Events & Promotions
It is currently 28 Mar 2024, 08:50 |
Customized
for You
Track
Your Progress
Practice
Pays
10:00 AM EDT
-10:30 AM EDT
12:00 PM PDT
-11:59 PM PDT
08:00 PM PDT
-09:00 PM PDT
03:00 PM EDT
-04:00 PM EDT
08:30 AM PDT
-09:30 AM PDT
FROM Amerasia MBA Blog: Poets and Quants |
Rankings are often the first stop when applicants begin choosing their MBA targets. The rankings game has been dominated by four or five major players over the years but there is another you may not be considering, which may be worth watching.Poets and Quants has only been publishing MBA rankings since 2010, a mere blip on the timeline compared to BusinessWeek, US News, Forbes, The Economist and the Financial Times. But in that same short time, they have garnered a very reliable reputation for their methodology. Unlike these other stalwart rankings, Poets & Quants actually combines those rankings into their own proprietary score.Instead of just averaging the scores, each of these reputed rankings is individually weighted to account for P&Q’s opinion of their “credibility.” Specifically, Poets & Quants gives U.S. News a weight of 35%, Forbes gets 25%, Financial Times and Businessweek each get 15% weight, and The Economist, 10%. Combining these five major rankings helps to eliminate the flaws inherent in each system, which are numerable. For example, it is widely known that US News rankings relies heavily on the subjective opinion of recruiters and deans, so is prone to availability bias or marketing influence (or sometimes pure laziness). This approach by P&Q helps massage out the fluctuations and suppresses faulty or biased technique. The composite index essentially “tones down the noise” from each of the five major surveys to get more directly to the underlying strengths and weaknesses of each school in any given year. This approach is not ground-breaking or novel, but it does take a lot of work out of someone trying to do it themselves. It also does not radically disrupt the prevailing trends. For example, almost every Top 25 school in the P&Q ranking retains its Top 25 status in the subsequent year. Unlike some of the majors, the P&Q school rankings generally move up or down by only one place from year to year, resulting in a smoother, more reliable and less dramatic fluctuation of rankings. Some say it’s boring.While the list is seemingly more stable than other rankings, it does risk the outlier or up and comer school which is innovating-their-way up the charts on another board. The P&Q folks must accounfor t a massive wealth of quantitative and qualitative data captured in the other lists, from surveys of corporate recruiters, MBA graduates, deans and faculty publication records to median GPA and GMAT scores of entering students as well as the latest salary and employment statistics of alumni. All this data crunching can crush the creative flash right out of the pan, so to speak, so be careful you are not numbed into acceptance with P&Q’s data-scrubbing. It’s always a good idea to consider as many sources as you can. To find out more about your options and how we can guide your business school application process, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com or contact us via https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/contact Permalink |
FROM Amerasia MBA Blog: Before and After |
The millennial generation brought with it many new trends, one of which has been an increase in career moves. Gone are the days of working for one company for 30 years and then retiring. But should you be concerned about career flip-flopping when it comes to getting admitted to b-school or landing a job afterwards?There are far fewer gold watches being given out anymore at retirement parties. While your mom, dad or grandparents may have logged the proverbial quarter century with one company, you yourself have likely already had more jobs than all of them combined—and you’re still in your twenties. Let’s face it—the short attention span world of 21-st century career climbing means you statistically won’t be staying in one place for long. On the one hand, this keeps things interesting, and diversifies your experience. On the other hand, it can make you seem disloyal, restless or incapable of holding down a job. The latter can communicate that you don’t get along well with others, a potential application killer at top b-schools. Having a checkerboard career is generally nothing to worry about as long as you can weave a sensible narrative about why you made the various moves. If you can find the thread which ties it all together, you can often make a varied background seem dynamic vs. disloyal and enriching vs. disengaging. One key thing to know is that your career before the MBA and your career after are two entirely different things. Zigging and zagging up until b-school can be okay, but you should become more intentional about your career moves after your graduate. This is one reason why adcoms want to know what your career vision is, because they want to accept folks who have their plans laid out and will follow a trajectory after the MBA. This is not to say you can’t make career moves, but does say that those moves should be part of a long term plan and not just to try something new. No matter what you did before business school, it’s what you do after that counts. You will add increasingly more value to your degree (and to your school’s alumni pedigree for that matter) if you establish a solid, upwardly mobile career trajectory post MBA. They’ll generally forgive you for what came prior. To find out more about your options and how we can guide your business school application process, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com or contact us via https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/contact Permalink |
FROM Amerasia MBA Blog: The New Economy |
The great recession of 2008 pulled the largest control-alt-delete in this nation’s history outside of the depression. The aftermath has left everyone scarred but smarter. Interestingly, the recession had a positive impact on financing an MBA education. On this tenth anniversary year of the big meltdown, let’s take a look at how you can leverage the post-recession economy to benefit your graduate education.You would think the kind of wealth destruction that took place between 2008 and 2013 would have evaporated any financial aid opportunities along with it. Endowment funds, which are the primary source for scholarships and fellowships suffered tremendously, losing in many cases more than 50% of their value. The slow and steady recovery, however, has been kind to these funds and a fascinating phenomenon has resulted, one which also has another player…you. That’s right! The fiscally conservative attitude that emerged in applicants after the recession has slowly but surely boosted the amount of money awarded by graduate business schools. Initially, applications dropped precipitously and schools panicked. A $100,000 education suddenly seemed like a luxury to avoid to the average student, so schools began pulling out all the stops. Generous fellowship offers grew steadily and created a hyper-competitive marketplace, one which continues today. In fact, top business schools are covering on average 50% of gross tuition across the board. Of course not everyone gets a fellowship, but this number also includes a number of full rides. Ten years ago, the amount of gross tuition coverage at top schools was closer to 23%. Taking into account tuition increases, this doubling of fellowship offerings represents a staggering amount of money that is being offered to hopeful applicants A trend of negotiating your financial aid offer has emerged. A decade ago, it was fairly unusual to push back on a scholarship or