We all had a nice break since Round 2 deadlines, didn’t we? Yes, I know the waiting is the hardest part. Hopefully soon you will get a clue as to how strong your application is through an interview request. (That is for the schools that invite to interview).
So your friend got an interview and you didn’t. Or Harvard announced that they are sending out 750 interview invites now, but there will be another 50-100 extended through early April. What’s up with that? Can’t they just tell you, rather than leave you hanging?
There are typically two methods for interview invites. First is a quick scan of your application by Admissions in the first few weeks. That usually constitutes the bulk of the invites. Then, your application goes through the first read and maybe the reader notes something missed, something worthy of an interview. That constitutes the late interview invites. Typically, applications are read in complete random order, which is why you could suddenly get an invite towards the end of the review period. Someone has to be the last application read.
What to do if you get an invite? First, prepare, but don’t over-prepare. Re-read your application and go online and do a search on “X MBA Interview.” Learn what to anticipate from people before you. Don’t over-prepare, sounding rehearsed, and don’t “lead the interview” with your own agenda. (Admissions hates this). Listen to each question and answer it concisely. Prepare intelligent questions to ask the interviewer. Finally, wear a professional suit, even if it is a Saturday interview. Good luck!
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Those Final Application Details
I feel for you. I’m in the middle of editing essays too! I feel like I’m applying to B-school all over again (and over and over and over again) with my clients.
I’ll share some tips with you…
Proofreading – you’ve read your essays over so many times that you can recite them. Well, you should. The second best way to catch typos or grammatical mistakes is to read them out loud. Of course the best way is always to have someone else read them. Pay attention to errors that your Word program is highlighting. Finally, if you’ve been using the same main essay for all schools, double-check the terminology and make sure it’s related to that school – majors, electives, center names, club names and cities.
Deadlines Times – double-check all your school deadlines on their web sites. Is the deadline time PST (Pacific Standard Time) or EST (Eastern Standard Time)? And what to do with Kellogg’s CDT deadline? Is that a trick question? We switched over from daylight time months ago! It’s best to play it safe – submit your app the morning of the deadline when their system isn’t crashing yet.
The Resume – you thought this was the easy part, but you need to read the fine print on this one. Look for application instructions and tips on the school web site or as part of the online application. Some schools just ask you to upload your resume. Wharton only wants one page, in Word. MIT wants one page but no more than 50 lines and limited to only professional accomplishments, not job descriptions. Annoying!
Remove your Edit Tracking – make sure that your final upload is a clean copy, with no edit marks. Accept All Tracking, or convert the document to a .pdf (unless they specify Word).
The Trick Question – Ah, Admissions’ favorite question to judge character… “your reason for leaving” in the employment history section. You wouldn’t believe how often applicants get snagged by this one. Overall, keep it positive! This is NOT where you say you disagreed with management, got bored, wanted more money, etc.
Well, that was my break… back to editing. Good luck to everyone!
For more insights on MBA Admissions please visit www.mbaapplicationadvisors.com
I’ll share some tips with you…
Proofreading – you’ve read your essays over so many times that you can recite them. Well, you should. The second best way to catch typos or grammatical mistakes is to read them out loud. Of course the best way is always to have someone else read them. Pay attention to errors that your Word program is highlighting. Finally, if you’ve been using the same main essay for all schools, double-check the terminology and make sure it’s related to that school – majors, electives, center names, club names and cities.
Deadlines Times – double-check all your school deadlines on their web sites. Is the deadline time PST (Pacific Standard Time) or EST (Eastern Standard Time)? And what to do with Kellogg’s CDT deadline? Is that a trick question? We switched over from daylight time months ago! It’s best to play it safe – submit your app the morning of the deadline when their system isn’t crashing yet.
The Resume – you thought this was the easy part, but you need to read the fine print on this one. Look for application instructions and tips on the school web site or as part of the online application. Some schools just ask you to upload your resume. Wharton only wants one page, in Word. MIT wants one page but no more than 50 lines and limited to only professional accomplishments, not job descriptions. Annoying!
Remove your Edit Tracking – make sure that your final upload is a clean copy, with no edit marks. Accept All Tracking, or convert the document to a .pdf (unless they specify Word).
The Trick Question – Ah, Admissions’ favorite question to judge character… “your reason for leaving” in the employment history section. You wouldn’t believe how often applicants get snagged by this one. Overall, keep it positive! This is NOT where you say you disagreed with management, got bored, wanted more money, etc.
