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Customized Optional Essays?

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Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts
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by Cinji18 » Sun Oct 17, 2010 8:45 am
Since the optional essay is for me to explain my red flags and not really about the school, do I still need to customize it to the specific schools? The red flags in my application are going to be the same no matter which school I apply to.

Also, would this be the place to state other aspirations not stated in the goal(s) question/essay?

Oh, and I've already been through a couple of interviews. Both interviewers asked me about my drastic change in careers that happen two years ago. Do I need to explain that here?
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by Kaneisha Grayson » Thu Oct 21, 2010 9:40 am
Hi Cinji18,

If you have already been asked twice about your drastic career change, it would be very helpful for you to explain it in your optional essay.

Do not use your optional essay to explain other aspirations you have. That belongs in the regular goals essay.

One way to customize the optional essay to each school is that you could mention specific resources or elements of the program that are relevant to your explanation. For example (I am completely making this up and this institute mentioned does not exist):

"The Columbia GSB Institute for Work-Life Balance will serve as an excellent resource for me as I continue to craft a career that fits my personal and professional goals."

Does that make sense? Explain your drastic career change and then tie in specific resources of the school if relevant.

Good luck!
Kaneisha
Kaneisha Grayson, Harvard MBA + MPA '10
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by Jessica@VeritasPrep » Thu Oct 21, 2010 10:18 am
Kaneisha is absolutely right. I would also like to suggest that you make any optional essay as brief as possible. You don't want to draw attention to a "weakness" that the Adcom may not have noticed. In fact, I only suggest writing an option essay if there is truly a circumstance that can't be explained anywhere else and I suggest writing a paragraph or two. Not a 500 word essay!
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