The mbaMission Blog : Ask mbaMission

mbaMissionJenK · 2013-12-12T09:30:37-08:00

Welcome to the mbaMission Blog feed where you can read the latest MBA news and tips from mbaMission. Check back or follow this thread to get updated when new posts are created.Welcome to the mbaMission Blog feed where you can read the latest MBA news and tips from mbaMission. Check back or follow this thread to get updated when new posts are created.

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MBA News: An MBA Tops a CFA in Managing Director Positions [#permalink]

29 Mar 2015, 09:01

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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA News: An MBA Tops a CFA in Managing Director Positions

If you are struggling to decide between pursuing an MBA or a CFA (chartered financial analyst designation), your choice might have just become a little clearer. A recent Bloomberg Businessweek article reveals that investment bankers who have an MBA have a clear edge on colleagues who have a CFA. Using analysis provided by the London-based financial services Web site eFinancialCareers involving more than 17,000 individuals with ten years of professional experience, Bloomberg Businessweek noted that 16% of managing directors at banks around the world have MBAs, while only 7% of the same group have CFAs. Also, 18% of the MBA graduates included in the study reported their position as managing director, while the number was again lower—13%—for CFA holders.

As the article mentions, an MBA is more expensive and can be more time consuming, though earning a CFA is certainly no cakewalk—only 44% of those who took Level I of the exam in December 2014 passed, and successfully completing all three levels requires hundreds of hours of study. Still, the massive investment of both time and money that is required to attain an MBA might just give you the extra edge you need to really succeed in the business world.

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GMAT Impact: First Glance Exercises for Sentence Correction [#permalink]

29 Mar 2015, 09:01

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FROM mbaMission Blog: GMAT Impact: First Glance Exercises for Sentence Correction

When it comes to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything. In this blog series, Manhattan GMAT’s Stacey Koprince teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense.

For the past few weeks, we have been learning the four-step Sentence Correction (SC) Process. . (If you have not read that three-part post yet, go do so now!) People are excited about the opening step, the First Glance, and have asked for more exercises to help them learn how to become a First Glance Expert.

For instance…

Does the length of the underline tell you anything? If so, what?

What about the very first word of the underline? Or the last word right before the underline starts?

And what about the differences among the first words of each answer choice? Does anything strike you there?

Fantastic clues often exist in these areas, but you need to learn how to translate them. As with any study we do for the GMAT, our real learning comes before the clock starts ticking. Take all the time you need to analyze already-completed questions to figure out how to spot and react to certain types of clues. Then, when the test starts, you will know what to look for, and you will be able to react immediately when you spot a useful clue!

First, read the SC Process posts (the three-part series linked above). Next, grab your copy of the Official Guide for GMAT Review 2015.

Finally, start trying out the exercises detailed in the article “Get the Most Out of Your First Glance.”

Plan to spend a few weeks working on this a little bit every day before you start to spot most of the types of clues that can pop out at you during your first glance at the problem. Have fun!

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MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: The Open Waitlist Is Not a Flood! [#permalink]

29 Mar 2015, 13:01

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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: The Open Waitlist Is Not a Flood!

In the past, we have discussed the admissions myth that when a school that has placed you on its waitlist says that it wants no more/new information from you, this is some kind of “test,” and you should supply additional materials anyway. This is patently not true. Similarly, candidates waitlisted at programs that say they are open to important additional communication should not interpret this to mean constant communication. The difference is significant.

As is the case with any waitlist situation, before you do anything carefully read the waitlist letter the admissions office sent you. Frequently, this will include a FAQ sheet. If the school permits candidates to submit additional information but offers no guidance with respect to quantity, this does not mean that you should start flooding the committee with novel information and materials. If you have another potential recommender who can send a letter that highlights a new aspect of your profile, you can consider having him/her send one in, but you should not start a lobbying campaign with countless alumni and colleagues writing on your behalf. Similarly, you could send the school an update email monthly, every six weeks, or even every two months—the key is not frequency or volume but materiality. If you have something important to tell the admissions committee that can help shape their perspective on your candidacy (e.g., a new project, a promotion, a new grade, an improved GMAT score, a campus visit) then you should inform them. If you do not have such meaningful information to share, then a contrived letter with no real content will not help you. Just because you know others are sending letters, do not feel compelled to send empty correspondences for fear that your fellow candidates might be showing more interest. They just might be identifying themselves negatively via their waitlist approach.

