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07 Dec 2015, 23:01
| FROM MBA Data Guru: Strategies on Building Your MBA Application Portfolio |
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Strategies on Building Your MBA Application Portfolio By Lawrence Linker As Founder and Application Coordinator for MBA Link, one of the first things I’m often consulted on is how many schools an applicant should apply to and which ones. This is an extremely important step to get right in the application process, because there is almost no other decision you will make along the way that has a greater influence on how likely it is you will end up getting into a school with which you will be happy. When considering your application strategy, there are a few key considerations to take into account:
In order to make this simulation as realistic as possible, I’ve asked Wayne to use data from his pool of applicants. Thanks, Lawrence. I would like to introduce you to our sample MBA applicant, lets call him Robert. Robert is applying round one and has a 710 GMAT and a 3.5 GPA from his undergraduate university where he majored in engineering. He is 27 and has 5 years of work experience as a consultant. He is considering applying to Harvard, Wharton, Sloan, Tuck and McCombs. Here are his predicted chances if he were to apply to just one school. Harvard Wharton Sloan Tuck McCombs 12% 13% 14% 31% 46% Thanks, Wayne. Unsurprisingly, Robert’s chances of getting into each program tracks well with their known selectivity. With statistics so low, it’s easy to be discouraged. While most applicants would like to believe that if they just hit a certain GMAT number, just talk to the right people, or just want it bad enough, they are sure to get in to the program of their dreams. The statistics do not bear this optimism out. All is not lost, however. Let’s now look at the probability of a total failure (no admission to any school) by multiplying through the probability of failure for each school. Taking the reciprocal of that gives us the probability of success in getting into at least one of the schools for the applicant. Robert has a 75% chance of being admitted to one of his top schools which means his chance of total failure is only 25%. You have to admit it is a much better looking number. Now, let’s say Robert really is determined to start business school next year and is still uncomfortable with the above number. He needs to increase his overall probability of getting into at least one school he will be happy to go to, but he also don’t want to completely eliminate the chances of going to his dream school, Harvard. Over to you, Wayne. To give Robert a better chance of getting into at least one business school next year, we’re going to have him apply to some less selective programs. Here are the results. Harvard Cornell UNC Ross McCombs All 5 Schools 12% 47% 51% 51% 46% 94% Thanks, Wayne. Obviously, Robert’s chances for HBS are unchanged. He has decided to swap out Sloan, Wharton and Tuck for Ross, Johnson, and Kenan-Flagler, less selective programs that offer many of the same benefits. Now when we look at the chance of total success, we see a very different figure. Needless to say, if Robert gains admission to HBS, we expect he will have an easy decision. But it’s nice to know he is covered in case that doesn’t happen. Now for our last example, let’s take a look at a different kind of applicant. This applicant has the same statistics as Robert, but they have a very different strategy in mind. For this applicant, it is a highly ranked school or nothing. They can live with not going to business school next year, but they are ready to go if they can get into an ultra-prestigious program. Let’s take a look at this person’s application profile. We’re going to have this applicant apply to only the most competitive programs. Find the statistics below. Stanford Harvard Wharton Sloan Columbia All 5 Schools 4% 12% 13% 14% 36% 59% Taken individually, none of these chances are particularly encouraging, but put together, the success rate is actually not too bad! Considering this applicant is applying to only the most selective schools, this is a rate of success I would think any applicant should be happy with. Here are a few additional things to keep in mind when thinking about which and how many schools you should apply to:
MBA Data Guru - Business school admissions data and analysis |
09 Dec 2015, 10:03
| FROM MBA For Tech: Chicago Booth: accepted! |
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Well, guess what? Yep, I was waiting for CST to show 9:00 am to start worrying, but I got so much work to do that I lost track of time and then I got a call on my mobile from a phone number starting with 1 (international code of USA): it was so amazing! I was waiting for the nice lady on the other end of the phone to tell me she is from Chicago Booth and when she did – I got some shot of dopamine in my brain. So, she told me that she was a part of team who reviewed my application, gave me some feedback (My application contained a lot of personal details, so her feedback was very important for me) and provided me with some details on admit weekend. To be honest I wasn’t quite sure on how to reply, because I was overwhelmed – but I thanked her and told her of my experiences with alums and how great I feel and I also praised my interviewer, because she was amazing and deserved that. On top of that I got a scholarship! Booth is a school that I had a lot of connection with, contrary to popular opinion, people from there were one of the most engaged, interesting and fun, alums were super nice and eager to help. I really believe that Booth and I will make a great match in terms of fit and my career goals. Well, what a great day! Good luck to everyone! And if you will not receive a call today – don’t be sad, use gmatclub to get some feedback, people there are happy to help. MBA is a great tool to achieve certain goals, but it is one among many others, keep that in mind and stay positive!  
