How much time is too much time to prepare your MBA application? The answer: there is never too much time! To apply successfully to business school, you can’t be hasty. You need to clarify your goals, take the GMAT or GRE, research schools, prepare your essays, fill out the online application, gather your transcripts, and select your recommenders, and these things can’t happen overnight!
Starting the process early, and with an MBA admissions consultant to guide you, can significantly reduce stress and greatly benefit your application package, which in turn increases your chance of acceptance.
Specifically, working with a consultant early in the process will help you:
- Choose the right schools. A consultant will objectively evaluate your qualifications and competitiveness, so you apply effectively. Want to apply to that dream school? By all means go for it, but make sure you have a fall back plan you are happy with. Your consultant can work with you to make sure youselect a list of schools where you are competitive based on a combination of your stats, goals, and what you are looking for in an MBA program.
- Develop your story. It is critical to have a voice that shines through in your application – who are you? What do you want and why? How does an MBA get you there? The most compelling applicants have thought long and hard about their past, their present, and their future, and aren’t afraid to share who they are in an essay. A consultant helps you tease out things about yourself that will showcase your uniqueness and stand out in the applicant pool.
- Identify your weaknesses. Worried about that one semester you did poorly? Or the fact that you don’t have any quant on your transcript? Or that the GMAT didn’t go as well as you’d hoped, any of the four times you took it? Consultants help you understand that a blemish here or there does not spell doom. They help you come up with plans to mitigate your weaknesses, either through an optional essay, additional courses, or other means.
- Choose great recommenders. You likely have several people you can ask for recommendations, but who are the best ones? The answer may surprise you – as they are often not the people with the most senior job titles. Consultants know what content admissions committees are looking for in recommendation letters, and help make sure the recommenders you pick will provide just what you need to wow the committee.
- Apply without last minute stress and pressure. By working steadily with a dedicated admissions expert who will help you stay on track and focused, you will be relaxed and ready when the deadlines come.
- Submit a better application, period. It is hard to be objective about yourself, and having an outsider’s perspective is critical. Consultants have worked with hundreds if not thousands of successful applicants and they will give you the confidence that you have done everything possible to make the best case for your admission.
Applying this fall? Or next year? It’s never too soon to put together a plan of action for your application, so contact us at Accepted to set you down the path to admission.
Jen Weld is a former Assistant Director of Admissions at Cornell’s EMBA program. She has an additional 10 years of experience in higher ed and corporate marketing. Want Jen to help you get Accepted? Click here to get in touch!
Related Resources:
• The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Competitive MBA Applicant, a free guide
• Is 10 Days Per Business School Application Enough?
• How Can an Accepted MBA Admissions Consultant Help You?
This article originally appeared on blog.accepted.com.
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