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24 Jun 2016, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Attention Reapplicants – Free Ding Reviews! |
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Did we say free? Why, yes, we did. Via our complimentary 30-minute consultations with potential clients, we occasionally encounter confused and disappointed applicants who were “dinged” from—aka denied acceptance to—their target business school the previous admissions season. To help these candidates improve their chances the next time around, we offer a Ding Review service. This offering typically costs $650 per school, but this is your unique opportunity to get this valuable service completely free! There is no catch! We are simply offering one free Ding Review service to the 20 reapplicants. If you are interested in this free service, simply email a PDF of your complete—yet unfortunately unsuccessful—application (including any letters of recommendation you may have) to info@mbamission.com. We will let you know if you are one of the lucky 20 selected. Within a week of being notified that you have successfully claimed one of our free Ding Reviews, you will receive a detailed written analysis of your previous application produced by one of mbaMission’s Senior Consultants, as well as a 30-minute phone call with that consultant to answer any questions you have about the review or about your reapplication strategy. The post Attention Reapplicants – Free Ding Reviews! appeared first on mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting. |
24 Jun 2016, 12:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: In Your Corner Founder Bea Arthur Shares How She Overcame Obstacles and Found Success |
 Bea Arthur Today, many aspiring MBAs and MBA graduates want to join start-ups or launch such companies themselves. Is entrepreneurship as exciting as it seems? Is it really for you? mbaMission Founder Jeremy Shinewald has teamed up with Venture for America and CBS Interactive to launch Smart People Should Build Things: The Venture for America Podcast. Each week, Shinewald interviews another entrepreneur so you can hear the gritty stories of their ups and downs on the road to success. Bea Arthur is truly a jack-of-all-trades: she boasts two master’s degrees from Columbia University (in education and psychological counseling), hosts a web-coaching series, and is a multi-entrepreneur. Her latest endeavor, In Your Corner, which was founded in 2011 under the name “Pretty Padded Room,” has grown into a notable online counseling platform. Arthur joins the podcast series to discuss the following topics and more:
The post In Your Corner Founder Bea Arthur Shares How She Overcame Obstacles and Found Success appeared first on mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting. |
25 Jun 2016, 08:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: If I Don’t Get Accepted in R1, I’ll Just Apply in R2! |
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As you enter application season, what kind of strategy do you have in mind? More than a few candidates, having likely read about the supposed advantages of applying in Round 1 on various Web sites and discussion boards, plan to submit all their applications in that first round—with the idea that if no acceptances are forthcoming, they will just submit another set of applications in Round 2. If this is your plan, we would like to explain why it is probably not your best course of action. Most Round 1 deadlines are in October, and even though often applicants may receive a kind of “progress report” in the form of an interview invitation in November, this is no guarantee of eventual acceptance. Ultimately, then, applicants will not know for sure whether they have won a spot at any of their target schools until mid- to late December. So let us imagine the worst-case scenario: you submit all your applications in Round 1 but are not accepted at any of your target schools. Now, feeling discouraged and unsure of your application strategy—not to mention dealing with the hustle and bustle of the holidays—you must quickly research and select new schools, rethink your approach, and crank out still more applications in the space of just a few weeks to be able to submit in Round 2—to schools that you may not even be that enthusiastic about. And do not forget that you will also need to pressure your recommenders during this busy time of year to produce more documents on your behalf on a very tight deadline! Are you rethinking your strategy yet? We recommend that instead, you change your mind-set from “If I don’t get accepted in R1, I will apply in R2” to “I am applying to some schools in R1 and some in R2, and hopefully I won’t have to finish my R2 applications.” With luck, you will not need to complete the applications you have slated for Round 2. But if you plan ahead, do not overload yourself with too many applications in the first round, and work steadily on your applications over several months, you will be in a much better place both mentally and with your required workload should you have to move ahead with your Round 2 submissions. And if, in the end, you get accepted early or receive multiple offers of admissions from your first-round applications, you will have lost nothing more than a little time! The post MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: If I Don’t Get Accepted in R1, I’ll Just Apply in R2! appeared first on mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting. |
26 Jun 2016, 07:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: GMAT Impact: Okay…You Have Decided to Postpone the Exam for a Year |
