The Application Process

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!!