Non-traditional Essay for a Traditional prompt - bad idea?

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Hi, I'm a marketing, sales and business development professional with 7 years work experience, including leadership experience. My current title is business unit director. I'm a 30 yr old, married, mom of a 3-year-old son.

I'm looking to go to Columbia because it is very strong in retail, which is my desired future industry (currently work in enterprise software.) Purpose of MBA is to fill in gaps in experience (weak in financial) and gain industry exposure, as well as network. My GPA and GMAT scores are both squarely in the middle of the "average" for the school. I want to make my application stand out.

I've conceived of a slightly more creative way to respond to their first essay, "Describe your career path moving forward." Since this is a public forum i don't really want to divulge exactly what the approach is, but suffice it to say it's along the lines of that viral essay "I've done all these amazing things, but I haven't yet gone to Harvard". But very different. It's just in a more creative format, like that one.

Thoughts on how this would be received? Will admissions officers like a more creative approach, or would they prefer candidates stick to a more traditional tone? Will it even stand out, or do candidates often try non-traditional approaches? Of the ones that fail, why do they fail?

Your thoughts on this question or any other feedback on my profile would be greatly appreciated!

I am hoping to submit my application by around November 7th. I have solid starts on all three essays but want feedback, and my resume needs a lot of help. (Starting from scratch since I haven't had to job search for the past 7 years).

Consultants, if you think you can help me, I would be open to paying for a few hours of consulting.

Thank you!!

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by CriticalSquareMBA » Sat Oct 17, 2015 9:51 am
Hi there! We have a few follow-up questions about your essay, but as you said, probably don't want to discuss in depth on here. If you'd like, we'd be happy to chat with you for a free consultation to see if we can help. Just sign up below! In the meantime, feel free to check out our free resources to get you started for your R2 preparation. Best of luck this season!
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by mbaMissionKate » Tue Oct 20, 2015 11:53 am
Hi columbiaorbust!
Definitely have many follow-up questions like Critical Square says, as it certainly depends on what exactly you have in mind. That question in particular from Columbia tends to get pretty straightforward / traditional responses and I think to some extent that is what Columbia is looking for. They want to see that you are focused in your goals, know what you want out of the MBA, and how you will maximize all the resources at Columbia. But they, like many schools, are also looking to get to you know you and encourage you to be authentic. So if you can answer that question in a more creative way, then I say go for it. As long are you are in fact answering that question and staying within the word limit / file restrictions. I would avoid something that's creative just for the sake of being creative, because I just don't think that's what Columbia is looking for on that question. There may be other places though, like the last essay question, where you can highlight that side of you.

If you decide you'd like some help or want to chat about more of the specifics, feel free to send me a private message or sign up for a free phone consult with us here: https://www.mbamission.com/consult/

And if you want to read more on why Columbia asks about goals you should read this interview on our blog: https://www.mbamission.com/blog/2013/03/ ... ss-school/

Good luck!
Kate

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by Michael@VeritasPrep » Sat Oct 24, 2015 10:26 am
I personally love creative essays, but I have a few rules when it comes to them. First, if you do one "creative" essay, your other needs to play it straight. Second, if you do something creative, it sill has to answer the question! Creative for the sake of being creative serves no purpose. Third, use it if you feel you really need to stand out. Do you feel like Columbia is a stretch for you? If not, you might be taking a risk trying to go the creative route.