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14 Dec 2015, 04:02
| FROM MBA For Tech: Decision week expectations |
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This week is most stacked in terms of decision dates; many schools will distribute their results, including some of the ones I applied to: UCLA Anderson – it seems that admit calls will be made today (Monday, Dec 14, 2015), while final results will be communicated tomorrow. I am quite confident, my interview was pretty good, and so I think that final decision will be around ‘fit’. Northwestern Kellogg – decisions will be sent out on Wednesday (Dec 16, 2015). Truth be told I think my interview was quite weak – it was the first interview I had and it was so soon (I received an invite almost immediately after submitting video answers) that I wasn’t as ready as I should’ve been and got caught off guard on the last question (“What else do you want to add?”). Let’s hope for the best. Duke Fuqua – decisions are on Dec 17, 2015 (the day will start with a Star Wars movie for me, ta-ta-ta ta tata ta tata ta-ta-ta tata tatata ta taaa tata tatata tataaa tata taaaa). Again, I’m quite confident, but this decision will be similar to what I expect from Anderson – a ‘fit’ question and how I compare to peers with the same background. Berkeley Hass – one is not like the others. I still don’t have an invite, and, considering that they already started calling, I probably won’t. And that is quite sad, truth be told – these were my favorite essays, I put a lot of effort and was sure that I will be at least invited, seems like I’ve made some mistake that I didn’t catch or that my approach to the school application was wrong. Maybe they didn’t like my choice of “The Times They Are a-Changin'” for my first essay, maybe my long-term goals seemed a bit too unrealistic to them, maybe underlying theme of my essays wasn’t as applicable to Haas as I thought, anyways I’m happy I had an opportunity to write these essays, but sad that I couldn’t build upon them during interview. Some schools deadlines this week: School Deadline R1 2015 Northwestern (Kellogg) Dec 16 MIT (Sloan) Dec 16 Pennsylvania (Wharton) Dec 17 Duke (Fuqua) Dec 17 UC Berkeley (Haas) Dec 17 Michigan (Ross) Dec 18 Virginia (Darden) Dec 16 UCLA (Anderson) Dec 15 Dartmouth (Tuck) Dec 17 NYU (Stern) Dec 15 UNC (Kenan-Flagler) Dec 14 Good luck and have fun! Tagged: Fuqua, Haas, Kellogg, Progress, thoughts, UCLA Anderson  
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29 Dec 2015, 06:23
| FROM MBAMiss: Done with GMAT – What next ! |
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Shortlisting B schools ! If you ask me this is the first thing you should do once you have decided to take the plunge in the MBA admission process actually even before giving a mock GMAT . There are many reasons for this but the most important one is once you do this you will have a rough idea of your target GMAT score while you go through the average intake scores of your preferred B Schools. Some tips on what you should keep in mind while selecting schools :
Cheers!   
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29 Dec 2015, 06:23
| FROM MBAMiss: If you are a woman planning to do MBA from a top notch B School |
 There are a host of articles around the internet suggesting the advantage that women have over men in applying to business schools . As Poets and Quants puts it , women apply in smaller numbers and are under represented in the top MBA programs and hence they have a higher probability of getting through . Let us look at some statistics first . It is true that women are falling behind men in occupying a place at the board rooms and in b schools but this trend is slowly changing . Wharton’s 2016 graduating class is comprised of 40% women while Harvard’s latest class has 41% female admits, the third consecutive year that HBS has had 40% or more women. GMAC’s 2013 Application Trends Survey shows that 37% of applications to full-time two-year MBA programs were from women . These numbers speak a lot about the increasing competition that women are facing when their applications are assessed against other similar MBA aspiring women . Keeping all this in mind there is a fundamental difference in the way women approach their application strategy against the way men do . Very similar to the fact that women are poor negotiators at the table when it comes to post MBA salaries , most admission consultants vouch for the fact that women lack assertiveness while writing their stories in essays . Women applications when weighed against men with almost similar profiles show a lack of self confidence in convincing an admissions committee to admit them to a top MBA program. So if you are a woman who dreams to join the C-suite and plans to pursue an MBA as the first step to fulfill the dream I have a few tips for you to keep in mind while you approach your essays . Tip 1 : Know your worth You might be a mother along with managing a full time job and taking time out for your passion . Women are proven multitaskers and sometimes you don’t even realize how many things you have accomplished altogether . Now MBA is something that again would require a lot of multitasking , hence you would fit in the program very easily . You just need to demonstrate your worth in your application . Tip 2 : Discuss your accomplishments with your recommenders This is again something men usually do and women shy away from doing . You need to know that your recommender is a big busy man and he/she might miss on a few of your strong points while writing your recommendation . So go do this one now ! Tip 3 : Communicate to the admissions committee any of the challenges you encountered successfully in your personal or professional life . Women sometimes face extraordinary challenges in their jobs and even in their personal lives .For instance , If you are in a male dominated manufacturing job don’t shy away from mentioning how difficult your day at work is. Tip 4: Networking Now there is a strange finding around networking as it is practiced by women against men . In spite of the fact that women are better at making new relationships than men , the aspiring MBA women network less against their male peers around their career goals and target schools . If you don’t know any current students or alumni of your target schools, be proactive and find ways to reach out to individuals associate with these. Current students and alumni are more than happy to share their experiences.  P.S : Views expressed are personal . If you have any questions /suggestions / your own story on this , Pl comment below or write to me on ojasvisoni100@gmail.com .  