Well, that was my break… back to editing. Good luck to everyone!
For more insights on MBA Admissions please visit www.mbaapplicationadvisors.com
Monday, December 29, 2008
Check on your recommendations
I hope everyone enjoyed the holidays last week! Now it’s time to get back to work on your application.
Today is also the perfect day to check in with your recommenders. Drop by their offices, or call or send a nice email, inquiring about their holiday. Remind them of your due dates. Ask them if they have any questions about your application (you did give them a copy of your essay drafts, didn’t you? If not, now is a good time to do so). Offer to take them to lunch to discuss your goals. If they answer “yes,” they’ve submitted them, follow-up tomorrow with a gift such as a bottle of wine or a gift card.
If a recommender starts to back-peddle, expressing concern that they don’t have time, you may want to ask someone else. A rushed recommendation is not going to help your application. It may actually hurt it. A brief or flat recommendation says to Admissions that this person does not care enough about your career to help you or that you are not important enough to their organization.
Whatever you do, do not offer or agree to write the recommendation letter for them. This strategy can backfire in several ways. First, Admissions can usually tell by a similar writing style to the rest of your application. I’ve also seen cases where both recommendations came in with similar or exact wording. I once had a case where the recommender didn’t delete the candidate's suggested verbiage from him. Admissions can tell and you can get dinged for it. Find someone who has the time and desire to write you an outstanding recommendation.
For more insight about Admissions visit www.mbaapplicationadvisors.com
Today is also the perfect day to check in with your recommenders. Drop by their offices, or call or send a nice email, inquiring about their holiday. Remind them of your due dates. Ask them if they have any questions about your application (you did give them a copy of your essay drafts, didn’t you? If not, now is a good time to do so). Offer to take them to lunch to discuss your goals. If they answer “yes,” they’ve submitted them, follow-up tomorrow with a gift such as a bottle of wine or a gift card.
If a recommender starts to back-peddle, expressing concern that they don’t have time, you may want to ask someone else. A rushed recommendation is not going to help your application. It may actually hurt it. A brief or flat recommendation says to Admissions that this person does not care enough about your career to help you or that you are not important enough to their organization.
Whatever you do, do not offer or agree to write the recommendation letter for them. This strategy can backfire in several ways. First, Admissions can usually tell by a similar writing style to the rest of your application. I’ve also seen cases where both recommendations came in with similar or exact wording. I once had a case where the recommender didn’t delete the candidate's suggested verbiage from him. Admissions can tell and you can get dinged for it. Find someone who has the time and desire to write you an outstanding recommendation.
For more insight about Admissions visit www.mbaapplicationadvisors.com
Monday, December 22, 2008
The Optional Essay
To write, or not to write? That is the question.
Maybe you ran out of space in your other essays and you want to tell the school how much you love them and why the program is perfect for you! Maybe you feel compelled to summarize your qualifications. Maybe you want to list every award you won since 3rd grade. Maybe you think Admissions would like to know about your family, so they can “get to know you better.”
No, no, no, and No. Don’t do it. Resist the urge to fill up that empty space.
The only time you should use the Optional Essay is to briefly – Very Briefly – explain an obvious question (like a time gap on your resume) or explain some negative circumstances that affected you professionally or academically. For example, “My grades decreased in sophomore year because my mother had cancer and I frequently went home to take care of her.” Or “I’m dyslexic, so I’ve always had difficulty with standardized tests like the GMAT, but you can see from my quantitative classes that I can handle an MBA program.” Or, “I took a two year leave of absence from college because my father lost his job and I had to work full time to support us.”
Get it?
The reality is that Admissions staff usually have about 20 minutes max to read your entire file and write a summary. Think about how many pages of essays and recommendation letters that is! That’s about a page a minute. (you try reading a book chapter that fast – go ahead try it.) Next to your application is usually a stack of 20 more applications. So that last thing an Admissions officer wants to see is one more page of reading, unless it’s really important information.
If it’s not important information, you’ll make the Admissions Officers cranky. And you don’t want them to be cranky, just before they write your summary and make their decision about you.
Optional is not really optional. Don’t do it without good reason.
Get more insight at http://www.mbaapplicationadvisors.com
Maybe you ran out of space in your other essays and you want to tell the school how much you love them and why the program is perfect for you! Maybe you feel compelled to summarize your qualifications. Maybe you want to list every award you won since 3rd grade. Maybe you think Admissions would like to know about your family, so they can “get to know you better.”
