Time required to write essays

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mbaapplicant: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 1; Joined: Mon Nov 10, 2008 12:07 pm

by mbaapplicant » Mon Nov 10, 2008 12:30 pm

Hi,
I was just wondering how much time does it take to write the essays for the application. I am planning to apply to 2 schools for their part time mba programs. Each of the schools requires about 3-4 essays and I have not started working on them. I plan to send the applications in 4 weeks. I understand perfectly that each essay is different and so the time required will be different. Considering that I have a full time job I wanted to understand how much time per day or per week would I need to devote to essays in order to be able to send my applications in 4 weeks?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Source: Beat The GMAT — The Application Process | Mon Nov 10, 2008 12:30 pm

Scottie@VeritasPrep: MBA Admissions Consultant; Posts: 500; Joined: Mon Jul 21, 2008 9:34 amFollowed by: 6 members; Location: Florida; Thanked: 45 times

by Scottie@VeritasPrep » Mon Nov 10, 2008 6:46 pm

You should plan on spending anywhere between 15 - 25 hours per application in order to create strong essays. Of course, this estimate depends upon how much preparation work you have completed. You will need to outline your goals and career plans. identify stories which demonstrate challenges as well as accomplishments, and determine which stories best fit each question. Do not underestimate the importance of essays as a key component of your application. And definitely, do not cut and paste essays between applications. Finally, be sure to have someone proofread before sending in your application.

Best of luck!

Scottie Winslow | Admissions Consultant |
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CappyAA: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 124; Joined: Mon Jun 16, 2008 11:07 amFollowed by: 14 members; Thanked: 21 times; GMAT Score:750

by CappyAA » Tue Nov 11, 2008 7:23 am

This is about right in my case. I just finished my first application and it took me about 25-30 hours of total work to get through everything. Depending on the overlap of essay questions, the subsequent applications may take slightly less time. For instance, almost all schools ask the 'career goals, why mba' question, so that answer for 1 can be leveraged in writing for the second school.

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jackyork: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 6; Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2008 11:24 am

by jackyork » Sun Nov 23, 2008 7:57 pm

I spent 1 week for the first essay (accomplishment) and 30 hours thereafter.
It's just my case. I didn't have any experience writing this kind of essay before and it's sooo hard for me. That's why I built the following website after all things've been done.

---------
Jack
Free Essay Topics, Templates, Tips and Examples | My MBA Application Blog

VP_MBA Expert wrote:You should plan on spending anywhere between 15 - 25 hours per application in order to create strong essays. Of course, this estimate depends upon how much preparation work you have completed. You will need to outline your goals and career plans. identify stories which demonstrate challenges as well as accomplishments, and determine which stories best fit each question. Do not underestimate the importance of essays as a key component of your application. And definitely, do not cut and paste essays between applications. Finally, be sure to have someone proofread before sending in your application.

Best of luck!

MBA & GMAT Essay Writing Tips | GMAT MBA Prep

AleksandrM: Legendary Member; Posts: 566; Joined: Fri Jan 04, 2008 11:01 am; Location: Philadelphia; Thanked: 31 times; GMAT Score:640

by AleksandrM » Sat Dec 06, 2008 1:15 pm

I spent one week for each school. I wrote for two hours Monday-Friday. Then edited all of the content on Sunday. However, I also read each essay about 10 times before sending out my apps, in order to eliminate any blemishes.

Good luck.

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