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05 Jul 2018, 10:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: University of California Los Angeles Anderson Essay Analysis, 2018–2019 |
 The UCLA Anderson School of Management has made no change to its primary essay question this year, asking candidates—as it has done for as long as mbaMission has been offering essay analyses—about their short- and long-term professional aspirations and why its program is the right one for them. However, its “short answer” question (read: mini essay) has shifted in focus from applicants’ anticipated contributions to the program’s community to a personal passion and been extended by 50 words. UCLA Anderson’s mere 800-word total essay allotment means you must ensure that the other elements of your application (recommendations, resume, interview, etc.) fill in the blanks, so to speak, so that the school gets the full story of who you are as an individual and a candidate. But first, here is our advice on effectively approaching the school’s prompts… Essay 1: Describe your short-term and long-term career goals. How can the UCLA Anderson experience add value to your professional development? (500 words maximum) UCLA Anderson has done away with the preamble to this question that in previous years outlined the school’s defining principles and now plunges straight into a forthright request for your career goals. And considering you have just 500 words available for this entire essay, we recommend that you exercise this same kind of expediency with your response. Avoid going into excessive detail about your past, but be sure to offer enough information to provide context and support for your stated goals so that the progression from one stage of your professional career to the next is clear and reasonable. Once your goals have been firmly stated and contextualized, explain how being a UCLA Anderson MBA student is a key step in achieving them. You need to demonstrate that you have dedicated just as much thought—if not more—to why you want to study at UCLA Anderson as you have to where you want to go in your career. Think carefully about what you need to learn or experience (with respect to skills, network, and knowledge base) to be able to reach your stated aspirations and then detail which specific resources and opportunities at the school you believe will allow you to do so. Your goal is to convince the admissions committee that UCLA Anderson is the missing link between who and where you are now and who and where you envision yourself in the future. The basic components of this essay prompt are elements of a traditional personal statement, so we encourage you to download your free copy of the mbaMission Personal Statement Guide. In this complimentary publication, we offer a detailed discussion of how to approach such queries and craft an effective essay response, along with multiple illustrative examples. And to learn more about UCLA Anderson’s academic program, defining characteristics, crucial statistics, social life, standout faculty members, and other key features, download a copy of the mbaMission Insider’s Guide to the Anderson School of Management, which is also available at no cost. Short Answer Question: What are you passionate about and why? (300 words maximum) We appreciate that you are likely “passionate” about your career, but this is not your best choice for a topic here, especially given that the school’s primary essay already covers your professional life. What UCLA Anderson wants to learn from this mini essay is what gets your heart pumping and mind racing outside of work. As Steve Jobs once said, “People with passion can change the world,” and although he was speaking about careers at the time, the statement is true for all aspects of one’s life. Passion is inspiring and energizing and can lead to big ideas and actions. Sharing with the school where your passion lies gives the admissions committee an idea of where you might someday make an impression on the world, how you might leave your mark—especially once you are equipped with all you will gain and learn during your MBA experience. That said, do not worry if the thing you feel so fervently about might seem commonplace to someone else. For example, perhaps you feel passionate about basketball. Because this is an interest anyone could share and enjoy, you might have concerns that it could sound pedestrian or unremarkable. The key, though, is not what inspires you but how you engage with it. If you can show that basketball is not just a hobby you simply enjoy from time to time but is instead something you connect with on a deep level and in various ways—perhaps having played for many years, you now coach youth teams in your community, or maybe you have amassed a truly impressive trading card or jersey collection—then this initially uninspired-seeming choice most definitely becomes an acceptable discussion topic. Think about your options in terms of intensity, enthusiasm, devotion, longevity, loyalty, excitement, and heart, and be honest with yourself. The elements of your life that inspire and align with these concepts could be appropriate fodder for this essay, while anything that does not should be immediately discarded. Once you have identified the passion you wish to discuss, avoid simply telling the admissions committee about it and instead demonstrate how it manifests in your life. For example, rather than stating, “I have been watching and playing basketball since I was a child,” you need to create a more vivid impression of your dedication and involvement, such as “From playing with my brothers after school to varsity ball in college to now coaching a youth league in my community, I can hardly remember a time when basketball wasn’t an integral part of my life.” Like all other application questions, this one has no “right” answer, so do not try to guess what you think the school wants to hear. Authenticity and enthusiasm are the keys to your success with this mini essay. Optional essay: The following essay is optional and can be submitted by either first time applicants or reapplicants. No preference is given in the evaluation process to applicants who submit a response to the optional question. Are there any extenuating circumstances in your profile about which the Admissions Committee should be aware? Please use your best judgment. (250 words maximum) Here is your opportunity—if needed—to address any lingering questions that an admissions officer might have about your candidacy, such as a poor grade or overall GPA, a low GMAT or GRE score, or a gap in your work experience. Do not simply try to fill this space because you fear that not doing so would somehow count against you. And however tempted you might be, this is not the place to reuse a strong essay you wrote for another school or to offer an anecdote or two that you were unable to include in your required essay. However, if you truly feel that you must emphasize or explain something that would render your application incomplete if omitted, write a very brief piece on this key aspect of your profile. We suggest downloading your free copy of the mbaMission Optional Essays Guide, in which we offer detailed advice on deciding whether to take advantage of the optional essay and how best to do so (with multiple sample essays), if needed. Reapplicant essay: Please describe your career progress since you last applied and how you have enhanced your candidacy. Include updates on short-term and long-term career goals, as well as your continued interest in UCLA Anderson. (750 words maximum) Whether you have improved your academic record, received a promotion, begun a new and exciting project, increased your community involvement, or taken on some sort of personal challenge, the key to success with this essay is conveying a very deliberate path of achievement and forward momentum. UCLA Anderson wants to know that you have been actively striving to improve yourself and your profile, remain focused on your goals, and have seized available opportunities during the previous year, because an MBA from its program in particular is vital to you. The responses to this essay question will vary greatly from one candidate to the next, of course, because each person’s needs and experiences differ. We are more than happy to provide one-on-one assistance with this highly personal essay to ensure that your efforts over the past year are presented in the best light possible. The Next Step—Mastering Your UCLA Anderson Interview: Many MBA candidates find admissions interviews stressful and intimidating, but mastering this important element of the application process is definitely possible—the key is informed preparation. We therefore offer our free Interview Primers to spur you along! Download your free copy of the UCLA Anderson Interview Primer today. |
06 Jul 2018, 08:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: mbaMission Consultant Spotlight: Julie-Anne Heafey |
 Julie-Anne Heafey earned her bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth College and her MBA from Harvard Business School (HBS), where she was co-president of the Women’s Student Association and collaborated with the admissions committee on attracting women applicants. After earning her MBA, Julie-Anne entered strategy consulting, working initially with the Parthenon Group in Boston and then as a freelance consultant to businesses in financial services, healthcare, software, retail, and social impact in New York City, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Julie-Anne began her pre-MBA career in finance, working in France at an internship with the CFO of a large steel company through the École Polytechnique. Later, she joined an equity research team at Salomon Smith Barney, where she was involved in writing call notes, company reports, and industry overviews. Intrigued by how technology was transforming the industry, she transitioned to the firm’s fledgling Internet group, which was tasked with developing the company’s first website and online services. There she discovered her passion for strategy and marketing. While at Dartmouth, Julie-Anne led tours and information sessions for the admissions department, and she now interviews applicants to the college each year as an alumna volunteer. She has also taught GMAT test-taking skills with Kaplan Test Prep and counseled aspiring MBAs on their business school applications. Julie-Anne is excited about helping mbaMission clients position themselves for success in the competitive application process. Quick Facts: Received MBA from: Harvard Business School Undergraduate field of study: History Fields worked in before mbaMission: Financial services, technology, and strategy consulting Working style: Strategic and dedicated Five things you want your clients to know about you:
Do you want to speak with Julie-Anne about your business school prospects? Sign up for a free 30-minute consultation here. |
