Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday.
Every once in a while, a concerned business school candidate calls us and says something along the lines of, “Star491 wrote that Wharton won’t read past the 500-word limit, but IndianaHoops09 wrote that 10% over the limit is fine. Meanwhile, WannabeTuckie says…” Reading this may amuse some of you, but the truth is that many MBA applicants have difficulty not visiting the various message boards, and some have even more difficulty not believing everything they read there. At the risk of stating the obvious, most message boards are completely unregulated, and you should be skeptical when reading the opinions expressed by anonymous posters. For every individual who claims to know something authoritatively, you can always find another individual who claims to know that the opposite is true. Round and round we go…
Thus, our message is to ignore anonymous message board posts. Although this is valuable advice now, as you complete your first-round applications (ideally with your sanity intact), it will become even more valuable as the year progresses and many posters begin to make unsubstantiated claims about admissions statistics (offers given, GMAT scores of accepted candidates, etc.). If you tune out such noise now and put your energy instead into creating your best possible application(s), you will be far better off.
Of course, if you do have any questions, you can always ask us on the message boards over at Manhattan Prep, Beat the GMAT, or GMAT Club. Or sign up for a free one-on-one consultation!