MBA Essay Guide 2025-2026: The Writing Process

We know that as you start reviewing the school-specific MB essay and short answer prompts, you’ll be tempted to sit down and start writing. Fight this urge. Instead, we encourage you to follow a writing process for each prompt. Investing time in the pre-writing stages will result in a stronger essay and a better return on your time. 

Below is a writing process that we recommend. We encourage you to start early so that you have time to work through this iterative process and create your most compelling work. 

Begin with a brainstorm. Do not underestimate the importance of this step. Document your experiences, positive and negative, that prompted an evolution in your perspective—you know, those “ah-ha!” moments without which you would be a different student, professional, and/or person today. Then, record those experiences that will show the reader your abilities in innovation (critical/creative thinking and problem solving), leadership, and teamwork, as well as those experiences that reinforced your interest in business school. Capture as many details as possible, paying particular attention to what you thought, felt, said, and did in each situation. Your focus should be on adult experiences (from the start of college and later), though stories from your youth could comprise up to 20 percent of this brainstorm.

During your brainstorm, don’t limit yourself by worrying about a cohesive narrative, the quality of your writing, and/or the number/length of your stories. Simply focus on collecting those situations that helped to guide your path to this point and impacted your decision to apply to the MBA program.

Check out our post on creating a brainstorming document.

Craft an outline. Select the key stories you will use to anchor your narratives. Remember that you’ll use your essays to go deep into experiences that demonstrate the traits you want to emphasize. 

Write. Keep in mind that you must be showing, not telling the reader who you are. In contrast to your resume, which provides a general overview of your experiences, your essay responses should go deep into a story that allows the reader to come to their own conclusions about some of your character traits and abilities. Highlight how you’ve struggled, triumphed, learned, and how these experiences have developed you into the person you are now.

Review. Revise. Repeat. Confirm your word count and read your essay aloud noting where you stumble. Make revisions as necessary. Once it reads smoothly, set it down and walk away for at least 24 hours. Then re-read it. Is it you? Is it personal and authentic? You want the reader to see the real person behind the applicant number. While we caution against “oversharing,” being appropriately vulnerable will create connection. 

Common Secondary Essay Topics: School Specific

This week on the blog we’re covering common secondary essay topics. Stay tuned for a new topic each day along with pointers on how to make the most of your response.

Why our school?

This is a place to mention courses you're excited to take, potential mentors you'd seek out, clubs you'd join, what the school's hospital affiliations and research opportunities mean to you, etc. And you want to share how those offerings are relevant to your past experiences and/or passions. If you've spent the last two years volunteering at a free clinic and doing community health outreach and the school has a brand-new mobile clinic serving the unhoused, you want to be working on it. If you aim to become an OB/GYN and Professor So-And-So just published a 10-year study on geriatric pregnancy, you want her as a mentor and to become involved in her current research.

You also might share how the school's location will set you up for the kind of career you want. Say, for example, the school is in a city, and you ultimately want to practice in an urban area. If true, you could take your reasoning one step further, saying that you want to work in the school's city or state when you're a physician. State schools love applicants who are committed to practicing in their state post-residency.

Mentioning that you find other aspects of the town or city appealing or that it is located near friends and relatives is also relevant here. Schools want to know if you have a local support system.

Similar Q: Tell us about your special interest in the campus you selected.

If a school has multiple campuses, à la The Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, they will likely ask you to choose a favorite. Again, you should share your interest in the local clinical opportunities and how the campus location relates to your career aspirations. A personal affinity for a larger or smaller city or rural campus is noteworthy too.

Common Secondary Essay Topics: Key Physician Attributes

This week on the blog we’re covering common secondary essay topics. Stay tuned for a new topic each day along with pointers on how to make the most of your response.

What are the most important attributes a physician should possess?

Which one do you embody? This question is self-explanatory, but again, don't just tell, show. Share a story (or, better yet, more than one instance) where you exemplified an attribute that means a lot to you.

Describe a time where you worked on a team.

Teamwork is a huge part of working in medicine, so make this example count. Choose the best anecdote from your Teamwork and Collaboration Bucket in your brainstorm. Be detailed: What was your team's goal? What problem did you solve together? If the team was small, include everyone's first name. (It shows that you valued these people as collaborators.) What did each of them bring to the table? How did you delegate tasks? When did you choose to lead and when did you choose to follow? Did a conflict arise? How did you solve it? If you didn't, is there anything you would do differently if faced with that situation today?

