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17 May 2022, 11:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: A New Guide for Those Stuck on the GSB and HBS Essay Prompts |
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[url=https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/wmwm-cover.jpg?ssl=1][img]https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/wmwm-cover.jpg?resize=232%2C300&ssl=1[/img][/url] As we turn the page on a new business school admissions season, you might be one of the thousands of applicants wondering exactly what you will end up communicating to the admissions committees in your application essays. Those who plan to apply to Harvard Business School (HBS) or the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB)—two of the world’s most prestigious business school programs—might be especially nervous; HBS and the GSB have continuously vexed applicants with open-ended prompts: [b]“As we review your application, what more would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy for the Harvard Business School MBA program?”[/b] (Harvard Business School) [b]“What matters most to you, and why?”[/b] and [b]“Why Stanford?” [/b](Stanford Graduate School of Business) We at mbaMission are proud to offer our [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/what-matters-and-what-more]“What Matters?” and “What More?”: 50 Successful Essays for the Stanford GSB and HBS (and Why They Worked)[/url][/b] guide written by Jeremy Shinewald, Founder/President of mbaMission, and Liza Weale, Founder of Gatehouse Admissions, in partnership with Poets&Quants. Having helped hundreds of candidates gain acceptance to HBS and the GSB, Jeremy and Liza have pooled their collective experience to analyze a carefully curated collection of 50 successful essays to both schools, breaking down why each essay worked. The result is a truly essential guide to crafting essays confidently and effectively. “What Matters?” and “What More?”: 50 Successful Essays for the Stanford GSB and HBS (and Why They Worked) offers the following: [list] Actual HBS and Stanford GSB essays, submitted by past candidates who were ultimately admitted, along with expert commentary on the strengths (and sometimes weaknesses!) of each one[/*] Ten “pairs” of essays for HBS and the GSB, showing how the same candidate approached the two schools’ differing essay prompts[/*] Two essays by reapplicants, highlighting useful tactics for writing these essays the second time around[/*] Overviews and examples of four different approaches you can take to composing your essays: thematic, inflection points, single anecdote, and mosaic[/*] Best practices for each essay question, such as how to handle the prompts’ vastly different word counts and what not to include in your essays[/*] [/list] The guidance, samples, and critiques in “What Matters?” and “What More?” will help you find the best approach for sharing your strongest stories with these programs—and position yourself for success! If you plan to apply to HBS or the Stanford GSB, this digital guide is a must-have resource, and it is on sale now for [b]just $24[/b] (from $60). [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/what-matters-and-what-more]Purchase your copy today[/url][/b]—and be sure to [b][url=https://mbamission.com/consult]contact us[/url][/b] if you are interested in speaking one-on-one with an mbaMission expert admissions consultant via a [b][url=https://www.mbamission.com/consult/mba-admissions/]free 30-minute consultation[/url][/b]. |
19 May 2022, 09:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Ask CBS, Chicago Booth, Michigan Ross, UVA Darden, and Yale SOM Your Questions on May 26! |
 Are you applying to Columbia Business School (CBS), Chicago Booth School of Business, Michigan Ross School of Business, Darden School of Business, or Yale School of Management (SOM)? If so, you will not want to miss this chance to learn from five of the world’s leading business schools’ very own admissions officers! On Thursday, May 26, 2022, mbaMission Founder/President Jeremy Shinewald will facilitate a webinar for the final installment of our free eight-part webinar series “Building Your Best MBA Application.” From 8:00 to 9:30 p.m. ET, Jeremy will take and share questions from attendees, while admissions officers from these top MBA programs offer invaluable insight and advice. Admissions officers for this panel are as follows:
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20 May 2022, 11:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: I Must Have a Recommendation from My Supervisor |
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MBA admissions committees often say they understand if an applicant does not have a recommendation from a supervisor, but do they really mean it? Even if they insist this is true, if every other applicant has a recommendation from a supervisor, not having one would put you at a disadvantage, right? Not necessarily! We at mbaMission estimate that one of every five applicants has an issue with one of their current supervisors that prevents them from asking for a recommendation. Common issues include the following:
Therefore, if you cannot ask your supervisor for their assistance, do not worry about your situation, but seek to remedy it. Start by considering your alternatives—a mentor, past employer, supplier, client, legal counsel, representative from an industry association, or anyone else who knows your work particularly well. Then, once you have made your alternate selection, briefly explain the nature of your situation and your relationship with this recommender in your optional essay. As long as you explain your choice, the admissions committee will understand your situation. |
22 May 2022, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Six Tips for Effective Onboarding: Becoming Confident in Your New Job |
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This post was written by our resident Career Coach, Elissa Harris. To sign up for a free 30-minute career consultation with Elissa, please click here. With MBA graduations right around the corner and the Great Resignation in full swing, many people are changing jobs or starting new ones. Getting off on the right foot is critical for job satisfaction and long-term success within an organization. Some companies offer substantial onboarding and training programs, while others (often start-ups) will expect you to take the reins as you forge ahead in your new role. Either way, these six tips can set you up for success:
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23 May 2022, 15:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Gautam Kaul, University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business |
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[url=https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Gautam-Kual-Ross-School.jpg?ssl=1][img]https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Gautam-Kual-Ross-School.jpg?resize=225%2C300&ssl=1[/img][/url] 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 profile [url=https://michiganross.umich.edu/faculty-research/faculty/gautam-kaul][b]Gautam Kaul[/b][/url] from the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business. [b]Gautam Kaul[/b], professor of finance and the Robert G. Rodkey Collegiate Professor of Business Administration, teaches both core curriculum courses and electives. Kaul also served as the Special Counsel for Digital Education and Innovator in Residence at the University of Michigan from 2012 to 2018. He has served as a board member for the school’s Social Venture Fund since 2014. In addition to referencing his intellectual capabilities, students with whom mbaMission spoke described Kaul as extremely friendly and having a great sense of humor. He is also known for his willingness to help students both inside and outside the classroom. In 2005, in direct response to student interest, Kaul developed the elective course “Finance and the Sustainable Enterprise.” In return, students recognized his efforts and awarded him the Sustainability Pioneer Award and a plaque in his honor on one of the chairs in the main auditorium of the university’s School of Natural Resources and Environment. Kaul has been nominated for an MBA Teaching Excellence Award (which is voted on by the student body) numerous times, most recently in 2019, and he won the award five times. He is also the 2009 recipient of the Victor L. Bernard Leadership in Teaching Award from the university’s Center for Research on Learning and Teaching. For more information about Michigan Ross and 16 other top-ranked business schools, check out our free [url=https://shop.mbamission.com/collections/insider-s-guides][b]mbaMission Insider’s Guides[/b][/url]. |
24 May 2022, 09:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Convey a Confident Tone and Avoid Fawning in Your MBA Application Essays |
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In your MBA application essays, you must ensure that the tone you use allows the admissions committee to readily recognize your certainty and self-confidence. Being clear and direct about who you are and how you envision your future is vital. Consider these example statements: Weak: “I now have adequate work experience and hope to pursue an MBA.” Strong: “Through my work experience, I have gained both breadth and depth, providing me with a solid, practical foundation for pursuing my MBA.” —— Weak: “I now want to pursue an MBA.” Strong: “I am certain that now is the ideal time for me to pursue my MBA.” —— Weak: “I have good quantitative skills and will succeed academically.” Strong: “I have already mastered the quantitative skills necessary to thrive in my MBA studies.” —— Weak: “With my MBA, I hope to establish myself as a leader.” Strong: “I am certain that with my MBA, I will propel myself to the next levels of leadership.” The key in all these examples is the use of language that clearly projects self-confidence. Instead of “hope,” use “will”; rather than saying you have “good” skills, show “mastery.” Although you should avoid sounding arrogant, of course, by being assertive and direct, you will inspire confidence in your reader and make a more positive impression. Your target MBA programs certainly want to know that you identify with them. However, this does not need to be a running theme throughout your essays or application. Unless a business school explicitly requests this kind of information—for example, by asking what you are most passionate about and how that passion will positively affect the school—we generally recommend that candidates only discuss their connection with their target MBA program via their personal statements (“What are your short- and long-term goals, and how will [our school] allow you to achieve them?”). For example, in response to a school’s question about leadership or putting knowledge into action, you would not need to discuss how the school will help you further develop your leadership skills or how you will continue to be an active learner when you are a member of the next incoming class, even though these topics reflect core values that each school embraces. Although we cannot assert this as an absolute, we find that in most cases, such statements come across as insincere or fawning—the very opposite of the effect you want. |