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With regard to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything. In this blog series, Manhattan Prep’s Stacey Koprince teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense. In the past, we have talked about what to try if your deadlines are rapidly approaching and you do not yet have the score that you want. What if you decide to postpone the exam and possibly your B-school applications? First, a pep talk. You made a choice; you did not “fail.” You could, for example, choose to apply this year but lower your standards in terms of where you apply. In fact, depending on your goals, this may be better than waiting a year to try to get into a “better” (or at least more highly ranked) school. On the other hand, let us say that you are only willing to spend more than $100,000 if you can get into a certain “level” school, and your GMAT score is holding you back. In that case, postponing for a year may be the way to go. Any “helpful” friends or family members who say, “Hey, I thought you were applying to business school!” can be told, “It is actually a smarter career move for me to wait until next year.” They do not need to know that the GMAT had anything to do with that decision. So how do you get that score? There is no guarantee you will get a certain score. Now that you have given yourself some more time, though, put together a smart plan that will give you the best possible chance. Take a break If you are already burned out (and most people in this situation are), take a breather. The best thing you can do for yourself right now is clear your brain and ratchet down the stress levels. Come back to the GMAT with a fresh perspective in January. Set up a plan Whatever you were doing before was not working for some reason. You need to figure out why so that you can then figure out what kind of plan will work for you. First, what was your broad study plan/pattern? Were you working on your own or with friends? With a class? With a tutor? Second, what materials were you using and how were you using them? How were you actually studying/learning when you were not in class or with a tutor? If you had/have a teacher or tutor, contact him or her for help with this step. Make sure to provide detailed information about how you were working on your own and any ideas you have about what was and was not working. Also ask other experts for advice—post on some forums, speak to other teachers or tutors, and so on. The article Developing a GMAT Study Plan contains a number of useful resources to help you figure out next steps. Note that the article is a two-parter. I have linked to the first part here; the second half is linked at the end of the first part. Questions to ask yourself
Research your options now (class? books? online materials?) and set things in motion so that you can hit the ground running when the time comes. Then, after taking a break, you can come back with a clear head, a fresh perspective, and a plan—all of which are critical if you want to have a good shot at overcoming the GMAT! The post GMAT Impact: Okay…You Have Decided to Postpone the Exam for a Year appeared first on mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting. |
27 Jun 2016, 08:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Monday Morning Essay Tip: Personal, but Not Too Personal |
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Last week’s essay tip focused on how important thoroughly exploring and accessing your personal stories is when writing your business school application essays. Of course, having too much of a good thing is always a risk as well—admissions committees can be put off by candidates who go too far and become too personal. Some stories are particularly challenging for admissions committees. For example, we strongly discourage candidates from writing about divorce as a moment of failure. If an individual were to take responsibility in an essay for a failed marriage, he/she would likely end up revealing intensely personal issues, rather than portraying him-/herself as having learned from a constructive professional or personal challenge. Always keep in mind that in many ways, the admissions committee is meeting you for the first time via your application. So, a simple way to judge whether you are being too personal in your materials is to ask yourself, “Would I be uncomfortable if, immediately upon meeting someone, he/she were to share this sort of information with me?” If your answer is “yes,” you should most likely consider changing your topic. The post Monday Morning Essay Tip: Personal, but Not Too Personal appeared first on mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting. |
28 Jun 2016, 08:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Mission Admission: Using Judgment on Details |
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Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday. “Should I use Calibri or Times New Roman font for my essays?” “Should I list my GPA to the third or fourth decimal place?” “I don’t have enough space to enter my full title, so should I write ‘Vice President’ or ‘VP Sales’?” As candidates approach the application season, small questions start to arise—questions that often require using judgment to answer. We can safely say that no one was ever kept out of Harvard Business School for listing his/her GPA to the third decimal point or for abbreviating a title. Remember, the admissions officers are not punitive. They are not mean-spirited people, reading your application and searching for reasons to reject you. So, if you have a small lingering question about your application, you can connect with the admissions office and ask someone there. Most often, they will ask you to use your judgment. As long as your broad story is compelling, the smallest details should take care of themselves. The post Mission Admission: Using Judgment on Details appeared first on mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting. |
28 Jun 2016, 12:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: In Other News… Top Master’s in Finance Programs, the Historic Naming of Harvard’s New Building, and London Business School’s Fundraising Success |
 HEC Paris The business school world is constantly buzzing with change and innovation. In addition to our regular news posts, we briefly touch on a few notable stories from this dynamic field in one roundup.
