The First App Is Always The Toughest

Like they say, the first app is always the toughest.  With Stern's R1 deadline approaching fast, I am busy with finalizing the essays, editing the resume, tracking my recommenders, and filling in the blanks in the forms.  Oh, and not forget, i need to mail my transcripts and essay 3.  But the most important part and obviously the toughest part is of coz: the essays.  So let me just elaborate about this a little bit. 

Stern has pretty much the typical essay question a b-school can have except for the essay 3.  Actually essay 3, the creative essay and as some people say the toughest one, was the reason that attracted me to apply for Stern.  I feel thrilled that a b-school would give applicants such an opportunity to express themselves so freely, and I had the idea for it even before I began my application for Stern.  I'll reveal a lil bit about it later ^_*

So essay 1 is a typical career goal and why MBA essay, but the way it asks "what choices have you made" made me think that I should show more motivation and more positve reflects in this essay.  Though as I now know, everyone applying for MBA is somewhat unsatisfied with their current job, it's always necessary to think positive about the experience.  Ain't no experience is bad/useless, even my 6 months in a remote city spent on a project which ended up cancelled...-.-b It also specifically asks "why MBA now".  My previous draft only answered "why MBA" part but ignored the "why now" part totally... Now I understand why adcoms stress so much on "answer the question!"

Essay 2 is tough... basically i got very limited personal experience with Stern community, except for the MBA fair and a couple of chats with Rubeo Boy.  I don't have the chance to do any campus visit, which I think is adventurous... think about moving to some place I've never been to and attend a school I've never been to... but never mind, I think(or I hope) adcom will understand less school exposure for international students.  Regarding how to contribute to Stern and what benefit to get from Stern, clearadmit suggested applicants show that they have done their homework... and I did.  But at first, it looked like I did a lot of research and just put the fact on it, which according to my b/f is a lil "fake".  Then we put out a framework and matched what Stern offers with what I truly want from the MBA, the result turned out satisfying~  ^_^

Essay 3 is easy for me as I am an amateur photographer (extremely passionate about it), so I have decided to use this perspective to introduce myself the first time I saw the question.  Actually this is how I introduce myself to a lot of new friends now.  But I only recently find out that the online apps system does not allow pdf upload, so I might need to print and mail them. 

I need to write an optional essay coz I'm not gonna submit a recommendation from the current direct supervisor who just took this role two weeks ago... I haven't found any suggestions on situation like this. But I think I'm gonna just put in 3 or 4 sentences to explain it, and convince the adcom that my current recommenders are well-qualified.  If you guys have any suggestion/experience in these kind of optional essay, pls share some advice~

I'm so glad that my first app is gradually gaining its shape.  Only a lil over two weeks to go till the deadline... after that I'm gonna meet up with my b/f in HK (Finally!!)... Hopefully I could use couple of days relaxing and shopping there, before I have to face the other four apps.