07 Jul 2018, 08:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Earn an MBA in Pennsylvania at the Tepper School of Business or Smeal College of Business |
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Students aspiring to sharpen their analytic and quantitative skills are well served at Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business. Boasting a faculty that includes multiple Nobel Prize winners, Tepper has pioneered “management science,” a supplement to traditional case studies that draws on more scientific—rather than historical—strategies for complex business decision making. Management science depends on tools such as computer modeling, organizational behavior, and economic theory. In addition to this overall “quant” emphasis in its curriculum, Tepper offers an MBA track for Business Analytics. In the track, students are immersed in highly focused computational analysis, examining different theories of finance, stochastic calculus modeling, and statistical methodologies, in addition to the managerial skills they learn in the MBA program’s marketing, strategy, communications, and operations courses. While such schools as Chicago Booth and Columbia Business School may garner a higher rank for careers in finance, few MBA programs offer such uniquely intensive academic resources for a specialization in business analysis. Elsewhere in the state, Pennsylvania State University’s Smeal College of Business is perhaps best known for balancing traditional course work with immersive learning. Smeal’s modular curriculum structure includes eight modules over the course of the two-year MBA program. The program begins with “Concentration Intensive,” during which students participate in various seminars to learn more about the program’s four available main concentrations. The second course module, for example, focuses on such themes as “Marketing Management” and “Economics for Managers.” The “Communication Skills for Leaders” course runs through the entire first year and is described on the school’s website as “a signature hallmark of the Penn State Smeal MBA Experience.” Smeal’s curriculum also includes a required international experience component, the “Global Immersion,” which takes place in the second year. Students travel to such countries as Chile, India, and China to visit international organizations across various industries. |
08 Jul 2018, 07:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: Class Visits Are Not a Factor |
 Some business schools—Harvard Business School, for example—have gone on record stating that class visits are not a factor in their admissions decisions. But does this mean that you have nothing to gain from visiting those campuses? Imagine that you are considering buying a $250–$500K home. Would you not want to visit it before purchasing it? Perhaps you would turn on the taps, open and close the doors and windows, and walk around the yard, making sure your planned investment would be a good one, right? Well, your business school education—when you take into account tuition, living expenses, and the opportunity costs of leaving your current job—will probably cost you somewhere in that dollar range. So, visiting your target school(s) to ensure that your potential “home” for the next two years is right for you is just as important. We feel that visiting the campus of the school(s) to which you plan to apply is a crucial step in the application process. Doing so allows you to gain a firsthand perspective into a program’s environment, pedagogy, facilities, student body, and professors. The dollars you will spend on transportation and lodging are the MBA program equivalent of hiring an inspector when buying a home. To the extent that your budget and available vacation days allow, make the effort to visit your target schools, whether doing so will help you gain a letter of acceptance or not. It will help ensure that the school you ultimately attend is a good fit and will increase your chances of a happy future there. |
09 Jul 2018, 08:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: The Value of Current—and Enthusiastic—Community Service |
 MBA admissions committees try to identify applicants who are constantly active, challenging themselves in all spheres of their lives. As a result, extracurricular and community activities are not only powerful in showing an MBA candidate’s benevolence, but they also help create the impression that the applicant is steadily pursuing goals and is therefore predisposed to success. We regularly encounter applicants who say, “I have been so busy professionally that I haven’t had time to volunteer, but I was really active during college.” In almost all cases, however, as candidates get further from their college years, their undergraduate experience becomes less and less relevant. Although having a record of consistent achievement throughout college and into one’s professional life is best, MBA applicants are often evaluated on a “What have you done for me lately?” basis—meaning that contemporary community service is generally more important. MBA admissions officers know that finding time to commit to external activities can sometimes be challenging, but they still see many applicants from the most competitive fields who indeed find time to give back to others. So, if you had a rich and rewarding college experience filled with leadership, in short, keep that trend going. You have a powerful complement to your contemporary involvements, but not a substitute. Showing enthusiasm for your volunteer work is as important as committing to the work itself. If you are slogging through your time as a volunteer, you are certainly not helping yourself or your candidacy. “Time served” is not the most important factor of your community work in the eyes of the MBA admissions committees—what is meaningful and revealing is the impact you have on others. Indeed, the spirit with which you have served your community is what will impress the committees. As you consider your options for community involvement (and we hope you began doing so long before now), be sure to choose a cause or group about which you are passionate and to which you can commit yourself entirely. By dedicating yourself to an organization about which you are sincerely enthusiastic (just as you would do in choosing a job), you will naturally find yourself in situations that will lend themselves to quality essays and powerful recommendations. |
09 Jul 2018, 18:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Texas McCombs Essay Analysis, 2018–2019 |
 As it tends to do, the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin has made some very minor adjustments to the wording of its application essay questions this year, but otherwise, they essentially remain the same. For its first essay, the school has been asking candidates to introduce themselves since at least 2013 but makes a slight tweak each season to pivot the focus just a touch. For its second essay, the school has applicants imagine looking back on their McCombs MBA experience. Anyone with potential problem areas or unclear elements in their profile can also submit an optional essay to address these issues. Together, McCombs’ essays give candidates ample space to provide meaningful insight into their characters and strengths. We hope our analysis of the school’s prompts will help you do just that. Essay 1: We will learn a lot about your professional background through your resume and letter of recommendation We want to get to know you further. Please introduce yourself. Select only one communication method you would like to use for your response.
First, determine the format that is more compatible with your personality. If you are the quiet, thoughtful type, an essay may be the better choice; if you are typically the life of the party or a better speaker than writer, you should probably select the video option. Next, start identifying the kind of information you might share by thinking about what you would like to know about a new person you are meeting and would find interesting, helpful, or intriguing. For example, would you consider someone’s age or undergraduate institution particularly important or compelling? Probably not, so you should skip mentioning such facts in your own introduction. (Remember, too, that your actual audience will be a member of the admissions committee, who will already know such basic information about you from the rest of your application.) You would likely be more curious about what someone does in their spare time, what interesting or exceptional skills they have, whether they are approachable/funny/hyperorganized/a risk taker/etc., whether they have extensive experience in a certain area or a more wide-ranging background, and so on. So think about the aspects of your personality and profile that you believe truly define you as an individual—not just what you do and have done, but who you are—and fully explore your background, hobbies, talents, experiences, values, goals, and quirks. Brainstorm an extensive list and then eliminate any items that seem too common (e.g., a BA in finance) or basic (e.g., your hometown) until you have a collection of truly distinctive qualities you can weave into your response. Your goal is to provide a well-rounded picture of yourself that draws from multiple areas and shows that you possess characteristics and/or knowledge that would make you a positive addition to McCombs’ diverse community. Remember to bring energy and enthusiasm to your submission. You are not filling out a job application—you are trying to connect with others, so charisma is key, and a less rigid and traditionally “professional” demeanor is okay. Forego any fancy essay-writing or dramatic tactics (e.g., starting with a quotation, launching into an anecdote) and just be as natural and authentic as possible. Do not pitch your candidacy, detail your career goals, or express your admiration for the program. As they say, you only have one chance to make a first impression, so dedicate the time and work necessary to ensure that your introduction is engaging, substantive, and true to who you are. If you choose to submit a video, think beyond what you will say and also consider the clothing you will wear, the setting or background of your video, your tone of voice, your language style, whether you will include music, and other similar details. Brainstorm ways of nonverbally communicating some of your strongest attributes and key aspects of your life to help permeate your submission with as much information as possible. For example, if you are an avid biker, consider filming your video while you are actively riding. If you are a dedicated musician, perhaps incorporate your instrument into your message by playing it while you speak (if you are especially confident, you might even sing about yourself!). Think about what makes you who you are today, decide what you most want to share about yourself, and then let your creativity flow. On a practical note, be sure to speak clearly in your video. You naturally do not want any part of your message to be