Take a step back and imagine that you are on the admissions committee and you have one candidate who keeps you up to date with a few thoughtful correspondences and another who bombards you with empty updates, emails, and recommendations that do not offer anything substantive. Which would you choose if a place opened up in your class? Your goal when you are on the waitlist is to remain in the good graces of the admissions committee. Remember, they already deem you a strong enough candidate to take a place in their class, so be patient and prudent, as challenging as that may be.

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Monday Morning Essay Tip: Use the Optional Essay to Demonstrate Respon [#permalink]

30 Mar 2015, 10:01

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FROM mbaMission Blog: Monday Morning Essay Tip: Use the Optional Essay to Demonstrate Responsibility

Business school candidates who have an obvious weakness in their profile—such as a low GPA or GMAT score or a prolonged gap in work experience—often worry that they are destined to attend a virtually unknown MBA program. When such applicants ask admissions officers how their weakness might affect their candidacy, they often hear this straightforward and common refrain: “We look at applications holistically.”

Although this may sound like a cliché, we here at mbaMission have seen dozens of candidates with sub-600 GMAT scores and GPAs under 3.0 find their respective ways into top-ten programs. The key to overcoming any kind of weakness in your candidacy is to address it in the optional essay, not with excuses, but by taking responsibility:

Example 1:

“In my freshman year, I had the flu the day before my midterms and did quite badly on my first batch. As a result, my grades noticeably dip in my first term. Then, in my second term, I was quite engaged in extracurricular activities with my fraternity, and again, my grades suffered. However, looking at just my grades in my major, from my second year forward, I would have a GPA of…”

Some who read this sample paragraph may laugh at the absurdity of the excuses, while others may not even notice. Although valid explanations for a candidate’s low grades certainly exist, a temporary bout of the flu and involvement in extracurricular activities are not among them.

Example 2:

“As a freshman at XYZ University, I was unable to appreciate the rather awesome educational opportunities before me, and my grades were, quite simply, lower than they should have been. However, by my second year, when I discovered my passion for English literature and chose this subject as my major, I pursued my studies with vigor and completely turned my academic performance around, earning a consistent stream of A grades in…”

In this second example, any excuses are cast aside and replaced with a candid discussion of the candidate’s experience. As a result, the applicant establishes credibility, explains the change, and infers that he/she will likewise perform well as an MBA student.

Admissions committees, like employers, do not like excuses. Avoid making them.

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Mission Admission: Visit Campus… Again [#permalink]

31 Mar 2015, 12:01

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FROM mbaMission Blog: Mission Admission: Visit Campus… Again

Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday.

As admissions committees release decisions, many candidates suddenly find themselves with more than one option for the coming year. But how does one choose between two or more schools? If you cannot determine a definitive “winner” based on specific academic or professional criteria, you may now need to make a campus visit or, for some, another campus visit. We strongly advise those of you who have not yet had a chance to visit your target school(s) that you get to know the program(s) better before deciding where to invest two years and $100K or more. However, even if you have already visited your target campuses, this may be a good time for a second, more focused trip.

Many candidates go on marathon tours of business school campuses in the fall but have only a limited window in which to get to know each program they visit. After the MBA admissions committees have defined your choices and shifted the decision power back to you, you can really devote some time to familiarizing yourself with your target schools and completing diligence that may not have been possible before. For example, as a nervous prospective, you may not have truly pushed the students you met to define a program’s weaknesses, or you may not have felt that delving deeply into the recruiting situation on campus was appropriate during your initial visit. Similarly, you may not have experienced the social environment on campus, preferring to maintain a strictly professional profile. Although attending “welcome weekends” will allow you to meet and mingle with your potential future classmates, visiting campuses now—while classes are in session and the schools are operating as they will next year—will provide valuable insight that will facilitate one of the most important choices of your life.

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MBA Career Advice: An Ear for Shared Opportunity [#permalink]

31 Mar 2015, 17:00

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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Career Advice: An Ear for Shared Opportunity

In this weekly series, our friends at MBA Career Coaches will be dispensing invaluable advice to help you actively manage your career. Topics include building your network, learning from mistakes and setbacks, perfecting your written communication, and mastering even the toughest interviews. For more information or to sign up for a free career consultation, visit www.mbacareercoaches.com.