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29 Jun 2016, 08:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Gautam Kaul, University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business |
Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand when they choose a business school. However, the educational experience you will have is what is crucial to your future, and no one will affect your education more than your professors. Each Wednesday, we profile a standout professor as identified by students. Today, we profile Gautam Kaul from the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business. Gautam Kaul, professor of finance and the Fred M. Taylor Professor of Business Administration, teaches both core curriculum courses and electives. In addition to referencing his intellectual capabilities, students with whom mbaMission spoke described Kaul as extremely friendly and having a great sense of humor. He is also known for his willingness to help students both inside and outside the classroom. In 2005, in direct response to student interest, Kaul developed the course “Finance and the Sustainable Enterprise.” In return, students recognized his efforts and awarded him the Sustainability Pioneer Award and a plaque in his honor on one of the chairs in the main auditorium of the university’s School of Natural Resources and Environment. Kaul has been nominated for an MBA Teaching Excellence Award (which is voted on by the student body) numerous times, and he won the award in 1996, 2006, 2009, 2011, and 2013. He is also the 2009 recipient of the Victor L. Bernard Leadership in Teaching Award from the university’s Center for Research on Learning and Teaching. For more information about Michigan Ross and 15 other top-ranked business schools, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. The post Professor Profiles: Gautam Kaul, University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business appeared first on mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting. |
30 Jun 2016, 08:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Beyond the MBA Classroom: Career Treks at Harvard Business School |
When you select an MBA program, you are not just choosing your learning environment but are also committing to becoming part of a community. Each Thursday, we offer a window into life “beyond the MBA classroom” at a top business school. Career Treks are an integral part of the Harvard Business School (HBS) culture and allow groups of students to network with governmental, corporate, and nonprofit representatives in particular geographic areas. These optional trips take place during the fall and winter semesters as well as during the school’s January break and range in length from two days to over a week. Past treks have included trips to the Dominican Republic, Saudi Arabia, and Japan as well as the annual WesTrek to the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to attending alumni panels, meeting with government officials, and visiting companies, participating students take time to relax, explore, and simply enjoy their stay. Treks are particularly important for students looking for a job through personal connections and for those seeking employment with smaller or foreign organizations that may not be able to participate in traditional on-campus recruiting. Treks are organized by student clubs, often with the support of the school and corporate sponsorship of events, such as a lunch or happy hour. For in-depth descriptions of social and community activities at HBS and 15 other top MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. The post Beyond the MBA Classroom: Career Treks at Harvard Business School appeared first on mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting. |
30 Jun 2016, 11:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Diamonds in the Rough: 12-Month MBA in Sustainability at Duquesne |
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MBA applicants can get carried away with rankings. In this series, we profile amazing programs at business schools that are typically ranked outside the top 15. Appealing to professionals at all stages of their careers, Duquesne University’s Palumbo Donahue School of Business offers an accelerated, 12-month MBA degree with an “integrated” focus on sustainability and the environment. With core course work centered on four foundational areas—social, economic, environmental, and ethical—students gain exposure to the basic problems and frameworks of sustainable development beyond conventional notions of “green” business. In addition, the program includes global study trips, in which students travel abroad to examine global sustainability practices firsthand; two required sustainability consulting projects with sponsoring nonprofit or governmental organizations; and a capstone practicum course that challenges students to develop strategy and management skills. The post Diamonds in the Rough: 12-Month MBA in Sustainability at Duquesne appeared first on mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting. |
01 Jul 2016, 07:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Friday Factoid: Columbia Business School’s End-of-Semester Push |
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Although summer seems to have only just begun, first-year Columbia Business School (CBS) students have only a handful of months before they enter the last big push of their first semester in December, with finals wrapping up and the next semester not beginning until mid-January. The end of regular classes at the school is traditionally marked by CBS Follies, a student-run comedy and entertainment show, and those looking to stay involved with CBS and their classmates during the holiday break have plenty of opportunities to do so. Many students go abroad during the break to such places as Korea, Brazil, and Australia on Chazen International Study Tours or as part of consulting projects through the International Development Club. And students wishing for a complete break from the classroom can take part in the Snow Sports Club’s annual Winter Ski Trip in early January. Although the long break can offer a welcome rest from the stress of first-semester classes, recruiting season for first years begins once they return to campus for second semester. So, one way or another, this is a good time for CBS students to clear their heads. For more information on CBS or 15 other leading MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. The post Friday Factoid: Columbia Business School’s End-of-Semester Push appeared first on mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting. |