financial aid offer and could even have resulted in a school pulling your offer all together. Playing one school’s offer off another was considered bad form. Today, however, it’s common practice to mention your other offers in an effort to get a boost from another school. Schools now expect applicants to negotiate. Another thing affecting fellowship offers, which could be argued is also an after-effect of the recession, is student loan debt. Student loans are one of the only debts which survives bankruptcy, so students and graduates who slogged their way through the recession all dragged their student loans with them. Young professionals have been carrying a staggering amount of this debt over the years, and have been reluctant to take on more. This reluctance and the dip in applications that resulted, also forced schools to come up with additional funding. If you need help navigating the battle ground of financial aid, please don’t hesitate to reach out. To find out more about your options and how we can guide your business school application process, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com or contact us via https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/contact Permalink |
FROM Amerasia MBA Blog: Not So Fast |
This time of year is about finishing well and new beginnings. And Summertime, and sipping lemonade and relaxing. Before you head off to the beach, however, you might want to do a few things to advance your MBA application process. It’s tempting to bask in the value of “plenty of time,” which is what most b-school applicants are thinking they have right now. Sure, as you sit in your little sister’s college graduation ceremony, you might be reminded you need to start pulling things together, but what are you really doing right now to get ahead of the game? Are you making real plans? If you don’t start thinking about your b-school application as a job, the demons of procrastination will descend upon you. There’s a lot of work ahead of you if you are vying for a slot in a top MBA program. This is not something you can whip together in the last few days before an application deadline, trust us. While it’s true that schools won’t be releasing their new application packages for a few months, there’s no reason why you can’t go ahead and tackle some tasks that will help you prepare a better application when they do become available. For starters, you can do all the boring stuff that would become tedious if left unaddressed. For example, now is a great time to reach out to your alma mater for official copies of your transcripts. Granted, the digital age has made this process much easier, but there are still some schools where you must call or visit in person to dig up records. Remember---all college transcripts are required, so if you did a summer back home and took classes at your local community college, the b-schools are going to want to see that transcript too, and those are the ones which can be onerous and time consuming to find. Another thing you can do without the official application package is to begin reaching out to potential recommenders. Since recommendations are the one thing outside your direct control (where you must rely on other people’s availability and follow-through), it’s a good idea to take them to lunch and talk about your plan. This informal “interview process” can be beneficial in preparing your recommender to submit the most thoughtful and thorough recommendation possible. Book some time with your recommenders to explore their willingness and availability---also, you should analyze whether or not you should use them at all. That person you picked out in your mind might not be as into the opportunity when you discuss it with them in person. We find that having several alternatives for recommenders is a good idea and it always seems to take more time than you think to line this part of the application up. You also don't want to ask any one person to do too many recos. Two or three schools is usually fine, but if you are applying to five or ten, you will want alternative recommenders to spread the workload around. Visiting Schools is always a great idea, and even though you should really conduct your visits when school is in session vs. over the summer, summertime is a great time to plan your visits for the fall. Of course traveling is always better when you plan, considering the additional expense and stress of waiting until the last minute, but there’s also the school schedules to contend with. The more popular schools book their class visits early, so you don’t want to get shut out of a slot and miss the opportunity to hobnob with actual students and faculty. So, despite the rush of summer freedom you may be feeling, don’t squander the luxury of time as you formulate plans to apply for your MBA. To find out more about your options and how we can guide your business school application process, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com or contact us via https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/contact Permalink |
FROM Amerasia MBA Blog: The Reluctant Recommender |
Business School applicants typically have type-A personalities, so managing the application process with zest and precision comes with the territory. One area they can’t directly control, however, is the recommendation. Everything works great with someone who is responsive and excited for your b-school journey, but how do you handle someone who is not so eager to help?Choosing your recommenders is often a vexing process for MBA applicants. Most schools want to hear from current employers and supervisors because they can generally give the most valid insight into your performance and impact on the job, but applicants search beyond their employer when a school asks for two or three people to vouch for you. Sometimes this means digging into your past for that special person who will make time to thoughtfully detail what makes you tick. There’s not much that is more powerful than an objective, insightful, third-party corroboration of your awesomeness, but occasionally the person who knows the most about you is also someone who is difficult to pin down. Sure, human nature prompts them to say yes to your initial request, but then they go radio silent and unresponsive to your requests to discuss the recommendation or to complete the online form. This always adds unnecessary stress to applicants who are literally on a timeline with schools to get everything submitted. The worst situation is when you have a reluctant recommender who is required to actually write a long-form letter instead of simply fill out an online questionnaire. For some reason, asking certain people to write a letter is like asking an unmotivated teenager to write a five-part essay. The longer it takes for them to get it done, the more difficult it is to get a response. Ultimately, the hackneyed response becomes the dreaded, “can you write something up and I’ll sign it,” which is a huge red flag. Schools are very good at sniffing out recommendations written by the applicants themselves.They have truly seen and heard it all. A self-recommendation disguised as one from someone else not only doesn’t help, it could really damage your chances. Schools feel applicants who resort to this technique either failed to make the kind of impact which inspires others, or are too lazy or disconnected to find a real recommender. If you can’t track someone down who is willing to pound on the table and advocate your candidacy---someone to trumpet your contributions, why would they think you’d be impactful in business school? My advice is for you to do the sniffing first. Start by communicating directly with your recommenders either on the phone or in person. It’s too easy for