tone of essays

[adam007]

Dear Nikhil,

Can you please advise on the tone of application essays?

I was wondering whether informal speach can be moderately used? For example: would it be ok to include in an essay a sentence starting with or containing "Imagine the situation..." or "Have you ever wondered...". These are just examples, but what I'm trying to ask is whether it is ok appropriate to make an essay more direct (as if I were speaking to an AdCom consultant) or not really?

Thanks

[VP_MBA_Guru]

Hey Adam,
Thanks for the post - I dont think there is anything wrong with informal speech, as long as it is effective. I know, I know - I am stating the obvious, but in some cases, candidates spend too many words setting up a situation or taking the reader through a story and then spend less time selling their candidacy.

I think this is a great tactic for school's with longer word limits or open-ended questions (Stanford's for example). Just make sure you are not taking away valuable 'words' from answering the question AND from selling yourself.

For example, I remember a client with a military background who used this tactic successfully to help the reader understand/related to a leadership situation she faced.

Hope this helps...

NP

[adam007]

Many thanks Nikhil

[VP_MBA_Guru]

Happy to help!

Regards,

NP