lost or misunderstood, and the admissions committee may view your communication skills and style as indicators of how you might interact with your classmates and/or speak in the classroom. Spend some time practicing in front of a mirror or a friend, but do not overrehearse. And definitely do not try to read from an off-camera script or notes (trust us—they will be able to tell!). You want to come across as genuine and natural. Essay 2: Picture yourself at graduation. Describe how you spent your time as a Texas McCombs MBA, and how that experience helped prepare you for the post-MBA world. (500 words) With this prompt, the McCombs admissions committee is challenging you to imagine where you want to be at the end of your studies (mentally, emotionally, professionally) and explain how you used or navigated the MBA program to get there. So, without using the actual words “why McCombs?” and “how will you engage with our community?,” the school is nevertheless asking you for precisely this information. The school essentially wants to know the reasons you have selected the McCombs program in particular and how you will take advantage of specific resources and experiences it offers. Why is it the most appropriate school for your goals, and why/how does it fit you personally? The assumption is that something you have learned about McCombs leads you to believe that the school would provide the experience, knowledge, skills, exposure, and/or other element you need to reach your goals. Likewise, something makes you feel you would fit well with the McCombs environment and be comfortable there, that you would be able to be and express the “real” you. So what are those things? All the top MBA programs want reassurance that the candidates they admit have not applied simply because of the school’s reputation or ranking but rather because they are truly excited to be a part of the community and to benefit from that specific learning experience. McCombs is not simply seeking warm bodies with which to fill its classrooms; it is striving to add to a long history of effective global business leaders and a network of alumni dedicated to the school and each other. Demonstrating your authentic interest in the program by offering concrete examples and drawing clear connections between who you want to be and what the school offers is key to crafting a compelling essay response. If you have targeted McCombs because you feel it is the right program for you, you likely already have an idea of why that is true and how you would function as part of its community. If you do not yet have a handle on these points, you definitely need to start (now!) researching the school thoroughly, including interacting directly with students and/or alumni. Identify at least one (ideally more) resource, offering, or quality that McCombs has that is unique or that it excels in that directly relates to what you need to attain your post-MBA goals. And do not just offer a list—you must explain how the identified element(s) will fulfill particular needs for you. Keep in mind that business school is not only about course work and recruiting. You can (and should!) also have fun, make friends, and be a contributing member of the community outside the classroom. So take care not to discuss only academic and professional development elements of the McCombs program. Explore the school’s social events and offerings—including affinity, social, and sports clubs, for starters—to identify other aspects of the experience that you anticipate will also play an important role in your MBA journey. Although we would not encourage you to force this angle and mention something just to tick a box, so to speak, addressing these options can be an effective way of revealing more of your values and personality to the admissions committee and thereby presenting a more well-rounded impression of yourself. Optional Statement: Please provide any additional information you believe is important and/or address any areas of concern that you believe will be beneficial to the Admissions Committee in considering your application (e.g., gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, academic performance, or extenuating personal circumstances). (250 words) We tend to believe that the best use of the optional essay is to explain confusing or problematic issues in your candidacy, and this prompt offers an opportunity to do just that. So, if you need to, this is your chance to address any questions an admissions officer might have about your profile—a poor grade or overall GPA, a low GMAT or GRE score, a gap in your work experience, etc. Consider downloading a free copy of our mbaMission Optional Essays Guide, in which we offer detailed advice on deciding whether to submit an optional essay and on how best to approach writing such a submission, with multiple examples. However, because McCombs does not stipulate that you can only discuss a problem area in this essay, you have some leeway to share anything you think may be pivotal or particularly compelling. We caution you against trying to fill this space simply because you fear that not doing so would somehow count against you. Remember, by submitting an additional essay, you are asking the admissions committee to do extra work on your behalf, so you need to make sure that time is warranted. If you are using the essay to emphasize something that if omitted would render your application incomplete, take this opportunity to write a very brief narrative that reveals this key new aspect of your candidacy. |
10 Jul 2018, 09:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Georgetown McDonough Essay Analysis, 2018–2019 |
 We have noted in the past our appreciation for the (relative) freedom Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business offers candidates to really share who they are beyond the statistics and other facts presented in the rest of their application, and the school’s essay prompts for this season continue to support that approach. McDonough’s first essay delves into applicants’ pasts and asks about a time when they came out on top in a difficult or unexpected situation. And the school’s video essay allows candidates to creatively showcase their individuality and personality. Aspiring McDonough MBAs with any lingering concerns about their profile can make use of the program’s optional essays to address and mitigate those. In our analysis that follows, we give our ideas and advice for addressing all the school’s prompts. We want to hear your story. When responding to our required essays, be authentic and take time to reflect on your goals and past experiences. Craft a response that explains how these experiences led you to pursue an MBA. Essay One: Please answer the following essay question in 500 words or less: “Describe a defining moment when you were challenged and exceeded expectations.” The moment can be a professional or personal one. If personal, then please also include how it had an impact on your professional development. Some applicants may read this prompt and get caught up in the “defining moment” aspect of it, downplaying or even overlooking the “were challenged and exceeded expectations” portion, so we want to emphasize first and foremost that to craft a successful essay response here, you must be sure that the story you choose fulfills all aspects of the school’s question. We have seen other MBA programs in the past ask candidates to discuss a challenge or obstacle they have faced, and in those cases, the applicants technically had the option of sharing the story of a failure. Given McDonough’s specific reference to surpassing expectations, however, we do not believe that is or would be the right way to go here. To address the “challenged” portion of this essay, start by identifying a time when something stood between you and a goal you wanted to reach or when something (likely unexpected) derailed your forward progress in an important area of your life. Consider incidents from your career, personal life, and community activities to find the one you feel is most compelling and reveals the most about you, and keep in mind that challenges come in many different forms. For example, perhaps you faced a budget shortfall on a critical work project, clashed with a sibling over how to manage a parent’s care, or had a volunteer event you organized be jeopardized by weather issues. To provide the “exceeded expectations” element of this essay, you will need to clearly delineate a before-and-after scenario, illustrating what others (and perhaps even you yourself) thought would be your input and outcome and what you truly accomplished and delivered. This does not necessarily mean that people had to expect you to fail in your endeavor and you did not; you may have “exceeded expectations” by delivering more or even better results than anyone anticipated. To fulfill the “defining moment” aspect of McDonough’s prompt, you will need to explain how the experience taught you a specific lesson of some kind and has influenced your subsequent actions and/or interactions with others. Ultimately, the story you choose to highlight for this essay must not only involve a significant incident but must also have affected you in a meaningful and long-lasting way. Begin your essay by providing some narrative context that sets the stage for the significant moment or experience, showing your progress and mind-set to that point and setting the baseline as far as others’ preconceived notions about what you could or would do. Then, describe the challenging incident or issue that forced you to revise your original efforts and take a different approach. Next, detail your reaction, thought processes, and subsequent decision(s) and actions. Then share the final outcome and the changed perceptions of those around you. Finally, explain what you learned from the experience and how it has altered who you are and/or how you now view or interact with the world. With 500 words allotted for this essay, you should have sufficient space to present all these facets of your story, especially if you jump directly into your narrative and avoid unnecessary preamble. Having an appropriate story to tell is only half the task. McDonough wants to know that you have faced and successfully overcome a challenge, of course, but it also hopes to understand how the situation has contributed to the person you are today and how you might function in similar situations in the future, whether in its MBA program or your post-MBA career. Addressing and explaining this can help differentiate you from other applicants and demonstrate your self-awareness and capacity for growth. Video Essay: We ask that you introduce yourself to your cohort in one minute or less. The Admissions Committee would like for you to appear in person during part of your video, and we strongly encourage you to speak outside of the experiences we can read on your resume. Use this video as an opportunity to bring life to your application. For more instructions, view our Video Essay Guide.
