Top MBA Essay Analysis from Jon Frank---P11: THE MOST IMPORTANT THING MBA APPLIC

JASO

Hey Jon,
I hope you are doing well.
My concern is not about optional essay but CV.
I am a transfer student. I got 73/100 average when I was in China and 3.9/4.0 in my last two years in US.
Is it necessary to put 73/100 into my education background?

JonFrank

Hey Jon,
I hope you are doing well.
My concern is not about optional essay but CV.
I am a transfer student. I got 73/100 average when I was in China and 3.9/4.0 in my last two years in US.
Is it necessary to put 73/100 into my education background?

-- by 会员 JASO (2011/9/24 7:59:37)

The challenge dude is that youre gonna include your transcripts in your application.  Right?  So no matter what you write about on the CV, they will see your scores.  Now, we tell all our clients only to include GPA on the resume if your grades are reeeally good.  It sounds to me like maybe you shouldn’t include the bad grades on your CV, only the good ones.  Or NONE of em.  But you cant hide from those grades, schools will see em for sure…


Jon Frank
HBS 2005

anomalocaris

Hey Jon,
I hope you are doing well.
My concern is not about optional essay but CV.
I am a transfer student. I got 73/100 average when I was in China and 3.9/4.0 in my last two years in US.
Is it necessary to put 73/100 into my education background?

-- by 会员 JASO (2011/9/24 7:59:37)

The challenge dude is that youre gonna include your transcripts in your application.  Right?  So no matter what you write about on the CV, they will see your scores.  Now, we tell all our clients only to include GPA on the resume if your grades are reeeally good.  It sounds to me like maybe you shouldn’t include the bad grades on your CV, only the good ones.  Or NONE of em.  But you cant hide from those grades, schools will see em for sure…


Jon Frank
HBS 2005

-- by 会员 JonFrank (2011/9/25 15:15:05)

Dear Jon,

I have GPA 3.2/4.0 but ranked top 10% in class in undergraduate, and GPA 3.4/4.0 in graduate. Should I need to mention them in CV?

Best Regards,

JASO

Hey Jon,
I hope you are doing well.
My concern is not about optional essay but CV.
I am a transfer student. I got 73/100 average when I was in China and 3.9/4.0 in my last two years in US.
Is it necessary to put 73/100 into my education background?

-- by 会员 JASO (2011/9/24 7:59:37)

The challenge dude is that youre gonna include your transcripts in your application.  Right?  So no matter what you write about on the CV, they will see your scores.  Now, we tell all our clients only to include GPA on the resume if your grades are reeeally good.  It sounds to me like maybe you shouldn’t include the bad grades on your CV, only the good ones.  Or NONE of em.  But you cant hide from those grades, schools will see em for sure…


Jon Frank
HBS 2005

-- by 会员 JonFrank (2011/9/25 15:15:05)

Dear Jon,

I have GPA 3.2/4.0 but ranked top 10% in class in undergraduate, and GPA 3.4/4.0 in graduate. Should I need to mention them in CV?

Best Regards,

-- by 会员 anomalocaris (2011/9/25 16:08:03)

i m not Jon but i think yes. also mention the ranking of course.

JonFrank

Hey Jon,
I hope you are doing well.
My concern is not about optional essay but CV.
I am a transfer student. I got 73/100 average when I was in China and 3.9/4.0 in my last two years in US.
Is it necessary to put 73/100 into my education background?

-- by 会员 JASO (2011/9/24 7:59:37)

The challenge dude is that youre gonna include your transcripts in your application.  Right?  So no matter what you write about on the CV, they will see your scores.  Now, we tell all our clients only to include GPA on the resume if your grades are reeeally good.  It sounds to me like maybe you shouldn’t include the bad grades on your CV, only the good ones.  Or NONE of em.  But you cant hide from those grades, schools will see em for sure…


Jon Frank
HBS 2005

-- by 会员 JonFrank (2011/9/25 15:15:05)

Dear Jon,

I have GPA 3.2/4.0 but ranked top 10% in class in undergraduate, and GPA 3.4/4.0 in graduate. Should I need to mention them in CV?

Best Regards,

-- by 会员 anomalocaris (2011/9/25 16:08:03)

No my friend—only talk about your overall GPA (if it was good) or perhaps the GPA in your Major (again, if it was good.)  Otherwise, just leave it out.  Schools don’t need to see GPA, especially if you don’t have a great general GPA to brag about…


Jon Frank
HBS 2005

潜寒

Hello Jon,

Can I ask you a question?
BC requires an essay as I presented below:
Optional Essay: Please introduce yourself to the BC community.  Feel free to be creative in expressing your message.

For an essay like this, do I need to address any weakness, or simply focus on strength?

Besides, I got 670 in GMAT. Does this score count for a weakness to address?

JonFrank

Hello Jon,

Can I ask you a question?
BC requires an essay as I presented below:
Optional Essay: Please introduce yourself to the BC community.  Feel free to be creative in expressing your message.

For an essay like this, do I need to address any weakness, or simply focus on strength?

Besides, I got 670 in GMAT. Does this score count for a weakness to address?

-- by 会员 潜寒 (2011/10/9 11:47:15)

Hello my friend—here you should not focus on any weaknesses.  Besides, your GMAT is just fine, by BC standards.   So instead, take the question more LITERALLY.  Tell them about yourself—who are you, what makes you feel good, what makes you sad.  Open up a bit, and get personal!  But no need to talk about your weaknesses here, if they haven’t asked for them specifically.  This is not a typical “optional” essay, where you should cover weaknesses, this is a different type of question.  “Introduce yourself.”  So, for example, you may start with something like, “Hello class, my name is YYY.”  Follow instructions, and don’t mention your GMAT…


Jon Frank
HBS 2005

linjingyuan

Dear Jon,

I find your advise very helpful. But I am not very sure my understanding as follows is all correct.

For example, "lease provide any additional information not previously addressed in other areas of the application that you feel would be helpful to the Admissions Committee in its assessment of your candidacy." Under such guide, I can talk about my personality or speciality, right? If so, does it have to be relevent to the application and the program?

But if the guide is "lease use this essay to provide the admissions committee with additional information that will assist us in evaluating your candidacy (for example, an explanation for gaps in employment history or an undergraduate grade point average that is less than 3.0)". Then I should not provide one if I do not have obvious weakness on GPA or GMAT, am I right?

I am looking forward to your reply. Thank you very much for your generous help!

cannedpineapple

Dear Jon,

I find your advise very helpful. But I am not very sure my understanding as follows is all correct.

For example, "lease provide any additional information not previously addressed in other areas of the application that you feel would be helpful to the Admissions Committee in its assessment of your candidacy." Under such guide, I can talk about my personality or speciality, right? If so, does it have to be relevent to the application and the program?

But if the guide is "lease use this essay to provide the admissions committee with additional information that will assist us in evaluating your candidacy (for example, an explanation for gaps in employment history or an undergraduate grade point average that is less than 3.0)". Then I should not provide one if I do not have obvious weakness on GPA or GMAT, am I right?

I am looking forward to your reply. Thank you very much for your generous help!

-- by 会员 linjingyuan (2011/10/14 16:34:50)

Right. Not sure what you mean by 'relevant to the application and programme', though.

linjingyuan

It means should I bring up the features that the program may desire, for example, can I just say something about myself totally without the connection of the program.