You will have a much better time fostering and maintaining meaningful professional relationships with people if you learn to develop an ear for shared opportunity. This means that as you go through life and work, you are attuned to the ways in which the information or people you are encountering could be useful not just to you but also to others. It means you think about things through the lens of possibility and interconnection.

Let’s say you just read an interesting article about developments in the field of neuroscience (notice this doesn’t have to be about business. If you follow developments in specific fields because they are interesting to you, chances are they will be useful to someone else too.) Some questions you might ask yourself if you have an ear for shared opportunity:

Who do I know that would appreciate the findings in this article?
How do the ideas in this article relate specifically to the work specific people I know are doing?
Whose opinion or reaction am I interested in hearing about these ideas?

Or imagine you are meeting new people at a charity benefit. Some questions that might occur to you:

Who else do I know who should hear about this organization?
I just met someone in corporate finance in a consumer goods company? Who do I know who wants to know more about that industry?
The person I am talking to loves photography. Who else in my network is passionate about amateur photography and would enjoy talking to this person?
The person I am talking to needs a new mechanic. I don’t have a car, but who was it that was bragging about their mechanic last week?

If you are asking these questions, then making new connections will come very naturally. You will forward the article to three friends in different industries and let them know why you think the information could be useful to them. You will ask the consumer goods financier if he would like to join you and your friend for coffee next Wednesday afternoon. You will introduce your new friend to your colleague with the awesome mechanic. Connections flow very naturally when you have an ear for shared opportunity.

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Professor Profiles: Sanjay Sood, UCLA Anderson School of Management [#permalink]

01 Apr 2015, 12:00

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FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Sanjay Sood, UCLA Anderson School of Management

Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand when they choose an MBA program to attend, but 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 highlight a standout professor as identified by students. Today, we profile Sanjay Sood at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

Sanjay Sood (“Entertainment Marketing,” “Digital Marketing Strategy,” and “Business Models”) is an associate professor of marketing and the faculty director of UCLA Anderson’s Center for Managing Enterprises in Media, Entertainment, and Sports. An ad hoc reviewer for the Journal of Marketing Research and the Journal of Consumer Research, Sood focuses on marketing management, brand management, advertising, and consumer behavior. He received his PhD in marketing from Stanford’s Graduate School of Business in 1999 and was later recognized as an MSI Young Marketing Scholar in 2003. One second-year student we interviewed said Sood brings “a lot of practical experience to the classroom” and uses connections from his work with Procter & Gamble to enhance his classes. In 2010, Sood was selected by his fellow faculty members to receive the school’s Niedorf “Decade” Teaching Award, which is presented to professors who exhibit “exemplary teaching over a period of seven to ten years.” Five years earlier, he received a Citibank Teaching Award, which was also determined by his fellow faculty members.

For more information about UCLA Anderson and 15 other top-ranked business schools, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.

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B-School Chart of the Week: How Do MBA Alumni Rate Their Education? [#permalink]

01 Apr 2015, 17:00

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FROM mbaMission Blog: B-School Chart of the Week: How Do MBA Alumni Rate Their Education?

Although quantifying a school’s profile certainly does not tell you everything, it can sometimes be helpful in simplifying the many differences between the various MBA programs. Each week, we bring you a chart to help you decide which of the schools’ strengths speak to you.

“Business school alumni rise fast in the workplace and have high levels of job satisfaction,” reports the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC).

That conclusion derives from a summary report of the council’s “2015 Alumni Perspectives Survey,” released earlier this month, which includes data culled from more than 12,000 business school alumni from the classes of 1959 through 2014 and representing more than 230 programs around the world. This is perhaps the most comprehensive account of life after business school available.

In addition to showing industry and job function data for this hugely diverse swath of alumni, the findings of the report detail graduate satisfaction, entrepreneurial behavior, and career outcomes, highlighting which aspects of the educational experience alumni have valued most in their professional pursuits.

Although much has changed over the past half century of management education, a clear consensus emerges from GMAC’s survey: business school graduates, by and large, seem generally satisfied with the contribution their degree has made in advancing their career.

In this week’s chart, we offer a snapshot of how the full-time, two-year MBA alumni GMAC surveyed said they would rate their business school experience.

