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One of the enduring myths in the MBA admissions world is that one must have ironclad goals in order to gain admission to a top business school. While there is no rule against having very clear goals and having them can indeed help, it can be reasonable to offer a back-up plan, sketch broad professional goals or avoid answering the question altogether, in certain circumstances.

In recent years, Harvard Business School actually dropped its goal statement and its “Why HBS?” component. Instead of asking applicants to discuss their short and long term goals, HBS asks for a broader “career vision.” Not only that, but this “vision” question is itself optional, meaning that those who are unsure of their goals, need not answer the question. One thing to keep in mind is that the absence of a mandatory career essay question is not an underhanded trick, where the admissions office expects you to know that you are actually required to answer it. HBS admissions director Dee Leopold’s is fairly clear about this on her blog,

When it comes to (a career essay) being valuable in our selection process, we find that the vast majority of our students may have a general idea of what they might want to do post HBS, but are very open and curious to explore many different career paths. As a School, we make a big investment in encouraging that exploration and helping students through a rigorous self-assessment process. We try to avoid sending a signal in the application process that we think that process should be completed pre-business school. I think that having this time for exploration is a major advantage of a two year MBA program.

Indeed, these sentiments are echoed by Chicago-Booth’s Rose Martinelli, who told mbaMission:

For me, the question as to why an MBA is important is much more relevant than exactly where you’re going, since goals change. The thought process that brought you to this place in your career is what interests me. I’m looking for a sense of direction and knowing what your needs are. If you have very refined goals, I would say that’s great. But for the vast majority of people, if you really pressed them, goals were often created recently and typically just for the application. And, since the whole point of an MBA experience is to explore, expand and develop a new understanding and awareness of one’s abilities and passions, I don’t get hung up on goals. I am, however, very interested in path, plan and knowing one’s self.

While a narrow career goal may not be necessary for HBS or Chicago, Soojin Kwon Koh, Director of Admissions at Michigan-Ross, takes a pragmatic approach, recognizing that the shaky economy means a back-up plan can be useful. Ms. Kwon Koh told mbaMission:

We think that (at times) having two goals can be practical. As this economic downturn has shown, sometimes people may have to pursue an alternate career path. We advise our students to do a thorough career self-assessment and identify which careers might be a good match for them based on their interests, values and priorities. We encourage them to reassess as they go along. Students should think more broadly about the skills they want to use and develop, and the kind of environment they want to work in.  Chances are, more than one industry or function will fit that bill.

We strongly recommend that you exercise caution and ensure that you understand an admissions office’s philosophy, prior to preparing your goal statement. Still, it is myth that all schools insist on a deliberate set of short and long term goals. Aware of this, you, somewhat ironically, might find yourself making a far more personal and profound statement about your intentions.

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 that schools want a specific “type” of candidate and expect certain GMAT scores and GPAs, for example. 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 in order to get in.

Join mbaMission Founder/President Jeremy Shinewald as he debunks these and other myths, strives to take the anxiety out of the admissions process and refocuses you on your applications. There will be a Q&A session with Jeremy after the presentation.

Sign-up now for an event that will be essential to your B-School planning!

All attendees at this exclusive event will receive:

• $100 off any 9-session ManhattanGMAT course
• Free access to a ManhattanGMAT computer adaptive practice exam
• Free half hour consultation with an mbaMission consultant

What have you been told about applying to business school and by whom?

With the advent of chat rooms and blogs “armchair experts” often unintentionally propagate MBA admissions myths, which can linger and either undermine your confidence as an applicant or give you undue certainty. Some applicants are led to believe that schools want a specific “type” of candidate or expect certain GMAT scores and GPAs. Others are led to believe that they need to know alumni from their target schools or get a letter of reference from the CEO of their firm in order to gain admission to a top-school.

Join us as we debunk these and other myths, take the anxiety out of the admissions process and refocus you on your applications.

All attendees at this exclusive event will receive:

• $100 off any 9-session ManhattanGMAT course
• Free access to a ManhattanGMAT computer adaptive practice exam
• Free half hour consultation with an mbaMission consultant

You have waited and waited for your admissions decision.  Finally, you see a status update and your heart skips a beat. You quickly scroll down, looking for “congratulations,” but instead you see those dreaded words: “You have been placed on the waitlist.” As you read on to find out how you can manage the waitlist process, you discover that your target school states that you should not send any follow-up material—that you should just wait.

This may seem obvious to some, but if the admissions committee tells you to not send follow-up material of any sort, then you should not yield to temptation and send material that you think will bolster your case and give you an advantage over your otherwise silent peers. Doing so will only cause you to identify yourself in a negative way. Wharton explicitly tells candidates in its waitlist letter, “In the spirit of fairness and equity towards all candidates, we will not accept additional materials for inclusion in your application. Thank you in advance for honoring this policy.”

When mbaMission interviewed Wharton’s Director of Admissions J.J. Cutler, we asked him just how serious he was about limiting correspondence:

mbaMission: Another thing you’ve been very clear about on your blog is that you don’t want to hear from people on the waitlist. But candidates seem to believe that there’s some trickery in this, that they can beat down your door in some way, and that this is some sort of test. So can you be unequivocal both in terms of candidate communication and third-party communication about candidates who are on the waitlist?

JJC: Sure…. we’re very serious when we say we don’t want people to contact us. It’s not a joke. It’s not a test. It’s not a trick. We really don’t want to hear anything else. And there are really a couple of reasons for that. One is we want to be fair to everyone. Two is the factors we’re waiting for have nothing to do with the applicant at that point. They’ve put their application together, like everybody else, and we are unable yet to make a final decision on their application…. So more information about the applicant isn’t what’s causing our decision not to yet be made. It’s that we need more time to see what happens with other things that are outside the application. And that can be around class size. It can be that we need to see what the next round looks like. It could be that we need to see what decisions are made by other applicants.

Like Wharton, Harvard Business School has a closed waitlist policy and is serious about maintaining a level playing field. On its Web site, the HBS Admissions committee offers the following information about its waitlist process:

HBS waitlist policies differ from those at most other MBA programs. We request that you not send additional materials, nor can we accommodate requests for meetings or interviews.

HBS is fully committed to the online application process. We cannot consider materials submitted outside the online application. This includes recommendations: additional letters of recommendation cannot be considered once your application has been submitted.

We are also committed to fair and equitable consideration of all candidates. For this reason, we must reinforce our by-invitation-only interview process.

So, again, you should not be persistent and defy the schools’ explicit requests. Tread carefully on the waitlist, be patient and always consider the school’s policies before acting. The admissions committees are increasingly transparent—take them at their word.

Finding yourself on your target school’s waitlist can be frustrating, but keep two things in mind as you prepare to play the waiting game. First, being waitlisted is actually an endorsement of your candidacy, and second, there is a right way and a wrong way to manage the waitlist process, depending on the school’s policy. In our mbaMission Waitlist Guide, we explain the difference between an “open” waitlist policy and a “closed” one and help you understand when and how to continue to communicate with the school to increase your chances of ultimately gaining a spot in its next incoming class.

The mbaMission Waitlist Guide can help you navigate through an often bewildering waitlist process, providing direction, advice on proper communication and offering two sample letters—with notes—as models of appropriate and compelling correspondence.