No, no, no, and No. Don’t do it. Resist the urge to fill up that empty space.
The only time you should use the Optional Essay is to briefly – Very Briefly – explain an obvious question (like a time gap on your resume) or explain some negative circumstances that affected you professionally or academically. For example, “My grades decreased in sophomore year because my mother had cancer and I frequently went home to take care of her.” Or “I’m dyslexic, so I’ve always had difficulty with standardized tests like the GMAT, but you can see from my quantitative classes that I can handle an MBA program.” Or, “I took a two year leave of absence from college because my father lost his job and I had to work full time to support us.”
Get it?
The reality is that Admissions staff usually have about 20 minutes max to read your entire file and write a summary. Think about how many pages of essays and recommendation letters that is! That’s about a page a minute. (you try reading a book chapter that fast – go ahead try it.) Next to your application is usually a stack of 20 more applications. So that last thing an Admissions officer wants to see is one more page of reading, unless it’s really important information.
If it’s not important information, you’ll make the Admissions Officers cranky. And you don’t want them to be cranky, just before they write your summary and make their decision about you.
Optional is not really optional. Don’t do it without good reason.
Get more insight at http://www.mbaapplicationadvisors.com
Thursday, December 18, 2008
How to Emphasize Leadership in Your Essays
The big-L is one of the most important personal qualities that MBA Admissions looks for in their candidates. But what if you’re scratching your head, thinking, “How am I a leader?” Am I going to get dinged because I’ve never been president of a club or don’t have a manager title? It may take some introspection, but in reality, most of us have leadership qualities in them.
Dee Leopold, an HBS Admissions Director has on more than one occasion discussed the many types of leaders that they appreciate when putting together a class:
1) The Formal named position Leader
2) The Entrepreneurial Leader – someone who is always starting things socially, professionally, personally or with charitable organizations
3) The Small Group Leader – the person who is always the motivator to get a team going
4) The Thought Leader – the person who comes from behind with an unusual or unorthodox idea
HBS (and all schools) look for a combination of leadership types when putting together a class. They can’t have all Formal Leaders, jostling for the #1 position!
So relax, and when writing your essays, think about what kind of leader you are and examples you can use to illustrate your great qualities.
Get more insight at http://www.mbaapplicationadvisors.com
Dee Leopold, an HBS Admissions Director has on more than one occasion discussed the many types of leaders that they appreciate when putting together a class:
1) The Formal named position Leader
2) The Entrepreneurial Leader – someone who is always starting things socially, professionally, personally or with charitable organizations
3) The Small Group Leader – the person who is always the motivator to get a team going
4) The Thought Leader – the person who comes from behind with an unusual or unorthodox idea
HBS (and all schools) look for a combination of leadership types when putting together a class. They can’t have all Formal Leaders, jostling for the #1 position!
So relax, and when writing your essays, think about what kind of leader you are and examples you can use to illustrate your great qualities.
Get more insight at http://www.mbaapplicationadvisors.com
Friday, December 12, 2008
The 80% Percentile and mid-80% Range
80% is a very important number in MBA Admissions.
First, regarding your GMAT score… contrary to belief, there is no absolute GMAT score cut-off, so if you are a little below their published mean or median score do not rush out to take the GMAT again. If you are above it, do not assume this will guarantee you admission. In general, most top MBA programs want you to have verbal and quantitative scores at the 80% percentile or above. While this isn’t a cut-off, it is an important check point. You have a much higher chance of being waitlisted if a score, especially the quantitative score, is in the 70-80% percentile. Below the 70% percentile? Don’t get your hopes up for acceptance; study and take the GMAT again.
The mid-80% range is also very important. Often a school will publish the range for GMAT, GPA, age, or years work experience. If you fall within their range, you can relax a bit because you’ve overcome the first hurdle. If you fall below their range on the GMAT or GPA, you will likely be denied or waitlisted because schools don’t want those statistics to fall. They will at best waitlist you and then look at the overall class numbers. If you are a unique and top candidate otherwise, they may admit you once they have determined that doing so won’t pull down their statistics and affect their rankings.
What about age/work experience? What if you fall outside of that range on either end? It depends on the strategic direction of the school. Harvard, for example, is purposefully skewing towards a younger demographic: 40% of the class of 2010 has 3 or less years work experience. Only 11 students out of 900 had 9 or more years work experience. If you are 31 years old, you don’t need an MBA to figure out your chances for admission to Harvard. If you are 25, go for it -- Harvard apparently really wants people like you.