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MBA News: Boston University Renames MBA Program After $50M Donation [#permalink]

02 Apr 2015, 08:01

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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA News: Boston University Renames MBA Program After $50M Donation

After receiving a $50M donation from a notable alumnus and trustee, Boston University has changed the name of its School of Management to the Questrom School of Business. The impressive gift stands as the largest such contribution in the university’s history and is thanks to retired retail executive Allen Questrom, who graduated from the business school in 1964, and his wife, Kelli. The funds, provided via the couple’s Allen and Kelli Questrom Foundation, will enable the school to appoint ten new professors and will provide seed funding for plans to add 60,000 square feet of classroom space.

Boston University announced an ambitious fundraising target of $1B in 2012, and the Questrom donation is a step toward that goal, bringing the school’s total thus far to $823M. University President Robert A. Brown seemed understandably pleased: “This is a singular moment in the history of the school and the University,” he said at the MBA program’s naming ceremony. “The gift will both propel the school on the path of increased impact and quality and will forever associate it with the name of one of the most distinguished businessmen in America and one of Boston University’s most distinguished graduates.”

At the ceremony, Allen Questrom credited one of his business school professors, the late Alan Beckwith, for the kick-start in his retail career. Beckwith transformed the young Questrom’s plans to become a ski instructor by arranging retail industry interviews for him in Boston and New York. “I would hope that students, as they go through school and into a career, will periodically reflect on their life, to pay mental homage to the people who helped them along the way,” Questrom said at the ceremony, “and to recognize that as they ‘make good,’ they have a responsibility to ‘do good,’ to pay it forward by helping the next generation.”

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Beyond the MBA Classroom: A Family Affair at HBS [#permalink]

02 Apr 2015, 13:01

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FROM mbaMission Blog: Beyond the MBA Classroom: A Family Affair at HBS

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.

Nearly 30% of Harvard Business School (HBS) students have registered partners, and approximately 15% have children. Partners can register with MBA Student and Academic Services for the MBA Partner Program and/or join the Partners Club, which helps significant others integrate into life at HBS, providing opportunities to meet socially, attend HBS-sponsored partner events, join HBS clubs, and enjoy campus services. HBS partners are provided with their own email accounts and identification cards and given access to the Partners’ Web site and Career Services. Crimson Parents Club is devoted to children, and it organizes activities such as play groups, seasonal parties, speaker series, and seminars on parenting.

For in-depth descriptions of social and community activities at HBS and 15 other top MBA programs, check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides.

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Diamonds in the Rough: Emory University’s Goizueta Business School [#permalink]

02 Apr 2015, 17:01

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FROM mbaMission Blog: Diamonds in the Rough: Emory University’s Goizueta Business School

MBA applicants tend to overvalue rankings and so can overlook some strong business schools that might be a good fit. In this series, we profile amazing programs at schools that are typically ranked outside the top 15.

Named after late Coca-Cola CEO Roberto C. Goizueta, Emory University’s Goizueta Business School is deeply rooted in a legacy of global business leadership. Goizueta’s MBA program offers one- and two-year formats, strives to maintain an intimate learning environment, and affords its students the benefits of being located in a significant global commercial hub—Atlanta, Georgia. One of the program’s notable advantages has been its success in attracting recruiters—in fact, 50% of the employment offers for the Class of 2014 were from school sources. In addition, Bloomberg Businessweek ranked Goizueta first for employment in 2012 and 18th overall for full time MBA programs in 2014. The school’s recruiting strengths seem to be reflected in the latest career reports as well—98% of the Classes of 2012, 2013, and 2014 received job offers within three months of graduation. Members of the Class of 2014 accepted positions with such major companies as Accenture, Bank of America, Deloitte, Delta Air Lines, Georgia-Pacific, J.P. Morgan, Johnson & Johnson, NCR Corporation, and Wells Fargo.