them to say “yeah sure” to and email or text request, but you will get a much better feel for their willingness if you have a real conversation with them. If they are in the same city, take them to lunch, and just start by telling them about your journey and plans. A good sign is when someone offers to recommend you even before you ask. Frankly, it takes that kind of eager support to generate the most compelling recommendation anyway. Another thing you can do is to lay out your timeline and expectations very clearly from the outset. Get familiar with each school’s process before you talk to your recommenders and be ready to give them regular reminders of the countdown. If time begins to get short, you should call or visit the person like you did in the beginning to make sure the message is getting through. Try to avoid telling them the final cutoff date, lest they wait until the last minute to submit. One final thought--Schools are increasingly asking you to waive your right to see the recos before they are submitted, which is typically a good idea, since they carry more weight with admissions committees when they are private. To find out more about your options and how we can guide your business school application process, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com or contact us via https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/contact Permalink |
FROM Amerasia MBA Blog: The MD/MBA |
For years, the JD/MBA was the standard for dual degree MBA programs. With law degrees waning in popularity, schools have become more creative in combining the MBA with other graduate degrees. A recent trend is the MD/MBA. What’s up, Doc?Medical school is expensive. And long. Despite the high price tag of MBA programs, medical school still holds the record for most expensive graduate programs. Often, doctors begin their careers with $300K-$500K in student loans. Yikes. When combined with the enormous time commitment of medical school, there has been very few MD candidates interested in tacking on an MBA degree. Technology and the ever-expanding complexities of running a healthcare business or facility has created new demands, however, for business skills among the MD population. Business schools have address the intersection of medicine and business by streamlining an MBA into just three semesters of classwork. By skipping the additional semester of classroom work and the internship, MD candidates have taken to the bolt-on MBA as a viable option. Of course schools which already have a medical school have pioneered the practice, but we have seen schools without any medical affiliation partnering with medical schools to offer students the chance to get solid business education in concert with their MD. Schools generally add the year-and-a-half after the third year of medical school, before internships begin and the MD degree is finalized. Schools are generally flexible, however, knowing that the MD degree is a long and complicated process. What do doctors do with their MBAs? Many have gone on to run hospitals or even make it to the c-level in pharmaceutical or medical device companies. Others have launched companies of their own as they leverage their MBA to commercialize a medical practice or device. No matter how doctors decide to use their MBA, it’s the schools themselves who also benefit, since having medical students in the classroom adds a level of student diversity that has generally been missing in years past. Doctors have been generally absent from the MBA classroom because they had invested too much time and money into their education and want to get out there and start making money to pay it all off. If you are a medical student with dreams of turning your healthcare knowledge into a business tool, then perhaps the MD/MBA is for you? To find out more about your options and how we can guide your business school application process, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com or contact us via https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/contact Permalink |
FROM Amerasia MBA Blog: Maximizing Your School Visits |
Making the most of your MBA campus visits is a paramount gesture when choosing where you want to apply. If you think simply stopping by and walking around is going to do the trick, think again.Everyone knows that visiting your target schools in person is critical as you assess which schools are going to be a good fit. You can only ascertain so much from a brochure or website, so despite how troublesome and time-consuming it is to organize and execute, carving out time on campus is something we all must do. While summertime is not the best time to visit, since MBA students are off campus and faculty are traveling or doing research, it’s a great time to plan your fall visits. A common mistake prospective MBA students make is waiting too late to reach out to book a visit. Schools only have so many tour slots to offer, so make sure you are researching and reaching out early in the summer when admissions offices open their calendars. If you are thinking it’s too much trouble to do this, you should reconsider, because it’s important to book an official visit with your school vs. stopping by on your own. One reason is the class visit. Many schools will allow you to sit in on an actual class, which is definitely something you won’t have access to if you try to conduct your own tour. Additionally, schools will usually assign you to a current student ambassador to show you around or take you to class. This is a highly under-rated feature of the official school visit, as it gives you direct access to a real-live MBA candidate at your target school. Knowing someone in the program can be a huge advantage, since you can ask more candid questions than you might feel comfortable doing in an interview. One mistake to avoid is making a bad impression during your visit. Most schools will solicit and consider the opinions of their students, so if you make a poor impression, it will likely find its way indirectly back to the adcom. How do you make a bad impression? You’d be surprised how many rules of common courtesy can be broken when spending several hours with folks. Abiding by your grandmother’s guidance is beneficial: be polite, look people in the eye, and don’t be rude—especially to your fellow applicants. You are not there to look better than them, you are there to demonstrate you can get along well with them. Remember, some of them might end up as your classmates! Not every school will allow such a deep look at their inner-workings, but for those that do, you should take full advantage. You might even consider asking in advance if you can meet a professor you have heard about or who does research in your area of interest. Don’t be shy about communicating your desires to the admissions office. They generally do their best o accommodate, and if you appear professional and courteous in the process, it can go a long way in making a lasting impression while you are there. To find out more about your options and how we can guide your business school application process, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com or contact us via https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/contact Permalink |
FROM Amerasia MBA Blog: The MS/MBA |
