The GMAT Club Blog

1. Is it OK to have very good recommendations? Read more.
2. Do adcoms read forums? What is the probability of adcom X finding you posts in forum Y? Read more.

1. Positioning yourself in your essays and interviews is an important part of your application process. Read more.
2. Should one write an optional essay explaining a low GMAT score? Read what our members advise.

When BusinessWeek’s 2008 MBA rankings appeared, I was disappointed that BW had seemingly done away with its MBA specialty rankings. I am happy to report, that they reappeared last month in a slightly different format.

Table: U.S. Schools Specialty Rankings

Table: Non-U.S. Schools Specialty Rankings

The good in this year’s specialty rankings:

1. You can look at individual schools and see how recruiters have ranked them in specific areas.
2. You can also find the rankings for the specialties and see which schools have strengths in your areas of interest.
3. BW ranked additional areas like Analytical Skills, Communications Skills, and Innovative Curriculum,

The bad in this year’s specialty rankings:

1. A few previously ranked specialties, like entrepreneurship and technology, are not included.
2. BW ranks US schools and non-US schools separately, but did not provide an integrated ranking, which would be appreciated. It may not be possible because recruiters probably work either domestically or internationally.

I, like MBA applicant blogger BizWiz, believe that the specialty rankings are in many ways more valuable than the overall ranking. If you’re interested in, let’s say, operations research, you should know that recruiters generally regard your target programs well. The program’s strength in … accounting may not be terribly relevant to you.

At the same time don’t take these rankings as absolute Gospel. Again, like BizWiz, I wouldn’t pay too much attention to minor differences in rankings within a specialty. Use the data in the rankings and the overall information as a launching pad.  Specialty rankings can be a good place to start your research and are a terrible place to end it.

1. Part-time MBA versus Full-time MBA career opportunities. Read more.
2. Business School journey lessons learned and valuable related advice is in our forum.

Happy New Year,
GMAT Club team

1. Find out what how other people review the Kaplan GMAT 800 prep book. Read more.
2. Read a debrief by a 770 (Q50, V46, AWA 6.0) GMAT scorer.

I just read a great application essay/personal statement, and it’s not even written by an Accepted client. In fact, it’s not even written by an applicant.

My daughter sent me a link to “Pay It Backwards: An Act Of Coffee Kindness” by Arthur Rosenfeld, a novelist, tai chi master, and philospher.  However, this article is a model personal statement. Note how it:

• Draws you in with an anecdotal opening.
• Discusses his values and reveals a lot about his character.
• Shows impact.
• Presents what he learned from the experience.

Although the essay is not ostensibly about leadership — the uber-value of admissions — he certainly influenced a lot of people’s behavior. And that’s one form of leadershp. The article is not ostensibly about compassion, although it is about compassion’s close cousin, kindness. He certainly shows both.

Don’t even think about copying this story. Do think about times when you influenced others through example. Remember those occasions when your actions had influence beyond what you anticipated.  Then see if you can’t use the structure Rosenfeld uses in his Starbucks story to respond to your application questions about leadership,  “challenging interactions” (MIT Sloan), challenges to your values (Yale MBA) or leadership.

1. Brand new guide to application process from a Wharton admit is available in our forum.
2. GMAT Clubber’s New York City meetup will take place in January. Read a discussion here.
3. GMAT Club server will be unavailable starting 8 PM Pacific Time on 12/31. We hope to get everything done quickly.

Happy holidays,
GMAT Club team

A few MBA applicant bloggers are dealing with questions now that they have received first round decisions. First Hakuna Matata!!! is thrilled to be accepted to Yale SOM and Cornell Johnson. Congratulations!

He asks several questions in “3 down…1 to go!” and I am going to respond to those that aren’t visa-related. (I know nothing about immigration law.)

1. Assuming you resolve the visa issue, quit early enough so that you can have at least a short vacation and time to establish yourself in your new town — be it New Haven, Ithaca, or Ann Arbor. In chat after chat, current MBA students advise applicants to allow time for setting up an apartment, opening up a bank account, and  figuring out where the dry cleaner, gym, barber, etc are. In addition, make sure you have at least a short but real break between quitting your job and starting the hectic life of an MBA student. Some may accomplish all the above in two weeks, others take two months or more.
2. Start with the schools that have accepted you. They will have resources on applying for loans and maybe even obtaining grants. For more information, please see “Follow the $$$: Financial Aid in Business School.”
3. In terms of choosing between Yale and Johnson, you have two wonderful choices. I suggest you look first at the fields, industries, and companies that graduates of each school go into. Which one has more of what you are interested in? Then look at the curriculum and educational program. As you note, they are ranked closely and their general management orientation is similar. But, they are not identical. Do you have a preference in terms of the education? Finally, layer in personal preference. How did you feel about the rural environment in Ithaca or about being in New Haven, which is a fairly easy train ride from NYC? Are you concerned about Yale’s current change of leadership. For more info on choosing schools, please see:
   • Great Options: Multiple Acceptances
   • MBA Admissions: Choosing Among Multiple Acceptances
   • Multiple Acceptances

MissionMBA has had a very different experience. He was rejected at one school and waitlisted at Tuck. He appropriately takes Tuck’s waitlist decision as good news. Wisely, MBAMission realizes that “recent changes at my workplace” may give him something significant and appealing to write about.

That point is key for waitlisted applicants. The schools that accept updates are keenly interested in information that will help them assess the quality of your candidacy and your fit with their program. The last sentence implies substantive updates — not generated junk. Quality over quantity. At the same time, staying in touch (without being a pest or showing poor judgment) demonstrates interest and shows character. Conversely if you do nothing, schools that welcome updates will assume either a lack of interest or a stagnant applicant. And finally, those waitlisted applicants who incessantly call and/or email about nothing will be revealing a lack of consideration and the poor judgment that could actually cause a ding.

A few resources for MBAMission and other waitlisted applicants:

• The Nine Mistakes You Don`t Want to Make on an MBA Waitlist, an ebook.
• MBA Waitlist Tips
• Waitlist Letters
• Waitlist Chat Transcripts
• 5 Keys to Unlock the Waitlist Lock

1. Is interview the most important part of Business School application process? Read what our members think about it.
2. Do you need textbooks for studying? What is the best way to find cheap textbooks? Find answers in our forum.

Happy holidays,
GMAT Club team

1. All questions related to management consulting are discussed in our forum. You can ask your own question in this thread.
2. What adds value to your extracurricular activities? Find out what our members think.