Concerned about the quality of writing for business school graduates, many business schools such as the University of Pennsylvania (Wharton), University of Rochester (Simon) and Northeastern University have increased mandatory writing coursework and hired additional writing coaches. A recent Wall Street Journal Article details that many business school recruiters, such as Morgan Stanley, Booz Allen Hamilton Inc. and General Mills Inc. have complained about the level of writing for their new hires. Apparently, the writing of many recent MBA graduates lags behind their quantitative skills, as they lack the ability to present critical information in a clear and direct way.
Business schools will no doubt be looking very closely at the GMAT and application essays to judge applicants’ critical writing skills in the future. I strongly recommend that international applicants make a commitment to developing a powerful business writing style, which will not only pay dividends on the application essays, but is a skill that can easily be transferred to any career.