01 Jul 2016, 12:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA News: The Job Market for the Class of 2016 Is the Best in Years |
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The MBA Class of 2016 graduated to an unusually promising job market. According to the recently released Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) 2016 Corporate Recruiters Survey Report, as many as 88% of corporate recruiters plan to hire new MBAs this year. The report, which surveyed more than 840 employers in 40 countries, also revealed that 54% of the respondents will raise their starting salaries for MBAs. The upcoming 2016–2017 academic year looks promising for MBA students as well. For example, according to the survey, 89% of companies plan to conduct on-campus recruiting. Recent years have not been quite as rosy for business school graduates—last year, only 80% of employers said they planned to hire MBAs. However, in the midst of recession in 2010, the figure was just 55%. The post MBA News: The Job Market for the Class of 2016 Is the Best in Years appeared first on mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting. |
02 Jul 2016, 07:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: Round 1 Is Everything |
Many MBA admissions officers will tell candidates that if they can complete their applications and submit them in Round 1, then they should do so. Most programs will also tell candidates that they should try to avoid Round 3, because the majority of the places in their classes will have been filled by then. So, what does that say about Round 2? Candidates sometimes contact mbaMission to ask whether submitting an application in Round 2 is worth the effort or whether the opportunity has passed at that point. Unfortunately, when one is being compared against a group of unknown competitors, being concerned about every perceived difference or deficiency is only natural. Some candidates grow concerned if they are a year older than the average at their target school, while others fret if they are a year younger. Many applicants worry if their GMAT score is ten points below a school’s average. And, of course, some worry if they submit their application in Round 2. However, the overall strength of your candidacy, which is a measure of many factors, is far more important than where you fit in relation to any single statistic—not to mention whether you apply in Round 1 or 2. So, we too would encourage candidates to apply early, if they are ready, but we do not believe anyone should give up on their MBA dreams for a year if applying in Round 1 is just not practical. You may be surprised to discover that admissions committees encourage early applications but also concede that the difference in selectivity between the first and the second rounds is very small. To back up this statement, we offer a small selection of quotes from mbaMission’s exclusive interviews with admissions officers: “People ask, generally, is it better to apply in the first round or the second round or third round? We definitely advise people to avoid the third round if possible, because space can become an issue by the time the third round rolls around. But we do view the first two rounds as roughly equivalent.” – Bruce DelMonico, Assistant Dean for Admissions, Yale School of Management “[We] get about a third of our applications in Round 1, about 55% in Round 2, and the remainder in Round 3. […] We encourage people to submit their application when they feel that they offer their best possible applications. […] So, if you can get everything lined up and completed and you feel really good about it […], then I would encourage you to apply in Round 1. But if it takes you a bit longer, and you want to take the time to look at your application again and maybe have somebody else look at it, then Round 2 is fine, too.” – Soojin Kwon, Director of Admissions, University of Michigan Ross School of Business “We look at statistics over the years—how many applications we got, how many we admitted, and how many we yielded—and we try to even it out so we’re not being too generous in one round at the expense of another round.” – Dawna Clarke, Admissions Director, Dartmouth College Tuck School of Business The post MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: Round 1 Is Everything appeared first on mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting. |
03 Jul 2016, 08:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: GMAT Impact: Ace the GMAT Essay? No, Thanks! |
With regard to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything. In this blog series, Manhattan Prep’s Stacey Koprince teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense. Your business school application essays are critically important. Your GMAT essay? Not so much. We do, though, have to write the essays first thing, before we get to the more important Quant and Verbal sections (or even the Integrated Reasoning section), so we do not want to use up too much brainpower on the essay. Still, we cannot just bomb this section; the schools do care about the essay somewhat. So how do we do a good enough job without expending so much energy that we are negatively affected during the multiple-choice portion of the test? We need to develop a template, an organizational framework on which to “hang” our writing. The template will not, of course, tell us exactly what to write. For that, we need the actual essay prompt, which we will not see until we take the test. We can, however, determine how to organize the information ahead of time, as well as the general kinds of messages we need to convey at various points throughout. The template will vary a little bit from person to person; the important thing is to have a consistent template for yourself that you have worked out in advance of the official test. Brainstorming First, read the essay prompt. It will look/feel just like the critical reasoning arguments we see on the Verbal portion of the test, so analyze it in the same way! Take about three to four minutes to brainstorm, then pick your two or three best flaws; these will form the basis of your essay. First Paragraph
Each flaw gets its own paragraph, so you will write either two or three body paragraphs of four to six sentences each. (I personally pick my two best flaws, so I write two body paragraphs. Remember, we just need to be “good enough!”)