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Friday Factoid: Fuqua’s Facilities [#permalink]

03 Apr 2015, 12:01

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FROM mbaMission Blog: Friday Factoid: Fuqua’s Facilities

The Fuqua School of Business is located on Duke University’s West Campus near the intersection of Science Drive and Towerview Drive. Students often congregate in the Fox Center, a 70,000 square foot facility that was built in 2002. Linking the main wings of the school and featuring a café, enormous windows, and spacious indoor winter garden, the Fox Center is the hub of the school. Students can eat breakfast and lunch here, grab a coffee, conduct team meetings, or just take a breather between classes or during the 15-minute break in each class period. In August 2008, Fuqua opened the 91,000 square foot Doug and Josie Breeden Hall, the “new front door of the School for students and visitors,” as it was described in the student newspaper, the Fuqua Bulletin. Named after former dean Douglas Breeden (2001–2006), the building boasts a three-story atrium, two auditoriums (which seat 126 and 146 people), the expanded Ford Library, three 70-seat lecture rooms, and a suite of team rooms. All told, Fuqua’s campus now covers nearly 500,000 square feet, with 58 team rooms, ten classrooms and seven seminar rooms. In February 2015, the school undertook a major renovation project for the R. David Thomas Executive Conference Center. Once completed in mid-2016, the center will add more than 90,000 extra square feet, including a 5,600 square foot ballroom.

For more information on other defining characteristics of the MBA program at Duke Fuqua or one of 15 other top business schools, please check out thembaMission Insider’s Guides.

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MBA News: Tuition Costs on the Rise at Top-Rated MBA Programs [#permalink]

03 Apr 2015, 16:00

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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA News: Tuition Costs on the Rise at Top-Rated MBA Programs

Attending a high-ranking business school has just gotten a little pricier for some. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, approximately one-half of the MBA programs included in the top 20 of the publication’s ranking have announced tuition hikes for the 2015–2016 academic year. Of these programs, the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland reported the most notable tuition increase—up 9.9% for out-of-state students. The cost of pursuing an MBA at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business has also grown. Candidates planning to attend Kelley will have to pay approximately 4.5% more than students did last year, and at Fuqua, tuition has risen by approximately 4.4%.

Of course, fairly significant variations in program costs already existed among the Bloomberg Businessweek top 20 schools. While the priciest of that group is the MIT Sloan School of Management—with a projected cost of $65,750 for the upcoming academic year—the school raised its tuition by a comparatively low 3.1%. Cornell University’s Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management has thus far reported the smallest increase, 2.2%, bringing its tuition to $59,500 for next year. Yet as Bloomberg Businessweek notes, these escalating costs do not seem to have deterred applicants—the Graduate Management Admission Council reported that 62% of two-year, full-time MBA programs saw an increase in applications during the 2013–2014 admissions season.

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GMAT Impact: Reorient Your View on Math Problems [#permalink]

04 Apr 2015, 13:00

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FROM mbaMission Blog: GMAT Impact: Reorient Your View on Math Problems

With regard to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything. In this blog series, Manhattan GMAT’s Stacey Koprince teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense.

The Quant section of the GMAT is not a math test. Really! It just looks like one on the surface. In reality, the test writers are testing us on how we think.

As such, they write many math problems in a way that hides what the sentence is really testing or even implies a solution method that is not the best solution method. Assume nothing, and do not accept that what they give you is your best starting point!

Instead, slow down a little. First, just glance at the whole problem (before you really start reading) to see what kind of problem you have.

Next, read the problem and jot down any numbers, formulas, etc. Do not do any translation or simplification at this stage—in short, do not do any actual work yet. Just get the basics on paper, and wrap your brain around what the question is saying. You will be less likely to fall into their traps if you think before you act.

Then, reflect and organize: what have you got, and what should you consider doing with it? Do any pieces of information go together? Do you see any clues that give you an idea of how to solve the problem? Is the problem really obviously suggesting a certain path? Maybe that will work—but make a conscious decision that this really is your best path.

Most of the time, when an “obvious” path is suggested, some other path is actually faster or easier. Also, remember that your best approach might be to guess and move on, depending on how hard the question is!

Finally, if you are not going to guess, then get to it and work! You made some kind of plan during the previous step, so start working that plan!

If you get stuck at this stage, you are allowed to give yourself one chance to unstick yourself. Go back to an earlier step in your work to see whether you can find another way forward. If you find yourself still stuck, pick something and move on.

Want to see some examples of all this? Glad you asked. I have got a full two-part article for you with three different practice problems. Get to it, and let me know what you think!

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MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: Admissions Is a Science! [#permalink]

05 Apr 2015, 12:00

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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: Admissions Is a Science!

