UPDATE: This article was originally posted on July 6, 2018. It has been updated with new information and tips below. 

Part of the difficulty of applying for business school is figuring out how to present yourself while painting a consistent picture of your personality and achievements throughout the process.

However, if your case is different from most — perhaps you’ve got a lower-than-average GMAT score, perhaps extenuating circumstances have forced you to apply in Round 3, or perhaps you’re reapplying to business school — you will find yourself needing to discuss elements of your profile that fall outside the traditional MBA application. 

That’s where a special type of essay comes in: optional and reapplicant essays.

Done well, these essays can provide the additional context needed to give your application the edge it needs. If done poorly, your application is unlikely to move forward. 

To help you make the most of these kinds of essays, we’ve compiled our expert tips to help ensure you use these “special” essays to their full advantage. 

 

What is an optional essay and who should write one?

In the past, the optional essay section was often extremely open-ended, with questions like London Business School’s optional question “Is there any other information you believe the Admissions Committee should know about you and your application to London Business School? (this question is optional) (500 words).”

This type of question was perfect for applicants to highlight another skill, activity, or experience that they wanted to share with the admissions committee but didn’t quite manage to squeeze in anywhere else. 

How times have changed!

Not only have essay questions become shorter in general, the optional essay has become almost standardized across business schools. 

Take Kellogg’s optional essay from 2021, for example. The question asks “If needed, use this section to briefly describe any extenuating circumstances (e.g. unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, etc.)”. 

A nearly identical question is used for the optional essay prompt for most other top MBA programs, often with a limit of just 250 or 300 words.

The change in wording – and word limits – makes it clear that business schools do not want extra essays. They only want to hear about extenuating circumstances. 

Considering the fact that anything you write will add additional work for your reader – who already has a lot of material to read through for every applicant – and how important it is to precisely follow instructions, you must truly reflect on whether or not your case needs explaining in an optional essay. 

Good reasons to write optional essays include:

• A low GMAT score or poor academic performance
• Explaining your choice of recommenders
• Explaining any gaps or confusing jumps in your work experience
• Any relevant personal circumstances that have greatly influenced your application 
• How you have grown as a candidate since reapplying only if the school you are applying to does not have a dedicated reapplicant essay.

Though it’s tempting to fill every box with information about why you are a great fit for your dream school, resist this temptation and make sure, first and foremost, that you follow instructions. 

Really, though. There is no easier way to annoy the admissions committee than to flout their instructions. So make sure you really ask yourself, “Is my application truly incomplete without this information?”

Looking for example optional essays that cover a wide range of subjects? Our MBA Resource Center has dozens of successful sample essays, in addition to successful essays from countless schools, brainstorm guides, resume templates, interview mocks and answer models, and much more. Find out more about your one-stop shop for MBA application success here.

What does a “good” optional essay include?

In a word: brevity. 

In some cases, the admissions officer reviewing your file has already read over 1,000 words before getting to your optional essay. 

This means that they don’t need to read a novel about why your boss is not writing one of your letters of recommendation. 

In most cases, a simple, straightforward explanation is more than enough to get the point across. 

If you need to explain a shortcoming in your application – such as a low GMAT score – you also want to make sure to provide evidence that you are still well-suited to add value to your target school’s MBA program and show any relevant growth in the area of concern. 

For example, despite building a challenging, high-performance career in the financial markets, our client João’s quant score on the GMAT exam was lower than ideal. 

To show his score was not an accurate reflection of his abilities, he included this in his optional essay: 

“First, I would like to address my low GMAT quantitative score. Math has never been a problem for me. As such, I chose to pursue a career in the financial markets, a very quantitative industry. I have been improving my math skills, mainly in statistics and probability, for more than 10 years at university and in my career. I have also done professional courses in derivatives and risk management, and have passed through the first two stages of the CFA certification process. As a result, despite my low score, I strongly believe that I have the quantitative skills necessary to thrive in the Michigan MBA program.”

Though this is slightly on the long side for an optional essay, the candidate had ample evidence to present to offset his less-than-stellar performance. In the end, the essay was enough to earn him an admissions offer. 

Finally, be careful where you draw attention.

If your quant score on GMAT was 50 rather than an elusive, perfect 51, there is no need to explain this. More likely than not, the admissions committee member reading this optional essay will respond with an eye roll. 

As such, think carefully about where your application and/or profile may be slightly below average for the school to which you are applying and address only these issues. 

 

What is a reapplicant essay and who should write one?

Perhaps you applied to business school last year but weren’t quite able to land a spot at your dream school. 

That doesn’t mean you should give up on your business school dream! We have worked with numerous reapplicants who have secured spots at Harvard, Columbia, and other elite MBA programs only the second time around. 

As a reapplicant, however, you need to be conscious of the fact that you have a unique challenge that first-time applicants do not. First and most importantly, you must reflect on why you were not admitted the first time around. 

Though there are many factors that go into play, some of the most common reasons a candidate is dinged are: a low GMAT, a lack of clearly-defined goals, and a failure to demonstrate fit with his or her target school. 

As such, throughout your application, you must focus on showing the admissions committee how you have grown and evolved as a person and professional since your last application. 

One of the most appropriate places to do so is in your reapplicant essay. 

Let’s take a look at Columbia Business School’s prompt for reapplicants (especially critical given the fact that this is the only essay CBS allows reapplicants to submit). 