Combining an MBA with another graduate degree can be a very efficient way to drill into your graduate education, so if you’re looking for something more than the traditional, full-time MBA, the MS/MBA might be just the ticket.Schools all over the world are leveraging the MS/MBA opportunity by offering students the ability to bolt-on an extra year to a traditional master’s degree and graduate with both a Master’s and an MBA. This approach to graduate school is for people who want to focus in a particular area of interest or industry. Historically, the MBA has most often been coupled with the J.D., which is still an option, albeit a less popular one. The inextricable combination of technology and business has in part driven this trend, which is popular with engineering and computer science students in particular. You can thank the dot-com bubble and all the startups over recent years for this. Engineering students have recognized that technical knowledge alone is not enough to successfully launch a new business, and they perhaps recognized or even experienced the loss of equity in a new idea when they had to go out and give away a portion because they did not have a full understanding of how to commercialize their ideas. Venture capitalists and angel investors also want to see business prowess in the lineup when new businesses are pitching for funding. An MBA credential from a top school can often grease the wheels and provide the necessary assurance to investors that their money will be well handled by people who have been educated to do so. But it’s not all about startups. What about combining and MBA with a Master’s in public policy, accounting or even art history? Differentiation in the workplace is just as important as differentiation in the MBA application process, so the extra edge of an additional graduate degree can be just the ticket to standing out and drilling down into an area of expertise. If you have a very specific career vision and can afford the extra year of school, adding a Master’s degree to your MBA will position you with an edge with recruiters and possibly advance your career progression more rapidly than you might have experienced with only one designation alone. The application process for dual degree candidates can be complicated, particularly when it comes to timing, so make sure you do your research before you dive in. We can help you strategize, so don’t hesitate to reach out. To find out more about your options and how we can guide your business school application process, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com or contact us via https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/contact Permalink |
FROM Amerasia MBA Blog: Giving Back and Getting In |
Most people don’t realize that a large percentage of higher education budgets are driven by philanthropic gifts from alumni and other donors. It is also widely unknown that MBA programs check up on applicant giving records when available---are you prepared to stand behind what you have given back?In addition to the high tuition payments made by students, MBA programs are also the recipients of billions of dollars each year from endowed and expendable gifts. These proceeds from this generosity is spent to support faculty, students and innovative programming. Without philanthropic support, in fact, MBA programs would cease to exist—period. For this reason, MBA programs are serious about keeping the coffers full, and their focus begins even before students matriculate. It’s in their best interest to admit students who will carry the proverbial torch and give back just as the students who came before them have done. The easiest way for MBA programs to ascertain whether or not you are a giver or a taker is when you were also an undergrad at the same institution. When you apply for an MBA at the same school where you graduated college, they have open access to your giving record and will check it. If you didn’t go to undergrad where you are applying for your MBA, they will often try to figure out if you supported your undergrad institution on their own. How? They ask you. A common question in the MBA interview process is, “how are you involved with your undergrad institution as an alumna/alumnus?” While this question does not directly inquire about financial support, it’s a great idea to be able to tell them that you do so. Of course it’s great to be involved with your undergrad institution with your time and talent, also supporting your school with your treasure is highly beneficial when demonstrating to an MBA program that you will make a good alum. Once you get in, MBA programs almost immediately begin planting the seeds of future support by bringing in alumni to talk about their own giving and also communicating class giving opportunities to the student body. Before you graduate, rest assured your class will be approached by the staff and/or faculty and encouraged to select a class gift which you and your classmates can use to leave a legacy for the school after you’re done. But it doesn’t stop there. It’s widely known in graduate school world that alumni giving rates are highest amongst MBA alumni. Some schools even boast alumni giving participation rates as high as 50%. Baking philanthropic encouragement into the curriculum and spiking the kool-aid as well pays off for MBA programs. This is why HBS has a four billion dollar endowment. If you’re applying to a top MBA program, do yourself a favor and go make a gift to your undergrad school. You’ll feel relieved if it comes up in your interview! To find out more about your options and how we can guide your business school application process, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com or contact us via https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/contact Permalink |
FROM Amerasia MBA Blog: Writing a Personal Statement |
Summertime is essentially MBA application prep season. While most people are jetting around the globe to sit by a lovely beach or visit a trendy city, MBA applicants are busy organizing themselves in anticipation of application release dates. Writing a personal statement is a great way to kill the time.One of the key things to do when preparing for MBA applications is to find your story. Finding your story warrants an entire blog discussion on its own, but a productive first step towards doing so is crafting a personal statement. The personal statement is essentially a summary of your life which includes not only what you have done but the how and why as well. Some schools actually require a personal statement as part of the application package, but it’s more common with Masters applications than MBA applications. Still, writing a personal statement as an MBA applicant is a great way to begin organizing your thoughts whether or not it is required. I always tell clients not to worry about length, so personal statements can be quire verbose. Better to capture too much information than not enough. Structuring your personal statement chronologically helps you avoid getting too philosophical. The idea is to communicate what makes you tick and how you became to be the person you are today in a straightforward and practical way, not to philosophize about your ideals. While it’s always good to speak to your values, it’s better to couch them in a narrative about your formative experiences vs. describing your life theories. Start with where you’re from and your family upbringing, and walk the reader through your personal history in a way that points to what defines you as a person and a professional. A common mistake MBA applicants make when writing their PS is to lean towards the professional and away from the personal. Believe it or not, admissions committees decipher far more about you from your personal side than what they can gleam from your resume. The personal statement is just that---personal. When you talk about your work experience, do it from an angle that cannot be found on your resume. When it’s time to apply, remember you will be able to submit your resume, but the PS information will more often be found in the essays. You will surprise yourself how easily the essay answers flow out onto the page if you spend some thoughtful time crafting your personal statement. To find out more about your options and how we can guide your business school application process, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com or contact us via https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/contact Permalink |
