Caveat: Don’t pick up a story in which you finally succeeded to achieve your goals but you had to face few bumps on the road. Such stories are unsuitable for this essay. Every year, I witness hundreds of applicants making this common mistake in their application. Usually, they hesitate to share a story in which they failed to achieve their targets as they are highly skeptical about how admissions team will perceive their failure. But that’s exactly the place they go wrong.
Failure is our biggest teacher. Reflect on your life and you will realize that some of the greatest lessons of your life have been learnt when you failed. So cherry-pick one such occasion and narrate your story. The admissions team will focus more on what you learnt from this episode of your life. Have you learnt how to handle personality conflicts in your team? Or, you learnt a lesson or two in how to manage a diverse team located in multiple countries? Or, did this experience made you realize your weaknesses? Or, taught you crucial lessons on how to negotiate with vendors while handling international trade? Think carefully and write your takeaways.
Don't hesitate to let IMD know all the schools to which you are applying to. There is no downside of letting IMD know that you are applying to other programs as well. On the other hand, if you are applying ONLY to IMD, you need to explain why you are putting all your eggs in one basket.
Moreover, IMD wants to know how it can differentiate itself from other B-schools. It has traditionally faced tough competition from INSEAD and LBS. Hence, IMD wants to know how applicants compare it with other schools in Europe. Don't just talk about IMD's small class size. They know it already. Research your target programs and identify factor(s) that you wish IMD would have offered you.
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Politicians have speech writers. Journalists use news editors. Famous writers and columnists have an army of professional editors. Don’t you think you also need to have one?