What does a 3.8 GPA + 670 GMAT score + four years of work experience + three years of community service equal? It could equal nothing, or it could equal a letter of admission. Knowing with absolute certainty is not possible, however, because admissions is not a science. After all, if it were, the admissions office would just do away with the entire time- and resource-consuming admissions process and use a simple formula. Why not make life that much simpler for everyone?

In some countries, simple tests are used to establish benchmarks—a candidate gets into a top MBA program with a score of X but not with Y. In the United States, some graduate programs have cutoffs for GRE scores or situations in which GMAT/LSAT scores and grades are definitive. Plainly put, no clear-cut criteria exist with top global MBA programs. Instead, the admissions committee reads a file holistically and seeks evidence of the applicant’s ability to contribute in class and perform at the highest levels post-graduation.

Although trying to reduce the MBA admissions process to a science can be tempting, doing so would be unwise. By listening to chatter on message boards or blogs about the “right GMAT score” or the “right amount of work experience” rather than keeping in mind that the process is holistic in nature—meaning that the admissions committees evaluate all criteria with no particular scorecard—you are wasting valuable time and energy. Simply be your best candidate and present your full story, rather than focusing on some stats.

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Monday Morning Essay Tip: The Optional Mistake [#permalink]

06 Apr 2015, 08:01

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FROM mbaMission Blog: Monday Morning Essay Tip: The Optional Mistake

Last week, we discussed taking responsibility for blips in your personal, academic, and/or career history via the optional essay. Our title for this week’s post, “The Optional Mistake,” is a double entendre in that candidates often make the mistake of writing an optional essay when they perhaps should not and then make mistakes within the essay as well.

Choosing to submit an optional essay: Many candidates feel compelled to write an optional essay, concerned that not doing so will imply that they are out of additional fascinating stories. The truth is that in virtually all cases, the admissions committee has offered the optional essay (or additional information space) to allow you to discuss possible unique circumstances in your candidacy, not so you can submit another 500 words about your career or an interesting personal accomplishment. Unless you have something vital in your candidacy that must be discussed, you should approach the idea of submitting an additional essay with caution.
Writing an optional essay: If you do decide to write an optional essay, be as brief and direct as possible. By submitting one, you are essentially asking the (likely overloaded) admissions officer to read yet another essay and are thus demanding more of this person’s valuable time. The key to writing an effective optional essay is therefore to respect this individual’s time and be as concise as possible, while still conveying all the necessary information. Thus, a discussion of your academic problems need not begin with a detailing of the excellent grades you earned in high school; a gap in your work experience need not begin with a chronology of how consistently you worked before the gap occurred. We have seen candidates overcome any number of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, from a very low GMAT score to an arrest for drunk driving. We always encourage applicants to address such issues in a “short and sweet” manner (completing any optional essays well within word limits), and time has proven that this strategy can yield results.

For more assistance with writing an optional essay (or even just deciding whether you should write one), see our Optional Essay Guide.

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Mission Admission: Get an Early Start on Your Resume [#permalink]

07 Apr 2015, 11:00

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FROM mbaMission Blog: Mission Admission: Get an Early Start on Your Resume

Mission Admission is a series of MBA admission tips; a new one is posted each Tuesday.

We at mbaMission try to encourage business school candidates to get as much “noise” out of the way as possible before the schools begin releasing their essay questions. We want our applicants to have the freedom to reflect on their experiences, formally and thoroughly brainstorm, choose ideas, prepare outlines, and then focus on crafting powerful essays. Essentially, we want them to be unfettered as they engage in what is, for many, one of the most significant creative challenges they will ever face.

Using this time to address a task such as preparing your resume—a process that often requires several rounds of revisions—will allow you to focus better on the other elements of your application later. By revising your resume now, you can dedicate the time needed to do so at a more leisurely pace, before “crunch time” hits. Further, you will lay the foundation for brainstorming for your essays later, by reminding yourself of your most significant accomplishments.

If you prepare your resume now, you will not even feel the effects later (except in a good way), and you will definitely thank yourself for having completed this task early.

Note: We recognize that you may achieve additional accomplishments in the next few months. We nonetheless suggest that you update your resume now, however, and then revisit and amend your most recent entry one to two weeks before your application deadlines.

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