Breaking Down The MBA Application
You’re planning on applying to an MBA program next year, but you’re worried about how intense and time-consuming the process might be.
Luckily, Stacy Blackman, an admissions consultant and contributor for the Economist, offers a few pieces of valuable advice when it comes to the MBA application process.
Where To Apply
Knowing which schools you want to apply to and how many is critical to staying organized in the application process.
Blackman’s rule of thumb when it comes to “how many” schools is to not apply to more than six.
“This is an intense and time-consuming process,” she writes. “Applying to too many schools leads to burn-out and diminishing returns.”
Blackman recommends applicants apply to at least four schools of varying levels of competitiveness. Doing so can help increase your chances of acceptance, she says.
Take The GMAT Seriously
Taking the GMAT is a tough ordeal, but Blackman says this is the application component that is most within an applicant’s control.
To set expectations, Blackman says applicants should plan to take the exam more than once.
“Fewer nerves and more experience often lead to a higher score the second time around,” she writes.
Tyler Cormney, co-founder of MBA Prep School, says applicants should plan to take the GRE as early as possible.
“Completing the GMAT early will ensure that you have enough time to retake the exam if you don’t achieve your target score the first time,” Cormney says in an article for P&Q. “Furthermore, when it is time to refine your list of schools, knowing your GMAT score in advance will help. Since a majority of MBA programs accept GMAT scores within a 5-year window, completing your exam as early as possible will give you one less thing to worry about as you move forward with your application.”
References
When it comes to letters of recommendation, Blackman recommends that applicants reach out to professional references rather than academic ones.
“An academic reference will not be able to answer the most common recommendation questions,” she writes. “Schools are really looking for insight into your professional performance.”
Additionally, these references should be from recent or current jobs.
“The most recent insights help create a picture of you as you currently are,” Blackman writes. “The admissions committee is not as concerned with how you behaved eight years ago.”
The Essay
Each school has their own preferable traits they look for in applicants, but Blackman says there are also a number of traits that nearly every school seeks out. Those include areas like leadership, team skills, ethics, and communication skills.
What’s most important, according to Blackman, is being able to properly support your essay with stories that back your traits.
“Just saying ‘I am a strong leader’ is not enough,” Blackman writes. “Every claim you make must have supporting stories that help the reader believe you. You do not need to check off every quality on the list. Select a few that apply to you and reinforce those in an honest and compelling way.”
Sources: Economist, Poets & Quants, Economist
This Is How You Use LinkedIn To Get A Job
Today, professional networking is everything.
For MBAs, networking sites such as LinkedIn are everything when it comes to not only finding a job, but also simply getting spotted by recruiters.
Karen Gilchrist, a reporter at CNBC, breaks down three ways LinkedIn can help MBA grads find their dream job.
LinkedIn’s Influence
About 95% of recruiters utilize LinkedIn to find candidates, according to US News report.
Chris Reed, founder and CEO of Black Marketing, says LinkedIn is central to getting a job as an MBA.
“People will Google you and find your profile. If it’s incomplete, no amount of MBA will save you in terms of how you progress,” Reed tells CNBC.
Keep Your Profile Up to Date
Experts say it’s critical for MBA grads to consistently update their LinkedIn profile with the latest information.
Doing so, Gilchrist says, can demonstrate how much you’re worth.
“Complete the summary, which should use as many available characters as possible, and include information about your MBA and why you’re worth more now than you were before,” Gilchrist writes. “It should also feature your education and work experience, including side projects or non-profit work.”
Consistently updating your information can also make your profile more easily searchable to recruiters.
“Creative sourcers will employ complex searches for LinkedIn public profiles using Google rather than even going into LinkedIn,” Arnie Fertig, a contributor at US News, writes. “Make sure that you review what your public profile shows, and make it visible to everyone so that you can be found.”
Post, Post, And Post
In addition to continuously updating your information, it’s also helpful to curate original content.
“According to the 1-9-90 rule, it’s thought that for every 100 social media users, just one percent are original content creators, while nine percent are advocates — those who will like, comment and share,” Gilchrist writes. “The remaining 90 percent are simply observers. That model is often used by those wishing to target their social media audience more effectively.”
In other words, according to Reed, if you want to be recognized as a leader to recruiters, you’ll need to show that you’re not simply an observer or an advocate, but a creator.
“You have a choice,” Reed tells CNBC. “Do you want to be the one percent, who are leaders; the nine percent, who are followers; or the 90 percent, who do nothing but are voyeurs?”
Connect And Network
You paid thousands of dollars for your MBA for a reason. And while part of that reason may be for the education, the actual value is in your network.
Experts suggest MBA grads to connect with fellow alumni in addition to any internship or work colleagues.
“A lot of jobs are not advertised — that’s where the networking comes in,” Reed tells CNBC. “If you’ve got an MBA, a lot of it is about you and your personality, your experience, what you can offer somebody. That’s what networking’s about. If you’re intelligent and you’re bright, people will find a place for you.”
Want To Get Into Multiple Top B-Schools? Read This.
Getting into a top business school is hard enough. But could you imagine getting into several?
Ilana Kowarski, a reporter at US News, recently broke down how applicants can gain acceptance into a number of business schools.
It’s Not All About Being Well-Rounded
Being well-rounded may sound ideal, but experts say simply coming off as a well-rounded applicant can make you stand out less.
“It can be tempting to try to fashion yourself as a well-rounded applicant, but that approach can get you lost in the crowd, especially if you have more of a traditional applicant background,” Arjun Venkataswamy, a prospective student who was admitted in this MBA admissions cycle to the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business and Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, tells US News.
Rather, Venkataswamy says, applicants should highlight certain traits that cater to specific schools or programs.
“Instead of laying out all of your positive traits and experiences, focus on the things that make you unique to a particular program and flesh those characteristics and experiences out into a compelling story,” he tells US News.
Know Yourself
Knowing yourself and your goals can help make highlighting desirable traits easier.
“Part of identifying that dream goal is being really honest,” Karen Marks, president and founder of North Star Admissions Consulting, says in an article for P&Q. “If you want to leave finance because you hate the long hours it doesn’t make sense to go into consulting. If you truly detest meetings and hierarchy it’s not a good idea to look for a traditional role at a big firm.”
Misha Kaura, a fashion entrepreneur who was recently admitted to several elite MBA programs, says she catered her search to schools that matched her career goals and academic interests.
“I spent a lot of time studying myself, analyzing my strengths, and determining my lifelong goals before I even started to think about where I might apply,” Kaura, CEO of Darlinghurst Enterprises, tells US News.
Know The School
On top of knowing what’s unique about yourself, it’s also important to know why a certain school or program is unique.
“The more research one does on a school and how its curriculum can help them get to where they want to go, the better,” Jeff Magnuson, a 2011 MBA graduate from the University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School, tells US News. “The admissions folks read hundreds, if not thousands, of essays a year. They can spot the generic essays that could apply to any school.”
Get The GMAT Right
As painstaking and time-consuming as it is to prep for the GMAT, it’s important to get the right score you need for a top b-school.
Venkataswamy says that means applicants shouldn’t be afraid to take the exam more than once.
“If you approach the test with a growth mindset, it’s possible to dramatically improve your scores,” he said via email. “I had to take the GMAT more than once to get a score I was satisfied with. It will take time and planning, though, so don’t wait until the last minute.”
Sources: US News, Poets & Quants
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