As I was starting to write this, a small box labeled “cake” arrived for my daughter, whose birthday is next week. She took it to her room to open it. Surprise! Eight butterflies flew out of the box and buzzed around her room before crashing to the floor. (There was a tiny cake too, and the butterflies are propelled by rubber bands that can be rewound and relaunched. Clever!)
What does this have to do with business school admissions essays? More than you might think.
Many applicants want their essays to stand out, even to surprise the admissions reviewers. That can be a reasonable strategy, as long as you stay on the right side of tasteful and appropriate, keeping in mind that you are not sending greetings to a friend but applying to a selective program. You risk standing out so much that admissions has a hard time envisioning you as a fit with your classmates. You don’t want your application passed around the office as an example of a strange or off-the-wall effort.
Although what you say is more important than how you say it, the delivery matters too. From a style perspective, I generally suggest erring on the side of conservative, and IRL I am not a particularly conservative writer. In my informal writing, I use a lot of exclamation points !!! along with many dashes —, ellipses…, and parentheses ( ) because I tend to get sidetracked as I’m writing.
If you send me an essay with any of those elements, I will generally recommend removing them. Yes, they look fun and high energy, but try to convey your personality with your words rather than punctuation. Similarly, I’m seeing increased use of italics for emphasis. Okay, I understand the rationale, but use them sparingly, no more than once or twice an essay. Otherwise, you risk sounding like you’re squealing. Not the impression you want to make.
This year, I have been lucky to work with a range of clients, including many who have impressed me with their ability to find their voice and express themselves Their first drafts are pedestrian and ordinary, but by the time they get to the end product, which may be five or 20 iterations later, the essays resonate. I have seen some seriously moving writing this year, and if you can grab me, you will be able to wow adcomm too. All without trying to color outside the lines or !!!
P.S. No one has tasted the cake itself, so I don’t know if it’s any good. But after experiencing the butterfly effect, who cares? For admissions essays, though, the cake recipe has to be just right.
