Navigating the Optional Essay in Your MBA Application

As you're working on your MBA application essays, you'll come across a space on virtually all applications that is an optional essay. What is this space all about? Who should use it? For the majority of business schools, this is a space for you to explain any extenuating circumstances, proactively address any weaknesses, or preemptively answer any questions that you feel admissions committee readers might have after they review the rest of your application.

First, let's briefly look at what those optional essay prompts look like. If needed, use this section to briefly describe any extenuating circumstances, unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, inconsistent or questionable academic performance, etc. or if you wish to provide further information or additional context around your application to the admissions committee, please upload a brief explanation of any areas of concern in your academic history or personal history.

Hopefully, you can tell by these prompts that the admissions committee does not expect all applicants to use this space. It's truly one to be used if you feel you have something that is critical to explain or address.

When to Use the Optional Essay

What are some of those scenarios you may ask? Well, let's go over them. In my experience, one of the most frequent topics I see MBA applicants cover in the optional essay has to do with their academic performance. If you feel that your academic record is not doing you any favors in the admissions process, then it can be beneficial to go ahead and proactively address this potential concern or weakness in the optional space.

Wait, why would I bring up academic weakness and point that out to the admissions committee? Keep in mind that the admissions committee is going to see everything already, and they'll pick up on your weaknesses. They look closely at academics because they want to ensure you'll be able to succeed with their academic program. You want to control and direct that narrative rather than leaving the reader to guess or wonder. You want to guide them and highlight the details that will enable them to view your challenges or weaknesses in the most positive light possible.

So you can't hide your weaknesses. And if you have anything at all to say to explain your past or reassure an admissions committee about your future academic potential, this is the place to do so.

Addressing Academic Performance

You might be addressing a low overall or particular semester GPA or specific lower failing grade, academic probation, or aberrations on your transcripts, such as a number of dropped or incomplete classes or a change of major in the middle of your degree. So how should you address these issues?

1. Explain and Acknowledge the Issue: If you have any additional explanations surrounding the issues, you can include that context. Of course, be honest here. But if you had personal situations that impacted your academic performance, such as illness or family problems or financial challenges requiring you to, say, work a full-time job alongside school, whatever it may be, explain the situation clearly yet briefly.
2. Take Responsibility: Take responsibility for anything that applies, such as your struggle transitioning to college or behavior you're not proud of.
3. Demonstrate Growth: If applicable, make the case for how you've grown and changed since that time and why you are prepared for the academic challenge of business school now.

Explaining Time Off

Another common use of the optional essay is to explain time off from work or even school. Again, admissions committees will pick up on any notable gaps in your resume or academic transcripts. In fact, many MBA applications will have a question on the app that specifically asks if you have any gaps of a certain length, such as three months or more.

If you feel you can cover the explanation in the space provided in the application sufficiently, you may not need to use the optional essay space, but otherwise, you can explain why you took that time off in the optional essay. This could even include something you feel uneasy about. Perhaps you were laid off or fired from one of your prior roles. Or perhaps you had some personal health or family issues you were dealing with during that time off. The reader won't know what your situation was unless you briefly share it with them.

Addressing Disciplinary or Criminal History

The optional essay is also the place to address and explain any disciplinary or criminal history you may have in the past. Again, you can't hide the issues that occurred, especially when the schools will be doing background checks rather than letting admissions readers wonder about the details or worse, make up their own theories. The best you can do is clarify the situation for them.

Use the optional essay to help them fully understand what you dealt with and more importantly, how you've changed since that time. Explain the occurrence succinctly. Take responsibility for your actions and demonstrate growth since that situation. We've seen numerous clients overcome these situations in the past and get into business school.

Addressing Test Scores

Another common weakness that applicants address in the optional space is a lower than average test score that they don't feel is indicative of their potential academic performance at business school. Does mentioning your lower test score in the optional space mean business schools will overlook it entirely? No, you can't change the fact that your score is lower than the program's average, and it will still be a weakness in your application.

However, if you truly feel your score is not representative of your academic ability, you can note that and share any other relevant evidence of skills such as quantitative, analytical, data interpretation, and verbal or communication skills. Schools will be particularly interested to see that you have demonstrated quantitative ability somewhere in your past, since business school is inherently quantitative.

If you have a low quant score on your GMAT or GRE, for example, they'll definitely want to see quant skills evidenced elsewhere. Or maybe in your professional life if you regularly perform quantitative analysis or create financial models or do extensive analytical problem solving. You got to point this out. Also, certifications such as the CFA or CPA that are quantitative in nature can serve as additional evidence of your ability to handle business school.

Explaining Recommender Choices

One more relatively common use of the optional essay space is to explain why you did not use a current supervisor for recommendation, especially if the school mentioned this in their application instructions that a current supervisor is preferred. You do want to simply explain why you did not choose them as your recommender. This is relatively common for reasons such as you don't want to disclose yet that you plan to go to business school. You don't want that to impact your chances for promotions or bonuses, or because you haven't worked under the supervisor for very long.

So explain the situation briefly and clearly. This should be the shortest explanation of the five scenarios we've covered. Be aware that many applications actually include a short answer question that specifically asks you to comment if you have not asked your supervisor to recommend you. So review your application thoroughly to see whether your target programs offer this option. And if so, go ahead and use that space.

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🧠 Final Thoughts on the Optional Essay

Remember for any optional essay explanations, explain the situation briefly, take responsibility for your actions if needed, and demonstrate growth when it applies. Don't waste an admissions reader's time with long-winded storytelling essays in the optional space. And keep in mind this is optional. So if you don't have anything urgent to address, do not use this space at all. This is not the place to add random extra essays or re-use essays from other schools' applications.

If you're not sure if your specific situation merits an optional essay, feel free to reach out to our experienced MBA admissions consultants for advice. We offer complimentary 30-minute consultation calls across many time zones on a weekly basis, and we'd be happy to discuss your personal situation and plan of attack for your applications and optional essays. And while you're at it, consider using GMAT Sprint to track your GMAT progress and ensure you're on the right path to achieving your goals.

Our next video covers another aspect of the applications that we mentioned quite a bit in this video: Short Answers. Don't miss it!