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Is one week enough to edit a 20-page MBA case study?

academic-writing ▲ 1 10 views 2026-09-27

I'm in a graduate business program and have to submit a 20-page case study in a week. I've already written most of it, but my professor expects us to edit and refine our work before submission. I've been advised to get feedback from a writing center tutor, but I'm worried that won't be enough time to make all the necessary changes.

1 Answer

Yes, one week is absolutely enough time to edit a 20-page MBA case study, provided you approach the task with a structured, tiered strategy rather than just reading through for typos. Since you have already drafted the bulk of the content, you are in a great position; the hardest part—the heavy lifting of research and synthesis—is behind you. The secret to a high-quality revision is to stop viewing editing as a single phase and start seeing it as a series of passes: first for logic and structure, then for evidence and flow, and finally for the polish of your professional voice. If you try to fix grammar while simultaneously wrestling with your core arguments, you will likely miss structural gaps that professors prioritize in graduate-level business writing. The most common misconception is that a writing center tutor will do the heavy lifting for you, but they are actually there to act as a mirror for your own thinking. If you show up with a disorganized draft and ask them to fix it, you will waste time because they cannot know your specific data points or strategic recommendations as well as you do. Instead, treat the session as a targeted consultation. For instance, imagine you have written a section on market entry strategy that feels a bit thin; instead of asking the tutor to fix the prose, ask them if your argument follows a logical flow from the SWOT analysis you provided earlier. By coming prepared with specific questions about your weak points, you can turn a one-hour session into a roadmap for the rest of your week. This allows you to spend the remaining days executing those structural changes rather than wondering if your changes are actually improving the paper. You should also account for the trade-off between perfection and clarity. In an MBA context, professors value actionable insights and professional brevity over flowery academic language. If you find yourself agonizing over a single paragraph for hours, you are likely over-editing. Use your week to prioritize the executive summary and the final recommendations, as these are the sections that will be scrutinized most heavily. If your supporting evidence is solid, the rest of the document just needs to be clean and consistent. Don’t get bogged down in minor stylistic tweaks until you have confirmed that your core business case is airtight. If you dedicate the first two days to structural flow, the middle three to refining your data-backed arguments, and the final two to proofreading and formatting, you will have a polished submission that feels intentional and authoritative. Trust your process, keep your focus on the strategic narrative, and you will find that a week is more than enough time to elevate your work from a draft to a professional-grade case study.

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