Ask Jason@沃顿 (closed)

cannedpineapple

About the failure essay:

Many people have asked me recently about how to write the failure essay. Here are my thoughts, beginning with the myths I've heard, and then I'll go into how I think you should actually tackle it.

Myth 1: I need to strike a balance between a failure being 'too small' and one that is 'too catastrophic'

Truth: In fact while you probably shouldn't go with a failure that is 'too small' (because one would question how much you actually learnt from it), a 'too catastrophic' failure is not a problem. Indeed, it might even be preferred, since such failures tend to be excellent learning opportunities.

Myth 2: When I write, I need to find a silver lining, to show adcom that I can always improve on my failures.

Truth: Far from this, in fact, showing a 'silver lining' (ie a 雨过天晴 ending) may show that you are not very honest about your failures. After all, they ask for a failure, and if you show an example that ended up a success, you're merely showing an obstacle on the way to a success. If you can't even admit to them that you've truly failed before, they'll wonder what this means about your ability to learn from your own mistakes. Maturity issues here.

On to what I think you should do. So you shouldn't find failures that are 1) too small 2) ended up in a good result. So what should you look for?

Rather than focusing on the magnitude of the failure (this really doesn't matter), focus on a failure that had occurred after you'd done a lot of reasonable steps to assure that things would not go wrong. The failure should also occur as a result of something that you can work on. So for instance, if you had failed because you are a poor judge of character, that's a poor 'failure', because it is not immediately clear what steps you can take to improve this. If, on the other hand, if it had failed because you had focused too much on the big picture and neglected the details, that's something you can certainly work on, because next time around you'll know to focus on the small details. When you write this latter example, take care also to emphasise HOW you focused on the big picture. Again, the point is, I did ABC very well, but DEF was lacking... and now I know, and I'll be able to avoid it next time around.

To sum up,

Find a failure that you can take tangible steps to improve on.
Find a failure that had occurred even after you had taken many reasonable steps.
Don't worry about the magnitude of the failure, other than making sure that it's not so small that adcom wonders how much you really learn from it.

Hope this helps, let me know if you have other questions!

naivesmile

Thanks, Jason!

It's really helpful!

cannedpineapple

I recently got the following question:

I have a
question to consult you, although I know that people shall prepare good
essays, think clearly "what school" and "why this school", I always
feel that there must be something "solid and hard" which is necessary
to enter top school but could not be polished during the application.

you
know what I mean? for instance, a people want to go HBS, but if he did
not come from Consulting or I Banks or have a great recommend, the
chance is very very low, although he may do excellent on essay, GMAT,
CV.

So as an applicant, i really want to know the true world -
can good essay and GMAT really provide big help to a people application
even if he comes from a not that "hot" industry

My thoughts:

Yes.

To be honest, I've seen many people struggle with this, but
much more in China than in the West. I went to a University (University of Chicago) where 90%
of my classmates dreamt of working for the UN, going to graduate school
and becoming professors, and so on- in short, anything but
banking/consulting/pe/vc. I've noticed that in China, the range of
vocations that are seen as 'top-tier' are far narrower.

The
point is, you have to understand that you're applying to an American
school, which exists in a system that understands (and in fact
encourages) students to pursue whatever it is that interests them and
that they do well.

So don't worry.

bamboo890718

hi jason,i notice u're the co-founder of early career club. i have the intention to establish a similar club. Can u share some experience? thanks

brightpath

Hi Jason, you did great help to us ,thank U ..

I'm a Civil engineer, I work in a French speak country as a Produce Manager.

I’m a person who have full of new ideas and I get 6 patents in many fields yet.

Now I plan to apply for 2011’s MBA Program in Entrepreneurship, I know that Entrepreneurship Program is seeking the creative leaders so:

1.    If my patents can help to my application?

2.    In 2010 I want to quit my job and to start my own business as a “XXX New Product Design CO. Ltd.” ,because  my work experience in civil engineering can’t approve my creativeness well ,so I want to approve it by this way. how do you think about my this Game?

3. Can US schools accept recommendation letters in French?  

cannedpineapple

brightpath>

1) Insofar as they help you demonstrate something relevant to your application (eg. career goals), yes. But by themselves, they don't help.