Common Secondary Essay Topics: Adversity and Failure

This week on the blog we’re covering common secondary essay topics. Stay tuned for a new topic each day along with pointers on how to make the most of your response.

Tell us about a time you faced adversity.

This prompt can be a trap because it tempts you to be very negative. Obviously, you don't have to be all sunshine and smiles in your essay about facing adversity. But be careful not to paint yourself as pitiable or overly criticize others, even those who deserve it—let their actions speak for themselves. Present the event in detail, but you want about 80% of your answer to focus on the actions you took, lessons you learned, and how you grew through facing adversity. How did this incident affect your long-term view of something? How will it affect your future actions? How will having navigated this experience make you a better healthcare provider?

The tone to strike and structure to follow applies to other common questions, such as, "Describe a conflict you've had. How did you resolve it?" and "Reflect on a time when you had to show resilience.”

Tell us about a time you failed.

Talking about a failure or weakness can make you feel vulnerable—good. To get a little Brené Brown: Vulnerability leads to bravery. When you share a failure, you want to spend about 20% of your answer explaining what happened and 80% on what you learned and what you've done since to improve. Lastly, how are you feeling now? Hit these beats: Situation. Action. Result. You don't need to seem ever-resilient and impervious to future failure, just like you've grown.

Common Secondary Essay Topics: Mission Alignment

This week on the blog we’re covering common secondary essay topics. Stay tuned for a new topic each day along with pointers on how to make the most of your response.

What disparities in health will you try to address as a medical student and physician?

A question about health disparities and inequity could be direct like this or the topics could come up in a question about your alignment with a program's mission statement. Many schools' statements tout their commitment to addressing these issues. There are plenty of health disparities to write about; explain why you're passionate about one or two and show your knowledge of them, preferably through previous experiences. Share the steps you have already taken regarding inequities and plot out the steps you plan on taking in the future.

We had a client who went to college where Black maternal healthcare was ranked the worst in the country. While this was attributable to multiple factors, physician bias certainly played a role, she wrote. After college, she participated in several unconscious bias trainings. Discussing implicit bias raised her awareness of how dangerous it is in a healthcare setting and caused her to pause and consider where beliefs she had originated. She's going to take that practice with her throughout her career. And on campus and in her future practice, she plans to organize implicit bias trainings.

What about our mission statement resonates with you? How do or will you embody it?

A version of this question might be phrased in several long-winded ways (you'll see what we mean), but this is what they are all asking. Mission alignment matters to schools. They want to know that you share their values and will be a proactive member of their community.

Schools often hit similar themes: innovation, collaboration, and servant leadership. Health equity and social justice also frequently appear in mission statements. (Some schools have a separate question related to those topics.) Even if you're not drafting this answer yet, think about experiences you've had that involve those themes and jot down some notes. Hit up your brainstorm and find the times where you utilized critical thinking. When were you a leader? How have you been involved in social justice or what's a critical topic that you are making an effort to learn more about?

If a question like this isn't in a school's Secondaries mix, you should be looking to reflect the mission statement back to the school in your other essay responses. For example, if a school especially values collegiality, you might include a story about how you collaborated on a class project in one of your answers. (This is another example of show don't tell.)

While you should be researching schools individually to learn other specifics, AAMC has a tremendously convenient document that rounds up all allopathic schools' mission statements in one place.

Law School Early Decision: The Pros and Cons

Considering an early decision law school application? You’ve come to the right place. We’ve summarized the pros and cons to applying early decision below:  

Pros

• Applying early decision will place you in a smaller “yield protection” applicant pool than applying regular decision. This can advantage you if you’re seeking to gain access to a “reach” school, as you have clearly demonstrated a commitment to the program and will definitely attend if admitted. Schools are always interested in protecting their yield. Do note that some schools grant automatic scholarships to all students admitted early decision, which increases the competitiveness of their early decision round (Northwestern and Berkley). 

• If you have a slightly lower than a school’s average GPA or LSAT score, applying early decision may help you to gain admittance to a school you may not have otherwise. 

• You will receive an expedited response—an accept, reject, or move to the regular decision pool. If you are moved into the regular decision pool, your preference for the program, shown through your initial early decision application, may benefit you as schools are looking for applicants who will accept their admission offers. 

Cons

• Early decision deadlines come… early. So you will need to finalize all of your application materials, which includes recommendations and test scores, earlier. For most early decision deadlines, you’ll need to complete the LSAT/GRE by October (confirm the deadlines on the school admissions page). 

