Blog: Archive for the “Recommendations” Category

Two applicants apply to Harvard Business School (HBS) with near-identical test scores, GPAs, and career trajectories. One earns an interview invitation. The other does not. More often than applicants expect, the recommendation letter is what separates them. Your recommendation letter is the only part of your application where someone else speaks for you, and when … Read More  

What role do informal letters of recommendation or back-channel endorsements play in MBA admissions decisions? In this episode of The mbaMission Podcast, host Harold Simansky is joined by mbaMission Senior Consultant Melissa Blakeslee, a former MBA admissions director, to unpack a topic that generates a lot of curiosity and quite a bit of confusion. Drawing … Read More  

Letters of recommendation are an important part of your overall application package—they provide the only outside information the admissions committee receives about you. One of the most stressful parts of the application process can be picking your recommender. The first question you should ask is who can write a valuable letter on my behalf?