{"id":110,"date":"2022-03-08T11:02:20","date_gmt":"2022-03-08T16:02:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gatehouseadmissions.com\/resources\/?p=110"},"modified":"2022-08-08T10:24:20","modified_gmt":"2022-08-08T14:24:20","slug":"the-mba-application-process-part-8-the-other-essays-the-optional-video-creative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gatehouseadmissions.com\/resources\/the-mba-application-process-part-8-the-other-essays-the-optional-video-creative\/","title":{"rendered":"The MBA Application Process, Part 8: The Other \u201cEssays\u201d\u2014Optional, Video, and Creative"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Writing memorable MBA essays has always been challenging enough, but over the years, business schools have introduced new challenges in the form of alternative \u201cessays\u201d in their applications. For example, some programs prompt candidates to make a video in which they introduce themselves to their classmates; others ask applicants to submit a set of photos that reflect who they are. And schools\u2019 \u201coptional\u201d essay question typically leaves candidates struggling to understand what is truly <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">optional<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. Leveraging each of these \u201cessay\u201d types to strengthen your candidacy takes a different kind of thought and strategy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Part 8 of our nine-part series on the MBA application process, we will examine these nontraditional essays and share strategies for responding to each kind. We will also clarify when submitting an \u201coptional\u201d essay makes sense and when skipping this added component would be better for your MBA candidacy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/xKFf2NR5-o0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Writing memorable MBA essays has always been challenging enough, but over the years, business schools have introduced new challenges in the form of alternative \u201cessays\u201d in their applications. For example, some programs prompt candidates to make a video in which they introduce themselves to their classmates; others ask applicants to submit a set of photos &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[31],"class_list":["post-110","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mba-application-tips","tag-optional-essays"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The Other MBA Application Essays<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In Part 8 of our 9-Part Series on the MBA Application, you will learn about these non-traditional essay types and strategies for responding to them. You will also learn when it makes sense to submit an \u201coptional\u201d or when it is better to simply leave it blank.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gatehouseadmissions.com\/resources\/the-mba-application-process-part-8-the-other-essays-the-optional-video-creative\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Other MBA Application Essays\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In Part 8 of our 9-Part Series on the MBA Application, you will learn about these non-traditional essay types and strategies for responding to them. You will also learn when it makes sense to submit an \u201coptional\u201d or when it is better to simply leave it blank.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gatehouseadmissions.com\/resources\/the-mba-application-process-part-8-the-other-essays-the-optional-video-creative\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Resources | Gatehouse Admissions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-03-08T16:02:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-08T14:24:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.gatehouseadmissions.com\/resources\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/11.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gatehouse Admissions\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gatehouse Admissions\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gatehouseadmissions.com\\\/resources\\\/the-mba-application-process-part-8-the-other-essays-the-optional-video-creative\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gatehouseadmissions.com\\\/resources\\\/the-mba-application-process-part-8-the-other-essays-the-optional-video-creative\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gatehouse Admissions\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gatehouseadmissions.com\\\/resources\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/439bb16034f556c903b0750cb0113094\"},\"headline\":\"The MBA Application Process, Part 8: The Other \u201cEssays\u201d\u2014Optional, Video, and Creative\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-08T16:02:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-08T14:24:20+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gatehouseadmissions.com\\\/resources\\\/the-mba-application-process-part-8-the-other-essays-the-optional-video-creative\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":154,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gatehouseadmissions.com\\\/resources\\\/the-mba-application-process-part-8-the-other-essays-the-optional-video-creative\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gatehouseadmissions.com\\\/resources\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/11.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Optional Essays\"],\"articleSection\":[\"MBA Application Tips\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gatehouseadmissions.com\\\/resources\\\/the-mba-application-process-part-8-the-other-essays-the-optional-video-creative\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gatehouseadmissions.com\\\/resources\\\/the-mba-application-process-part-8-the-other-essays-the-optional-video-creative\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gatehouseadmissions.com\\\/resources\\\/the-mba-application-process-part-8-the-other-essays-the-optional-video-creative\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Other MBA Application Essays\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gatehouseadmissions.com\\\/resources\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gatehouseadmissions.com\\\/resources\\\/the-mba-application-process-part-8-the-other-essays-the-optional-video-creative\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gatehouseadmissions.com\\\/resources\\\/the-mba-application-process-part-8-the-other-essays-the-optional-video-creative\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gatehouseadmissions.com\\\/resources\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/11.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-08T16:02:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-08T14:24:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.gatehouseadmissions.com\\\/resources\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/439bb16034f556c903b0750cb0113094\"},\"description\":\"In Part 8 of our 9-Part Series on the MBA Application, you will learn about these non-traditional essay types and strategies for responding to them. 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