Given that this is a video, you will obviously need to think beyond what you will say and consider the clothing you will wear, the setting or background of your video, your tone of voice, your language style, whether you will include music, and a host of other details. Brainstorm ways of nonverbally communicating some of your strongest attributes and key aspects of your life to help permeate your submission with as much information as possible. For example, if you are an avid biker, consider using a GoPro or similar camera to film your video while you are actively riding. If you are a dedicated guitar player, perhaps strum your guitar as you speak (or, if you are especially confident, you could even sing about yourself!). Think about what makes you who you are today, decide what you most want to share with your future classmates, and then let your creativity flow. On a practical note, be sure to speak clearly in your video. You naturally do not want any part of your message to be lost or misunderstood, and the admissions committee may view your communication skills and style as indicators of how you might interact with your classmates and/or speak in the classroom. Spend some time practicing in front of a mirror or a friend, but do not overrehearse. You still want to come across as genuine and natural. Optional Essay One: If you are not currently employed full-time, use this essay to provide information about your current activities. (250 words or fewer) With this question, McDonough wants to know that you are actively engaged in your life—that you are a do-er who seeks out and seizes opportunities. You do not necessarily need to be working in the traditional sense to have an effective answer to this prompt (note that the school asks about your current “activities”). Perhaps you are taking classes to gain or improve skills in an area important to you professionally or personally. You could be performing community service in your area or volunteering for a cause that is meaningful to you. Maybe you are taking advantage of the break to enjoy extra personal time with friends or family members, possibly in anticipation of how busy you will be once you are enrolled in business school or because of a medical issue. Perhaps you are traveling to improve your foreign language skills in an immersive environment or simply to better familiarize yourself with other cultures and environments. You might be arranging informational interviews, job-shadowing opportunities, and/or unpaid internships, which could help later with recruiting and job selection. The bottom line is that you want to show the school that you are not merely sitting idle, waiting for things to come to you, and that you understand the kinds of opportunities that appeal to and/or are beneficial for you. This is a chance to demonstrate your interest in ongoing self-improvement, knowledge or experience collection, and/or giving back. Whatever your longer-term goals and plans may be, use this essay to convey how you anticipate your experience(s) to contribute to your character, enhance your skill set, and/or increase your understanding of yourself or others—all of which are valuable in business school. Optional Essay Two: Please provide any information you would like to add to your application that you have not otherwise included. (500 words or fewer) We tend to believe that the best use of the optional essay is to explain confusing or problematic issues in your candidacy, and this prompt offers an opportunity to do just that. However, because McDonough does not stipulate that you can only discuss a problem area in this essay, you have some leeway to share anything you feel is that you think may be pivotal or particularly compelling. So, if you need to, this is your chance to address any questions an admissions officer might have about your profile—a poor grade or overall GPA, a low GMAT or GRE score, a gap in your work experience, etc. In our mbaMission Optional Essays Guide, we offer detailed advice on how best to take advantage of the optional essay, with multiple examples, to help you mitigate any problem areas in your application. However, because the question can be interpreted rather broadly, it does open the door for you to discuss anything that is not addressed elsewhere in your application and that you feel is truly critical for the admissions committee to know to be able to evaluate you fully and effectively. We caution you about simply trying to fill this space because you fear that not doing so would somehow count against you. Remember, by submitting an additional essay, you are asking the admissions committee to do extra work on your behalf, so you need to make sure that time is warranted. If you are using the essay to emphasize something that if omitted would render your application incomplete, take this opportunity to write a very brief narrative that reveals this key new aspect of your candidacy. Re-Applicant Essay: Required for re-applicants. How have you strengthened your candidacy since your last application? We are particularly interested in hearing about how you have grown professionally and personally. (500 words or fewer) Whether you have improved your academic record, received a promotion, begun a new and exciting project, increased your community involvement, or taken on some sort of personal challenge, the key to success with this essay is conveying a very deliberate path of achievement. McDonough wants to know that you have been actively striving to improve yourself and your profile, and that you have seized opportunities during the previous year to do so, because a McDonough MBA is vital to you. The responses to this essay question will vary greatly from one candidate to the next, because each person’s needs and experiences differ. We are more than happy to provide one-on-one assistance with this highly personal essay to ensure that your efforts over the past year are presented in the best light possible. |
10 Jul 2018, 15:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Dartmouth College (Tuck) Essay Analysis, 2018–2019 |
 As the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College enters its second full admissions season with Luke Anthony Peña at the helm as executive director of admissions and financial aid, we are not surprised to see a major overhaul in the program’s essay questions. What was the school’s first essay last year—which covered candidates’ career goals, why an MBA is needed to achieve them, and their reasons for targeting Tuck—has been deconstructed and reformulated into a series of short-answer questions. Tuck’s new Essay 1 instead addresses applicants’ individuality and anticipated contributions to the school. The admissions committee keeps the focus on contribution in its second essay prompt, asking candidates to discuss a time when they helped facilitate another’s success. Clearly, Tuck is interested in identifying individuals who will be connected, cooperative, and supportive members of its community, both as students and as alumni, staying true to its reputation as having one of the closest knit and most engaged networks among the top MBA programs. Read on for our detailed analysis of Tuck’s prompts for this year. . . SHORT-ANSWER QUESTIONS
Because, as we noted, these prompts cover many of the most elemental components of a traditional personal statement essay, we encourage you to download a free copy of the mbaMission Personal Statement Guide. This document provides in-depth guidance on how to consider and respond to these sorts of questions, along with numerous illustrative examples. Please feel free to claim your complimentary copy today. Essay 1: Tuck students are aware of how their individuality adds to the fabric of Tuck. Tell us who you are and what you will contribute. (500 words) To know how to contribute to Dartmouth Tuck, you must first understand the community and environment you will be contributing to, so—if you have not already done so—you must research the school in depth before attempting to craft this essay. This means moving beyond the Tuck website, viewbook, and related marketing materials and making direct contact with students, alumni, and even school representatives. Attend an admissions event in your area, if available, and schedule a campus visit and sit in on a class. This kind of firsthand observation of what and who the Tuck program truly entails, paired with a profound knowledge of how it works, is key in identifying what is unique about you viewed against this backdrop—and will help highlight what you can bring to the mix and how. Pay special attention to the aspects of and areas at Tuck that speak to you personally in some way, and consider social events/clubs and professional development opportunities along with course work and academic offerings. Business school is meant to be a comprehensive environment and experience that enriches students in ways not just related directly to business, and perhaps your best potential for contribution lies in one of these areas. If you have years of experience teaching, for example, you could perhaps help facilitate discussions among the students in your study group or on team projects. If you have a depth of knowledge or years of experience in a particular area, whether through your job or in a personal capacity (such as being a dedicated wine aficionado), you could serve as a kind of subject matter expert for those around you in the program or even a valuable component in someone’s recruiting network. If you are particularly funny, creative, or athletic, you may be the ideal fit to lead an extracurricular group or play a significant role in a nonacademic project or event. The broad scope of this essay prompt allows you a great amount of freedom to choose and share the information you believe is most important for the admissions committee to know about you. You have as much as 500 words for this submission, which is rather substantial these days, so take care not to ramble or become repetitious. And truly focus on those elements of your personality that are most relevant to the context here: the Dartmouth Tuck experience. Avoid simply trying to fit in as much information as possible about yourself in hoping of stumbling on the “right” answers and instead clearly present and illustrate your most fitting qualities and show a direct connection between them and specific aspects of the MBA program. Authenticity and enthusiasm are the keys to your success with this essay. For a thorough exploration of Dartmouth Tuck’s academic program, unique resources, defining characteristics, crucial statistics, social life, standout professors, and other key features, download your free copy of the mbaMission Insider’s Guide to the Tuck School of Business. Essay 2: Tuck students are nice, and invest generously in one another’s success. Share an example of how you helped someone else succeed. (500 words) This essay prompt is clearly a nod to the admissions committee’s new stated focus on selecting applicants who are “smart, nice, accomplished, and aware” (we strongly encourage you to click through and read the school’s admissions criteria in detail, if you have not already done so). It also aligns perfectly with the program’s long-held belief in teamwork and community spirit. By illustrating with this essay that you have a natural interest in helping others reach their goals and have successfully done so, you will demonstrate for the admissions committee that you possess the qualities it is seeking in its next class of students. In addition, stepping up proactively to assist someone in an endeavor that is important to him/her shows an instinct for leadership, which is valued by all MBA programs. So, in reality, this is a fairly straightforward essay prompt, and we recommend responding in an equally straightforward manner. Beyond simply sharing a story of having supported, assisted, and/or encouraged another on their path to success, you will need to share the motivation(s) and thought processes that led you to want to do so in the first place. With 500 words for this essay, you should have ample space to clearly convey the situation as you originally found it, your inspiration to contribute, the actions you then took, the outcome, and, ideally, what you learned from the experience (though this last element should be somewhat brief). Take care not to brag about your role or suggest that the party you aided