• By committing to the law school, you are giving up your ability to negotiate for scholarships. In fact, we recommend that you do not apply early decision if financial assistance is an important factor for you. This is unless you are applying to one of the programs (Northwestern Pritzker or Berkeley) that award assistance to all early decision admittances, and you are comfortable with that financial award. 

• You may not be able to defer your matriculation to the school, if admitted via early decision. If the option to defer is important to you, confirm with the admissions office their policy on early decision deferrals prior to submitting your application. 

• You cannot change your mind. Your admissions decision is binding (you are contractually obligated to withdraw your other applications) and you must matriculate at the school if you receive an early decision acceptance…even if you find out that you’ve been accepted to a more appealing program. 

The bottom line is that applying early decision requires a great deal of commitment on your part. While it can bolster your chances for admission in some cases, you want to be 100 percent sure that you would attend a particular program regardless of financial aid. 

Law School Early Decision: What You Need to Know

Due to the rolling admissions at most law schools, prospective law students should submit their application materials as early as possible in the admissions cycle. But, if early is good, is early decision even better? Well… it’s complicated.

Submitting an early decision application is an appealing choice. Generally, the applicant pool is smaller. Classes are still open and waiting to be filled. Admissions officers provide expedited decisions, which can relieve a lot of stress. And, it provides the applicant a chance to demonstrate commitment and enthusiasm for the program, which can be highly beneficial. However, despite these positives, there are some complexities to consider. 

Early decision applications are (almost always) binding. If you are admitted to a law school early decision, you agree to withdraw all other applications and enroll. There is no leeway. It doesn’t matter if you were also accepted to the dream school that you thought you’d never get into or if your financing falls through and you find yourself in need of merit-based scholarship money. And, for the most part, if an applicant applies early-decision they forego the possibility of receiving any scholarships.  This is because they have already agreed to attend if admitted.  The school doesn’t have to woo them with money. 

Does it still sound like early decision may be right for you? Be sure to check out our tomorrow’s post , where we’ll summarize the pros and cons of submitting an early decision application.

Writing Tip: See Feelings as Information

This week on the blog we’re providing you with a to-do list for your personal statement and school-specific essays. Keep these tips in mind throughout your writing process.

See feelings as information. If you can state or allude to how an experience made you feel, you will paint a dynamic picture for the admissions team. You can include "negative" emotions like fear but also positive ones like joy, camaraderie, and pride.

We don't believe in self-aggrandizing but don't self-deprecate either. We think the "pride"-vibe you're aiming for is best explained by organizational psychologist and author Adam Grant: "Downplaying your achievements is not the antidote to appearing arrogant. Humility is acknowledging your weaknesses, not denying your strengths. Generosity is elevating others, not diminishing yourself. Owning your success doesn't make you a narcissist—it makes you a role model.”

(Bonus!) Understand that you will rewrite most things. Embrace it. Know now that having to write several drafts is not a failure. It is a way to success.

Writing Tip: Don't Shy Away From Fear

This week on the blog we’re providing you with a to-do list for your personal statement and school-specific essays. Keep these tips in mind throughout your writing process.

Show fear when it's applicable. Similarly, the "show no fear" image people often want to flaunt in their applications doesn't seem authentic because it isn't. You have many terrific qualities; being 100% fearless isn't one of them. You've experienced fear, whether it was about not finishing your Honors thesis on time or confronting a colleague about a sexist comment. Good. Fear helps you assess a situation, prepare yourself to address it properly, and take (sometimes very cautious) action. Addressing a fear can be quite humbling—it's another way to show vulnerability in your application. And fear can be a pathway to courage.

Writing Tip: Show Self-Awareness

This week on the blog we’re providing you with a to-do list for your personal statement and school-specific essays. Keep these tips in mind throughout your writing process.

Show that you're self-aware. Many of our clients shy away from sharing examples of their weaknesses or times they've made mistakes in their Personal Statement. But replaying a fumble is an opportunity to then share actions you took to remedy a situation and lessons you learned. That said, not every issue you present must be one that you've fully resolved. For example, say you're great at presenting ideas on paper but you have a hard time speaking up in professional settings. Likely, one beautiful, clarifying moment didn't change that forever. That's something you work on over a long period. You may share an anecdote where you spoke well in front of an intimidating group and how you prepared to do it. Then say how you will continue improving your verbal communication skills and how you plan to exercise that muscle regularly in the future. That's a stronger, more realistic take than "I will never have this problem again!”