The post GMAT Impact: Ace the GMAT Essay? No, Thanks! appeared first on mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting. |
05 Jul 2016, 07:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Monday Morning Essay Tip: Use Parallel Construction |
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Longer and more complex sentences often require parallel construction. Simply put, parallel construction ensures that any given longer sentence has a standard rhythm or construction. With parallel construction, each pronoun corresponds with another pronoun, each verb corresponds with another verb, each adjective matches with a corresponding adjective, and so on. Parallel construction can certainly be found in shorter sentences as well, and to great effect. Consider the example of Hamlet’s words “To be or not to be”—some of the most famous in the English language. Shakespeare wrote this short sentence in perfect parallel form; “to be” is matched perfectly with its corresponding negative “not to be” and is separated only by the necessary word “or.” Another short example of parallel construction from history is “I came, I saw, I conquered.” With these words, Julius Caesar spoke in perfect parallel construction—the grammatical form is a pronoun (the word “I”) followed by a verb in the past tense (“came,” “saw,” “conquered”). If we were to change that second famous phrase just a touch, the amazing quality it now has would be lost, and the phrase would become unremarkable. For example, if Caesar had said, “I came, I saw, and I became the conqueror,” he would likely not be quoted today because the rhythm would have been destroyed. Keep this rule in mind for everything that you write, especially for longer sentences. More examples follow: Bad: We are successful for three key reasons: understanding our client, trying harder than our competition, and teamwork. Good: We are successful for three key reasons: understanding our client, trying harder than our competition, and working as a team. (In this example, gerunds [the words ending in “ing”] parallel each other, unlike in the previous, “bad” example.) Bad: We are in the forestry business. We sell wood to hardware stores and paper to stationery stores. Good: We are in the forestry business. We sell wood and paper. The post Monday Morning Essay Tip: Use Parallel Construction appeared first on mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting. |
05 Jul 2016, 07:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Mission Admission: Will I Get In? |
Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday. Not surprisingly, one of the most common questions we receive from MBA candidates is “Will I get in?” Of course, this is an important question to consider before applying, and we suggest that you honestly assess and understand your candidacy and risk profile within the context of your target school’s typical student body before completing or submitting an application to that school. However, once you have determined that you will in fact apply to a particular school, you should not let this question haunt you or halt your progress. Many applicants spend too much time worrying and not enough time working. Your admissions decision is ultimately out of your control, so just focus on submitting the best application you possibly can. Of course, you can get our expert advice by signing up for a free, 30-minute, one-on-one consultation at www.mbamission.com/consult.php. The post Mission Admission: Will I Get In? appeared first on mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting. |
05 Jul 2016, 11:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: B-School Chart of the Week: The Progression of the MBA Job Market Since the Recession |
Earlier this month, the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) released its latest Corporate Recruiters Survey Report, revealing that the percentage of corporate recruiters who plan to hire MBAs is the highest it has been in years. Indeed, the percentage of companies that have actually hired MBAs has grown exponentially since 2010, when the recession took its toll on the most recent graduating class and a mere 50% of responding companies ended up hiring new MBAs. Although the number of companies who plan to hire MBAs in 2016 (88%) is still only a projection, the job market seems quite promising to new graduates. The post B-School Chart of the Week: The Progression of the MBA Job Market Since the Recession appeared first on mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting. |
05 Jul 2016, 11:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: B-School-Specific Essay Writing Webinar: August 3, 2016 |
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With so many business schools to choose from and so many different essay questions, how do you decide what to write for which MBA program? And how do you make sure your essays stand out? Our second annual “B-School-Specific Essay Extravaganza” will help you tailor your application essay ideas for your preferred MBA programs and then execute them in a way that ensures your stories stand out. Experienced mbaMission senior consultants will explain the nuances of how to brainstorm topics, structure your essays, and assemble a compelling overall MBA application. In addition, for this special essay writing webinar, you will select two business schools from the following list. During the session, participants will break out into separate groups and rooms based on their chosen b-schools and attend focused sessions specifically targeting those programs’ essay questions and presenting strategies for answering them. – Columbia Business School (CBS) – Harvard Business School (HBS) – Stanford Graduate School of Business – Wharton Attendees will have the opportunity to ask both general and school-specific follow-up questions at the end of the presentations. mbaMission Senior Consultant Jessica Shklar will lead the presentation, while school-specific breakout sessions and Q&A will be conducted by mbaMission President and Founder Jeremy Shinewald (Stanford), along with mbaMission Senior Consultants Meslissa Blakeslee (HBS), Rachel Beck (CBS), and Liza Weale (Wharton). Please join us for this valuable and unique event that will prove essential to your MBA planning! Space is limited! Register for free today! The post B-School-Specific Essay Writing Webinar: August 3, 2016 appeared first on mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting. |
