays is enormous. Do not repeat any story you mentioned elsewhere in the application, and make sure the activity is strong and showcases additional information.