advices I picked up from mbawire.blogspot.com
Number one is don’t take anyone’s advice. No, that’s not true. It’s just that MBA applications are very individualized, so what would be good advice for me won’t be good advice for the next guy. The more generic the advice, the more relevant it gets for everyone, but generic advice is almost worthless.
Nevertheless, over the past few weeks I’ve put together a list of advice that I’d like to share with future applicants. You all know my background well enough: not in a “feeder” career, mid-twenties, male (and how!), American, high GMAT, good GPA, good undergrad, strong work experience, good writing skills, etc., etc. If you fall into a similar category, these might be more worthwhile than if you’re don’t.
Note that below, when I talk about “top schools”, I’m referring to a vaguely defined group of MBA programs in the US that would be considered top 10, unless otherwise specified. In no particular order:
You Are Not A Lock
…for any school. Unless you’re the CEO of a large corporation or president of a small country, you’re not a lock for any top school. You can have a sterling resume, perfect stats, a great career, and write very well, but if you don’t hit each shot in the application, you’ll be dinged. At least as long as b-school admissions stay as competitive as they’ve been the last 5 years, this is true.
It’s Not Luck
On the other hand, you shouldn’t head into the process thinking that it’s pure luck or random chance that gets you in. I truly believe that well qualified candidates, if they hit all the right notes, have a strong chance of being accepted to each top school. It’s very, very difficult to hit all those notes, but the important thing is that it’s not really out of your control.
For me (and ego aside, I do think I was/am a strong candidate, as was pretty much confirmed by the school feedback), I just missed one or two notes in each application, and hence, I just missed getting into several schools. Knowing what I know now, I probably could have hit a few more notes and gotten into a few schools, but a) I’m ready to go to b-school now, and didn’t want to waste a year; b) getting in next year would not be a certainity; and c) Michigan rocks.
Anyway, the power is yours. You are at bat. Go for it.
Essays are King
If I had to estimate, based on my experience and feedback, how big a part in the decision essays make, I’d say 65%+, with interviews and recommendations making up another 25% and stats making up the rest. That’s just my gut feeling, but it fits with everything I’ve read and heard. In the feedback sessions I’ve had, I’ve spent a total of maybe eighty seconds talking about non-essay matters. Yeah.
Obvious Advice
The obvious advice that is included in all the books and websites is “make a coherent story”, “choose some themes”, “address your weaknesses”, etc. These are all really so obvious and so general as to become meaningless. Is there any candidate who won’t be thinking about themes and weaknesses?
School Visits
If you’re going to visit a school, be sure to 1) do it before submitting your app (it’s not worth much afterwords); 2) stay at least a whole day; 3) attend classes, lunch with students, do everything the school offers; 4) ask the students about their experiences applying.
The main benefit of visiting is to personalize your “why this school” essay. If you’re truly interested in attending a program, there will be something unique during your visit that catches your eye, and will provide a good anecdote for that essay.
Resumes: One Page Only
Okay, take this advice with a grain of salt, since this is my pet peeve. I don’t think it will make or break an application. Buuuut, resumes should only be one page long. A resume is supposed to be a concise summary of your top selling points, not a summary of your entire career or (even worse) life. To me (and maybe only to me), an inability to edit down a resume demonstrates an inability to prioritize things and follow business protocols.
And if you take a look in any top b-school’s resume book, you’ll see 99% one pagers. Prioritize. Summarize. Edit.
Timing
Personally, I think it is ridiculous to try to “time the market” in applying to business school (i.e. trying to guess whether the job market will be hot when you graduate and only applying then). Leaving the workforce for two years, paying tens of thousands of dollars, and learning about management, marketing, strategy, and finance is a very big life decision, and shouldn’t be left to crapshoot hunches about where the world will be in two years.
I am a firm believer that if now is the right time for you to get an MBA, then you should apply. If not, you shouldn’t.
For the Young Ones
If you’re considering applying to business school in a few years, great–now just stop thinking about it. The only advice I’d have is to get involved in an extracurricular activity or two that you enjoy.
I really don’t think it has to be a “community service”, in the sense of feeding the homeless or mentoring disadvantaged youths. If you like that, all the better. If not, join a trade group or your undergrad alumni association or something. But not a single school mentioned to me a lack of charity work/community service as a compelling factor. I firmly believe that the schools look to extracurriculars solely to make sure 1) you have some interest outside of work and 2) if you don’t do any management/teamwork on your job, the extracurricular can make up for it. That’s it. They care very little (in my opinion) whether or not you have a Mother Theresa-like care for the poor.
The real importance of doing something you like is that you’re more likely to continue doing it. It’s like an excersize routine. I know that doing the stairmaster in the morning for 30 minutes burns more calories than riding the reclining bike. But because I enjoy the reclining bike more (I can read while doing it), I’m more likely to go down to the gym for the bike. And over the long run, I’ll burn more calories following a biking regimen than a stairmaster regimen, because that’s what’ll get me down to the gym.
There’s plenty of other advice sprinkled throughout the site, so if you want more, browse away!
SOURCE:- www.mbawire.blogspot.com