could never have succeeded without you. The school is unquestionably looking for evidence that you not only have a natural inclination to invest in and bolster others but you also have the capacity and skills to do so effectively and are mature enough to grow from the experience yourself. Note that Dartmouth Tuck does not specify from which realm of your life—professional, personal, or community related—the story you choose to share here must come. This means you can plumb the entirety of your experiences for the one you believe best fulfills what the school wants to see and about which you feel most strongly. (As the admissions committee itself says on the Tuck site, “There are no right or wrong answers.”) Also consider that although the prompt says “someone else,” this could potentially apply to a pair or small group, if presented effectively. Perhaps, for example, you helped a duo of small business owners with a marketing issue or supported a small musical group or athletic team in some capacity. In a June 11, 2018, Tuck news article, Peña commented, “Tuck is a distinctly collaborative community so being able to challenge others tactfully and thoughtfully is important” (emphasis ours). With this in mind, if you are deciding between two or more instances you could discuss for this essay, considering going with one in which your help was not requested or perhaps even immediately accepted—one in which you needed to diplomatically negotiate your offer of input and assistance. Avoid mentioning several different experiences (perhaps for fear of offering the “wrong” one) and focus just on one that you describe in detail. Let the narrative unfold naturally, making sure that the basics are all clearly presented. What the school wants to know is that the incident you are showcasing was truly significant for you and had a meaningful impact, so let that be your guide. Optional Essay: Please provide any additional insight or information that you have not addressed elsewhere (e.g., atypical choice of evaluators, factors affecting academic performance, unexplained job gaps or changes). Complete this question only if you feel your candidacy is not fully represented by this application. You may be tempted to take advantage of this optional essay as an opportunity to share an additional compelling story or to highlight a part of your profile that you fear might be overlooked or undervalued, but we strongly encourage you to resist this temptation. Submit an optional essay here only if your candidacy truly needs it. Consider what the school says about this essay in a Tuck 360 blog post: “If you give us an extra five paragraphs to read and it’s not necessary, we will question your judgment or your ability to express yourself succinctly elsewhere.” You really cannot get much clearer than that! So again, only if your profile has a noticeable gap of some kind or an issue that would might raise a red flag or elicit questions on the part of an admissions officer—such as a poor grade or overall GPA, a low GMAT/GRE score, a gap in your work experience, an arrest, etc.—should you take this opportunity to provide additional information. Download a free copy of our mbaMission Optional Essays Guide, in which we offer detailed advice on deciding whether to take advantage of the optional essay as well as on how to do so effectively (with multiple sample essays) to help you mitigate any problem areas in your profile. Reapplicant Essay: (To be completed by all reapplicants) How have you strengthened your candidacy since you last applied? Please reflect on how you have grown personally and professionally. (500 words) SAME QUESTION, word count new? Whether you have improved your academic record, received a promotion, begun a new and exciting project, increased your community involvement, or taken on some sort of personal challenge, the key to success with this essay is conveying a very deliberate path of achievement. Tuck wants to know that you have been actively striving to improve yourself and your profile, and that you have seized opportunities during the previous year to do so, because a Tuck MBA is vital to you. The responses to this essay question will vary greatly from one candidate to the next, because each person’s needs and experiences differ. We are more than happy to provide one-on-one assistance with this highly personal essay to ensure that your efforts over the past year are presented in the best light possible. The Next Step—Mastering Your Dartmouth Tuck Interview: Many MBA candidates find admissions interviews stressful and intimidating, but mastering this important element of the application process is definitely possible—the key is informed preparation. To help you on your way to this high level of preparation, we offer our free Interview Primers. Download your free copy of the Dartmouth Tuck Interview Primer today. |
11 Jul 2018, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Bruce Greenwald, Columbia Business School |
 Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand when they choose a business school. However, the educational experience you will have is what is crucial to your future, and no one will affect your education more than your professors. Today, we focus on Bruce Greenwald from Columbia Business School. Bruce Greenwald has been a fixture at Columbia Business School (CBS) since the early 1990s, and until recent years, he taught the popular “Economics of Strategic Behavior” course in the full-time MBA program (he continues to teach this course in the school’s EMBA program). Greenwald has also taught the “Value Investing” and “Value Investing with Legends” courses in the MBA program for years. Students in CBS’s Value Investing Program, in which Greenwald serves as a faculty co-director, are primarily the ones who get to enjoy his classes, and those with whom mbaMission spoke espoused enthusiasm for Greenwald’s intense depth of knowledge and his connections to top-notch guest speakers, whom he brings to campus to address his classes. On the CBS Peer Course Review site, a former student of Greenwald’s once summed up the instructor’s popularity by stating, “Greenwald has the ability to make something complex seem simple and easy to understand.” Greenwald also serves as the director of the school’s Heilbrunn Center for Graham & Dodd Investing. |
11 Jul 2018, 09:06
11 Jul 2018, 13:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Cornell University Johnson Essay Analysis, 2018–2019 |
 We can almost hear the collective sigh of relief from many of this year’s applicants to the Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University as they realize that the program’s well-known (and often dreaded) Table of Contents essay prompt is gone. The “impact” essay question first added two years ago, which asks candidates to envision how they will contribute to the MBA experience, is still in place, as is the school’s straightforward approach to the standard goals statement, though a mini essay has been tacked on to that one. In place of the Table of Contents essay is one Cornell Johnson is calling its “Back of Resume” essay, for which applicants may submit a traditional written composition or a multimedia file/link. Despite the changes, the school’s suite of prompts still covers where candidates want to go and what they want to do after they graduate, their anticipated student experience, and what they feel are the most important facets of their lives, thereby allowing applicants to create a nicely rounded impression of themselves for the admissions committee to evaluate. Our more detailed analysis follows… Goals Statement: A statement of your goals will begin a conversation that will last throughout [the] admissions process and guide your steps during the MBA program and experience. To the best of your understanding today, please share your short and long term goals by completing the following sentences and answering the enclosed short answer question (250 words maximum): Immediately post-MBA, my goal is to work as a(n) ____[Role]____ at ___[Company]___within___[Industry]___. Targeted Job Role: Target Job Company: Industry: In 5–10 years post-MBA, my goal is to work as a(n) ____[Role]____ at ___[Company]___within___[Industry]___. Targeted Job Role: Target Job Company: Industry: How has your experience prepared and encouraged you to pursue these goals? With this incredibly direct approach to gathering information about candidates’ professional goals, Cornell Johnson is clearly conveying a desire for information only. The school states in the Application Requirements section of its Web site, “If invited to interview, you will have the opportunity to elaborate further,” signaling to us that the admissions committee really wants just the facts here. So, respect both the format and the school and be as direct and clear as possible, saving any embellishment or further explanation for another time. The addition of the mini essay prompt implies to us that the admissions committee wants to have some context for your stated goals. An effective response will provide evidence that you (1) have done your research as to what is required to attain them, (2) understand where you are on that trajectory (what skills and experience you already possess that are key to success in your desired roles and field), and, to some degree, (3) why/how attaining an MBA will move you further in the right direction. Although this prompt is not a request for a full-length personal essay, we offer a number of tips and examples in our free mbaMission Personal Statement Guide that could be helpful in crafting your responses. Download your complimentary copy today. Essay 1 – Impact Essay: Impact Essay: This essay is designed to explore the intersection of engagement and community culture. Whether during the program or following graduation, our students and alumni share a desire to positively impact the organizations and communities they serve. To help you explore your potential for impact, we encourage you to engage with our students, alumni, faculty, and professional staff. You may choose to connect with them via email or phone or in person during one of our on campus or off campus events. As you seek their input and insight, please be respectful of their time and prepare a few discussion points or questions in advance. At Cornell, we value students who create impact. Please indicate the opportunities for impact that you’ve identified through engagement with our community and describe how what you have learned has influenced your decision to apply to Johnson. (500 words maximum) Note that with this essay prompt, the school is not asking about an impact you made at some point in the past but rather about your expected impact within the Cornell Johnson community. The phrase “you’ve identified through engagement with our community” conveys a very clear assumption on the school’s part that you have already been actively reaching out to and communicating with individuals at or associated with Cornell Johnson to learn more about it—so if you have not been doing so, now (immediately) is the time to start. Moreover, the school’s reference to “what you have learned” implies that the admissions committee expects that your efforts have yielded some useful insight, so saying that you have merely made contact with a few people will not suffice. You will have to show that the insider information you subsequently received has further solidified your choice to pursue an MBA at Cornell Johnson by discussing the ways and areas in which you now feel you can contribute to it in a meaningful way. The best way to accomplish this is to first research the school to educate yourself on what it offers that directly pertains to you, your academic and professional needs, and your personal interests. Then, engage with students, alumni, and/or other representatives of the school who you feel could offer additional insight into these relevant resources and use your conversations to inform your ideas as to how you might enrich these aspects of the Cornell Johnson experience. Note that the prompt clearly requests examples of “opportunities”—plural—so be sure to identify more than just one area or endeavor. You want to convey that you are a multidimensional individual who can add value to the school’s community in multiple ways. Essay 2 – Back of Resume Essay: This essay is an opportunity to present yourself as an individual. We