25 May 2022, 14:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Sustainability MBA at Duquesne University and Social Impact MBA at Boston University |
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Appealing to professionals at all stages of their careers, Duquesne University’s Palumbo Donahue School of Business offers an accelerated, 12-month MBA Sustainable Business Practices program with an integrated focus on sustainability and the environment. With core course work centered on such focus areas as “Business Ethics and Global Responsibility,” “Managing People for Sustained Competitive Advantage,” and “Strategic Innovation Management,” students gain exposure to the basic problems and frameworks of sustainable development beyond conventional notions of “green” business. In addition, the program includes global study trips, in which students have traveled to such countries as Peru, Denmark, Spain, and Estonia, to examine global sustainability practices firsthand, and three required sustainability consulting projects with sponsoring nonprofit or governmental organizations, the last of which is a capstone practicum course that challenges students to develop strategy and management skills. A bit farther east, the Boston University Questrom School of Business has offered a Social Impact MBA since 1973, specifically designed to cultivate business management skills that can make a real difference in the world. According to the school’s website, the program gives students “the opportunity to gain crucial business skills that allow [them] to create positive social change.” Standing at 48th in the world in the The Economist’s 2021 rankings, Questrom exposes students to a robust general management core curriculum and also offers specialized courses and resources targeting the governmental, public, and private nonprofit sectors. Elective courses include “Energy and Environmental Sustainability,” which is an interactive class with simulation exercises, visiting speakers, debates, and mini lectures; “Behavior Change Practicum,” in which students work in teams to provide business solutions to real-life organizations; and “Social Impact Seminar,” an action-based learning experience in which student teams are paired with client companies from foreign countries to produce recommendations for their businesses. |
26 May 2022, 08:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Why Your Test Scores Still Matter |
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When the COVID-19 pandemic first struck, the MBA admissions world (like the rest of the world) was thrown into chaos. Admissions officers fretted that the candidates they had already admitted would not be able to travel to campus, so they opened their doors to new applicants—who could not take the usual entrance exams because the test centers were closed! The obvious solution in the short term? Programs such as MIT Sloan, Northwestern Kellogg, and Michigan Ross waived their testing requirements entirely. Then, as “take from home” GRE and GMAT options began to be offered, some admissions officers quickly reverted back to their original mandatory testing policies, while others allowed applicants to apply for test waivers, and still others expanded their testing options to include the Executive Assessment (EA), MCAT, DAT, and similar exams. So, which option is best for you? Should you take the GRE or GMAT, apply for a waiver, or target an alternative test? Here are five reasons you might still need (or even want!) to take the GRE or the GMAT: Your target MBA programs still require the GMAT or GRE. The most obvious reason for taking one of the conventional tests is that at least for now, virtually all the top MBA programs still require these scores. Although this is subject to change, as of the writing of this blog post, only seven of the top 30 programs (Michigan Ross, UVA Darden, NYU Stern, Cornell Johnson, Texas McCombs, UNC Kenan Flagler, and UW Foster) offer applicants the opportunity to apply for a test waiver, and you have no guarantee that they will grant your request. So, unless your target programs are on that short list and your waiver requests are granted, you will need to take either the GMAT or GRE to keep your options open. If you want to apply to Harvard Business School, Stanford GSB, and/or UPenn Wharton, you need to get cracking on your GMAT/GRE studies. If you were hoping to avoid taking a test altogether, your options at the moment are quite few. But wait, what about those alternative tests we mentioned? A small group of full-time MBA programs is accepting scores from such tests as the EA (essentially a mini GMAT), the MCAT, and the LSAT, among others. For now, the EA has the most traction in the MBA world because it is accepted by most Executive MBA programs and is thus more of a known entity among admissions officers. One