A good GMAT score, excellent CGPA and valuable work experience, will count for nothing, if one cannot write a compelling statement of purpose and convince the B-school that he/she truly deserves an admission. Yet most of the applicants take this part very casually and don’t give it enough time and importance.

This article highlights key aspects that you should keep in mind while writing essays

1. Enough Time:
   2-3 days are not sufficient to write good B-school essays. You need to do a lot of introspection for every question, write well-crafted essays and get them reviewed by at least 2-3 people before submitting. You may need some more time to work on inputs given by the reviewers. This entire process would require at least a month. So plan according and don’t procrastinate till the last week.
2. Personal Touch:
   You should convince the school that they should give YOU the admission because YOU have done something in YOUR life so far and doing MBA from that school will help in achieving YOUR career goals. Hence the essays should center about you and focus on your goals, achievements and key incidents in your life. Talking about some personal incidents that led to your motivation to do an MBA or made you take a defining step in your life will help in bringing that personal tone. You cannot afford to write impersonal essays that simply argue that MBA is a good career option and the B-school to which you are applying is world-class.
3. Clear Objective:
   You start your essay with a clear objective: What is the impression that you would like to create in the mind of reader. All the facts & figures and example that you provide should lead towards that objective.
4. Answer to the question completely
   Most essay prompts asks you several questions. So please understand the question and make sure that your response clearly answers all the questions asked.
   
   Ex: What are your short term and long term goals and how MBA from our school will help you in achieving those goals.
   
   Your response to the above prompt should answer all the questions asked (Short term goals, long term goals and how MBA will help in achieving them).
5. Demonstrate the value you bring in
   The objective of the essay is to demonstrate that you are special and can add value to the school. So even if not asked directly in any essay prompt, make sure that you highlight your strengths and demonstrate that you can be an asset to the school.
6. No spelling or grammatical errors
   There should be no spelling or grammatical errors in your essays. So check your essays yourself and also get them checked by 2-3 friends or colleagues.
   
   Use simple sentences and make it easy for the reader. Using complex sentences and complex words will not help.