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30 Dec 2015, 01:04
| FROM MBAMiss: MBA- Why should Women do it |
 All these days I have been reading so much around Why MBA is nothing but a waste of time and money . One of the CNN reports actually quotes ” If you want to be rich , don’t get an MBA “. The philosophy around this thinking is that all that you do in a MBA program you can do it anyways without ending up in a huge debt . Now I partially agree to the thinking and partially not . Especially for Women aspiring to break the glass ceilings , I believe MBA grants some of the unique competencies to lead . Let us see how .
 2.Numbers and more Numbers : There is no denying to the fact that irrespective of your industry and function , at the end of the day all the business problems and solutions boil down down to just one thing . Numbers . And Business schools prepare you to the brim to deal with numbers . 3.Show me the money : If you dream of going for your presentations in a Versace business dress and carrying a Prada bag , and you dont want your man to buy that for you .. According to the Forte Foundation, an MBA lands you pay gains at graduation of 35-40% of your pre-MBA salary, pay gains of 55-65% of your salary within 5 years of graduation, and a lifetime earning potential of over $3 million. Ok you can stop dreaming now :D  4. It ll teach you imperfection : Yes you heard that right . If you are a perfectionist , you need to tone it down since in the business world your ability to influence outweighs your ability to achieve results to the 4th decimal place . The tough deadlines of your assignments will make you quicker and more agile at completing tough deliverables without sacrificing overall quality. That’s exactly what you need to learn to be a leader . As Sheryl Sandberg puts it – “Done is better than perfect.”  So ladies ! Trust me an MBA can be your safest investment that will give you innumerable returns in terms of money , network , knowledge and most importantly unleashing the leader in you . Have you considered or pursued an MBA? Why or why not? ~MBA Miss P.S : Views expressed are personal to the author . Write to me on ojasvisoni100@gmail.com  
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31 Dec 2015, 02:01
| FROM MBAMiss: Take these New Year’s resolutions if you are an MBA applicant |
 2016 is just around the corner and its the time of the year when many of us promise ourselves to abide by a few things-goals we want to reach and things we want to achieve in the coming year. If your goal is to apply to a top notch B School by the fall of 2016 , and matriculate in the same by the fall of 2017 , now is the time to reflect on how you should prepare yourself for the same . Here are a few New Year resolutions you should take to make your application successful :
 ~MBA Miss P.S : Views expressed are personal to the author . Write to me on ojasvisoni100@gmail.com or comment below . Happy New Year !  
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31 Dec 2015, 14:01
| FROM MBA Data Guru: Optimal MBA Application Number |
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Optimal MBA Application Number Many business school applicants wonder how many MBA applications they should submit? In this article, I will discuss the optimal MBA application number based on real data. Deciding on your MBA application number is challenging because the more schools you apply to, the less time you have to spend on each application. On the other hand, you don’t want to put all of your eggs into one or two baskets. The data suggests that the ideal number of MBA applications is 5 to 7. For more information, check out this article on how to build your portfolio of MBA applications co-authored by Lawrence Linker and I. Distribution of Number of MBA Applications  For this analysis, I used MBA application data from GMAT Club forums, which is self reported admissions data. By matching usernames across different school applications, I was able to get the number of MBA applications submitted. It seems strange to see that a third of applicants only applied to one school. I would have expected more applicants to apply to 5 or more schools. Even if we assume the source is slightly biased and ignore those who apply to only one school, two thirds of the remaining applicants still apply to only 4 or fewer schools. MBA Acceptance Rate by MBA Application Number  This graph is possibly the most important piece of information for applicants who are considering applying to a lot of schools. It shows that average acceptance rate per application is relatively flat if you apply to seven or fewer MBA programs, at around 24%. However, if you apply to more than seven schools then acceptance rate plummets to lower than 15%. Those few individuals who apply to 10 or more schools only have a meager 6% acceptance rate. Perhaps there are alternative explanation as to why these acceptance rates drop so much, such as GMAT or GPA of the applicants. GMAT and GPA by Number of MBA Applications  Despite having the highest average GMAT and GPA, applicants who apply to 8 schools have an acceptance rate of only 13%. This supports the idea that if you apply to many schools then you don’t have as much time to commit to each application, so quality decreases. Those who apply to 9 or 10+ schools tend to have lower GPAs while those who apply to 1 school tend to have lower GMATs. People who apply to 6 to 8 schools on average have the highest combined scores. Also applicants that don’t get in for round 1 often apply during round 2 or 3. I found that 63% of applicants who applied to 2 to 5 schools applied to all schools in the same round while only 25% of applicants who applied to 6+ schools applied to all schools in the same round. Surprisingly there wasn’t much of a difference in average acceptance rate for those who applied to all schools in one round vs multiple rounds except for 8+. When applicants applied to 8 or more schools in one round, the acceptance rate was 50% lower than applicants who applied to 8 or more schools but did it in multiple rounds. So if you plan to apply to many schools, spread it out over a few