FROM Amerasia MBA Blog: Casting Your Vision |
A key part of establishing your MBA application story is to cast a compelling vision. The easiest way to ensure your rejection from top schools would be to fall short doing so.There are many components to your story, and MBA programs are always on the lookout for unique applicants who offer something different than the average MBA wannabe. There is something, however that MBA programs are looking for in every applicant: maturity.There are myriad reasons why b-schools want a mature student body. Mature applicants get along well with others because they have handled conflict. Mature applicants demonstrate wisdom which can only come from experience. Most importantly, however, mature applicants know what they want and have a plan for how to get there. This is the essence of casting a vision. Schools don’t really care that much about specifically what you want to do, but they do care about how you plan to make it happen. When I say they don’t care, I mean it’s not all that important. You could have your eye on a corporate job, a startup or a government job and what each program is going to want to see is a rational approach to achieving it. Think about the steps you plan to take to make it happen, beginning with your first job after graduation, followed by where you want to be five years out, followed by where you see yourself ending your career. This three-pronged perspective will orient the admissions committees around your career plan and give them a solid view of how you see yourself leveraging the MBA. Getting an MBA should not be included in your vision statement—your application makes it obvious you have included the MBA as your next step. Casting your vision is about what you will do upon graduation and beyond, and incidentally, it’s not all about career steps. Make sure you include personal goals as part of your vision as well. Business schools want to see their alumni getting involved in the community and making an impact for the greater good. Having an alternative plan is also a key part of casting your vision. A mature person knows that things don’t always go the way you plan. If you can’t offer a plan B, and think your dogged determination to achieve your plan A will impress your target school, think again. Not having a backup plan only telegraphs to the adcoms that you are not mature enough to know better. Even if you are 100% dedicated to your primary plan and are 100% confident you will make it happen, you should still come up with a backup plan to tell the admissions committees. Doing so will at least assure them that you know enough to have one. To find out more about your options and how we can guide your business school application process, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com or contact us via https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/contact Permalink |
FROM Amerasia MBA Blog: The Informational Interview |
Applying to business school puts you in a very unique category. Unless you have a serious shift in your life plan, it’s unlikely you will ever be in the same situation again, that is, becoming a student in a terminal degree program. Now is your chance to get meetings with just about anyone you desire to discuss their experience and your vision.The informational interview is underutilized. Very few young people take the time to reach out and attempt to sit down with others to discuss their perspective, their contributions, and how they got from point A to point B. Imagine how valuable it would be to spend a casual hour with someone who is actually doing what you only dream of doing one day? No agenda, no job offer or admission on the line, just gathering info about what they do and how they do it. Think it’s tough to get your foot in the door? Think again.Professionals are very empathetic towards young, bright-eyed, hard working students. When you are applying to business school, you essentially adopt the same status that a student has, which affords some pretty unprecedented access. Granted, Tim Cook is not going to say yes to every MBA wannabe who tries to charge the gates at Apple, but you’d be surprised how many young folks he spends time with who figure out a way in. It doesn’t have to be the CEO of Apple with whom you spend some time in order to get good information. A good tip is to try and find an email or two of someone who works for a company you’re targeting post MBA. Linked in can be even better, since we’re all just a couple of connections away from just about anyone we’d want to meet. Be persistent, but thoughtfully so. This means, don’t hammer their inbox every three days, but do follow up if you have not received a response within a couple of weeks. I once heard about a young applicant who emailed a CEO once per month for six months and finally was allowed a visit. Gatekeepers are trained to keep people away, but many executives read all their non-spam emails, so you never know what’s going to resonate. I always recommend being as brief as possible, identifying yourself as an MBA applicant looking for insight into their company or industry as you make your applications, and add something personal about yourself. If you are having trouble finding contact information, dive into your network. It’s likely you know someone who knows someone who can either make a connection happen, or at least put you in touch with someone one level closer to someone you’d like to chat with. The goal of the informational interview is to simply explore someone’s worldview and hear about their journey. Plan to not do much of the talking, but rather come armed with intelligent questions—plenty of them. It’s fine to bring notes along so you don’t forget what you came there for. One very important thing to always be prepared for, however, is the inevitable question, “what can I do for you?” or “how can I help?” You’d be wise to know the answer to that in advance, so whether it’s for them to connect you with someone in their company in charge of MBA recruiting or simply to stay in touch as a resource, you should always have something to ask for. Successful people feel good about helping those who are just starting out, and your interest in them and their job and industry is flattering. MBA application season is an ideal time to do informational interviews, so get out there and get connected! To find out more about your options and how we can guide your business school application process, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com or contact us via https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/contact Permalink |
FROM Amerasia MBA Blog: The Executive MBA |
