What have you been told about applying to business school? With the advent of chat rooms and blogs, armchair “experts” often unintentionally propagate MBA admissions myths, which can linger and undermine your confidence as an applicant. Some applicants are led to believe, for example, that schools want a specific “type” of candidate and/or expect certain GMAT scores and GPAs. Others are led to believe that they need to know alumni from their target schools and/or get a letter of reference from the CEO of their firm to gain admission. Join Jeremy Shinewald, founder of our Admissions Consultant partner firm, mbaMission, as he debunks these and other myths, strives to alleviate your anxiety about the admissions process and refocuses you on your applications.
Date: Monday, January 31, 2011 Time: 8:30-10:00 p.m. EST Location: Online Price: Free!
We always encourage MBA candidates to visit their target schools, because doing so can make a positive impression on the admissions committee, gives the candidate an opportunity to personalize his/her application (essays and interviews in particular—depending on the time of year of the visit) and may even help applicants select their schools. But remember, when you visit campuses for interviews or just to experience the atmosphere at your target schools, you should always be on your best behavior.
Although the receptionist in the Admissions Office is not a “spy,” and your tour guide’s main concern is not to inform the admissions committee of your actions or comments, both of these individuals will likely feel compelled to report any bad behavior to the Admissions Office. We spoke with one former receptionist (now an admission committee member) at a top-ten school, who said that if she encountered rudeness from a visiting candidate, she would make note of it and send a message about the incident to the Admissions Director, who would subsequently remove the candidate from consideration for admission. Most candidates are on their best behavior anyway, but we nevertheless offer this important reminder.
Applying to business school in 2011? 2012? By taking action now, you can dramatically improve your chances of gaining admission to a top MBA program in the coming years. Indeed, it is never too soon (and certainly not too late) to take several crucial steps to shape your candidacy. Join mbaMission senior consultant Mili Mittal as she leads prospective applicants through a Long-Term Planning Seminar.
Topics of discussion include the following:
* Creating Your Ten-Month (and Beyond) Timeline
* Maximizing the Impact of Community Activities
* Accelerating Personal Goals
* Building an Alternative Transcript
* Taking and Retaking the GMAT
* Making the Most of Campus Visits
* Understanding the Differences Between MBA Programs
* More…
Date: Thursday, January 27, 2011 Time: 6:30-8:00 p.m. EST Location: 1327 14th Street, NW Suite 350, Washington, DC 20005 Price: Free!
This week we offer an oxymoron of sorts: extreme humility. We suppose that one candidate could be more humble than the next, but one could never refer to oneself as “extremely humble,” because doing so would undermine the very claim to humility.
Our philosophy at mbaMission is that candidates should let their experiences captivate the admissions committees. Sometimes we find that instead, candidates attempt to emphasize their actions with “extreme” adjectives and adverbs—an approach we strongly advise against.
Example:“As others withdrew their support, I remained remarkably dedicated to our crucial fundraising efforts. I dramatically increased my participation in our strategic planning meetings and insisted that we push forward with a wildly creative guerilla marketing plan, which brought forth tremendous results—$1M in ‘instant’ proceeds.”
In these two sentences, the writer uses the descriptors remarkably, dramatically, wildly and tremendous to make his impression. We find that a more effective approach is to eliminate these “extreme” descriptions and let the experiences do the “talking.”
Example: “As others withdrew their support, I remained dedicated to our fundraising efforts. I increased my participation in our strategic planning meetings and insisted that we push forward with a guerilla marketing plan that brought $1M in ‘instant’ proceeds.”
In this second example, we do not need to be told that the results were “tremendous,” because the $1M speaks for itself; we do not need to be told that the marketing campaign was “wildly creative,” because this is implied in the nature of guerilla marketing. In addition to truly showing a level of humility on the part of the candidate, this approach is also less wordy. Although the eight words saved in the latter example may seem inconsequential, we removed them from only two sentences. If we can remove four words from each and every sentence, we would be able to significantly (but of course humbly) augment your essay with other compelling ideas.
When you select an MBA program, you are not just choosing your learning environment, but are also committing to becoming part of a community. Each Thursday, we offer a window into life “beyond the MBA classroom” at a top business school.
Students at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management certainly have no shortage of events to keep them entertained throughout the academic year. A series of student-run formal balls pepper the first-year calendar, starting with the CIM Ball at the end of orientation and continuing with the Fall Ball, the Charity Ball and Casino Night (which is essentially another ball). When mbaMission interviewed students about their social calendar, many had trouble placing the names and themes of the balls—most had been to all of them, and the different events had seemingly fused into a single memory. In short, once the school year begins, the average Kellogg student can expect to wear a tuxedo or ball gown more frequently than he or she is typically accustomed to.
For in-depth descriptions of social and community activities at Kellogg and 13 other top MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.
A first-of-its-kind, on-demand MBA application experience that delivers a personalized curriculum for you and leverages interactive tools to guide you through the entire MBA application process.
