Application deadlines for MBA programs that start in 2013 are a looong ways away. Hell, b-schools haven\u2019t even finalized their class lists for 2012 yet, so there\u2019s no reason to start thinking about those 2013 apps, right?<\/p>\n
Nnnope.<\/p>\n
Round 1 deadlines may not be coming for 6 months, but that doesn\u2019t mean you have 6 months to sit around and twiddle your thumbs. On the contrary, it means you have 6 extra months to improve your profile and increase your chances of success next year. And if you\u2019re serious about getting an MBA, that\u2019s exactly how you should be thinking.<\/p>\n
Use the time you\u2019ve got wisely, folks. There are plenty of things you can do now to get a head start on your applications, from starting your school research to beefing up that resume, and a few of our rockstar MBA consultants are gonna lay \u2018em all out for ya right here, right now.<\/p>\n
Grab a pen and take some notes.<\/p>\n
LEE:<\/strong><\/p>\n You can (1) start articulating \u2013 in your head or on paper \u2013 what your \u201cvalue proposition\u201d to schools will be, then (2) use the next year to build the credentials that will support your argument.\u00a0 Are you \u201ca McKinsey consultant who dreams of starting a public health NGO in India\u201d?\u00a0 Well, sign up for a consulting engagement in public health, or in India\u2026 or volunteer at a public health NGO on the weekends.\u00a0 Are you \u201ca hardware\u00a0engineer at Dell who dreams of one day heading the Strategy group\u201d?\u00a0Seek out projects\u00a0and people at your firm that can teach you about the strategic management\u00a0side of the business.<\/p>\n ALEX<\/strong>:<\/p>\n Having compelling and powerful\u00a0letters of recommendations<\/a> are a critical part one\u2019s business school application.\u00a0 Too often prospective students leave this to the last minute, getting either a generic (and completely empty) letter from the most senior manager available, or are forced to write the letter themselves, getting the manager to sign off on it (it\u2019s not kosher but it happens).\u00a0 Either path is far less than optimal.<\/p>\n Take an MBA style approach to getting your letters of recommendation, folks.\u00a0 Map out a strategy by finding those contacts which offer compelling anecdotes about how amazing you are from as many different perspectives as possible.\u00a0 For those senior level managers that might not know you as intimately as you\u2019d like, prepare a package for them to review, outlining your achievements at your firm, what projects you guys worked together on, your contributions, anything and everything they can use to create a vivid narrative of your accomplishments.<\/p>\n With a little time and foresight, you can have some passionate advocates on your behalf, helping you get into your dream school.<\/p>\n YARON:<\/strong><\/p>\n Gosh, there\u2019s so much you can do. I don\u2019t even know where to begin\u2026<\/p>\n Try this on for size: Oh yeah, and get that GMAT done by May at latest! That way if things don\u2019t go as planned, you have time to re-take.<\/p>\n DAMON:<\/strong><\/p>\n One of the most productive things to do is to go for a campus visit, to see if you even want to go to there in the first place. Clearly, if you\u2019re in Asia or somewhere far away, this takes some planning. It is a significant cost too; but take it from us, the benefits far outweigh the cost, for you can then use that as strong evidence of your interest in the school.<\/p>\n MARK:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n What\u2019s going to make\u00a0a big\u00a0difference in your app is how carefully you\u2019ve thought through your short- and long-term goals, so now\u2019s the time to do some soul searching \u2014 and research \u2014 to 1) put into words what you would love to be doing 20 years down the road and 2) put some meat on the bones of these lofty professional aspirations.<\/p>\n To flesh out your career trajectory from here to there, start working backwards from the goal and figure out what the prior stepping-stones need to be. If the path isn\u2019t clear \u2014 or even if it is \u2014 I recommend doing informational interviews: picking the brains of alumni from your target schools who\u2019ve already blazed trails in your chosen field and asking them how they got to where they are today. You\u2019ll be surprised by how willing they are to share their story. (If I\u2019ve learned one thing in life, it\u2019s that most people\u00a0love<\/em> to talk about themselves.)<\/p>\n KYN:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n With 8-11 months of planning, it\u2019s time to figure out your gameplan for what kind of leadership and impact related activities you can throw yourself into, in and out of the work environment. Seek every opportunity possible to make a real difference. And stay busy with cool extracurriculars to really separate you from the pack of other applicants. Remember that the theme here is leadership in everything that you do!<\/p>\n \u2014<\/p>\n How\u2019s that for a to-do list, friends? Aren\u2019t you glad you\u2019ve got 6 months to make it all happen?<\/p>\n Get the 2013 ball rolling early \u2013 \u00a0join us for one of our upcoming\u00a0webinars<\/a>, and sign up for PE\u2019s NEW\u00a0MBA application bootcamps<\/a> starting next week! Our friends at GMAT Club can get $99 off the first session. Just type in \"GMAT CLUB\" at checkout. There are only a few slots left, so sign up now!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Application deadlines for MBA programs that start in 2013 are a looong ways away. Hell, b-schools haven\u2019t even finalized their class lists for 2012 yet, so there\u2019s no reason to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,11,817,775,113,10,243],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10650","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-gmat","category-mba","category-admissionado","category-admission-consultants","category-applications","category-interviews","category-blog","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10650","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/140"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10650"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10650\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12085,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10650\/revisions\/12085"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10650"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10650"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10650"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n1. Research the schools
\n2. Set yourself up with Students and Alumni of the schools you are interested in. And talk to them.
\n3. VISIT the schools
\n4. Start a document with notes on each school (people\u2019s names, courses, professors, aspects of the school that fit your needs, etc.) so when it\u2019s time to write your essays, you\u2019ve got all that information readily available and can work it right in there.<\/p>\n