If you’re thinking about not stepping away from your career to get an MBA, your options have expanded over the years into roughly three options, the part-time MBA, the online MBA, and the executive MBA. The latter is the pickiest from an admissions standpoint, but might be the ideal option for the right person.Executive MBA programs are designed for busy career professionals who have solid management experience and have logged a fair number of years in the marketplace. Like full-time programs, there are no set rules for application, with standards varying from program to program. While conventional wisdom points towards having ten years or more of progressively responsible work experience, most top-level EMBA programs look at the quality of overall experience over the quantity. Full time programs can better use number of years as a measure of potential value in the classroom, but when you get beyond the five-year mark, your impact in the marketplace varies widely. It’s impact that impresses the EMBA admissions team.The key question to ask yourself if you are trying to decide if you are worthy of EMBA consideration, therefore, is would your experience be valuable to other high-level managers? This question requires careful consideration because even people who have made significant impact in their careers, it might not have been translatable and therefore, may not be interesting or of use to other markets or industries. The higher up you move on the career ladder, the more generally your leadership can be applied. Lower-level jobs and even mid-level management jobs can often be job-specific and niche. It’s that next level of management that becomes more broadly applicable and subsequently, more useful in the discussions taking place in an EMBA class. If you’re still vexing over your qualifications, you may want to reach out to your network and ask what others think. We can also give you an opinion of your profile on whether it would be attractive to an EMBA adcom. But qualifications are only half the story. Paying for the program is also an important consideration, and programs will require evidence of your ability to afford the high tuition. Fewer companies are sponsoring employees these days, and fellowship/scholarship offers for EMBA students are few and far between. One final consideration is whether or not you can receive the blessing of your company to attend a program. Even though EBMA programs are considered part-time, they often require Friday participation and in the end, take up considerable amounts of “off” time that many high level executives would otherwise be putting into their companies even if it’s outside of the traditional work week. Many programs require a letter from your boss or company to certify their support of your undertaking the program. EMBA programs will not allow you to skip classes or wane at all in your participation—it’s all-in, or no-go, so make sure your employer is on board before you waste time applying. To find out more about your options and how we can guide your business school application process, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com or contact us via https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/contact Permalink |
FROM Amerasia MBA Blog: Getting Thin |
The average age of MBA students has steadily grown over the years, and everyone knows the older we get, the more stuff we acquire. As you prepare your business school applications, you may want to start thinking about getting skinny.This post falls into the category of practical advice for MBA applicants—the kind of advice you don’t normally get and the kind that once you know it, it’s usually too late. Trust me. Thinning out your stuff is not only helpful for relocation to your new school home, it’s also a good idea for what comes afterwards. Business school is a whirlwind. You spend very little time enjoying the luxuries or creature comforts that your “stuff” provides. During your two years in business school, you will watch very little TV, ride very few mountain bike trails, play very little acoustic guitar. I am not saying to dispose of everything that makes you sane and become a nomad or minimalist, but dragging a bunch of crap you won’t use around the country only encumbers your mental and physical freedom. When you graduate, you will be starting a whole new life---likely even moving to a place where you have never lived. You will hopefully find yourself in a more advantageous financial position as well, so it’s probably true that you would be getting rid of old furniture and accoutrements from your prior pedestrian existence anyway. If you are single, you may even pick up a fiancé during b-school, in which case having few possessions will allow you to merge easily into the married lifestyle. Speaking of married lifestyle, that’s the one situation where you might not be able to thin out your stuff quite as much. After all, your spouse is half the equation and you will be dragging them into your b-school adventure as well, so they need to be happy. But given the fact that your post MBA lifestyle will be just as different for your spouse as for yourself, you both could benefit from getting thin before you embark upon that full time MBA program. The good news is, you have a year to make it happen. Focus first on the admissions process and putting together the best application you can. Once you get your admission offer, you can spend the next ten months figuring out what you really need to bring and what is truly superfluous. You will thank us later. To find out more about your options and how we can guide your business school application process, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com or contact us via https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/contact Permalink |
FROM Amerasia MBA Blog: You Really Should Watch This Harvard Business School Video - Inside the HBS Case Method |
No matter the year - if you're applying to HBS, you really should watch the video the HBS admissions committee once referenced in their essay instructions way back in 2015. Why? Because the Case Method is often referenced as HBS's primary differentiator. Per Dee Leopold's instructions on the "Direct from the Director" admissions blog: There is one essay question for the Class of 2018:It's the first day of class at HBS. You are in Aldrich Hall meeting your "section." This is the group of 90 classmates who will become your close companions in the first-year MBA classroom. Our signature case method participant-based learning model ensures that you will get to know each other very well. The bonds you collectively create throughout this shared experience will be lasting. INTRODUCE YOURSELF.Note: Should you enroll at HBS, there will be an opportunity for you to share this with them. We suggest you view this video before beginning to write.Inside the HBS Case Method (2007) Summary of key points from the "Inside the HBS Case Method":
To find out more about that and how we can help you with your app, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com or www.amerasiaconsulting.com/contact Permalink |
FROM Amerasia MBA Blog: The Alternative Transcript |
So you’re the one who went to a third-tier undergraduate institution, had a little too much fun in college, and ended up with a rather embarrassing GPA. Now it’s time to think about b-school, but is it even possible to get a fair shake in the application process?Falling short of excellence in college is the single most haunting element of b-school applicants, and for good reason—schools must be convinced you will be able to hang with the challenging pace and rigor of an MBA program. MBA hopefuls spend many a restless night vexing over past sins in undergraduate school, so much so in fact, that it often deters them from even applying. Before you abandon your MBA dream altogether or settle for a second or third-tier school, you may want to do a few things to potentially overcome your missteps. While it may not be an appealing option, you can actually move the ball forward with what’s called an alternative transcript. This simply means going back to school part time and taking rigorous classes to demonstrate that your aptitude was not properly captured in your undergraduate grades. Obviously you must do well in the new classes—i.e., make A’s. The reason A’s are important is because you won’t be carrying a full load, so anything less may imply you would be challenged under a heavier academic schedule (e.g. b-school). Which classes should you take?While most b-schools have actually dropped the calculus requirement, taking