rounds. Accepted to at Least One School by MBA Application Number  The next question is how likely is an applicant to get into at least on MBA program? If you want at least a 50% chance of being admitted, you should apply to 4 or more schools. The peak is 65% for those applying to 7 schools. If acceptances were completely random with a 25% acceptance rate and 7 applications, we would expect 87% to get into at least one school. This gap suggests that the applicants who are accepted tend to get into many schools while 35% are rejected by everyone. Similarly, for those applying to 5 schools, we expect 75% to get at least one acceptance but only 58% are admitted. I expect that this is because there is a major flaw in their application and they repeat it with every school. This is one of the reasons I suggest applicants use an admission consultant for at least one school. Catch the mistake early with the first school and you will be in much better shape. Average Number of MBA Acceptances  The graph above shows how many schools applicants got into, if they were accepted to at least one school. Unsurprisingly, those who applied to many schools were more likely to have a choice. MBA Rank Comparison  The final graph shows the average school rank of the schools applied to verses the school to which they were admitted. I excluded applicants who did not get into at least one school. It is not shocking that applicants tended to get into lower ranked schools than the average rank of their applications. The big takeaway here is that the gap is much smaller for applicants that submitted 5 or fewer applications. For applicants with 2 to 5 applications, the average school accepted is 2 ranks worse than the average application. For applicants with 6+ applications, the average school accepted is 3.2 ranks worse than the average application. So applying to many schools degrades your chance of being accepted to the most elite MBA programs. In conclusion, there are many considerations when deciding how many MBA applications to submit. Most of the data suggests that an applicant should apply to 5 to 7 schools to maximize their chance of getting into at least one school. If you want to raise your chance of being accepted to at least one MBA program above the 65% figure for 7 applications, I recommend you hire a consultant to help you craft your essays and avoid major mistakes rather than just submitting more applications. MBA Data Guru - Business school admissions data and analysis |
06 Jan 2016, 04:02
| FROM MBAMiss: After You get that interview call ! ( MBA interview self Preparation Strategy) |
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If there is something that can beat my happiness of going to a Ladies Night at my favorite club on a weekday , it is definitely an email from my Dream School inviting me for an interview . (Yeyyyyy !!!!!) I was so happy since I had put so much effort behind my Oxford’s application . And the dream then felt a step closer . But having said that , an interview invite is obviously great but can never guarantee an admit . So I decided to work my ass off to crack the interview . All in all I am an above average speaker and confidence is not that much of an issue with me . But in some of my previous interviews I had been extremely lazy to prepare and went completely blank . So I had faced a few rejections lately which even motivated me more to devote days and nights practicing for my Said’s interview . Now , a few of my friends advised me to take up mock interview packages with some consultants . I actually gave that a thought and started shortlisting a few of them . But during this process I started discovering so much about self preparation of an MBA interview that I decided to skip the consultant and do it on my own . I came across this beautiful article by Adam Markus on interview preparation . Adam Markus interview Strategy I really love the way he advises to make a tabular chart of all the prospective questions, your examples against each and the keywords with them . I made one for myself and trust me it was such a great help .  I can’t thank Adam Markus enough for this really cool idea . I made close to 20 keywords against which I identified the situations that I wanted to highlight in the interview from my work experience . And trust me this method is not boring at all , I took out a print out of this entire worksheet and stuck it on my clipboard at home . So this was actually the first time I was preparing for an interview this much , and to my surprise this was becoming a great confidence booster . Then I asked my husband to take 2 mock interviews and we decided to be very formal in them ( I know its so funny to behave like an interviewee with your husband when it usually happens the other way round :D  ) Any ways , I gave these and my husband acted way too formal and made it so much like a stress interview . But , i think it was good that he did so , since I became prepared for all kinds of situations .I spent 7 days ( actually 7 nights ) on practicing this strategy. The results were stupendous . I was damn confident to face anybody and answer any question . Last 2 days I bought my formals and kept my mind a bit calm (actually had 2 glasses of wine a day before the interview and watched a Rom Com before sleeping :D ) . So all in all I took help from no one and spent not a single penny in the entire preparation . So if you have got a call and preparing for any of the interviews . Just keep calm and follow this strategy ! I am sure you will win ! P.S : I shall post my interview day experience in the next post . Views expressed are personal to the author . Comment below if you opted for this or any other self preparation strategy ! Reach me on ojasvisoni100@gmail.com  ~MBA Miss  
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12 Jan 2016, 07:01
| FROM Pulling That MBA Trigger: Hello Los Angeles! |
