In this business, I've seen applicants attempt to pull off just about any trick under the sun to gain a seat at the MBA program of their dreams. Let me share with you nine mistakes---big and small---that will doom your chances with the admissions committee. No matter how confident of your embellishing abilities you may be, I urge you to heed the errors of those who have walked before you!<\/p>\n
1. The applicant who lied on her application AND got caught.<\/b>\u00a0 This woman breathed a sigh of relief when she got accepted to her top school and figured those lies on her application would never be found out. WRONG. Not only did the school she was supposed to attend find out she was telling tall tales, she was escorted out of school.\u00a0 So not worth it.<\/p>\n
2. The application for Harvard that began with, \u201cSince I was a child, I\u2019ve dreamt of attending Stanford Graduate School of Business<\/b>.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong> It\u2019s like calling your boyfriend by the wrong name. Sure, he could forget it, but he probably won\u2019t.\u00a0 Make sure you have the right name with the right application.<\/p>\n 3.\u00a0<\/strong>The application that read like a re-shuffled resume<\/b>.\u00a0 If you\u2019re giving the admissions committee information they can already get from your resume, you\u2019re not giving them information.<\/p>\n 4. The applicant who stalked his admissions contacts<\/b>.\u00a0 If your contacts have to change their phone number, you\u2019ve called too much.\u00a0 Needy doesn\u2019t = Acceptance Letter.<\/p>\n 5. The applicant who filled his application with big words<\/b>. To quote Forrest Gump (kinda), \u201cSmarter is as smarter does.\u201d If you want to appear smart, be as well informed as possible.\u00a0 If you want to appear to be trying too hard, fill your application with words you don\u2019t actually know how to define without using a dictionary.<\/p>\n 6. The applicant who didn\u2019t practice for the interviews.<\/b>\u00a0 Everyone from the president to your local priest practices for speeches and interviews.\u00a0 You should, too. Unless you think \u201cboring\u201d and \u201crambling\u201d are the keys to a good interview.<\/p>\n 7. The applicant who went on and on about her parents.<\/b>\u00a0 Even if you\u2019re Malia Obama, it\u2019s best to talk about yourself in your interview rather than focusing on your parents like this applicant did.\u00a0 Unless your parents are planning on attending B-school with you, they don\u2019t need to be the focus of your application and interview.<\/p>\n 8. The applicant who thought rules didn\u2019t apply to him.<\/b> Red flag alert: The applicant who can\u2019t follow the rules is the employee who can\u2019t follow the rules.\u00a0 Cut it out, rules are rules. They apply to you, no matter what you\u2019ve been told before.<\/p>\n 9. The applicant who grandstanded during info sessions.<\/b> Be a nice person and a team player. Don\u2019t hog the airtime or you come off like a hog. There\u2019s only one reason to ask a question: because you want to know the answer. Otherwise, give everyone else a chance to ask the same question over and over again.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n This post originally appeared as the second installment of a new series B-School Admissions Tips You Can\u2019t Live Without<\/strong><\/em> on the MBA website Poets & Quants<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. *** If you are looking for guidance on your MBA application, Stacy Blackman Consulting can help with hourly<\/a> and comprehensive<\/a> consulting services. Contact us<\/a> to learn more. Visit the website for Stacy Blackman Reviews<\/a>, and check out the company\u2019s e-publications for more in depth school-by-school guidance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In this business, I’ve seen applicants attempt to pull off just about any trick under the sun to gain a seat at the MBA program of their dreams. Let me…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[949,227,147,1007,523,1906],"class_list":["post-19916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-application-advice","tag-application-tips","tag-mba-application","tag-mba-interviews","tag-resume","tag-stacy-blackman","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19916","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\/122"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19916"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19916\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19941,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19916\/revisions\/19941"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/i><\/p>\n