encourage you to think about your proudest accomplishments, interests and passions, and personal highlights that will help us to get to know you as a person and potential community member. We value creativity and authenticity and encourage you to approach this essay with your unique style. Alternative submission formats may include a slide presentation, links to pre-existing media (personal website, digital portfolio, YouTube, etc.), as well as visually enhanced written submissions. Maximum file size is 5 MB. If you choose to submit a written essay, please limit your submission to 500 words or fewer. Multimedia submissions should be under 5 minutes. The front page of your resume has given us a sense of your professional experience and accomplishments as well as your academic summary and extracurricular involvement. If the back page reflects “the rest of your story,” please help us get to know you better by sharing the experiences that will give us insight into your character, values, and interests. At first glance, you may think that Cornell Johnson has taken a totally new approach with this essay prompt, but in essence, this one is very much like the Table of Contents one it replaced in that it asks for a creative and thorough presentation of your non-professional and non-academic life. The school has merely given you a broader expanse within which to express yourself by removing the rigid table of contents structure. This is a good thing! The key is identifying the approach that will best help you tell your personal story, so do not automatically restrict yourself and think too narrowly. Although Cornell Johnson did not explicitly state “We value creativity and authenticity” in its prompt as it has done in years past, we have no doubt that the sentiment still holds true, so keep this in mind as you mine your background and current life for content and decide how you might present it. Take care to not get gimmicky. Your goal is not to seem “cute” or even more creative than the next applicant but really just to tell your personal story, albeit in a brief way, and provide a fuller picture of yourself. We suggest you start by grabbing some paper and making an old-fashioned list of your key stories—ones that demonstrate “your character, values, and interests.” Then, make sure that your final essay/submission includes as many of the items on that list as possible. With an allowance of only 500 words or five minutes, you will need to be somewhat succinct, so be sure not to spend too much time or space on unnecessary buildup or repetition. You want your stories to have life and sufficient context, so the admissions committee can fully understand and appreciate them, but you also want to give yourself enough room to share as many as possible while adhering to the school’s stipulated limitations. Cornell Johnson states that you may use an alternate (multimedia) format for this submission. We offer no recommendation with respect to whether a written essay, a PowerPoint presentation, a video, or any other approach is “best” in this case. Opportunities are certainly available in both traditional and creative approaches, depending on where your strengths lie, so do not feel that you must use some form of multimedia. Again, start by brainstorming to determine what you want to say as an applicant—what you feel the admissions committee really needs to learn about you—and then decide which format most appropriately matches your personality and message. Your ultimate goal here is to effectively convey information that showcases your personality and important highlights from your life, not to win an Oscar. Optional/Reapplicant Essay: You may use this essay to call attention to items needing clarification and to add additional details to any aspects of your application that do not accurately reflect your potential for success at Johnson (500 words maximum). If you are reapplying for admission, please use this essay to indicate how you have strengthened your application since the last time you applied for admission. Please also review our Admission Policy for additional information about re-applying. (500 words maximum) If you are a Cornell Johnson reapplicant, this essay should be pretty straightforward. Whether you have improved your academic record, received a promotion, begun a new and exciting project, increased your community involvement, or taken on some sort of personal challenge, the key to success with this essay is conveying a very deliberate path of achievement. The school wants to know that you have been actively striving to improve yourself and your profile, and that you have seized opportunities during the previous year to do so, because a Cornell Johnson MBA is vital to you. The responses to this essay question will vary greatly from one candidate to the next, because each person’s needs and experiences differ. We are more than happy to provide one-on-one assistance with this highly personal essay to ensure that your efforts over the past year are presented in the best light possible. If you are not a reapplicant, this is your opportunity—if needed—to address any lingering questions that an admissions officer might have about your candidacy, such as a poor grade or overall GPA, a low GMAT or GRE score, or a gap in your work experience. We encourage you to download a free copy of our mbaMission Optional Essays Guide, in which we offer detailed advice on deciding whether to take advantage of the optional essay and how best to do so, along with multiple illustrative examples. Be mindful and respectful of the admissions committee’s time and remember that each additional file you submit requires more resources on behalf of the admissions office, so whatever you write must be truly worthwhile and clearly reveal that you made good use of this opportunity to provide further insight into your candidacy. For a thorough exploration of Cornell Johnson’s academic offerings, defining characteristics, crucial statistics, social life, community/environment, and other key facets of the program, please download your free copy of the mbaMission Insider’s Guide to Cornell Johnson. |
12 Jul 2018, 09:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Two Boston-Based MBAs: Experience Public and Nonprofit Management at BU and “Core Values” at BC |
 Since 1973, the Boston University (BU) Questrom School of Business (formerly the School of Management) has offered a Social Impact MBA (formerly the Public & Nonprofit Management MBA), specifically designed to cultivate business management skills that can make a real difference in the world. Standing at 35th among U.S. MBA programs in the The Economist’s 2017 rankings, Questrom exposes PNP students to a robust general management core curriculum and also offers specialized courses and resources targeting the governmental, public, and private nonprofit sectors. Nearby, at Boston College’s (BC’s) Carroll School of Management, students enjoy a close-knit classroom environment in which they gain exposure to broad management skills, with a particular emphasis on business ethics. Both the curriculum and the student community at the school engender a set of core values: “honesty,” “integrity,” “mutual respect,” “the relentless pursuit of excellence,” and “accountability to self and others.” In addition to, for example, taking three courses on data analytics, students at the Carroll School must complete a community service requirement, which the school believes will help instill an appreciation for and a spirit of giving back to the community in its MBAs. These values are also reflected in the school’s core “Management Practice Experience” simulation, in which students learn to think critically about the challenges involved in business leadership. As one graduate commented in a past Bloomberg Businessweek profile of the Carroll School, “In the background of your core classes, and many electives, is a strong consideration on the moral and ethical dilemmas that often arise in the business world. I never felt that ‘morality’ was being pushed on us, but the consequences of each decision we make were always placed in front of us and we were left to make up our own mind.” |
13 Jul 2018, 09:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: The Role of Exercise in Your GMAT Preparation |
 With regard to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything. Manhattan Prep’s Stacey Koprince teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense. Back in 2013, the New York Times’ Well blog featured a fascinating post. Exercise has a whole host of good benefits, including benefits associated with memory. Two studies delved even deeper into how this works. How does exercise help memory? In the blog post, New York Times journalist Gretchen Reynolds details two studies—one conducted on humans and the other conducted on rats. In the human study, elderly women who already had some mild cognitive impairment were split into three groups. One group lifted weights, the second group engaged in moderate aerobic exercise, and the third group did yoga-like activities. The participants were tested at the beginning and end of the six-month exercise period, and the results were striking. First, bear in mind that, in general, we would expect elderly people who are already experiencing mental decline to continue down that path over time. Indeed, after six months, the yoga group (the “control” group) showed a mild decline in several aspects of verbal memory. The weight-training and aerobic groups, by contrast, actually improved their performance on several tests (remember, this was six months later!). The women were better at both making new memories and remembering/retrieving old ones! Another group of researchers conducted a similar study, only this time, rats were getting some cardio in or lifting weights. (The rats ran on wheels for the cardio exercise and, get this, for the weight lifting, the researchers tied little weights to the rats’ tails and had them climb tiny ladders!) At the end of six weeks, the running rats showed increased levels of a brain protein that helps create new brain cells. The tail-weight-trainers had higher levels of a different protein that helps new neurons survive. How can I use this? Get up and MOVE! Reading this study has made me want to exercise more—and not even for the GMAT! I would like to stave off mental decline in my old age. The women in the study were performing fairly mild exercises only twice a week (remember, they were elderly), so we do not suddenly have to become fitness fiends. We do not know, of course, exactly how the study results might translate to younger people, but the general trend is clear: exercise can help us make and retain memories. That is crucially important when studying for the GMAT—every last bit will help! Get a little bit of both weight training and cardio in every week. You do not have to become a gym rat (pun intended). Engaging in some moderate activity every few days is probably enough. Look for ways to incorporate mild exercise into your daily routine. For example, when I go to the grocery store, I carry a basket around on my arm rather than push a cart (unless I really have to buy a lot). I will fill that basket right up to the brim—often, I end up having to use both hands to continue carrying the thing. I figure that every time I do that, it has to be worth at least 10 to 15 minutes of pumping iron! Studying for the GMAT is tiring, so use this news as an excuse to take a brain break. Get up and walk around the block for 15 minutes, or turn on some music and dance or run the vacuum cleaner (vigorously!). Then sit back down and enjoy the brain fruits of your physical labors. |
14 Jul 2018, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: I Must Have Botched the Interview |
