How Involved Should Parents Be In MBA Admissions?
More than ever, parents are getting involved in their child’s MBA application.
But how much involvement is too much?
Stacy Blackman of Stacy Blackman Consulting recently discussed parents’ role in MBA admissions and how “helicopter parents” could potentially risk their child’s chances of being accepted into their top business school.
While undergrad universities expect parental involvement in the admissions process, Blackman says MBAs are quite the opposite.
“The admissions team expects to see independent, fully formed professionals,” Blackman writes. “Excessive parental involvement raises a red flag about the candidate’s potential for success in the program.”
Too Much Involvement
While Blackman says it’s okay for parents to chip in for costs, they should not attempt to guide the admission process themselves.
“We’ve had parents ask for conference calls to discuss their child’s issues—without the applicant on the phone. We’ve also known cases of parents impersonating their child when contacting the school admissions office with questions about financial aid, application status and more. If discovered, this deception will cause irreparable damage to the applicant’s candidacy,” Blackman writes.
Moreover, Blackman says, parents should try to steer clear of actually helping their child in the content of the application.
“The truth is, parents may know their children very well in a certain light. But they might not know how to reveal the aspects of their child that will appeal to business schools,” Blackman writes.
How To Help
Dan Bauer, founder and CEO of The MBA Exchange, a leading MBA admissions consulting firm, says there are instances where parents can help their children in the admissions process.
One of those ways could be helping the applicant “recall meaningful experiences, role models, accomplishments and lessons learned earlier in life.”
Another way to help could be offering to introduce friends and colleagues who attended the targeted b-schools as information resources, Bauer says.
In many instances, parents can act to encourage their children throughout the stressful process, but it’s important to know when is too much.
“Watch for subtle signs that your involvement is adding stress and, if so, back off immediately,” Bauer says.
Sources: Stacy Blackman Consulting, Poets & Quants
The Rise of Soft Skills In The MBA
Soft skills are the new cornerstones of business education.
At least, that’s what experts say universities and colleges are emphasizing in the new job market, according to a report by CBC.
“The goal of a university education is to teach people how to deal with uncertainty, how to be a critical thinker, how to be okay when things are changing,” Darren Dahl, a senior associate dean at the University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business in Vancouver, tells CBC. “”The notion of going to work for the big corporation, and the jobs that we traditionally do, are evolving and changing.”
The Rise of Soft Skills
Soft skills, according to Top MBA, are “personally-developed attributes that are usually picked up through life and work experiences.”
Common examples of soft skills include interpersonal skills, leadership, teamwork, and problem solving—to name a few.
In recent years, companies have placed heavy emphasis on soft skills for MBA grads.
According to GMAC’s Corporate Recruiters Survey Report, soft skills, such as communication and teamwork, are the most in-demand skills for MBA grads.
A Changed Approach
Many colleges and universities are changing their approach to embrace soft skills and creativity.
At UBC, the MBA program now includes a required course in creativity, according to CBC.
Dahl, the senior associate dean at UBC’s Sauder, says creativity has seen greater emphasis in recent years.
“Creativity is a muscle. If you stopped exercising it years ago — some people say you’re the most creative when you’re five or six years old and then it’s just downhill — how do we strengthen that muscle for you as a leader, whether you work in corporate or a non-profit or your own entrepreneurial venture? That’s a fundamental tool in the toolbox, and I think society has just woken up to that in the last five years,” Dahl tells CBC.
At UBC, courses are now taught differently. Rather than having a classic lecture, professors are now implementing more action and applied learning.
At Ivey Business School in London, Ontario, the school is trying to push for graduates to run their own businesses.
“We provide a lot of support post graduation for those who want to come back at a later time to start a venture two, three or four years later,” Mark Vandenbosch, acting dean at Ivey Business School, tells CBC.
Joe Musicco, a professor at Sheridan College’s Pilon School of Business in Toronto, says the increased emphasis on creativity may be attributed to a number of reasons.
“You could point to things like technology and AI [Artificial Intelligence]. You could point to things like the changing nature of work and being more of a thinker and a consultant, and expectations of people in general that [graduates] are going to be able to bring innovation and creative problem-solving skills to the table,” Musicco tells CBC.
New Year’s Resolutions For MBAs
A new year calls for new resolutions.
In a recent article for Forbes, Conor Neill, Senior Lecturer at IESE Business School and President of Vistage in Spain, outlines a few ways b-school students can plan for a happier, more productive 2019.
Cut Down Emails
Neill advises students to try and have time during the day where they shut down all incoming notifications, such as emails.
He recommends having “60 minutes shutting down incoming notifications and working for a solid 60 minutes on something that is important to you in the long term.”
Doing this can help you prioritize what’s truly important.
“It is dangerously easy to be busy on the urgent and forget about being productive on what is really important,” Neill writes.
Start A Stop Doing List
Another way to prioritize what’s important is to start a “stop doing” list.
“When you are young, you have the freedom to keep adding ideas, dreams, tasks and adventures to your bucket list,” Neill writes. “The moment that middle age begins is the moment when you realize that there is finite time left in our life. Acceptance of this fact leads to a clearing out of all the plans, tasks, adventures of life and a reduction down to the most important. You cannot do everything but you can do anything.”
Save, Save, And Save
Every young person has heard this. But, Neill says, saving money is one of the ways you can lead a happier and more productive future.
“For the first time in my life, this year I have not bought things that I wanted (the new drone, a longer trip to New York) in order to save money and invest it,” Neill writes.
What’s the magic number when it comes to saving?
According to Fidelity Investments, it’s wise to have 10 times your final salary in savings to plan to retire by age 67.
Here’s a clear-cut strategy provided by Fidelity Investments:
- In your 20s, put enough away so that by the time you turn 30, you’ll have the equivalent of your salary saved.
- By 40, aim to have three times your salary saved up.
- By age 50, you should have enough saved to equal six times your salary.
- By age 60, your savings should be eight times your salary.
- And 10 times your salary by the full retirement age of 67.
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