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I started this blog in 2014 and it’s taken till 2016 for me to come full circle. After a wait of 517 days (1 year, 4 months and 29 days, but who’s counting?) since I first started this process, I’m ecstatic to announce that I’m going to be a proud member of the UCLA Anderson Class of 2018. *SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE* Okay, back to business. I couldn’t be happier with my choice and I now realize that there is nowhere else I’d rather be. Throughout the ups and downs of the entire admissions process, I’ve always believed that I would end up where I was supposed to be. Life has a way of working out, you know? I mean it’s hard to keep sight of that when you’re staring at your third rejection letter and your career is looking bleaker than Leo’s prospects of winning an Oscar – but you just gotta keep the faith and motor on (which is what I did plus a lot of binge eating, binge watching and binge regretting). I chose not to document the entire process this time around – to be honest, I was sick of doing it without having anything to show for it. But now that I’ve actually gotten in, I’m going to dissect everything I did differently this time around for the benefit of applicants and reapplicants everywhere (I feel your pain). I also have this faint idea of continuing to blog during the MBA, although I’m not sure how realistic that would be. In the meantime, anyone looking for help, advice or a shoulder to cry on, go ahead and send me an email at pullingthatmbatrigger@gmail.com. I would be more than happy to help!  
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19 Jan 2016, 10:01
| FROM Pulling That MBA Trigger: So what changed this time? |
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Okay, so let’s look at the cold, hard facts. My GMAT score stayed the same (710) My GPA is the same as well (9.03) The last time I checked, I was still an Indian engineer My work experience moved up from about 19 months to 26 months My job title is now “Product Manager” and not the dreaded “Software Engineer” it was before My post MBA goal looks legit now because I have the experience to back it up A senior colleague at my new job wrote what I can only assume was a stellar letter of recommendation Let me tell ya, I had to work my butt off to transition from being a code monkey to someone making actual product decisions. I must have applied to nearly a 100 places and interviewed at about 25 until I finally got the job I wanted. But I persevered because I knew that MBA or not, this was where I wanted my career to go. I guess the lesson here is: don’t let the fact that you got rejected bring you down (if you are a reapplicant like I was). The lofty goals that you’d written about in your essay? You can still get closer to achieving them without an MBA. By self-selection, most applicants are ambitious, go-getters who honestly don’t need an MBA to get where they want to go. Of course, if you still think business school is right for you, then your application will be stronger than it ever was before. Apart from switching jobs, I also narrowed down my goals even further. Previously, my short-term goal was to “work in company X as a PM”. I changed that to “work in company X’s Y division as a PM”. I backed it up with very relevant experience that I had and tied it in neatly to my long term goal. I’m sure it wasn’t a huge distinction, but it became super relevant during my interview, where surprisingly enough I spoke to a 2nd year student who had a ton of knowledge about my field of interest (odd because it’s quite a niche area). I believe that this worked in my favour since I was immediately able to establish common ground and our conversation centered more around the latest developments in that industry than the usual “tell me how you…” stuff. Finally, in my reapplicant essay, I called out what I believed were the weaknesses in my application. I addressed the age/work experience thing head on, I made a stronger connection between my short term and long term goals and finally, I mentioned in passing the gazillion students, alums and admissions officers I’d spoken to over an entire year. Now, I do want to caveat this by saying that I did pretty much the same things I mentioned above in my reapplication to Fuqua as well, but surprise surprise, I got dinged without an interview. There is a pretty big element of luck involved, plus the relative quality and composition of the applicant pool, so there is no “fool-proof” method to this madness. It’s just doing the best you can and hoping for the best.  
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30 Jan 2016, 18:01
| FROM The MBA Manual: Launched: Behaviorals.com ! |
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Hey, everyone. I know I’ve been on a posting hiatus for several months now, but I’ve been busy. So, after you get into B-school, you’re in the clear, right? The tough part is over, isn’t it? Well, yes and no. You’ve now placed yourself in another league of people, a league of intelligent, hard-working, amazing people. …And you need to compete with them for jobs. This is not necessarily a bad thing, you just need to be prepared! Everyone knows that THE interview of choice for employers is now the behavioral interview. During my interview prep this fall and winter, I was surprised to find that there wasn’t a place I could go to actually practice for behavioral interviews. I found a lot of question banks, but no real-time, rapid fire practice platform. I decided to fill this niche and launch Behaviorals.com. Behaviorals.com features practice slide decks featuring real behavioral questions asked in past job interviews for specific employers. For example, if you’re looking to work for Pepsi, you’d go to the Pepsi deck and can simulate a real behavioral interview by trying to answer the questions that come up as you go through the slides. I’ve got a few dozen employers up right now, as well as twenty-something of the top B-schools. I’ve also included a shop that features documents containing all of the questions on the site (600+ job interview practice and 300+ MBA interview practice). The behavioral interview isn’t going away anytime soon and it 100% will be a main data point in your recruiting process, so you’ll want definitely want some practice under your belt. Check out the site, get prepared, and let me know what you think.  