calculus is often a good choice, because it demonstrates a high level of quantitative ability. Proving your quant skills is generally more important than your verbal skills for most b-schools, so it won’t help to take an Elizabethan Literature or American Poetry class. Other courses which are good to take would be anything of a quant nature that you did poorly in in college specifically. If you made a “C” in statistics, for example, re-taking it now and getting an “A” could wipe out any concerns. Another good approach is to take courses which will help you prepare for coursework in an MBA program. This would include courses like Accounting, Finance, or Economics. This is particularly helpful for those who have been out of college for a minute. Don’t expect schools to give you actual credit for these classes.Even though you may be taking graduate-level courses at an accredited university to build your alternative transcript, adcoms will only give you theoretical credit in the admissions process, not actual credit in their program if admitted. MBA programs are rigid in their class requirements and do not allow transfer credits of any kind as a general rule. Beefing up your profile is valuable enough, and the added bonus is that you will be far better prepared for two years of MBA studies than you would have been otherwise. One final tip: it doesn’t really matter where you take your courses when building an alternative transcript, so feel free to enroll in your local community college if that’s what is most convenient. Simply making the effort and doing well will go a long way in proving both your intellectual potential as well as how serious you are about business school. To find out more about your options and how we can guide your business school application process, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com or contact us via https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/contact Permalink |
FROM Amerasia MBA Blog: Academic Performance |
A winning MBA application has multiple components, but one which consistently causes stress for applicants year after year is the transcript. Your undergraduate academic performance is one of the only things you can’t really improve upon once you graduate college. Here are a few tips to help assuage your discomfort. Of course the best advice we can give you for your academic performance is to do well while you are still in college. If you are reading this and fall in that category, know that making good grades in tough classes is a terrific way to convince the admissions committees at top business schools that you can handle the rigors of the MBA. Some schools actually value your undergraduate GPA even more than they value your GMAT or GRE score, since it’s more indicative of performance over time, vs. a one-shot examination. Having a good GPA communicates so much more than raw intelligence; it also tells someone you have good time management skills and educational stamina, both important skills in an MBA program. Where grades begin to get gray is when you start looking at where you went to get your undergrad degree. It would be too simplistic to say that the better the school you attended, the more “valid” your grades are, but the quality of your undergrad institution certainly makes an impression. Particularly with ivy league schools and other elite MBA programs, academic pedigree counts for a lot. Still, grades at many top colleges have become inflated over the years, so you will probably get more mileage out of your elite institution’s reputation that you might get from your grades there. The only way you can really blow your edge graduating from a top college is you had bad grades there. In other words, the expectation of MBA program admissions committees is that if you went to a top school, your grades will be good because pretty much everyone who goes there gets good grades. To have underperformed at a highly selective college is indicative of being an underachiever--and underachievers do not generally get into top b-schools. What if you didn’t go to an impressive undergrad school? If your college experience included a school falling outside the top 50 nationally, MBA programs will be looking for really good grades. It’s important in this situation to appear above average on your transcript, since far more “average” students make it into and finish at second and third-tier colleges. To stand out from the crowd in an applicant pool of students with impressive academic credentials, you must convince the adcom you have the chops to be competitive and not become overwhelmed with the course load. If you fall in the unfortunate category of low-ranked undergrad school and poor grades, we can’t candy coat it---you will face challenges in the b-school application process. It helps to have your undergrad experience deeper in your past if this is the case, so often applicants who find success in this situation are older, when schools look more at your work experience than your academic performance. Still, this narrows your school choices, since many top schools have a bias against older applicants. A last ditch effort can be to build an alternative transcript, which we cover in the next blog. To find out more about your options and how we can guide your business school application process, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com or contact us via https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/contact Permalink |
FROM Amerasia MBA Blog: Skipping the GMAT |
Does standardized test anxiety debilitate you? Are you worried about your GMAT score? Do you simply have no time to prepare? Why not just skip the test altogether?MBA applicants spend lots of time worrying about the vexing nature of admissions tests, and for good reason. The GMAT is a bear of a test, one which takes an annoying amount of time to prepare for if you want to do well. For those who have this time, the benefits are great, since a 700+ GMAT score will garner at least some attention from even the most competitive schools in the world. But if you fall in the camp of average to below average GMAT performers, you not only get zero attention from the top schools, you may also risk gaining admission to any MBA program at all. These applicants probably spend nearly as much time trying to figure a way around the GMAT as they do trying to master it. In recent years, the GRE has been an alternate option, since for some, the GRE seems more manageable, and schools are not required to include GRE scores when they advertise their average admissions test scores (only GMAT scores are required for that). When a school doesn’t have to worry about averaging your test score into the mix, they can be more lenient on how well you do. Still, there are applicants who bomb both tests. Coming up short on standardized tests and being denied access to top schools seems a bit unfair. GMAC likes to report the correlation between GMAT score and academic performance, but grades in b-school are not all that important, and many schools have even abandoned traditional grades altogether, because grades can create a hyper-competitive environment which works against the collaborative nature of teamwork and group participation common to MBA programs around the world. So what’s all the fuss over a one-time, three-hour brain damage exam like the GMAT? After all, there are plenty of sub-average GMAT scorers out there who have a helluva work ethic and would be solid contributors in any MBA program if given the chance. