MBA Essay Writing: “Draining the Life Out of Me”

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve said that and as you can probably tell, essay writing is draining the life out of me. There’s an obvious negative correlation between the amount of admissions work I’m doing and the number of blog posts I write. I wonder if this will be the last post of the year?

I’m starting to look forward to when my life will get back to normal. No more heading straight from work to the library to write essays. Actually seeing the inside of a gym. I just to need to hunker down and bear through the pain for a few more weeks.

I feel my essays have gotten better over time. As you write you get new ideas and new feedback that just makes them better. I’m not sure how this bodes for the one I’ve already submitted, but hopefully this is good for my future apps.

As I get close to January, I’m going to make sure I have time to “plate.” If any of you watch Iron Chef or Top Chef, like me, you’d know that the “plating” or arrangement of your food is almost as important as the taste. When it comes to MBA admissions, I consider plating the process of filling out the admissions form. Each application has a ton of free form fields that require the same level of attention as your essays. With my Haas app done already, I feel I’ll be good shape for doing this on my subsequent apps.

I’m approximately two weeks away from my first big deadline. Overall, I feel I’m in good shape as it approaches. Though the emotional swings of confidence and weakness can be pretty rough. I have two three-day weekends to work with and eight essays to write. Two of those are optional and two of those I already have a good start on.

This post is adapted from Random Wok, a blog written by Mako from Silicon Valley. You can read all of his posts at Random Wok.

Previous posts by Mako at PoetsandQuants:

Why I Want an MBA

Climbing the GMAT Mountain: 630 to 710 on a Practice Test

Do Consultants Have An Unfair Edge Over Other Applicants?

Falling Behind & Stressed Out

My New Critical Reasoning Strategy

Figuring Out My Odds of Getting Into Harvard, Stanford, Wharton

With My GMAT Classes Over, It’s Now Just Me and the Test

Making a GMAT Test Taker Feel Like A Complete Pansy

With a Month to Go Before His GMAT Test, It’s Time to Focus

Is The GMAT Really Designed To Break You?