Wharton Essays - Mistakes To Avoid

So, it's panic week - the last week to add those finishing touches to your essays before you package them and send them off.  We've been busily reviewing essays for all of the top schools, and wanted to share a few quick pointers before the Round 2 deadline.  This one's for Wharton, but we'll try and post a few more this week, so stay tuned.

Before we get into these, a quick plug, we are actively reviewing essays during this holiday week, if you are interested in working with us, please let us know as soon as possible, so we can get your essays scheduled.

Reflect on a time when you turned down an opportunity. What was the thought process behind your decision? Would you make the same decision today? (600 words)

• This is a tough question to answer; a lot of essays we read fail to answer the question correctly.  They describe a tough decision they made, or a situation in which they chose one among several opportunities, but the question is not asking for either of these.
• It's specifically asking for a time you turned down an opportunity - don't feel pressured to think of this as an "options analysis" process - the opportunity could have been turned down even if no alternatives existed!
• A lot of essays also tend to become achievement essays dressed up as opportunity essays.  If you don't have a good response or situation to describe, don't use this question.  Don't "force fit" a general leadership experience into this response.

Describe a failure that you have experienced. What role did you play, and what did you learn about yourself? How did this experience help to create your definition of failure? (600 words)

• If there's only one essay you get reviewed of your application by a consultant / third party, get this one looked at (our services start at $50)!  It's important because it's very hard for people to discuss failures, and we've read many applications where this essay comes off completely awkward, partly discussing a situation, partly discussing your reaction, and then very quickly move on to self-glorification since the mistake was made
• If you think your failure essay sounds a little awkward, it probably sounds a LOT more awkward to the reader
• Don't forget to answer the last part of the question - the key is to explain how this experience changed what you thought of as failure - compare before and after to explain the change articulately.

Remember to get your essays reviewed, whether its by us or others.  We can't stress enough how important it is to get an independent, unbiased view from someone who doesn't know you at all, because remember, AdCom doesn't!

Good luck with the final push this week :)