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As you consider the next application season, what kind of strategy do you have in mind? More than a few candidates, having likely read about the supposed advantages of applying in Round 1 on various Web sites and discussion boards, plan to submit all their applications in that first round—with the idea that if no … Read More  

From time to time, we at mbaMission visit admissions officers at the top-ranked business schools, which gives us the opportunity to ask rather frank questions. On one such visit, we urged an admissions officer to give us the truth about the extent of alumni influence in the admissions process, and the response we got was … Read More  

We at mbaMission know of a man now in his 70s who graduated from a virtually unknown Canadian undergraduate school in 1963 and who, with no work experience at all, applied to Harvard Business School (HBS), Wharton, and the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB), earning acceptance at all three (though the GSB deferred his entry … Read More  

Although admissions officers want to know that you are interested in their school, they do not want to read your repeated professions of love for it. Some candidates mistakenly believe that in their essays, they must constantly repeat enthusiastic statements about how they will improve their skills at their target school, regardless of whether the … Read More  

The perfect MBA applicant does not actually exist. However, the perception of the perfect applicant absolutely does—such an individual scales greater and greater personal, community, and professional peaks undeterred until finally applying to business school. Because of this idealized image of an applicant, candidates who have taken any time off from their professional pursuits believe they … Read More