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GMAT Club

Personal profile is a competitive advantage for top MBA applicants

The MBA Exchange 0
Most business school applicants feel that transforming their candidacy to make it more appealing to admissions committees is not possible. Their academic history is defined by a transcript and a test score. Their professional role is limited by the realities of their job description. However, there’s one key aspect of the candidacy that an astute applicant can significantly improve and leverage – the personal profile.

What exactly do we mean by “personal profile”? This is a combination of the values, interests, affiliations and activities that define you as a human being. Any applicant who believes that business schools don’t seriously consider this facet of the candidacy when deciding who will be admitted is mistaken. The importance of one’s personal profile is confirmed by the questions that schools ask in applications, recommendations and interviews. Adcoms are not satisfied by only a high GPA, stellar GMAT or blue-chip resume. In fact, a robust and compelling personal profile can help leverage strengths and mitigate soft spots elsewhere in the candidacy.

Building a strong personal profile requires a thorough process of reflection and discovery. Only by examining past and present interest and activities, spotting patterns and priorities, can a serious MBA applicant begin to explain the significance to an admission committee. That’s why our free evaluations for MBA applicants ask about collegiate, professional and personal activities. And that’s why our comprehensive admissions consultation leads each client through a personalized, structured exercise in analyzing their lives to date and aligning the findings with the selection criteria for their targeted schools. And then The MBA Exchange takes it a step further but proposing to our client specific action steps that can elevate and expand his or her personal profile with maximum substance and credibility, with minimal effort and time.

So, whether your academic and professional credentials are so impressive that you believe they guarantee your b-school admission, or whether your classroom and workplace results are so modest that you feel that you don’t have any real chance for success, think twice. A powerful, authentic and passionate personal profile can and must be part of your overall value proposition if you want to become truly competitive. Highly selective MBA programs expect nothing less.