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It has been an interesting year to be an admissions consultant! Clients are working on some tough essay questions that require carefully considered approaches. One essay question that keeps popping up is any of several variation on "Tell us about a time that you took a risk."

Here are some thoughts on how to handle that essay:

- The most important thing that you can do for this essay is get very clear on what a risk is. It sounds simple but I keep seeing essays that trip up on this fundamental element. A risk, by definition, means that you are doing something whose outcome is uncertain and that you stand to lose something if the outcome does not go your way.

For instance, using a plausible but untested marketing strategy is a risk. It may work and it may not. If it doesn't, you lose money and customers and possibly hurt your brand image. You may also lose your job if you were the one who really pushed the idea.

If the outcome of your "risk" was certain and if you had nothing to lose if things went wrong then choose another situation to write about. Period.

- The most effective risk essays are ones in which the outcome is largely dependent on you. For instance, if you took the risk of taking a transfer to Singapore, there is a risk that you will flat on your face professionally --but it is largely in your power to succeed through your work ethic and the quality of your analysis.

- Given this, a logical way to structure a risk essay is as follows:

1) Intro paragraph that describes each component of the risk: what the risky action was, what you stood to lose, and how it turned out.

2) A description of the risky situation.

3) What you did to effect the outcome.

4) How it turned out and what you learned from the experience.

- Some risk essays are about failures --i.e., when you took a risk and got burned. Sometimes the risk turned out poorly because the essay writer botched it and sometimes it turned out poorly because of some externality. In either case, as long as you have something meaningful to say about the experience and its impact on you it's okay.

(Note: Be careful about taking approach when you also have a "what did you learn from a mistake" essay, especially if the risk was a bad one because of your mistake; don't worry so much if it was an externality.)


Risk essays are hard to write well and may require some external guidance. If you would like expert help on your risk essay or other elements of your application, please contact me at [email protected] to learn about how Kaplan Admissions Consulting can significantly increase your your chance of getting into the programs of your choice.