Writing Tip: Remember what Resonates

This week on the blog we’re providing you with a to-do list for your personal statement and school-specific essays. Keep these tips in mind throughout your writing process.

Remember what resonates most with reviewers: Passion. Depth of Impact. Potential. We probably don't need to explain passion to you. Depth of impact means expressing how much an experience and your actions during it changed things within you and/or outside of you. Potential is you exemplifying one or more qualities that medical, law, or business schools admire: Leadership, collaboration, critical thinking, etc. You know these from your brainstorm “buckets."

Writing Tip: Emphasize Past Experiences

This week on the blog we’re providing you with a to-do list for your personal statement and school-specific essays. Keep these tips in mind throughout your writing process.

Emphasize past experiences. Focus on what you've done more than on what you want to do. So many of our clients think their essays should exclusively be about their fantasy future. But this isn't a magic carpet ride. Your rug must be on the ground. What you have accomplished and learned is the only proof that you are committed to the study and practice of medicine, law, or business. (Take note of that phrase because you should be reinforcing this commitment throughout your application.) 

MBA Application Tips—Letters of Recommendation (Part 3)

If done right, a letter of recommendation can reinforce and expand upon key themes presented in other application components like your resume, essays, and short answers. This week on the blog we’re reviewing some actions to take to make sure that happens.

Frequently Asked Questions

I have a great relationship with my college advisor. Would it be appropriate to use her as a recommender?

For entry into business school, it is best to ask supervisors from your full-time post-baccalaureate professional experiences.

What if I don’t feel comfortable telling my direct supervisor I am submitting applications to business school?

While it is preferred to have a recommendation from a current direct supervisor, it may not always be an option and schools understand. Be sure to address the situation in the optional essay; and ask a former boss and/or a professional colleague who is superior to you on an org chart to write a letter. Emphasize the positives of having this person write your recommendation too. Tell them your chosen recommender can speak specifically to your actions on a valuable project. Or that you worked under your ex-boss for a lot longer than your current one and felt they could give a thorough take on your strengths.

What if my recommender asks me, the applicant, to write the letter? 

Your supervisor might say, "I'm too busy; you write it, and I'll sign it." If a potential recommender puts you in a tough spot and only agrees to submit a letter that you’ve written, it is best to move on. It is often obvious to schools when an applicant has crafted the copy because of similarities in voice to other application components. 

MBA Application Tips—Letters of Recommendation (Part 2)

If done right, a letter of recommendation can reinforce and expand upon key themes presented in other application components like your resume, essays, and short answers. This week on the blog we’re reviewing some actions to take to make sure that happens.

Set Your Recommenders Up for Success

Give your recommenders enough time to meet your request. We suggest at least eight weeks prior to submission. It is also helpful to give each one a short portfolio of information, which should include: 

• School names, recommendation questions, and submission date(s)

• Method for recommendation submission (e.g., online via link)

• Background information (academic, professional) and your future career goals

• Illustrative anecdotes from your work with this recommender, with particular emphasis on the following topics: varied and growing work responsibilities, performance at a high level (as judged by your project managers and peers) in a team environment, personal characteristics you want to highlight (e.g., determination, intelligence, creativity and/or leadership), recognition/awards, accomplishments, and your ability to grow from constructive criticism

• (Optional) Illustrative anecdotes from your extracurricular/personal life that will allow your recommender to show your abilities in community-building, and present you as a well-rounded, caring, approachable, and motivated person who would contribute to the MBA community

The weakest type of letter is one that is too general—that lists your qualities but doesn't show them. The illustrative stories you provide (and you can do this in a bulleted list) should be unique for each recommender and should highlight the qualities you want the recommender to expand upon. These inputs will allow you to subtly influence the recommenders’ output and ensure the recommendation letters include concrete and varied examples that reinforce your existing application content. 

MBA Application Tips—Letters of Recommendation (Part 1)

Let's be real: Recommendation letters are not going to be what makes or breaks your MBA applications. Most don’t differentiate prospective students from one another in the minds of admissions committees. Ninety-nine percent of the time, they are filled with glowing reviews of an applicant’s leadership and/or innovation abilities and potential. No applicant asks a supervisor to write them a letter if there is any question the content of the letter could cast doubt on their candidacy.

But, if done right, a letter of recommendation can reinforce and expand upon key themes presented in other application components like your resume, essays, and short answers. Here are some actions to take to make sure that happens.