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Maybe you are among the unlucky applicants who were/are on the outside looking in this year, shaking your head trying to understand why you did not get into an MBA program. As you look back and assess where you went wrong, you may narrow your focus and re-examine your interviews. After all, you were invited to interview but were rejected thereafter, so there must be a cause-and-effect relationship, right? Your rejection must mean that everything was at stake during those 30 to 60 minutes and that your interviewer just did not feel that you are of the caliber preferred by your target school, right? Wrong. Bruce DelMonico, the Yale School of Management (SOM) assistant dean for admissions, explained to mbaMission that the school uses a “consensus decision-making model [in which] we all need to agree on an outcome for an applicant [to be accepted].” Each file is read multiple times. With the need for a consensus, we can safely conclude that the committee is not waiting on the interview as the determinant. There is no post-interview snap judgment but rather serious thought and reflection by the admissions officers. Although we have discussed this topic before, it is worth repeating that no simple formula exists for MBA admissions and that the evaluation process is thorough and not instinctive/reactive. Yes, a disastrous interview can certainly hurt you—but if you felt positively about your experience, you should not worry that you botched it and that this was the determinant of the admissions committee’s decision. mbaMission offers even more interview advice in our free Interview Primers, which are available for 17 top-ranked business schools. |
16 Jul 2018, 08:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Gregory B. Fairchild, University of Virginia Darden School of Business |
 Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand when they choose a business school. However, the educational experience you will have is what is crucial to your future, and no one will affect your education more than your professors. Today, we focus on Gregory B. Fairchild from the University of Virginia (UVA) Darden School of Business. As an academic director for Darden’s Institute for Business in Society, Gregory B. Fairchild (MBA ’92) is charged with promoting ways in which business leadership can connect to broader societal issues. Fairchild, who is the Isidore Horween Research Professor of Business Administration, also serves as an academic director of public policy and entrepreneurship and the associate dean for Washington, DC–area initiatives. He specializes in entrepreneurship, business strategies, and business ethics, and he researches ways to create value in underserved areas. In 2011, Virginia Business magazine included Fairchild in its “Top 25: People to Watch” feature, and in 2012, both CNN/Fortune and Poets&Quants named him one of the best business school professors in the world. Fairchild has received a number of teaching excellence awards at Darden, including recognition as an outstanding faculty member in 2008. One alumna we interviewed called Fairchild’s classes “exhilarating” and noted that he reviews his students’ resumes and can tie someone’s background to the topic of the day. She added that he is “scarily good” at cold calls and “won’t let go until he has dug all of the facts out of you.” For more information about UVA Darden and 16 other top-ranked business schools, check out the free mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
16 Jul 2018, 11:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: London Business School Essay Analysis, 2018–2019 |
 London Business School (LBS) has made no changes at all to its application essay questions this year (after several previous years of regular amendments), so perhaps the program has settled on prompts that deliver precisely what the admissions committee is seeking. In truth, the school stipulates that only one essay is actually required—one that largely constitutes a traditional personal statement—but some candidates may want to seriously consider submitting an additional essay if they have elements in their profile they believe are crucial to a fair and thorough evaluation. In our analysis that follows, we help you decide and craft your approach, whether you ultimately write just one essay for LBS or two. Essays are a vital part of your application and we recommend that you spend a significant amount of time in their preparation. Essay 1: What are your post-MBA goals and how will your prior experience and the London Business School programme contribute towards these? (500 words) As we noted earlier, LBS’s primary essay prompt essentially requests several elements of a traditional personal statement. You will need to show that you have a long-term vision for yourself and your career and that you have a clear plan for how to get there via an LBS MBA. The basic assumptions, of course, are that business school is the next logical and necessary step in your progress and that you need the LBS program in particular, because it offers specific experience, knowledge, skills, exposure, and/or other elements that are necessary for you to attain your long-term aspirations and chosen career. Ideally, you have already researched the school thoroughly to discover these important resources and areas of fit, but if not, do not skip this important step and/or refer only to basic offerings most business schools have. Your essay must be LBS specific. Demonstrating your authentic interest in the program by offering concrete examples and drawing clear connections between what it offers, what you need, and who you are is key to crafting a compelling essay response here. Because 500 words is not a lot, avoid going into excessive detail about your past, though you will need to offer enough information to provide context and support for your stated goals. As we have observed, this essay largely encompasses a standard personal statement, so we encourage you to download your free copy of the mbaMission Personal Statement Guide. In this complimentary guide, we present a much more detailed discussion of how to approach and craft this kind of essay, along with multiple illustrative examples. Optional Essay: Is there any other information you believe the Admissions Committee should know about you and your application to London Business School? (500 words) Applicants often use the optional essay to explain confusing or problematic elements of their candidacy—a poor grade or GPA, a low GMAT or GRE score, a gap in work experience, etc.—and LBS’s can certainly be used in this way. If you feel you need to clarify an aspect of your profile, first check the other parts of the school’s application, which already includes several opportunities to address certain issues (such as academic performance and disciplinary instances). If you can discuss your concern there instead, do so, and avoid using this essay to simply repeat any information provided via that avenue. If you have a problem to address that is not mentioned in the LBS application, we suggest downloading a copy of the mbaMission Optional Essays Guide, which is also available for free, and in which we offer detailed advice on deciding whether to take advantage of the optional essay and, if so, how best to do so to mitigate any concerning elements of your application. However, if you do not feel your candidacy includes any elements in need of further clarification, you might use this essay instead to offer a more rounded, positive representation of yourself—but be thoughtful about this opportunity. Do not just copy and paste an existing essay you wrote for a different school here and hope for the best. Take a step back and carefully consider what the admissions committee already knows about you from the other parts of your application, including, of course, your other essay. Then, do your utmost to develop and convey a narrative that is truly crucial to understanding your character. Because this question is so open-ended, your options are somewhat limitless. You will need to honestly check your instincts and ask yourself whether you are simply tacking something extra onto your application with this essay or whether you are presenting an authentic representation of who you are as an individual. Be mindful and respectful of the admissions committee’s time, and remember that each additional file you submit requires more resources on behalf of the admissions office, so whatever you write must be truly worthwhile and clearly reveal that you made good use of this opportunity to provide further insight into your candidacy. Business schools outside the United States are increasingly popular among MBA hopefuls, and we at mbaMission are proud to offer our latest publications: Program Primers for international b-schools. In these snapshots we discuss core curriculums, elective courses, locations, school facilities, rankings, and more. Click here to download your free copy of the London Business School Program Primer. The Next Step—Mastering Your LBS Interview: Many MBA candidates find admissions interviews stressful and intimidating, but mastering this important element of the application process is definitely possible—the key is informed preparation. And, on your way to this high level of preparation, we offer our free Interview Primers to spur you along! Download your free copy of the London Business School Interview Primer today. |
17 Jul 2018, 08:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: University of Cambridge Judge Business School Essay Analysis, 2018–2019 |
 The Cambridge Judge Business School has opted for consistency with its application essay prompts this year, having made no changes to them whatsoever since last season. While one required essay is a rather matter-of-fact request for candidates’ expectations for their career and the MBA program’s role in it, the other two focus more on applicants’ self-awareness and maturity, asking about situations that reveal growth and enlightenment. Many top business schools have opted to pose fewer essay questions in recent years, so the thought of having to write three separate essays may give some applicants pause at first, but two of the submissions are on the short side, which should lower the intimidation factor a bit. Read on for our advice on how to approach each prompt and create your best possible essays for your Judge application this season. Essay 1: Please provide a personal statement. It should not exceed 500 words and must address the following questions:
More specifically with respect to Judge’s multipart question, the school wants to know not only the basic facts of your career aspirations but also how you view your readiness for and active role in achieving them. How equipped are you already, and how much closer to your goals will earning a business degree from Judge be able to get you? What are you already planning to do on your own before you enroll and while in the program that will ensure you graduate with the skills, experiences, knowledge, and/or connections you need to build a bridge between where you are now and where you want go? Be sure to refer to school-specific resources and offerings that connect directly to these areas of improvement so that the admissions committee knows you have thoroughly considered and researched your options and determined that Judge is the best fit for your particular needs and interests. The school also wants to see evidence that you are cognizant you must be an active participant in your own success and are ready and willing to contribute, rather than relying on the program and its name/reputation to solely move you forward on your career trajectory. Essay 2: What did you learn from your most spectacular failure? (200 words) Failures are important learning opportunities. With this prompt, the admissions committee wants to know what you take away from situations in which things do not turn out as you had planned or hoped. Do you place blame elsewhere and try to make excuses? Or do you view these sorts of experiences with an analytical eye, using what they can teach you to achieve better results with similar ventures going forward? That a world-class business school would be interested in candidates who are eager and open-minded learners only makes sense. Judge has been posing this particular essay prompt since 2010, so it clearly touches on a topic the admissions committee views as pivotal in identifying applicants they feel will be successful in its MBA program. With respect to the word “spectacular” here, the school is not hoping to hear about a time when you were exceptionally embarrassed in front of a vast audience but instead about an instance that had an incredibly significant impact on you. Perhaps, for example, you were blindsided by the shortfall, having previously thought you were on the right track to success—this might have made the failure particularly stunning and memorable for you. The scale or scope of the situation in an objective