The question states:

The question is perfect in its clarity. Columbia wants you to get to the point, showing them how you have grown and what your short-term and long-term goals are. 

Though not all business schools ask the question in exactly the same way, your task is the same: show them the “new and improved you.”

Keep reading for our top tips on how to write this essay (including past successful essays) in the next section. 

 

What does a “good” reapplicant essay include?

When writing your reapplicant essay, you must keep the word “delta” in mind. 

Defined as the “an increment of a variable,” in your application, delta should be defined to mean the difference between old you and new you. 

Though there are many ways to demonstrate “delta,” some of the most effective in a reapplicant essay include:

• A higher GMAT score
• Clarified or refined goals
• Additional leadership or managerial responsibilities at work
• Additional international experience
• New or additional community service experiences
• Any other changes or improvements that will enhance your ability to contribute to the diversity of an elite MBA classroom

Let’s take our client Pedro for example.

The year before putting the Ellin Lolis Advantage to work for him, he had submitted an application to Columbia Business School that, among its greatest flaws, did not state coherent goals. Though Pedro had built a strong finance career, he focused his post-MBA goals in his first application on launching an art gallery. 

For the admissions committee, it was a bit too much of a jump, and Pedro was dinged without an interview. 

After coming to us and critically reviewing his application, we developed a new line of attack that leveraged his company’s desire to sponsor his MBA and give him a leading role in expanding the company’s regional presence.

Furthermore, we focused on showing how he had sought to grow as a leader both at work and in the community to really reinforce the value he could bring to Columbia. 

Here’s how he did that:

“Not being admitted to the Columbia MBA was a big failure for me, though I can now see it was important, as it helped me realize what passion to follow, where I needed to improve, and what I needed to do to accomplish these things. Thus, I took steps to come closer to reaching my goals. 

After going through a process of self-reflection and talking to many people, including the president of BANK, I realized that the bank has many opportunities for development, and not just in Brazil. BANK’s expansion throughout Latin America will require home-grown talent that is able to implement our DNA in a way that is compatible with local cultures and business practices. I want to play an important role in this process in two different ways. By acting as a connector, I will establish relationships with local players and open new markets to Brazilian companies. By building an adequate organizational structure, I will help prepare and manage our future leaders in this task. 

Having decided on my goals, I started working on my own development. Professionally, I improved my negotiation skills when helping clients avoid default in the current economic environment. Although I still don’t directly manage people, I formally took action in the bank’s institutional recruiting and coaching of interns. Additionally, I engaged in two external consulting projects to restructure the bank’s commercial department. These projects gave me greater insight into the areas of general management and organizational planning. 

Although I decided not to pursue the arts as a career, it remains a strong passion of mine. Therefore, I have continued to run and improve my volunteer organization “Integrarte,” which takes underprivileged children to museums to increase their interaction with art. Recently, I have taken steps to add an arts education component to the initiative and have been developing a methodology to scale the project with NGOs using a feasible, low-cost model. I believe that combining business skills with an inner passion for arts can help me continue to share this passion and impact others. 

Now that I am sure where I am going, the Columbia MBA is even more essential to enable my growth. I am looking forward to hearing Carlos Brito talk about the challenges of transforming a local company into a global giant. Also, attending classes such as “The Future of Financial Services” and “Napoleon’s Glance” will help me better understand the financial industry and improve my decision-making skills for the future. Outside of the classroom, I am excited to participate in the Arts and Culture Club and am interested in organizing a trip to Inhotim in Brazil to explore the combination of arts and social empowerment. 

Lastly, I also expanded my network of contacts, getting in touch with CBS alumni and current students, such as XXXX (Class of ‘XX), a close friend of mine. This enabled me to get to know the school even better and has only reinforced that Columbia is the best possible fit for my post-MBA goals. It is the only school that provides the combination of learning specific concepts of finance from top-level faculty and contact with people from all around the globe in a city where the cultural and professional possibilities are truly limitless.”

In your own reapplicant essay, you should similarly discuss how you have overcome any weak spots in your application and provide evidence that reinforces your strong interest in your target MBA program. 

Furthermore, if you have visited the school since you last applied, you may want to include a mention of how this visit shaped your view of the school and what it offers. Though we don’t feel that simply adding, “I visited campus earlier this year,” adds much value, showing the school the insights that you gleaned from attending classes and interacting with students – and how these insights reinforced that the school is the best fit for you – can definitely make your reapplicant essay more compelling. 

With those elements in place, you will be well on your way to reaching your long-awaited goal of attending an elite business school. 

 

Ask for an outsider’s perspective

Self-reflection of any type is challenging. 

It can be a complex task to identify weaknesses in your profile – reapplicant or not – and then develop a surgically precise strategy to address these weak spots and how you’ve worked to overcome them in your application. 

If you’re not sure exactly how to do this, we’d be happy to help you make this critical decision. 

At Ellin Lolis Consulting, we pride ourselves on offering personalized solutions to ensure you tell your best story. Perhaps that’s why we have a 98.9% success rate in placing comprehensive consulting clients in top business schools around the world. 

As our client – and successful CBS reapplicant – Pedro Kuczynski said, “In a nutshell, Ellin Lolis Consulting is the X factor in preparing for any MBA.”

Want to put the Ellin Lolis Advantage to work for your admissions essays? Find out more about our team of expert MBA essay editors here.