05 Jul 2016, 13:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT Sloan) Essay Analysis, 2016–2017 |
 Much to most applicants’ chagrin, the MIT Sloan School of Management has resurrected its dreaded “cover letter” essay prompt. After requiring candidates to pen a letter to the school’s admission director for multiple years in a row, MIT Sloan suddenly branched out in 2013–2014 with respect to its essay questions and offered candidates somewhat broader queries that we imagine many people found more approachable. But this unusual requirement is now making a reappearance, and this year, applicants have just half as many words in which to express themselves as the last time we saw this prompt—a mere 250 versus the previous limit of 500. And complementing the cover letter is another unorthodox option, a wide-open opportunity to provide additional information of any sort. Plus, keep in mind that if you are lucky enough to be invited to interview, you will be required to submit yet another 250-word essay. We understand if you are feeling a bit perplexed or overwhelmed. Let us try to sort through this with you… Cover Letter: Please submit a cover letter seeking a place in the MIT Sloan MBA Program. Your letter should conform to a standard business correspondence and be addressed to Mr. Rod Garcia, Senior Director of Admissions. (250 words or fewer) We strongly advise that you avoid starting your letter with a rote opening like “My name is Bob, and I am seeking a place in the MIT Sloan Class of 2019.” Your admissions reader will likely be asleep before he/she even finishes the sentence! Such information is obvious—we can assure you that the admissions reader is well aware of your desire to be admitted to the MIT Sloan program—and is therefore a waste of precious word count, not to mention that it is hardly the kind of gripping opening that will grab and hold someone’s attention. Interestingly, the school has streamlined its classic essay question this time around by leaving the query rather open-ended. Guidance seen in past years such as “describe your accomplishments,” “include an example of how you had an impact on a group or organization,” and “address any extenuating circumstances that may apply to your application” are conspicuously absent, giving you free reign to choose and share the information you believe is most important for your candidacy. The 250-word maximum gives you roughly three short paragraphs with which to make your mark. You might open with an anecdote that offers a representative example—a microcosm, per se—of who you are as a person or professional. Then you might continue by outlining goals that connect with the story you shared in your first paragraph, and finally, in your third paragraph, you could discuss how MIT Sloan will prepare you to attain those goals, citing specific courses, experiential opportunities, and other relevant resources. In some ways, this approach mirrors a typical personal statement, covering all the expected elements, and although this structure alone will not make your essay stand out from the pack, your content will still make a strong impression if all the necessary “dots” are there and thoughtfully connected. Another option is to discuss your accomplishments—being careful not to brag!—for two paragraphs and then relate your skills and abilities to the MIT Sloan experience. The essay question does not require that you discuss your goals, but we believe you will need to cite specific resources to make a compelling case for your fit (“seeking a place in the MIT Sloan MBA Program”) with the school. Optional: The Admissions Committee invites you to share additional information about yourself, in any format. If you choose a multimedia format, please host the information on a website and provide us with the URL. Suggested guidelines:
Sloan’s prompt states that you may use any format for this submission. Perhaps expecting that many applicants will choose to create a video, the admissions committee has specified that such recordings be no longer than two minutes. (You can search YouTube for “MIT Optional Essay” to find numerous examples of how others have approached this option.) That said, do not feel that you must use some form of multimedia. Again, start by brainstorming to determine what you want to say as an applicant—what you feel the admissions committee really needs to understand about you—and then decide which vehicle most appropriately matches your personality and message. That vehicle just might be another conventional essay! The key is to effectively convey additional information that highlights your personality, not to win an Oscar. And be aware that Sloan itself has noted that a strong optional essay can help differentiate two similarly competitive applicants, but it alone cannot get a weak candidate in. For