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Clarissa is currently accepting projects.
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I am great at helping people to dig down into their stories to make them vivid and memorable. Based on your profile I can help you develop a strategy to highlight things that the adcom may question - if you have an engineering background we might want to highlight your people skills etc. I am an excellent writer both from a stylistic and technical point of view (top 1% on Verbal GMAT). A good app is the meeting of 1. basic academic and professional criteria (grades, GMAT, job) and 2. pertinent examples of your life/professional experiences. My personal take is that given adequate 1 criteria you can write your way in or out of a mba programme.
Blog Posts from Clarissa
Guidelines for App. 2009-2010 / Class of 2011
Application 2009-2010 / Class of 2012
Sloan Adcom: 'We are interested in learning more about you and how you work, think, and act. For each essay, please provide a brief overview of the situation followed by a detailed description of your response. Please limit the experiences you discuss to those which have occurred in the past three years.
In each of the essays please describe in detail what you thought, felt, said, and did.'
In terms of detailing your response the adcom, per their instructions, is interested in hearing about what you thought, felt said and did. Let's try to break that down in true, rule of thumb yet highly scientific nerd fashion (not that I am a nerd....)
20% set up the situation
20% detail what you felt : This is your gut reaction, overwhelming primordial instinct about the situation. Feeling is not a logical process. Feeling is instantaneous, and yet feelings can evolve over time as a situation evolves. (see section below on expressing feelings) note: Try to be specific rather than general about how you feel. Consistently using only one or two words to say how you are feeling, such as bad or upset, is too vague and general. What kind of bad or upset? (irritated, mad, anxious, afraid, sad, hurt, lonely, etc
20% detail what you thought : What were your inner, rational thoughts about another person, yourself or a situation? What you thought will not necessarily be what you do, i.e. you may think that it is a mistake to pursue project X, yet for various reasons your team may pursue it...etc. The adcom is interested in knowing your personal take on the situation.
20% detail what you said
20% detail what you did
Past three years: Several applicants last year asked me strictly one should abide by the three year rule. I am not on the adcom so it is hard to say. I know that I used one story in my essays which was more than 3 years old, that being said, especially if you are under 25 years of age, I would try to keep my stories within the last three years.
- Cover Letter : Prepare a cover letter (up to 500 words) seeking a place in the MIT Sloan MBA Program. Describe your accomplishments and include an example of how you had an impact on a group or organization. Your letter should conform to standard business correspondence and be addressed to Mr. Rod Garcia, Director of MBA Admissions.
- Essay 1: Please describe a time when you went beyond what was defined, expected, established, or popular. (500 words or less, limited to one page)
- Essay 2: Please describe a time when you coached, trained, or mentored a person or group. (500 words or less, limited to one page)
- Essay 3: Please describe a time when you took responsibility for achieving an objective. (500 words or less, limited to one page)
Application 2008-2009 / Class of 2011
- Cover Letter
- Essay 1: Please tell us about a challenging interaction you had with a person or group. (500 words or less, limited to one page)
- Essay 2: Please tell us about a time when you defended your idea. (500 words or less, limited to one page)
- Essay 3: Please tell us about a time when you executed a plan. (500 words or less, limited to one page)
- Essay 4: Please tell the Admissions Committee whatever else you would like us to know. (250 words or less, limited to one page)
How to
Express Difficult Feelings (from http://www.drnadig.com/feelings.htm)
Also check out the Feelings Word List: http://www.drnadig.com/feelings_list.htmFeelings Versus Thoughts and Beliefs
Feelings and thoughts are different, but also are one and the same. They are like the head and tail of a coin. We react to events with both thoughts and feelings. Feelings are emotions, and sensations, and they are different from thoughts, beliefs, interpretations, and convictions. When difficult feelings are expressed, the sharp edges are dulled, and it is easier to release or let go of the bad feeling. If we only express our beliefs about the event and not the feelings, the bad feelings linger and are often harder to release. Whenever someone says, "I feel that..." the person is about to express a belief, not a feeling.
