Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday.
Many applicants have expressed profound concern about the impact of being laid off. Will the admissions committee view a layoff as a sign of failure?
The key here is that many candidates share this worry—thousands of MBA candidates worldwide, in fact. For the admissions committees to dismiss all such applicants outright is simply not practical. In addition, the MBA admissions committees know that the global financial crisis and the subsequent recession are at the root of the problem, not necessarily the individual candidate’s performance. Indeed, layoffs and firings are not the same thing, so admissions committees will examine your application with that in mind, seeking your broader story of success.
If you have been caught up in this unfortunate mess, what is important is that you can show that you have made good use of your time since the layoff—studying, volunteering, seeking work, enhancing your skills, etc. Each candidate will react differently, of course, but you need to have a story to tell (whether you are applying in the late rounds or even for next year) of how you made the most of a difficult situation.
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 applicants’ confidence. For example, some applicants are led to believe that schools want a specific “type” of candidate and expect certain GMAT scores and/or 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 get in.
Join Jeremy Shinewald, founder and president of mbaMission, as he debunks these and other myths, strives to take the anxiety out of the admissions process and refocuses you on your applications.
A Q&A session with Jeremy will follow the presentation.
Date: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 Time: 8:30-10:00 p.m. EST Location: Online Price: Free!
One of the main themes throughout our admissions myths series (which is now 45 posts strong and counting) has been that applicants should not assume that admissions officers are trying to trick them. Many applicants worry that admissions officers say one thing but really mean another. As a result, many candidates assume that their interviews are worthless—that they essentially “don’t count”—unless they are conducted by someone from the admissions office, or that they need to know a highly placed alumnus/alumna from their target school to be admitted or that they need to pander to a school’s stereotypes to get in. These days, an emerging myth, which assumes that admissions officers are up to their old (and candidates’ entirely imagined) tricks, asserts that the GMAT is taken far more seriously than the GRE, and thus that the GRE is of dubious value to applicants.
We think that we can destroy this myth with a few simple rhetorical/logical questions: Why would an admissions office encourage you to take a test that it would not take seriously? Why would an admissions committee disenfranchise applicants who take the GRE, when one of the main purposes of permitting the GRE is to expand the applicant pool? Why would admissions officers waste precious time devising such a devious scheme in the first place?
“The exam itself is less important than your performance on that exam relative to your peers,” says Dan Gonzalez, managing director at Manhattan GRE. “Think less about which exam schools want you to take and more about which exam will give you the best shot at showing off your skills. The GMAT and the GRE are quite different—take some time to learn about these differences before making your decision.”
So if you are considering taking the GRE—because you want to keep your options open for grad school or just because you think the test plays to your strengths—then you should first check to see if your target schools accept the test. Next, if they do, you should study hard and… take the GRE!
Whether you are applying to an evening and weekend EMBA program, a global MBA program that meets abroad and connects online or anything in between, your EMBA admissions board wants to know that you can contribute at a high level and that you are committed until the very end. In this brand new webinar, Jeremy Shinewald, the founder and president of mbaMission, will help you identify your ideal target EMBA programs and enable you to start shaping your MBA applications—from your essays to your resume to your interviews.
After the presentation, Jeremy will remain online for a Q&A session to answer your questions and help you take the next steps in your career.
Date: Tuesday, February 1, 2011 Time: 8:30-10:00 p.m. EST Location: Online Price: Free!
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 Jessica Shklar 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, February 10, 2011 Time: 6:30-8:00 p.m. EST Location: 138 West 25th Street (b/w 6th & 7th Aves: to enter, press Call, then dial 132), New York, NY 10001 Price: Free!
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.
