A new service is offering a quick way past MBA program application essays, but some at Penn say using it could be more trouble than it's worth.
Vault.com, a Web site that offers admissions advice, has launched a collection of admissions essays from students in top business programs. Some of the samples come from students at Penn's own Wharton School.
The site says the essays are intended as samples of successful work. But while some students say applicants might be tempted to submit them as their own, Wharton admissions officers say that they can detect disingenuous work.
Currently, the site boasts 38 sample essays supposedly written by Wharton MBA students.
But access to the essays comes at a price. Users must be Vault Gold Membership subscribers, which entails a monthly fee of $3.95, in order to read past the first line.
And according to Wharton officials, this cost exceeds the benefits.
"I don't think [this service] will necessarily help anybody," said Thomas Caleel, director of MBA admissions. "If you're copying and pasting [an essay], we'll notice it. We know when an application is not genuine."
But while Vault will pay the submitter $40 for an essay over 500 words and $15 for a shorter one, the site's directors are not interested in creative work.
Citing an article from the book Essays That Will Get You Into Business School by Dan Kaufman and Chris Dowhan, Vault.com states that the MBA essay "is not a place to aim for bold originality."
Wharton MBA students, however, disagree.
"Any student who ‹¨«tries to follow a cookie-cutter, generic approach will do so to his or her detriment," said second-year MBA student Ari Chester. "If your essays are not personal and genuine, [it] will probably hurt your application."
Caleel added that admissions officers are trained to tell if a student has submitted an essay that is too "polished."
"We're pretty good at understanding when candidates aren't presenting themselves" truthfully, he said.
But whether its essays will fool the experts or not, Vault's service raises an integrity issue for some.
"Applicants might be tempted to copy and then personalize an essay that is similar in theme or topic to one of their own," said first-year MBA student Anne Bovaird.
Though a borrowed essay might look good on paper, Caleel added that the Wharton MBA program is seeking people "who have integrity, who are honest and who will be good ambassadors for [the] community."
Nevertheless, services such as that provided by Vault fall in line with a wide range of others designed to give applicants a boost in the admissions process.
These include Richard Montauk's book How to Get Into the Top MBA Programs and Web sites such as admissionsconsultants.com which offer advice to MBA applicants.
And with so many already offering help and advice, honest or otherwise, to business-school hopefuls, Vault's move didn't come as a surprise to many students.
"This is nothing new," noted Chester.
And more traditional methods retain their charm. Chester gave credit for his application essay's success to his "friends, associates and, of course, mother" for their feedback.
"That's much more valuable than reading other people's essays," Chester added.
And many students who did refer to essay guidelines say they were never dependent on them.
"I looked through a couple of the 'best business school essays' books during the application process but didn't purchase any or try to model my essays from the examples," said Bovaird.
Still, honesty in the application process is a concern for administrators. Some top business schools, like Stanford University's, are considering measures such as supervising essay writing and asking a variety of questions on the application.
Wharton simply requires applicants to sign a code of ethics and a statement of application integrity.
The statement, which stipulates that an application is completely accurate and belongs exclusively to the applicant, is designed to help dissuade a student from seeking outside help.
The statement also gives the admissions committee the right to revoke its acceptance at any point during the two-year program, according to Caleel.
"As a school, we're committed to applicants being who they say they are," he said.
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