Guidelines For Expressing Feelings
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Try to be specific rather than general about how you feel. Consistently using only one or two words to say how you are feeling, such as bad or upset, is too vague and general. What kind of bad or upset? (irritated, mad, anxious, afraid, sad, hurt, lonely, etc.). |
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Specify the degree of the feelings, and you will reduce the chances of being misunderstood. For example, some people may think when you say, "I am angry" means you are extremely angry when you actually mean a "little irritated". |
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When expressing anger or irritation, first describe the specific behavior you don’t like, then your feelings. This helps to prevent the other person from becoming immediately defensive or intimidated when they first hear "I am angry with you", and they could miss the message. |
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If you have mixed feelings, say so, and express each feeling and
explain what each feeling is about. For example: "I have mixed
feelings about what you just did. I am glad and thankful that you
helped me, but I didn’t like the comment about being stupid. It was
disrespectful and unnecessary and I found it irritating". |
Techniques
for Expressing Feelings
The two following - I feel statements
and I messages will help you:
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Express feelings productively. |
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Respectfully confront someone when you are bothered by his or her behaviour. |
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Express difficult feelings without attacking the self-esteem of the person. |
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Clarify for you and the other person precisely what you feel. |
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Prevent feelings from building up and festering into a bigger problem. |
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Communicate difficult feelings in a manner that minimizes the other person’s need to become defensive, and increases the likelihood that the person will listen. |
When you first start using these techniques they will be cumbersome and awkward to apply, and not very useful if you only know them as techniques. However, if you practice these techniques and turn them into skills, it will be easy for you to express difficult feelings in a manner that is productive and respectful. Which of the two methods you use for expressing your feelings should depend on your goal, the importance or difficulty of your feelings and the situation.
- I feel statements are used in situations that are clear and fairly simple, when you what to express yourself and avoid a build-up of feelings without attacking or hurting the self-esteem of the other.
- I messages are used in more complex situations to clarify for yourself and the other person just what you are feeling when a) you have difficult negative feelings, b) you confront someone and want them to change their behaviour, and c) it is very sensitive and important that the other person accurately understand.
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"I felt embarrassed when you told our friends how we are pinching pennies." |
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"I liked it when you helped with the dishes without being asked." |
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"I feel hurt and am disappointed that you forgot our anniversary". |
I
Messages
It is called an I message because the focus is on you, and the message is about yourself. This is in contrast to a You message which focuses on and gives a message about the other person. When using I messages you take responsibility for your own feelings, rather than accusing the other person of making you feel a certain way. A You message does not communicate a feeling, but a belief about the other person. The essence of an I message is "I have a problem", while the essence of a You message is "You have a problem".
There are four parts to an I message:
- When ... Describe the person’s behaviour you are reacting to in an objective, non-blameful, and non-judgmental manner.
- The effects are ... Describe the concrete or tangible effects of that behaviour. (This is the most important part for the other person to understand - your reaction.)
- I feel ... Say how you feel. (This is the most important part to prevent a build-up of feelings.)
- I’d prefer ... Tell the person what you want or what you prefer they do. You can omit this part if it is obvious.
The order in which you express these parts is usually not important. Here are some examples:
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" When you take company time for your personal affairs and then don’t have time to finish the urgent work I give you, I get furious. I want you to finish the company’s work before you work on your personal affairs." |
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"I lose my concentration when you come in to ask a question, and I don’t like it. Please don’t interrupt me when I am working unless it is urgent." |
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"It is very hard for me to keep our place neat and clean when you leave your clothes and other stuff laying around. It creates a lot more work for me and it takes a lot longer, and I get resentful about it. I’d prefer that you put your clothes away and put your trash in the basket." |
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"I resent it when your flirting with the women keeps you from having time for your work, because it means more work for me." |
Common
Mistakes
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Not expressing a feeling at all, expressing a belief or judgment. |
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Sending a disguised You message. |
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Only expressing negative feelings. |
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The nonverbal body language contradicting the words. For example, smiling when irritated. |
Practice these techniques and turn them into useful skills. Make it easy for yourself to spontaneously express difficult feelings in a manner that is productive and respectful.
the mini-Napoleon in us all and MIT Sloan Essay Two
Essay 2 (application year 2008-2009 / class of 2011): Please tell us about a time when you defended your idea. (500 words or less, limited to one page)
I can't say I am a huge fan of the word 'defended' in this essay question. Defended, at first glance, seems to imply that the essay writer had a correct idea/stance that others did not see or did not agree with (because, reading between the lines, they were blockheads). It follows that the essay writer then convinces people/colleagues that he/she is right. The temptation here is to come off as a mini Napoleon who, though, most likely junior in the company, still manages to show up all the senior people. At the end the essay writer throws in a line about how they improved performance by X or saved the company Y dollars.
UGGGGH.
Replace defended with ‘promoted’ or ‘sold’ when you write this essay. It doesn’t really matter if your idea was implemented or not, was successful or not – what, in my opinion, is important here is showing (not telling) the adcom that you are capable of ‘selling’. Yes selling. Why? because an MBA student/alumni needs to not only sell himself to recruiters, but later in his career (banking, consulting etc) you need to be able to sell the firm’s services to clients.
Question: So what makes for a good promoter/salesman?
Answer: Someone who:
1. is acutely aware of other people’s feelings
2. is acutely aware of other people’s underlying motivations (for influence within the company, a need to feel valued etc.)
3. is acutely aware of the organisational politics present (which may be help/hurt your idea) but either way is still a factor
4. knows how to leverage 1-3 to promote (and maybe obtain) the results he/she is after.
That is just a little essay number two rant to get you thinking about things. I hope it proves helpful.
Clarissa