a thorough exploration of the MIT Sloan academic program/merits, defining characteristics, crucial statistics, social life, academic environment, and other important elements, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guide to the MIT Sloan School of Management. Those invited to interview will be asked to answer the following question: The mission of the MIT Sloan School of Management is to develop principled, innovative leaders who improve the world and to generate ideas that advance management practice. Please share with us something about your past that aligns with this mission. (250 words or fewer). Details for submitting your essay will be included in the interview invitation. Allow us to offer a word to the wise: carefully consider this question as you craft your other essay(s). Should you be so fortunate as to receive an invitation to interview, you do not want to discover at that point that you have no compelling stories left to share with the school because you have already used them all in your required essay and perhaps even via the optional essay. Thinking optimistically, you will need to reserve some key information for this submission later. In short, you are applying to MIT Sloan with the intention of being accepted, so anticipate and plan for that interview invitation so that you are prepared to respond effectively when the time comes. Now you may be thinking, “Can I really provide an anecdote that will convince someone I ‘improve the world’ or ‘generate ideas that advance management practice’?” We understand that this indeed sounds like a tall order, but it is not really as difficult as you may imagine, because the focus is on the future. MIT Sloan’s admissions committee is asking you to draw on past experience to show that you are prepared to support the school’s mission going forward. Rather than fretting about the latter part of that equation, concentrate on the first part, and provide examples of how you have already displayed principled or innovative leadership. The phrasing of the question is broad enough that your examples can come from the professional, community, or personal sphere. All these areas are equally valid. What is important is that you offer a clear narrative, so that your reader is able to easily visualize your actions and motivations. The admissions committee wants to learn about you through your experiences, not hear platitudes about management. As you share your stories, be sure to show a connection between them and the school’s mission, clearly linking them to Sloan’s goal statement. If you take the time to really contemplate how your experiences relate to that mission before your hands even touch the keyboard, you should be able to craft an effective submission. The post Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT Sloan) Essay Analysis, 2016–2017 appeared first on mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting. |
06 Jul 2016, 07:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Jeremy Siegel, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania |
Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand when they choose a business school. However, the educational experience you will have is what is crucial to your future, and no one will affect your education more than your professors. Each Wednesday, we profile a standout professor as identified by students. Today, we profile Jeremy Siegel from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Jeremy Siegel is arguably one of the most recognizable and renowned professors at Wharton, and not just because he regularly appears on CNN, CNBC, and NPR to weigh in on the financial markets. One first-year student we interviewed referred to Siegel as “THE professor at Wharton.” Siegel, who has taught at the school since 1976, combines his expertise with a passion for teaching. On the long list of teaching awards he has received is Bloomberg Businessweek’s Best Business School Professor (worldwide) accolade in 1994. What is more, Siegel’s expertise gives him almost unparalleled street cred in the eyes of Wharton students—not an easy lot to win over on the topic of the stock market. At the beginning of each class session for his macroeconomics course, Siegel pulls up live market data and quickly interprets what is going on in the markets that day. Interestingly, even students who are not enrolled in this course commonly stand at the back of the room to watch this summary. Siegel has been recognized often for his writings, having won numerous best article awards, and is a bestselling author. The Washington Post named his book Stocks for the Long Run: The Definitive Guide to Financial Market Returns and Long-Term Investment Strategies “one of the ten-best investment books of all time.” And in 2005, Bloomberg Businessweek named another of Siegel’s works, The Future for Investors: Why the Tried and the True Triumph Over the Bold and the New, one of the best business books of the year. Also in 2005, Siegel received the prestigious Nicholas Molodovsky Award from CFA Institute, awarded to “those individuals who have made outstanding contributions of such significance as to change the direction of the profession and to raise it to higher standards of accomplishment.” For information on other defining characteristics of the MBA program at Wharton or any of 15 other top business schools, please check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides The post Professor Profiles: Jeremy Siegel, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania appeared first on mbaMission - MBA Admissions Consulting. |
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