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31 Jan 2016, 13:00
| FROM The adventures of a (provisional) MBA student: So to conclude my point… |
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As I’m halfway through my second year now, graduation is now rapidly approaching. I’ve neglected this blog in the last year, mainly because I felt I didn’t have a large amount to say. However, with many still reading this blog after over a year since I really wound up posting, I realize I’m in a fortunate position to be able to provide the ‘inside story’ on HBS. So as part of my New Year resolutions, I’m announcing I’d like to spend a final few posts over the next 4-5 months before graduation describing how various things work from a student perspective, before I lose the ability to do so. But about what, I am not so sure. I’m accepting suggestions for this, and I’ll try to tackle a few of the more popular ones. If there’s something you’re particularly interested in, leave a comment below!  
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10 Feb 2016, 02:02
| FROM MBAMiss: Waitlisted at Cornell ! My strategy to handle this |
You know what’s worse than getting a ding at one of your dreams schools . Yes its getting that horrid wait-listed email . This limbo is frustrating as hell . Somewhere back of my mind I know that getting wait listed is a far road from being accepted, but it’s even farther from being rejected. So Dear Johnson Adcom , Bring it on ! I am ready to embark on this rough journey of constantly pleading you for a place at the 2 Yr MBA Program . I promise you I won’t be a pest but at the same time sitting and waiting is definitely the last thing I would do . I know you don’t hate me but you also don’t love me enough . So this Valentines week let me give you some reasons to fall for me :D I chalked out a strategy last night to deal with this . Quoting the same below :
Ending this note on this beautiful song by Lenny Kravitz going on in my head since yesterday : “It ain’t over till its over “ Cheers ! MBA Miss   
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11 Feb 2016, 14:59
| FROM Anshul Sharma: The “3 Golden Nuggets” of MBA admissions |
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The “3 golden nuggets” of MBA admission process With ten years of experience helping prospective students with MBA admissions and career progression, I will be writing this blog through the lens of an international student applying to foreign universities in US and Canada. These two countries hold a very similar MBA admissions process. Anyone applying to B-schools in one of these two countries should find this blog helpful. That’s my goal of writing the blog. I could only wish I knew these ‘3 golden nuggets’ of the MBA admissions process at the time when I first ever thought of pursuing an MBA education and only remotely heard about the GMAT exam. The time I started, it was quite overwhelming for me to put all the pieces together to be able to achieve the next goal of my life to get into a premium MBA school spending little to no money at all. Not that I did not want to pay for a good education rather I never had enough to support my education. The only feasible path for me was to prove myself as a merit-based student with scholarship or some financial aid. I had a strong desire to achieve my goals and finding the right way was the only feasible option. So I took the challenge and decided to keep moving forward… In the four year journey, from the time I wrote my GMAT exam to getting into the MBA School. I have had many challenges, however, scoring a 740 in GMAT in the first attempt and working ardently on my MBA applications led me to secure a 100% scholarship at Smeal College Of Business, Penn State, one of the top 30 programs in the US (according to Forbes MBA rankings 2015). I was fortunate enough to receive the graduate assistantship that paid off for my living expenses. I remember that as one of the proud moments of my life. Now let me share with you the three ‘golden nuggets’ that were instrumental in making this happen… Let’s jump right in… Golden Nugget #1: Students often tend to assume that they know the MBA admissions process. Like any other process, MBA admissions process has deliverables, timelines, and milestones to it. Deliverables: Essays, resume, letter of recommendation and finally the interviews. Timelines: Every school has multiple rounds of application deadlines Milestones: Shortlisting schools, applying, interviews, decision making and so forth. I would consider this as a superficial understanding of the process. Students need to go a level deeper and uncover to hidden elements to ace the MBA admissions. Let’s discover those hidden elements:
When students ask the following questions, it does not make a whole lot of sense. What GMAT score would get me into a good MBA school in the US? In contrast, let me ask you an intriguing question… Why students with strong academics and high GMAT score (700 plus) fail to make to their desired MBA School? What’s the missing piece? The amount of work required on an MBA application is just like the iceberg, when one can only see the tip of the iceberg but not what lies beneath the surface, and what lies beneath the surface is the hard work that you need to put in as an applicant to ace the MBA admissions. Tip of the iceberg – all administrative and logistical work
 Image Credits: https://www.omegafi.com Golden Nugget #2: Many times, students DO NOT spend enough time researching and networking to have access to the right information Finding the right MBA School that fits your needs is THE single most important thing to consider at the beginning of the process. Things to keep on top of your priority list while shortlisting schools should be
