Blog: Archive for the “Essays” Category

The International Institute for Management Development (IMD) requires only one official written essay of its applicants, and although it is rather brief—just 400 words, maximum—the topic is so open-ended that it will likely be challenging for some candidates. Applicants can also submit a short optional statement, if they wish, and are tasked with responding to … Read More  

The application essay requirements for the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame are fairly straightforward—or at least the written one is. First, you must provide a brief statement of purpose that covers your immediate career goal and how the school can help you achieve it. Then, you are asked to write … Read More  

Longer and more complex sentences often require parallel construction. Simply put, parallel construction ensures that any given longer sentence has a balanced rhythm or structure. With parallel construction, each pronoun corresponds with another pronoun, each verb corresponds with another verb, each adjective corresponds with another adjective, and so on. Parallel construction can certainly be found … Read More  

Sincerity. Honesty. Candor. We encourage MBA candidates to incorporate these attributes into their applications, and when they do, the result tends to be successful essays. But can an applicant go too far? The answer is “yes,” especially when candor turns to negativity. Sometimes, when MBA candidates believe they are just being candid, they are actually … Read More  

Any good journalist will tell you that the key to writing a good news story or opinion piece is to grab the reader’s attention with the very first line. Many book authors employ this same tactic. Although only a small percentage of people have actually read Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, most know that the novel … Read More