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Joined: 20 Mar 2011
Posts: 20
Schools:Chicago Booth 2013
WE 1: Consulting (3 years)
Re: Best MBA application tips?
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20 Mar 2011, 10:07
I wanted to document and share my lessons learned over the course of this process, for whatever benefit it can have for future applicants. I'm no expert and don't have any inside information. I don't have a comprehensive system, just some tips. But if I could travel back in time nine months and give myself advice, it would be this:
1) MBA admissions is a subjective process. To the extent there are "rules" or a "checklist" they are minimum necessary requirements, not sufficient reason for admission. You have to accept this and embrace it. Get used to living with uncertainty and don't let it consume you. Know what your backup plan is if you get rejected everywhere - your mind will run there during the darker moments in the process. (Mine was to stay on at current job and reapply next year.) If you don't have a backup plan, apply to multiple safeties, as that is the only way to ensure admissions. And define safety very conservatively.
2) Start early. Researching schools takes time. Essay writing takes time. A lot of time. And by time, I don't mean number of hours spent in front of a computer. By time, I mean number of days where you are thinking about essays. Good essays take time to marinate in your subconscious over several weeks. The more weeks you spend thinking about essays, the more good ideas will pop into your head. You can't compress that process of good idea generation into a few months of hectic essay writing. Spread it out over as long a period as you can. Start brainstorming before essay topics even come out. Now (March 2011) is a good time to start brainstorming and planning for class of 2014 admissions. Start now and make a little progress each week. It will save you time, and stress, over the long run.
3) Be clearly unique. Formulate a clear brand about who you are, why you're unique, and what unique value you would bring to an MBA class. It should be multifaceted but coherent. Build your application around that brand. Give your draft essay to a confidante and ask them to "reverse engineer" what your brand is - ie, ask them to write the 3 bullet summary of what comes across in your essays. You'll be surprised at how unclear and opaque you're actually being in communicating your brand. Themes that seem obvious to you are likely to be completely missed or at least misinterpreted by the uninitiated reader. Keep clarifying until you pass this "reverse engineering" test. If you're friends and family can't do it, a total stranger on the admissions committee definitely can't.
4) Be authentically unique. Never, ever, ever write what you think they want to hear, or what other people have successfully written in the past. Admissions directors love to be surprised. They love to see something they've never seen before. And you can only find that uniqueness inside yourself. As you read these forums and other sources of information, you will be pulled towards the seductive false logic of copying other models that have proven successful. It's only natural, but it's still a losing strategy. Everyone is unique, so don't despair, even if you think you're the most boring person on earth. If you get stuck, look at the full range of your experiences, and synthesize a few key themes. There are certainly other people who have each of your individual experiences, but no one else has your exact portfolio of experiences. It's the connections and interactions between your experiences that make you unique.
5) Keep your writing simple. Write like you're writing for the AP, not for the Economist. Use short, simple sentences. Don't use fancy vocabulary or jargon. If the average man on the street won't immediately grasp a concept, you have to explain it or, better yet, not use it. You want to be remembered for the content of your ideas, not the fanciness of your communication. If they're focusing on the medium they're not focusing on the message.
6) Use stories to convey leadership. A very large percentage of your word count should be spent telling vivid, moment-in-time stories. Stories should be your primary venue for communicating information whenever possible. Why MBA? Tell the story of when you realized you needed an MBA. etc. Stories are powerful. Stories are primal - they play a central role in pretty much every human culture that has evolved. When we hear a story, we project ourselves into the protagonist's role. We feel what they feel. And, we fill in the gaps with our own imagination, turning a two dimensional anecdote into a three dimensional shared experience. That is why admissions readers like stories. It lets them make the "blink" (as in Malcolm Gladwell) style assessments it takes to evaluate something subjective like leadership. Some schools explicitly ask for stories, but I think it's a pretty surefire approach for most any school. Stories are the only way for admissions readers to put themselves in your shoes and understand your leadership. So use plenty of stories to give them plenty of evidence about your leadership.
7) Practice. Don't write your dream school's essay first. You WILL get better at essay writing with each essay you write. You should go sequentially, finishing one school before moving on to the next, so you can focus on giving each school a logically coherent package. But, I'm telling you right now, your first application will be pretty bad, no matter how much time you spend on it. You might even consider doing a dummy "practice" application to get that first bad one out of your system. What the heck, here's a set of dummy essay topics for you: A) Assume you are admitted, and are attending your 5 year MBA reunion. Describe what you have accomplished since graduating, how your MBA helped you achieve it, and what your plans for the future are. B) Write a leadership autobiography, describing the key moments in your life that shaped your leadership style. C) Assume that, once admitted, you will have to "apply" to a learning team. What would you say to your fellow classmates to convince them that you would be a valuable addition to their learning team?
Try to enjoy the process. Treat it like a fun autobiographical exercise. It'll help you do better, and help maintain your sanity.
Best of luck everyone! Work hard, be passionate, do well.