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just opt-out of the test altogether? Believe it or not, this is not as far-fetched as it may sound. In fact, every b-school out there admits a very small number of students each year who submitted no GMAT or GRE score of any kind. That’s right—roughly one percent of all MBA students are granted a complete standardized test waiver and are evaluated on their work experience, undergrad performance, and recommendations alone. How is this possible? They asked for it. Getting out of submitting a GMAT score is tricky, but possible.There are myriad factors which could potentially come into play. For example, if you have some kind of unique, personal situation in your life which prohibits you from sitting for the test, it might be a good enough reason to get a school to give you a pass. Some reasons for this might include a health condition or injury (think traumatic, like a debilitating car accident or cancer) which may prohibit yourself from reasonably taking the exam. Some have tried to leverage family trauma for test waivers, but if it’s only mental or psychological hurdles, a waiver is not common. I have heard of military deployments serving as GMAT waivers or some other service-oriented obligation which makes it impossible to take the test. Beyond simply not being able to take the test, the best way to position yourself for a GMAT waiver is you. That’s right! If you have an incredibly compelling profile, whether it be through extraordinary career achievements or personal accomplishments, you might be able to argue that the GMAT would only hold you back from an otherwise incredible application. A hyperbolic example of this would be if, say, Mark Zuckerberg wanted to get his Stanford MBA, they might consider a GMAT waiver (although now that I think about it, Mark never finished college either, but you get my drift). The point is, if you are a poor test taker but have a super-naturally impressive story otherwise, it won’t hurt to ask. In the end, it’s entirely up to the school, since the rankngs boards turn a blind eye to a “reasonable” number of waived GMAT candidates in an MBA program. Will you be one of the few who doesn’t have to submit a score? To find out more about your options and how we can guide your business school application process, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com or contact us via https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/contact Permalink |
FROM Amerasia MBA Blog: Who's in the Pool? |
This time of year, applicants from all walks of life are contemplating returning to b-school, and it’s not just businesspeople who are applying. Does it make a difference where you come from when it comes to getting in?While a natural assumption for the layperson would be that business people are the ones going back to business school, this is a bit too simplistic. There is a subtle but important distinction with MBA programs, and that is, people who go to business school all have one thing in common, that is, they all desire to go into some kind of business after business school. This doesn’t necessarily mean they were already in business before business school. Despite all the hoopla in MBA world around work experience, you don’t necessarily need a particular flavor of work experience under your belt when you apply. Sure, the most applicants to business school hail from the investment banking and consulting industries, but a very high number of accepted applicants actually checked the “other” box on the application instead. Certainly if you are trying to game your acceptance with your work experience, you’d probably want to go into venture capital. After all, the latest trends show that the VC industry has the highest acceptance rate to top schools these days. Remember, however, that business schools are very keen on diversifying their student body.The key is not in specifically what you did, but why you did it and how you did it. Schools are looking for driven, passionate achievers, and clearly you can be driven and passionate about literally anything. For those who come from an alternative background, it’s important to couch your story in this light and to be able to parlay it into a dynamic future vision post MBA. If you can take an unusual or unique background and convince them it prepared you to do something great in the future (with the help of business school of course), it’s likely you will actually have an easier time getting in than “just another banker.” Another key to making an impression with an alternate background is in nailing the GMAT and hopefully having a good undergraduate education under your belt. Particularly if you can demonstrate quantitative skills, you will be a shoo-in with a wildly impressive, but out-of-the-mainstream background. Coming from the military is an advantage as well.B-schools just love high-achieving military applicants. The leadership training alone is enough to have top schools clamoring over applicants from the US military (and abroad as well for that matter). In fact, second to the VC industry, the highest percentage of successful applicants come from those in the pool who have military service. So as you begin to dive into the pool of b-school applicants, know that you will encounter there just about every type of person and professional you can imagine. Focusing on the uniqueness of your own story will keep you from drowning. To find out more about your options and how we can guide your business school application process, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com or contact us via https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/contact Permalink |
FROM Amerasia MBA Blog: Achievement |
We’ve heard about achievement all our lives, from our parents, teachers and friends. Just when you were feeling pretty good about yourself, it’s time to measure up once more as you prepare your MBA applications. Even before we started kindergarten, our parents were applauding our every achievement as a way to encourage good behavior. Once school began, it became even more obvious—heck, even the aptitude test we all took as youngsters was called the CAT, or California Achievement Test. Let’s face it, America is a pretty darned competitive place, and now the face-off includes applicants from all over the world who vie for a coveted seat in one of the top b-schools. Business schools value achievements for the same reasons you, your parents and your teachers do---it demonstrates drive, initiative and ability, all of which are valuable assets in an MBA program. The main problem with achievements, however, is that everyone applying to b-school has buckets full of them. And boxes, and closets, and basements. Yes, if you are applying to business school, through simple self-selection, you are likely also someone who has too many achievements, not someone who doesn’t have enough. You will soon be faced with the tiny little word count boxes online where you must decide which of these achievements throughout your life are most important to you. Those last two words are key: to you. Don’t make the mistake of trying to decide which achievements will impress the admissions committees, or even what will make you look good for your chosen post MBA career. Think about what best reflects you as a person---find the stories in your achievements and unpack them in a way which reveals passion and defines what makes you tick. In the end, this is what business schools are looking for. Setting yourself apart means not listing the same old achievements that everyone else does. Really challenge yourself to reflect on your past goals and dreams and dig up the moments that define you and put you on a visionary road to your future self. To find out more about your options and how we can guide your business school application process, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com or contact us via https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/contact Permalink |
|
||