Strive to fit into the 80% and you’ll start the admissions process ahead of the curve.
Get more insight at http://www.mbaapplicationadvisors.com
First, regarding your GMAT score… contrary to belief, there is no absolute GMAT score cut-off, so if you are a little below their published mean or median score do not rush out to take the GMAT again. If you are above it, do not assume this will guarantee you admission. In general, most top MBA programs want you to have verbal and quantitative scores at the 80% percentile or above. While this isn’t a cut-off, it is an important check point. You have a much higher chance of being waitlisted if a score, especially the quantitative score, is in the 70-80% percentile. Below the 70% percentile? Don’t get your hopes up for acceptance; study and take the GMAT again.
The mid-80% range is also very important. Often a school will publish the range for GMAT, GPA, age, or years work experience. If you fall within their range, you can relax a bit because you’ve overcome the first hurdle. If you fall below their range on the GMAT or GPA, you will likely be denied or waitlisted because schools don’t want those statistics to fall. They will at best waitlist you and then look at the overall class numbers. If you are a unique and top candidate otherwise, they may admit you once they have determined that doing so won’t pull down their statistics and affect their rankings.
What about age/work experience? What if you fall outside of that range on either end? It depends on the strategic direction of the school. Harvard, for example, is purposefully skewing towards a younger demographic: 40% of the class of 2010 has 3 or less years work experience. Only 11 students out of 900 had 9 or more years work experience. If you are 31 years old, you don’t need an MBA to figure out your chances for admission to Harvard. If you are 25, go for it -- Harvard apparently really wants people like you.
Strive to fit into the 80% and you’ll start the admissions process ahead of the curve.
Get more insight at http://www.mbaapplicationadvisors.com
Monday, December 8, 2008
Why is Round 2 so important in MBA Admissions?
My clients urged me to start this Blog to share my knowledge about MBA Admissions as it relates to Silicon Valley/the Bay Area. I've got a lot to share so I’ll be writing at least once per week until we hit mid-January – Round 2 Deadline time for most top schools.
So, the first question is: Why is Round 2 so important, if there is a Round 3?
The answer is: there really isn’t a real Round 3.
Most of the top MBA programs will have already determined the majority of admits by Round 2 – especially this year. Round 3 is literally used to “round out the class.” A Wharton Admissions officer stated, "you need to be walking on water by Round 3," a representative from Kellogg stated "you really need to be very, very unique," and HBS is looking for "underrepresented voices in the classroom" in Round 3. Last year, Wharton had filled 90% of their class by the end of Round 2.
What does that mean? If you are a teacher, an artist, a musician, someone from non-profit or the public sector, health care… basically anyone not from the major applicant categories (finance/banking, consulting, engineering/high tech) and can provide a unique perspective… then you have a shot at Round 3. If you are in HR, Operations and even Marketing, go for it; surprisingly you are in the minority of applicants. If you are in the major MBA applicant categories above, and miss Round 2, my advice would be to save your application fee, focus on leadership opportunities, and apply early in Round 1 next year.
Other benefits of applying in Round 2 include preference for merit scholarships, housing and time to secure financial aid.
So it's time to stop procrastinating and get those MBA applications written!
Get more insight at http://www.mbaapplicationadvisors.com
So, the first question is: Why is Round 2 so important, if there is a Round 3?
The answer is: there really isn’t a real Round 3.
Most of the top MBA programs will have already determined the majority of admits by Round 2 – especially this year. Round 3 is literally used to “round out the class.” A Wharton Admissions officer stated, "you need to be walking on water by Round 3," a representative from Kellogg stated "you really need to be very, very unique," and HBS is looking for "underrepresented voices in the classroom" in Round 3. Last year, Wharton had filled 90% of their class by the end of Round 2.
What does that mean? If you are a teacher, an artist, a musician, someone from non-profit or the public sector, health care… basically anyone not from the major applicant categories (finance/banking, consulting, engineering/high tech) and can provide a unique perspective… then you have a shot at Round 3. If you are in HR, Operations and even Marketing, go for it; surprisingly you are in the minority of applicants. If you are in the major MBA applicant categories above, and miss Round 2, my advice would be to save your application fee, focus on leadership opportunities, and apply early in Round 1 next year.
Other benefits of applying in Round 2 include preference for merit scholarships, housing and time to secure financial aid.
So it's time to stop procrastinating and get those MBA applications written!
Get more insight at http://www.mbaapplicationadvisors.com
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