sense is not as important as how affecting and influential it was for you personally. Note that Judge does not specify that the story you share in this essay must be a professional one, so explore all your personal/family/community life experiences for what you believe is truly the most “spectacular.” You may want to consider your options for this essay and the third essay simultaneously, because if you select a career-related incident to discuss in this one, for balance, you might want to draw on a personal story for the other, and vice versa. However, this kind of distribution works best if it is not forced—the first criterion should always be whether the narrative is the most fitting one for the essay’s prompt; if two options seem equally fitting, then you may be able to create a kind of consonance. With a limit of only 200 words, you cannot waste any by starting with a bland statement like “My most spectacular failure was [fill in the blank].” Instead, leap directly into the action of your story and immediately convey what was at stake in the situation. After all, the opportunity for true failure exists only when you have something to lose. Next, briefly explain how you failed, and then dedicate the majority of the essay to demonstrating what you took away from the experience. Avoid clichés such as gaining resilience or learning to be humble and show that you can be honest about your weaknesses and blind spots. Convey that the information, insight, and/or skills you acquired via the shortcoming have changed how you view or operate in the world in a positive way—and that you know how to apply these learnings in new situations. Essay 3: Describe a situation where you had to work jointly with others to achieve a common goal. What did you learn from the experience? (up to 200 words) Judge poses three essay questions to its candidates, and two of them have to do with learning from a life experience. Clearly, the school is seeking individuals who absorb lessons by interacting with and participating actively in the world around them, not just by listening to an instructor in a classroom. As a student at an international business school—one with roughly 40 nationalities represented in a class of approximately 200 people—you will naturally be enmeshed in a widely diverse environment, and Judge wants to hear about your mind-set and working style in such situations. As for Essay 2, this prompt does not stipulate which part of your life you must draw from for content, so hearken back to our advice for the previous essay with respect to selecting between a professional story or a more personal one. In business school—as in life in general—you will encounter people who think differently from you, operate according to different values, and react differently to the same stimuli. And success in an endeavor often involves evaluating and even incorporating the views of others in one’s efforts. At Judge, you will be surrounded every day by individuals who are unlike you in a multitude of ways, and you will need to work in tandem with and alongside these individuals when analyzing case studies, completing group projects, and participating in other activities both inside and outside the classroom. The school is clearly seeking evidence that you are capable of listening, reflecting, learning, and growing. If you are not, it might assume that you simply do not have the necessary qualities to become an integral part of its next incoming class, let alone a standout manager later in your career. To craft an effective essay response to this query, describe via a narrative approach the nature of your collaboration with the others on your team, showing both what you contributed and what others brought to the dynamic (though more briefly), and which elements became long-term takeaways that still serve you today. Consider describing a kind of “before and after” situation in which the information or input you received from your teammate(s) influenced your thoughts and actions as you worked toward your shared goal. An essay that demonstrates your openness to collaborating with peers in pursuit of a common goal, your ability to contribute to such projects, and your capacity to naturally learn from such experiences is almost certain to make an admissions reader take notice. Business schools outside the United States are increasingly popular among MBA hopefuls, and we at mbaMission are proud to offer our latest publications: Program Primers for international b-schools. In these snapshots we discuss core curriculums, elective courses, locations, school facilities, rankings, and more. Click here to download your freecopy of the Cambridge Judge Business School Program Primer. |
18 Jul 2018, 09:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: “Lead” vs. “Led” and Not Overusing Techniques in Your Application Essays |
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A common mistake we see in our clients’ MBA application essays is the misuse of the verb “lead.” A deeply entrenched and widespread misunderstanding seems to exist as to which spelling connotes present tense and which connotes past tense. One of our consultants even had a client raise his voice to her in passionate defense—of the wrong usage! In case you are not completely confident about this word yourself, we hope this blog post helps clear up the issue for you! Lead or Led?
Confusing the spelling and/or pronunciation of this verb’s different tenses is a simple mistake but one that stands out clearly to admissions professionals who have probably seen this verb more times in the past year than most people do in a lifetime! So, pay close attention to which is which, and be sure you are using the correct version every time. Another essay-related issue encountered by some applicants is changing the structure from one essay to the next. For example, a candidate might choose to use a quote at the beginning of an essay to create a sense of urgency: “This cannot be fixed. This cannot be fixed!” I stared blankly at the broken machinery and knew that the next few hours would be crucial… Using this kind of attention-grabbing technique can certainly be effective, but you should never use any technique more than once in an application. By starting more than one essay in the same manner, you are essentially telling the admissions reader that you understand how to use a gimmick but not how to tell a compelling story in your own way. This is also a quick way to lose your reader’s interest! Be sure to vary your approach in each new essay within a single application. We work with our candidates to ensure that their ideas are presented in fresh and different ways, to captivate the admissions committee with each introduction and, indeed, each essay. |
19 Jul 2018, 14:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Understanding Number Properties on the GMAT |
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With regard to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything. Manhattan Prep’s Stacey Koprince teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense. Is the GMAT topic of number properties driving you crazy? This concept covers things that we often call “basic”—topics that we learned in middle school (or earlier), such as divisibility, factors and multiples, odds and evens, positives and negatives, and so on. I assure you, though, that number properties questions on the GMAT are anything but basic. I strongly urge you to develop a solid grounding in this topic, particularly because the test writers are so good at disguising what these problems are really testing. You will need some kind of book or e-book that covers this topic thoroughly, but I have some resources to help you get started. Start with this article, “Disguising—and Decoding—Quant Problems.” We talk about how the test writers disguise material that you probably do already know, and how we can learn to “decode” the problem or strip away the camouflage. If you feel good about the concepts discussed in that article, and you are at a higher math level, try out this challenging problem next. In the article “Patterns in Divisibility Problems,” we examine two GMATPrep problems that share some interesting characteristics. In this article, we discuss some interesting topics related to prime numbers. Many questions address basic characteristics of numbers, such as whether they are positive or negative, odd or even, integer or fraction/decimal. These can be disguised in various ways; two of the most common are inequalities and absolute values (which we normally associate more with algebra). Here are two that use inequalities as a disguise for number properties concepts, one in this article and another from this article, as well as a third one that plays around with absolute value. All three of these are generally hiding issues that deal with positive and negative properties of numbers. And finally here are two more: a number line problem and one dealing with consecutive integers. The former tests positive and negative properties, as well as some others, and the latter covers a less-commonly-tested but still important number properties category. |
20 Jul 2018, 09:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Columbia Business School’s End-of-Semester Push and Student-Run Conferences |
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Although summer seems to have only just begun, first-year Columbia Business School (CBS) students have only a handful of months before they enter the last big push of their first semester in December, with finals wrapping up and the next semester not beginning until mid-January. The end of regular classes at the school is traditionally marked by CBS Follies, a student-run comedy and entertainment show, and those looking to stay involved with CBS and their classmates during the holiday break have plenty of opportunities to do so. Many students go abroad during the break to such places as Korea, Brazil, and Australia on Chazen Global Study Tours or as part of consulting projects through the International Development Club. And students wishing for a complete break from the classroom can take part in the Snow Sports Club’s annual Winter Ski Trip in early January. Although the long break can offer a welcome rest from the stress of first-semester classes, recruiting season for first years begins once they return to campus for second semester. So, one way or another, this is a good time for CBS students to clear their heads. On a more academic note, CBS offers a series of student-run conferences throughout the year that give both first- and second-year students the opportunity to expand their knowledge across a variety of disciplines via panels and keynote speaker addresses, and to network with like-minded students, conference sponsors (who are often also big CBS recruiters), and even industry professionals. During the popular Social Enterprise Conference, which takes place in the fall, speakers discuss the ways leaders and managers can use strategy as a tool to maximize social change and how organizations can incorporate a broader spectrum of social gains into their organizational strategies, among other issues. Like the Social Enterprise Conference, the Marketing Association of Columbia (MAC) Conference usually enjoys a packed house in late October. The MAC Conference has focused on such topics as the elevation, enhancement, and personalization of the brand experience for today’s mindful consumer. The 14th annual CBS Healthcare Conference, which was held in February, carried the theme “Data-Driven Healthcare: Advancing Access, Delivery, and Outcomes.” The year-round conference season at Columbia also includes the India Business Conference and the Columbia Women in Business Conference. CBS often touts its New York advantage—students have the business world right outside the school’s door, ripe for exploration. As you can see, however, this advantage does not mean that CBS neglects to bring the business world to its students. For more information on CBS or 16 other leading MBA programs, check out the free mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
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Hi Generic [Bot],
Here are updates for you:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
AGSM at UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE
Tuck at Dartmouth
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