 Image Credits: https://www.changementor.net I would like you to think 2, 5, ten years beyond MBA and can connect the dots. Remember, there is life after MBA, and your decisions today will impact your tomorrow. Debunk the mindset that MBA is end all be all. MBA is not the destination. It is a significant milestone in the long journey that is ahead of you. Make sure you are making the right decisions for yourself. Merely getting admission in an MBA program that ranks on the MBA top 50 lists should not be the thought process. Hence, cultivating the right thought process is the key. I talk more about “Cultivating the right thought process” in my upcoming eBook – From GMAT To MBA. You want to come out of the MBA program all set to achieve your next goals. Taking out a loan from a financial institution only makes sense when you can justify it as an investment. Make sure you understand the return on investment (ROI) on an MBA education. Do you know how long will it take before you can pay-off the loan? The power of research: The good news is there is a lot of great content online to know about any specific school. Research is one of the most critical elements of the MBA admissions process. In fact, the whole idea of focused researched on the internet can prove to be very powerful, be it for admissions or seeking a job or looking for the next big idea in life. Unfortunately, in my experience, students have quite a laid back approach when it comes to ‘strategically’ searching for MBA programs that will be a good fit for them. Rather, I have found students ‘outsourcing’ the work to consultants. Imagine a restaurant outsourcing its dining services to an external vendor. No one else except you would ever be able to put the level of effort, time and thought that is required to find the right MBA School for yourself. You know your needs at best. My intense research was one of the primary reasons why I was able to secure myself a great school and had a tremendous return on my investment. I took the time upfront to find a couple of MBA programs that would be a good fit for me. The search takes time and patience. However, every minute and a second is worth investing now and savings thousands of dollars, later on, your MBA education. Hence, cultivating the right thought process. The influence of networking: Online research will take you only to a certain point in shortlisting the schools. To prepare the final list of schools you want to apply to, go the extra mile and reach out to either a current student or alum to know more about the program. Nothing beats an in-person interaction with someone who have had traveled the road before. Not only it help you know the unique aspects of the program but also give a vibe of the program and if it is the right one for you. If not, I’d say check it off your list and move forward. Be lest assured that there is no dearth of good business schools in the USA. You got to find the right one for yourself. You should also mention about the interactions you had in your essays as well during the interviews. On agreement, you can mention the names of individuals you got in touch. Your interactions strongly reflect your interest and that you are ‘hungry’ to join their program (and not just any MBA program out there). This single approach has worked for students and has increased the application to interview conversion rate manifold. Golden Nugget #3: Most times, student DO NOT spend time in self-exploration. Let me introduce you to the supernatural strength of Self-exploration. A strong application demands a lot of this from the student. However, some students realize it, and some do not, and those who do not, tend to take a very transactional approach to the MBA admissions process. Students who do take time out upfront reflects in the quality of content in the essays and interview delivery. I have talked about self-exploration in much more detail in my upcoming eBook – From GMAT to MBA. You can go and sign up here for launch updates. Self-exploration stretches you to think about topics that you might have never thought before but will help to move the needle, producing top quality content for your essays. It helps clarify some of the critical aspects such as
Some of the basic foundational elements of self-exploration can be
 Image Credits: https://worditout.com/ Once you have spent good quality time with yourself, the job of writing essays, resume or preparing for interviews becomes a mere triviality. At that point, you’re not making up thoughts on the fly or in haste, rather you have a well thought through the inventory of ideas to plug into your essays. I would close this blog by saying “Cultivate the right thought process.” , which also happens to be the subtitle of my upcoming eBook – From GMAT To MBA – Cultivate the right thought process.  Hope you find the blog useful. Please leave your comments about the blog down below. Do you have specific questions? Feel free to email me at connectwithanshul@fromgmattomba.com Sign up on my website https://www.anshulsharmaglobal.com for eBook launch updates, new blogs, and online courses. Connect with me on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fromgmattomba Good luck with admissions. Success is not by chance! Anshul Sharma |
15 Mar 2016, 13:05
| FROM Anshul Sharma: Top 7 things that make an MBA in the USA unique |
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What makes MBA education in the USA so unique and desirable in the job market? You might be a working professional or someone running your own business. An MBA from a good school in the USA has proven to be a great return on the investment for students or professionals wanting to advance to the next level in their careers or switch to a different career. Below are the top 7 things that I believe makes an MBA from an American university so unique and one of the most sought-after graduate degrees for students and recruiters in the marketplace. Let’s see what they are. #1 Robust MBA curriculum – the powerhouse of knowledge  Source: https://worditout.com/ Upon joining an MBA program, you gain unprecedented access to information. Professors with high intellect, qualifications, and industry experience are the backbone of any good MBA program.
