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Show, Don't Tell

Share tips as you apply, write essays, interview...
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by doclkk » Mon Sep 21, 2009 2:35 pm
This is the advice that every MBA essay book gives. And yet, it seems like every MBA essay I read seems to tell more than show.

I'm reading Richard Montauk's - how to get into a top MBA and the essays clearly tell more than show.

I've read the 65 successful Harvard Bschool essays and sans a few of them, all of them tell more than they show.

I think my essays now show way more than they tell, but the style of my essay is very different than all of the successful "essays."

I'm now worried that my essays, while they answer the question, would be interpreted as tangents.

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by essaysnark » Tue Sep 22, 2009 1:29 pm
"Show, don't tell" makes for more powerful writing in any context. It is especially good for bschool essays. In reality, a mix of showing and telling is often effective. Most people do far too much telling, however.

Perhaps you can "show" us what you mean by actually providing your essay? An especially brave person might even want to send an essay to Essay Snark (for free). Essay Snark may then be so inclined to "tell" everyone if it works by posting a critique on the web.

Essay Snark thinks that without seeing your essay, it is impossible to answer your question.

https://essaysnark.blocked
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