Essay Map - How to impress the Admissions Committee - Part 3

(Image Courtesy : Kathleen Tyler Conklin on Flickr)

 

You have already drafted examples of various events in your life – be it from your professional life, academics, hobbies and extra-curricular activities showcasing your various abilities- leadership, team work, reaction to adversity & pressure, academic excellence etc. Now, what you need to do is to make an “Essay Map”.

My extensive experience with B-school applications has led me to the conclusion that a B-school looks for certain “core values” in their candidates. These can primarily be classified as under:

• Leadership
• Teamwork
• Maturity
• Creativity

Now, all the examples that you have must showcase one or more of the above skill-sets. This is where the “essay map” comes into play to put things into perspective.

A sample essay map is as under :

(Mihir Kamdar’s Consulting Service in our Career Store)

 

As per the sample above, classify ALL your examples into the relevant categories and decide which skills they showcase & the degree of impact each example has.

Once you have finalised the Essay Map, you are ready to write your essays. You would have more clarity about what example to use in what essay based on the skill-sets that essay demands.

This would lead to essays which are structured and “to-the-point”, thus lending strength to your application.

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Part 1 - How to Impress the Adcom

Part 2 - The CAR approach

To read all articles in this series, click here

 

- Mihir S. Kamdar

(The author is an ISB Graduate and a finance professional. He also helps potential MBA candidates with their B-School applications and interview preparations. You can find out more about Mihir’s Application consulting and Counseling services here in the Career Store. )