Select the Best Recommenders

Most schools require two letters of recommendation from supervisors who have overseen your work in full-time post-baccalaureate employment. Of course, you will want to choose those you know will sing your praises, but also who can back up their claims on your abilities in the areas such as innovation, leadership, and teamwork with specific examples. The writers of your recommendation letters should know you well. Don’t ask the CEO you’ve seen in the elevator a few times because you think his title will impress admissions committees. Save requests to very senior colleagues with significant influence at a specific school (say, they're donors or members of the board) for letters of support, which they can send separate from your application to the Dean of the business school. 

Take a Strategic Viewpoint

If one of your essays is anchored in a story that shows the reader your critical thinking and problem-solving aptitude on a significant project, one of your recommenders could provide additional insight on this project in their letter. And, if this first letter of recommendation further emphasizes your innovation potential, the second should focus on other qualities, such as your ability to thrive in a collaborative environment. Furthermore, if you see gaps in your application, you may want to speak with one of your recommenders who could address them in his or her letter and share how you’ve grown from specific challenges.  

Guidelines for Adding Hobbies to Your AMCAS Application

Hobbies. They are not a make or break component of the medical school (and later, residency) application, but they are an opportunity to provide the admissions committee with a view of the person beyond the test scores. Hobbies are also an effective way to demonstrate how you will add to the diversity of the incoming class, showcase qualities you will need as a medical student/physician, and/or provide insight into how you may relieve stress during medical school. 

Within the AMCAS application, hobbies belong in the Work & Activities section under the extracurriculars category. Applicants can provide up to four experiences under each category type, with a 700 character (with spaces) count, unless the experience is designated “most meaningful” (requires an additional 1,325 characters with spaces). 

Below are our guidelines for adding hobbies to your AMCAS application:

• Be current. If you played the trumpet in the high school band, but haven’t picked it up since then, consider what hobbies are more relevant to your life now. What do you turn to for fun, and what do you see yourself doing for stress relief in medical school?

• Be specific in your description. Provide a sense of how often, and how long you have been pursuing the hobby, as well as what the hobby entails. It’s great that you love to read, do yoga, and travel, but so do many others. In what unique ways have you engaged with your interests? Did you launch a monthly book club for discussing the NYT best sellers? Write book reviews for the school paper? Did you gain a yoga teaching certification or take part in a unique yoga retreat? Do you travel to particular destinations or participate in medical experiences abroad?

• State how your hobby has impacted your personal growth. Did an experience within your hobby contribute to a change in your perspective or influence your decision to apply to medical school? What attributes have you developed through your hobby that will benefit you as a medical student and physician (resilience, effective communication and collaboration skills, empathy, the ability to thrive in a diverse environment, etc.)? 

• When possible, provide an experience or milestone that differentiates your involvement in the hobby. Many people play an instrument, but fewer start a quartet or play in the university band. Many people enjoy running or fitness, fewer run the NY marathon to support a favorite cause/organization or start a running club. Providing the specific way(s) that you’ve engaged with your hobby will demonstrate to the admissions committee what you may offer to your incoming class. 

Your Medical School Application: Trust the (Writing) Process

We know that as the Secondary prompts start coming in, you’ll be tempted to sit down and start writing. Fight this urge. Instead, we encourage you to follow a writing process for each new prompt that comes in. Investing time in the pre-writing stages will result in a stronger essay and a better return on your time. 

Below is a writing process that we recommend. You will want to return your responses within two weeks of receipt, so start early to give yourself enough time to work through this iterative process and create your most compelling work. 

Begin with a brainstorm. Do not underestimate the importance of this step. If you have not yet created your brainstorm document, it’s not too late. This document will be immensely useful for writing Secondaries (and later, for interview prep!). 

Document your experiences, positive and negative, that prompted an evolution in your perspective—you know, those “ah-ha!” moments without which you would be a different student and/or person today. Then, record those experiences that will show the reader your abilities in critical thinking and problem solving, leadership, teamwork/collaboration, and empathy/connection, as well as those experiences that reinforced your interest in medical school. Capture as many details as possible, paying particular attention to what you thought, felt, said, and did in each situation. Your focus should be on adult experiences (from the start of college and later), though stories from your youth could comprise up to 20 percent of this brainstorm.

During your brainstorm, don’t limit yourself by worrying about a cohesive narrative, the quality of your writing, and/or the number/length of your stories. Simply focus on collecting those situations that helped to guide your path to this point and impacted your decision to apply to medical school.

