Guidelines to follow while crafting essays for Join a School in France (SAI) application.

In our previous blog, we talked about the Join a School in France application in detail and mentioned how hassle-free this option is if you're applying to multiple schools in France. As promised, we will now discuss the guidelines that one should follow while framing their essays for this particular application. In case you missed out on that blog, we suggest that you go through it here. Now, let's get started with the essays.

Essay 1: Describe your proudest accomplishments.

Here, it's important to note that instead of focusing solely on the accomplishments, it's better to talk about other important aspects as well- like what challenges did you face, what was the situation like, what did you learn out of it, what was your inspiration, etc.

The best method to answer a question like this is to use a STAR technique. Here, STAR stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result. Let's try to understand this step-by-step with an example.

Let's say that your most significant achievement is winning a prestigious Hackathon with a team.

1. Situation: Firstly, you can talk about this situation in detail wherein you had previously solved a case study or qualified preliminary rounds to get there describing the context within which you performed this task or faced a challenge.

2. Task: After outlining the situation, you should focus on defining your responsibility and role. It could be as simple as the fact that you had to come up with a feasible solution for the Hackathon in the designated time. Moreover, you must mention if you took care of a specific task and helped the team accomplish this.

3. Action: Here, you should describe the methods and procedures you used to complete the task. It could be the action plan that you undertook or the thought process you had put into the case study, which helped you solve it quickly.

4. Result: Finally, you should explain the outcomes generated by the actions taken. This could be something like how it led you to self-realization that you have this knack of problem-solving, which made you interested in the field of Consulting and ultimately made you want to pursue the Master in Management program. This way, you can align your accomplishments to the program you're applying to, making the admission committee realize why you are the right fit for this program.

Essay 2: Describe a situation where you faced failure, what lessons did you learn from it?

The best way to answer this question is by being honest. Many misconceptions are floating around that suggest you not to mention your weaknesses or failures and instead suggest you take your strengths and push them to the extreme and then sugar-coat them as your weaknesses. Things like "I work too hard" and "I am a perfectionist" all come under such trickeries. You need to understand that admission committees are smart enough to understand all these things, for they have been doing this for years.

But then again, it's not a good idea to talk about a failure directly related to the program you're applying to either. In that case, the admission committee might think that you are not the ideal candidate for the program. Since there are many subjectivities involved in such kinds of essays, let's take an example.

For example, you can talk about when you had underestimated the amount of time that you had and how everything had cramped up in the end, enlightening you that you shouldn't repeat something like this. Besides this, the more important aspect you will be evaluated is the action that you took after realizing the reason for your failure. In the above mismanagement scenario, you can mention that after this fiasco, you started journaling and making planners for managing time effectively.

Essay 3: How does your application benefit the 5 member schools?

For this question, you should conduct a thorough research for all the five schools and then try to find out the unique feature of these schools that make them a better choice for you. This essay is the right place to showcase that you've done your homework well and not perfunctorily. You can also point out specific things that you like about a particular school and why you're interested in that program. It could be because you've researched the school's courses, faculties, clubs, committees, etc. that fascinate you and make you want to pursue it. Highlight that you're not applying to the university only because of its higher ranking and the fact that it's easier to apply via SAI but because you're genuinely interested in it and are only doing so after making an informed decision. You can also use this opportunity to relate to how this program will give you a boost to your career.

Essay 4: Did you take part in any extra-curricular activity these past years? (hobby, non-profit, sport, etc)

This one is a straight-forward question about extra-curricular activities to get a holistic overview of your profile. Here's an additional tip that might help you. While framing your answers, make sure that you don't just describe what you did, but you also explain the things that you learned from it and how it has helped you become the person you are today. For example, if you've played cricket at your college level, you can write about how it has helped you become a team-player, thereby helping you mould yourself as per the situation. Or, if you've participated in dance, you can talk about how that helped you become a disciplined person because of all the practice you've done.

This is an excellent opportunity for you to make the admission committee aware that you're an all-rounder and knows how to balance other activities along with academics. These schools actively seek out individuals with strong extra-curricular backgrounds who can not only run the clubs in their schools but also organize college events at mega levels.

Essay 5: How will you finance your studies?

This is a very subjective question and should be answered honestly as per your situation. Just make sure to be clear, straight-forward, and precise. Discuss it with your family and then develop a plan on how you're going to finance your studies. Make sure that you don't sound ambiguous because doing that will be like giving them a chance to grill you in the personal interview rounds, which nobody wants, of course!

Though we have tried our best to help you with a rough idea of how you should go about framing your essays for the SAI application, to craft a unique application as per your profile, you can schedule a consulting session with us. We will get on a Skype call with you, analyze your profile, and brainstorm the structure for the essays. Send us a mail on rubeusconsultancy@gmail.com with your preferred time-slot today!