2) Not necessary. That's the point of the essays. The way you think should be evident from the way you write- if you think in a creative (but logical) way, that will be self-evident.

3) No.

cannedpineapple

On being different:

One of the biggest myths I've encountered recently has to do with differentiation. I use consulting as an example because I know it best =)

Typical applicant: "I'm a consultant. Oh no! There are so many other consultants! In my company, I know ten other people applying! How am I going to differentiate myself?"

There are two problems here: 1) everyone (because they see this most clearly) tends to compare themselves to others in their own industry/country. In fact, that's not how things are done. Each application stands on its own merits. The reason there are not 800 consultants at Wharton is not because of a 'quota', but because the number of qualified consultants (in the whole pool) who apply every year tends to be the same, and so approximately the same number get in. That's the same for almost any profile group- Chinese students, years of work experience, etc. I've noticed that Chinese students tend to compare themselves strictly to other Chinese students, and I don't know how I can stress this more than by simply saying- that's not the pool you're competing in.

2) Everyone worries about 'differentiating' themselves. Typically, if you follow some formula, it means that you start an essay by writing some amazing and exciting opening, which will wow the reader into thinking, 'this guy is so unique!'. Next, you talk about why you're different from other consultants, other chinese students, other people with 2 years of work experience like you. Then finally, the myth goes, when they pick a Chinese consultant with 2 years of work experience, they pick you first, because 'you're so different'.

Stop for a moment and think about this. You yourself have worked in your industry for the past few years. If someone who, like you, has worked there for two years, and comes to you and tells you all these stories about how everything he did was 'so different' from the regular consultant, would you believe him? You know what you do on a daily basis for your work- and you know that it simply does not vary very much from one consultant to another. So what makes you think that the admissions committee doesn't know this (after reading thousands of applications, year after year, and interacting with all the typical industries/ applicants who come to campus)?

Instead, I suspect that most people do know this. They know that at heart, what one consultant does is not very different from another. This worries them. They wonder, "Does that mean that whether I get in totally depends on luck???" The short answer is, no. There will always be good consultants and bad consultants. What 'differentiates' the former group from the latter is not 'how unique they are', but their ability to think logically and clearly; to act with initiative and leadership to rally a team towards getting things done; their ability to emphatise with their clients; and so on. These, not coincidentally, are all the things that business schools say they look for. Notice that no business school says, 'the most important thing is that we want you to be unique.'

So the next time you look at an essay and wonder how to 'differentiate yourself', increase your chances of admission not by thinking about all the 'unique things you did', but search into your business life to prove to adcom that you're good at what you do. That's the best way of 'differentiating yourself'

Good luck with y'all's essays!

cannedpineapple

On how to brainstorm for essay ideas:

I've seen some people set goals for themselves (eg. "Think of 20 stories!") Here are my thoughts..

When I did my brainstorming, I honestly
could not come up with more than 5 stories. I think it is more
important to know what are the buckets you need to hit and then try to find stories that fit those buckets (eg.
"Entrepreneurship (innovation and initiative)"- story 1; "leadership'-
story 1 and 2; "analytical ability"- story 3; "cross-cultural
sensitivity"- story 2, 3, 4). Notice that one story can 'hit'
more than one point. That is potentially a good thing, since you
typically have only four to five essays/ stories, recommendations, and
resume to display the 10-11 traits that business schools look for. (On
the flip side, a story only hitting one point is not necessary a bad
thing- just make sure each bucket is 'addressed' at least somewhere in
your application).

    
In my case although I had only 5 stories, I managed to have them
connect to all the buckets that I thought necessary. So when brainstorming story ideas, I suggest an approach where you first think about the relevant 'buckets', and only then think about 'which
stories can fit into them', rather than think about the other way
round (stories first), and 1) risk missing out on important buckets 2) worry about
finding lower quality stories just to get to x number of stories.

Good luck!

jadedj

Jason,

我在全职工作的同时，跟朋友合资开了一家自己的小公司.公司的业务跟我的工作没有存在任何利益冲突，所以我没有告知我的公司。如果我把这段创业经验写到essay里，录取委员会首先认为我违背职业准则code of conduct吗？

sh784533

So many thanks, Jason. For your really useful answers and for your kindness.