MBA students at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business are known to work quite hard amid the rigors of the case method. Each day, they are expected to read a business case and perform their own analysis of the situation presented. Then, they must compare and reason through their analysis with a small, diverse group of fellow students—their Learning Team. Students can often spend two to four hours prepping on their own and then two to three more with their teammates to arrive at ananswer (as opposed to theanswer). And what might be the reward for all this work? The student may be selected for a “cold call” to start off the class.
Columbia Business School (CBS) requires all its applicants to submit a short-answer goal statement of just 50 characters. In addition, January-entry applicants must respond to a second short-answer question about why they have selected the alternative program start date, while August-entry applicants are asked to describe their plans for the summer between the first and second year of the program. Both of these responses are limited to 50 characters, as well.
Many business schools use their essay questions as an opportunity to ask about the unique contributions you will make to their particular program. Unfortunately, candidates often make the mistake of thinking that a bland summary statement like “I will bring my leadership skills to XYZ School” will sufficiently express their intended contribution. One reason we prefer to work with business school candidates “from start to finish” is so we can prevent such problems. Simply relating a story about a past experience and then repeating the main point does not demonstrate that you can or will make a meaningful contribution to the school. Ideally, you want to go further, explaining how you would apply and use your experience and skills while at the school in a way that would offer some benefit to others, thereby demonstrating a true understanding of your fit with that particular program.
Many MBA applicants assume that being rejected from a top business school means the end of their MBA dreams. In reality, however, some of the most successful MBA students—and later, business leaders—applied multiple times before earning admission.
A strong GMAT score can improve your chances of being admitted to top MBA programs around the world, and it can even increase your odds of receiving scholarships at many universities.
In this post, we provide a thorough overview of the GMAT exam, including its structure, question types, scoring process, and percentiles. We will also discuss what qualifies as a “good” score and even touch on some alternatives to taking the GMAT.
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