 Source: www.alumni.cam.ac.uk From day one, students have access to a global alumni network that students should take full advantage of during and after the MBA program. Alums can help current MBA students in a variety of ways, some of which are listed below, in no specific order:
 Source: www.prnewswire.com The MBA is one of those programs where you reap the most by actively participating in classroom discussions. Being a lizard on the wall will not help you learn the concepts and cherish what the program has to offer.
 Source: www.pinterest.com If there is anything to cherish most—and piques the enthusiasm—about joining a B-school, it is your classmates. In truly international programs, like the one at Smeal MBA at Penn State, you get to meet students from across the planet, each having a unique identity, ideology, philosophy, culture, food preferences, and work experience to share with fellow classmates in the program.
#5 Internship – No strings attached  Source: stantoncomm.com One of the most exciting things to happen in an MBA program is the internship. The internship is a must-have and integral to any good MBA program.
#6 On and off-campus MBA job fairs – they are for real  Source: news.smeal.psu.edu MBA job fairs are the real deal. Students DO NOT have to be solely dependent on positions that employers post on the MBA school job bulletin. Students must realize that they have far more options to work with than they think, and that’s exactly what MBA job fairs have to offer.
#7 Student organizations, cultural clubs, and social gatherings – fun & learning  Source: blogs.smeal.psu.edu A lot of learning and fun happen outside the classroom. You will spend a significant amount of time in the classroom during an MBA; however, there is an amazing life outside the classroom environment, where students comes together to solve challenging business problems in a fun setting. Students Organizations:
With students admitted from across the planet in a truly global MBA program, it is natural to celebrate major cultures and festivals during the year, as they appear on the calendar. These events are loads of fun and provide opportunities to learn about other cultures, sets of beliefs, and ways of life. The experience and familiarity with different cultures is handy when working in global organizations and having team members from different regions and countries. Some of the events that I celebrated at Smeal MBA program are:
A social gathering is a way for MBA schools to operate outside the classroom environment, and many are ingrained in the culture of a B-school.
Also, join my Facebook group to ask more questions on MBA admissions in the USA. I will also be sharing new blogs and information on MBA admissions on my Facebook group in weeks to come. Stay tuned… Thanks for reading. Anshul Sharma |
15 Mar 2016, 13:09
| FROM Tech MBA Girl: My Tepper Interview |
I better write this down quick before I forget… So I literally just had my interview with Jackie Jones at Tepper via Skype. It was relaxed and very conversational…much better than my Rotman interview when I was sweating like a hyena. Before I get into details, let me start from the top: 2 Days To … Continue reading My Tepper Interview →
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15 Mar 2016, 13:09
| FROM Tech MBA Girl: To Round 3, or Not to Round 3, That Is The Question |
Image Credit: Accepted.com I’ve been in a spin for the past few days trying to decide whether to apply to 2 or 3 schools in round 3 and which schools to apply to. Here’s how it’s been going: I love tech! Stanford all the way But I need a safety…add Berkeley What if there’s already … Continue reading To Round 3, or Not to Round 3, That Is The Question →
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16 Mar 2016, 04:02
| FROM Tech MBA Girl: Stanford GSB Round 3 Myths |
I’ve been getting a lot of heat on GMATClub about applying to Stanford in Round 3. Perhaps I should dial down my big mouth a notch. I really don’t think that there is already a me at Stanford so I’m going to put in my application nonetheless. It’s up to Derrick Bolton to decide if … Continue reading Stanford GSB Round 3 Myths →
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16 Mar 2016, 09:01
| FROM FINAL HOUR MBA: The End…of Round 2 |
I survived! I even got an interview request at one of my top 3 schools! I will ignore the fact that I think it is because people who attended a diversity event got an interview  I made every mistake in the book and still feel as if I have a chance to get in to one of my top 5 schools. I have one more application to the University of Hawaii to knock out. This is a unique school with a unique program that aligns with what I am looking to do post-MBA. They are not even ranked in US News but stop into a QS World MBA Tour and speak with Marc Endrigat. He will make you a believer. I am putting that application on a pause for a couple days to breathe. I am also starting to pick up coding because it’s a skill I feel I need for the future that I finally have time for. The MBA application process is great for those with time management skills. It’s also a great crash course in time management – a crucial skill while at business school. I will round out my blog with more information once I start back up. The next couple of posts will be around interview prep and summarize how I chose schools, prepped essay answers, and some of the best resources I found for the first stages of the application. It’s hard to believe that I am only about half way through the ADMISSIONS process. Not even in orientation yet :-/ Also, if you are reading this, hopefully you found it through a social media channel. If not, and you are looking at business school, make sure you get active on social media! Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, https://gmatclub.com/chat, blogs, and YouTube are all great ideas. Clean up your Facebook as well. No pictures of keggers in college or flipping off the camera. One more thing…videos to come soon! for now check out VincePrep on YouTube and follow @TokyoVince for great admissions advice.  
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