Craft an outline. Select the key stories you will use to anchor your narratives. Remember that you’ll use your essays to go deep into experiences that demonstrate the traits you want to emphasize. Consider also your essay’s structure and how you can tell your stories in a way that will capture and hold the reader’s attention. 

Write. Keep in mind that you must be showing, not telling the reader who you are. In contrast to your Work and Activities section, which provides an overview of your experiences, your Secondary Essay responses should go deep into a story that allows the reader to come to their own conclusions about some of your character traits and abilities. Highlight how you’ve struggled, triumphed, learned, and how these experiences have developed you into the person you are now. Remember that what you’ve done and accomplished in the past is how you will prove to the admissions committee that you will be able to accomplish your future goals. 

Review. Revise. Repeat. Confirm your word count and read your essay aloud noting where you stumble. Make revisions as necessary. Once it reads smoothly, set it down and walk away for at least 24 hours. Then re-read it. Is it you? Is it personal and authentic? You want the reader to see the real person behind the applicant number. While we caution against “oversharing,” being appropriately vulnerable will create connection.

The MBA Application: A Results-Driven Resume (Part 2)

Keep the following tips in mind as you craft your resume: 

Focus on results. We can’t emphasize this enough. Make use of active verbs to showcase your contributions. And, where possible, provide hard numbers that exhibit the results you’ve achieved and the impact you’ve made. 

Keep it relevant. Your resume should only include experiences from the start of college onward, and should showcase your abilities in innovation, leadership, and teamwork. 

Review the Guidance. Some MBA programs instruct you to “submit a resume,” while others such as MIT Sloan or UPenn Wharton, provide specifications for your submission. Review the school’s admissions page to confirm any instruction on page limits, font, and format. 

If the school does not provide formatting guidance, you should keep it simple. Opt for left-justified text in an easy-to-read font—we prefer Garamond—sized between 10 and 12. Additionally, while it may be customary in some cultures to add a headshot to the resume, this is not recommended for U.S.-based MBA programs. 

Use proper grammar. Even the best writers can get worked up about creating resume text. Don’t overthink it. Use proper punctuation and the appropriate tense (present for current activities, past for past activities). Read each line aloud and make sure that it flows smoothly. Do not lean on corporate jargon, rather you will want to ensure that you explain what you did and your results in a way that a fellow MBA classmate in a different field would understand. 

The MBA Application: A Results-Driven Resume (Part 1)

A key piece of the MBA application is a resume. It should showcase the breadth of your experiences and accomplishments. But remember, it should not merely communicate what you did in each role and extracurricular endeavor; each entry should explore WHY what you did and accomplished was so important to you and/or your team and/or the organization as a whole. What results did you achieve?  What impact did you have?  What did you learn?

MBA resumes should include the following components and should be no longer than one page:

1. Education. List all degrees and include a bulleted list in the Education section of internships and extracurricular involvements you participated in while in college. 

2. Work Experience. Using results-oriented bullets, show your progression in responsibility throughout your career. Elaborate on the impact you’ve had and/or lessons you’ve learned. Note also any awards and/or honors and/or significant recognition that you have received.

3. Additional Information. This section can include significant extracurricular and charitable involvements you’ve participated in, languages you speak, as well as noteworthy skills, certifications, and memberships.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing Your Personal Statement (Part 5)

In this blog series, we’ll be highlighting some of the most common mistakes we see applicants make as they approach the Personal Statement. Try your best to avoid them.

Having too many readers: Having too many readers review your Personal Statement is a common mistake. If you're an Apply Point client, consider asking two people besides your two Apply Point advisors (who work as a team) to read your essays. If you're not working with a consultant, you could ask up to four people to read your work but make that the maximum just so you won't be overwhelmed by input.

This is certainly not us saying that you shouldn't have any readers at all. You want eyes or ears on this, especially if they're attached to someone you respect who knows you well. In fact, the top question you should ask them is: "Does this sound like me?" Friends, family members, or a mentor can confirm if your essay gets your personality and best qualities across. That said, send them the edited, polished draft rather than your raw first draft. This way their suggestions and questions won't psych you out because you already have a good idea of what you want to present in your statement.

One more note on having too many readers: Never post your essay in an online forum, such as Reddit. Sharing thoughts and advice on the overall application process online with other prospective students is great, but if you post your essay, you'll have too many strangers giving input and you’ll be vulnerable to plagiarizers. 

If you missed Part 1, Click here.

If you missed Part 2, Click here.

If you missed Part 3, Click here.

If you missed Part 4, Click here.