In her recent blog post, MBA Admissions Director Rose Martinelli advised on how to approach one of the most common questions she received since past two weeks i.e Essay 3 (the slide presentation): In four slides or less please answer the following question: What have you not already shared in your application that you would like your future classmates to know about you?
Rose said, "this question allows you to portray parts of your candidacy that have not already been addressed in other parts of the application. We find this a useful tool in order to understand what you deem important in your personal and professional life. The Admissions Committee does not have any expectations about what we might learn in this section, so you have complete freedom in sharing what you think would be relevant for us to know about you." Rose further emphasized, "Committee is interested in content not your presentation skills. You don't need to be a graphic genius or an experienced consultant to be successful. You can use words, images, graphs, etc. to communicate your messages."
After explaining the philosophy behind the question, Rose recommended on few ways on how to approach this question. She said in case there are some key messages or activities that you want to communicate to the Committee, some information about yourself that you may not have been able to cover in other parts of your application Essay 3 is a perfect place to put them.
"I would start by putting a written description on each page of the presentation and then spend some time thinking about how you might convey these messages. Don't get bogged down by trying to be creative; focus on communicating effectively. " suggested Rose.
She said that this question gives you the freedom to communicate what's important to you beyond the questions we ask, and hope this post gives you one way of approaching it. Rose asked the aspirants to read the question thoroughly and be strategic about what they decide to include. She added make sure that the content you choose is relevant to your candidacy.
In her another recent blog post Rose advised on Questions regarding community service or extracurricular activities. She said that such questions try to get at your interests and passions beyond your work.These activities represent how well rounded you may be as well as how interested you are in the world around you. "At Booth, our focus is much more on your history of involvement rather than just recent activity.This is a chance for you to move beyond a simple list to helping us understand your contributions, leadership, time commitment and motivations for getting involved." stated Rose.
Rose said that while she understood that there are many differences across the world in terms of engagement in community service, she was fairly certain of the fact that each applicant has many interests other than work. Whether one is involved in formal programs or support programs informally, school is interested in learning what you do and why.
"For those of you that have jobs that require you to work long hours or travel extensively, we encourage you to focus on what you have done in the past and what you do now to stay involved (and sane)", advised Rose.
Rose stressed saying, "Remember, this is just ONE component in your application that gives us clues about who you are, what you value, and how you engage.We’re not looking for long lists, so take the time to structure how you wish to address the question, include enough information for us to understand your involvements and prioritize what’s most important."
At last Rose mentioned that if you think this area may be a bit light for you, you don’t need to worry as this is just one of MANY components of the application and the school takes each person’s unique circumstances into consideration while they evaluate their application.
Link: The Rose Report
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