Honestly, at the time that Peter asked me to write the response writing this article, I thought that this writing might not interest my class-mates to comment on my writing because it seems a little bit boring. However, when I went into the article in U.S.news and World's report, which is exactly the same one that Peter lets me to read, I found that this article is very useful for most of us, espeacilly for people who about to apply for their next degree in the university. This article, "How to Get In: University of Virginia Darden school of business", is talking the same things with the name of article, but it's greater than other articles of "How to get in business school" because these information are come from the people who dicide whether they will accept the applicants, or not. That's why I really recommend all of you to read this article.
Anyway, this post is not talking about how can we get a good business school because what Peter assigned me is narrower. It's the problem that appear in most of University of Virginia Darden school of business's applicants, and more interesting because it also appears in our class. That problem is raised in the minute that the admission official said about their essay they got from the applicants "Essays should follow the directions and answer the question. You would be surprise how many times we recieve essays that do not answer our question at all" (2nd guindline). You will see that the official use the word at all. How's possible? How can someone able to answer the question by write something not relate with the topic at all? I've been thinking for this reason for many days. At last, I found that it must because the applicances (or we) do not clear the question enough to response to officer (or Peter), but we still try to answer the question, and that makes a terrible mistake to such respondents.
In conclusion, I'm not smart enough to advise all of you for the solution to solve this problem, but I believe that if we concentrate on the meaning or purpose of the question; in other word, if we pay more attantion to (Peter's) questions, this problem will not occur. The best way to solve this problem is brainstrom our ideas into this post so that we can find the best one, and in our last week, we are able to answer Peter's question directly, and make him happier. :))
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Thank you Tum,
ReplyDeleteI was a little surprised when I read that a graduate school had a serious problem with applicants completely failing to answer the actual essay question they had been asked.
And as you so clearly explain, it relates very much to what we do all the time, and why I sometimes bully you a little about answering the question that a classmate or I asked.
Your analysis of the reasons is also sound. I agree that the problem is usually with listening (in class) or reading (in exam questions) comprehension. That's the reason I both like you to use full sentences except for very simple questions, and to ask for clarification whenever something is not clear so that you can decide whether you agree or not.
On a positive note, the class did very well understanding the exam question this morning, which was not an easy question. Some of the answers had problems, but at least most people were clear about what sort of answer was required. And that's a good start.
Now I'm happy, so I can go to bed, and hopefully not dream about "Candwiches".
For me, I'll try not to dream about "Candwiches". Whatever, we might have difference taste, so hope you enjoy your "Candwiches". ;)
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