to post an essay or not to post an essay
that is the question !
I have noted that a few bloggers have posted their whole app essays online (I admire them for their bravery, I would not share my childllike writing on a public forum).
But that brings me to the question..is it allright to post our essays online? Do schools have copyright over the stuff that we send to them? Is it safe? Is it ethical?
I personally do not have very strong feelings on this issue. However, I would hesitate to post my essay online on several counts, most of them being related to keeping some rather personal and intimate thoughts/experiences to myself
anyone got any comments on this?
-Ash
I have noted that a few bloggers have posted their whole app essays online (I admire them for their bravery, I would not share my childllike writing on a public forum).
But that brings me to the question..is it allright to post our essays online? Do schools have copyright over the stuff that we send to them? Is it safe? Is it ethical?
I personally do not have very strong feelings on this issue. However, I would hesitate to post my essay online on several counts, most of them being related to keeping some rather personal and intimate thoughts/experiences to myself
anyone got any comments on this?
-Ash
posted by Ash at 9:23 AM
7 Comments:
hi ash -
i think i have some essays that might be ok for posting, while others are far too personal or may refer directly to other people.
either way, the admissions committee definitely does not "own" your essays. your writing is your own. personally, i would be pretty pissed off if columbia rejected me yet still retained ownership of my essays :)
What happens if future applicants decide to copy your essay?
Agree with MBAJ. I didn't post any of mine because they are personal to me. They lay out all my goals, emotional situations I had to overcome, important people in my life, etc. and to protect myself, I chose not to share it with the entire world wide web.
This decision is entirely yours though. If you feel comfortable enough to share, then feel free. :-) You are the rightful owner of your own work and whether you choose to "copyright" it or not is your decision. In BW's MBA Insider, many have shared their essays - so the choice is truly entirely yours. Cheers!
Childlike! That's definitely not how the excerpt from your Stanford "What matters" essay reads. :-)
It is obviously very helpful for future applicants to read real, successful essays. Reading the essays from Montauk's book, and also from another book of 50 sample essays certainly helped me develop a better understanding of how to construct my own essays.
However, if you have any concerns whatsoever about sharing deeply personal thoughts and experiences(which is what the essays are), this blog is definitely not the place to post your essays. You could anonymously post it on BW or Vault (I remember reading a few sample essays there).
my initial reaction on thinking about this was that i wouldn't be comfortable posting my essays either for the same reasons you have cited: some very personal thoughts/experiences.
however, now that i think of it. there isn't anything too personal about my primary essays i.e. why mba? why now? career path. LT and ST goals.
as for some of the other essays, im already sharing a lot of my thoughts, experiences and opinions on my blog, so sharing some of the experiences i talked about in my essays wouldn't really matter.
i personally did not like the idea of reading sample essays before i applied but i guess it can be useful for some applicants.
Ash,
Which bloggers have posted their essays? I'd like to read a few sample essays.
In the age of "How OPAL Got kissed" (and How Kaavya got .....) attaching too much importance to the copyrights..particularly on things like B-SCHOOL essays...i'm not sure is really productive...having said, i would rather change a lot of SPECIFICs in my essays..like my employers, my own persnal detials...etc...BUT I WOULD NOT hesitate to post those essays if i were convinced it will help someone....i did not do that till now because..i have not been accepted by ANY school so far...
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