Usually, optional essays don’t carry a word limit. But, you don’t want to go to town, writing pages upon pages of information.
Given the sheer number of words ad comms must read from the thousands of applicants interested in their programme, you can bet they’re not interested in superfluous texts. Any applicant completing an optional essay should keep it as short and to the point as humanly possible. If you only need two or three sentences to get your point across, then do so. Never expound because you think it’s too short; it’s not.
The optional essay is there for you to elaborate on a particular issue that you know ad comms will spot and question instantly. It’s not a place for emotion, however.
For example, if you’re final semester as an undergrad was marked by terrible grades that brought down your entire GPA, you want to let the ad comm know why. If your dog was sick or you were consumed by your job search, say so; whatever the reason, take responsibility for it.
But, don’t tell ad comms how they should look at it or feel about it. Indeed, you shouldn’t even mention how you feel about it. You should, however, explain what you learned from the experience and how it shaped you as a human being or a business leader.
The important aspect of the optional essay is to acknowledge the gaps in your application and to provide additional information to avoid lingering questions. You can’t assume that you’ll have a chance to clarify a gap when you get to the interview phase – you won’t get the invitation to speak if they can’t make heads or tails of your application.
As with every part of your application, you should be as clear and succinct as possible – you don’t want to repeat information found elsewhere in your file, all you want to do is fill in a gap.
To address the low GPA example, you could simply say, “My final term marks were lower than average as I was coping with an illness in the family. The experience taught me about dealing with unavoidable situations and my instinctive reactions to overwhelming factors. While it didn’t assist with my GPA, I was able to use this understanding to more successfully navigate the challenges when faced with a similar situation during my time with AB Company, where I employed better communication and delegation skills to overcome the shortfalls previously experienced.”
It’s less than 100 words, answers the “why” question, demonstrates that you recognise where you may have gone wrong, shows what you learned from it, and provides proof that you’re not stressed about what the low GPA could mean for your entire application.
Now, if you have a few gaps to address, it’s time to get cracking with that additional essay. If not, perhaps it’s back to revising your CV.