of the nice things about the EA is that it is a threshold test, which means you simply need to achieve a minimal score to prove your competence, rather than having to match or exceed a target program’s lofty average. Executive Assessment MCAT/LSAT/PCAT/DAT Waivers UVA Darden Y Y Y Michigan Ross X Y Y NYU Stern Y Y Y Duke Fuqua Y N N Columbia University Y N N Carnegie Melon Tepper Y N N Texas McCombs Y N N While the option of taking the EA or another alternative test might be appealing, you will likely run into a problem ¾ your target list is unlikely “covered’ by these alternative tests.. So, if you want to apply to a top-30, full-time MBA program with the EA or the LSAT, your options are likely to be limited. And when you are applying to your dream MBA programs, you do not want to limit your options! You need to prove your quantitative abilities. So, maybe you are momentarily sold on the idea of pursuing a waiver or taking an alternative test, but you should be aware that taking one of the conventional exams could actually benefit you in other ways! How so? Before a school can accept you, its admissions committee needs to be certain that you will be able to manage the MBA program’s highly analytical curriculum. This means that if you are a liberal arts major and do not have a single quantitative class on your academic transcript, you might need a strong GMAT or GRE score to prove your abilities in this area. (Typically, a 46 Quant score on the GMAT is sufficient to indicate that you have the necessary quantitative strength.) You need to offset poor grades. On the other hand, maybe you did take quant classes in college, but you did not do very well in them. If you have B- or C grades in these courses, the admissions committees will not be confident that you will be able to handle the school’s rigorous academic course load. By performing well on a standardized test, you can demonstrate that you will be able to perform in the MBA classroom as well. You are really good at standardized tests. Finally, maybe you do not need to submit test scores for your chosen MBA programs or for any of the reasons we have offered thus far, but you tend to do well on standardized tests and expect to score above your target schools’ averages. In that case, taking an exam could give you a bit of an advantage. Business schools still love to tout their students’ average GMAT score, and this average is also factored into many of the MBA rankings, so the admissions officers are interested in scores that could keep their number high. If your score could help them do so, you might just increase your chances of gaining admission. For now, testing seems like it will remain a reality for the vast majority of MBA applicants. We expect that with time, more and more programs will start accepting the EA in particular, but candidates cannot count on that! For now, you should probably expect to hunker down and start studying for the GMAT or the GRE. |
27 May 2022, 10:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: How to Get Into Cambridge Judge Business School: Judge Essay Tips and Examples |
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[url=https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/judge.png?ssl=1][img]https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/judge.png?resize=300%2C113&ssl=1[/img][/url] Although some top business schools have been gradually reducing the number of application essays they require, the University of Cambridge Judge Business School still demands four separate submissions from its candidates. The program’s first essay is about applicants’ career goals and related preparation, the second focuses on a “difficult decision” and the candidate’s takeaways from it, the third requires that applicants discuss how what they learned from a past team project would influence how they would approach that same project today, and in the fourth (somewhat more creative) essay, candidates must give advice to their younger selves,. This essay is likely intended to provide the admissions committee with more insight into applicants’ character and behavior outside the workplace. Read on for our full essay analysis, with tips on how to approach each question and create strong essays for your 2022–2023 Judge application. [b]Essay 1: Please provide details of your post-MBA career plans. The statement should not exceed 500 words and must address the following:[/b] [b]-What are your short- and long-term career objectives? How will the Cambridge MBA equip you to achieve these?[/b] [b]-Looking at your short-term career goal, describe the research you have done to understand how this industry/role/location recruits MBA talent and what they are looking for in a candidate. [/b] [b]-How do you meet the requirements of your short-term career goal? What preparation are you doing now? [/b] Although the school does not frame this essay as such, with this prompt, it is basically requesting a rather traditional personal statement, so our first recommendation is to download your free copy of the [b][url=https://info.mbamission.com/MBA-Personal-Statement-Guide]mbaMission Personal Statement Guide[/url][/b]. This complimentary guide offers detailed advice on how to approach and frame the information requested in these three bullet points and includes multiple illustrative examples. 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 ready you feel you are to achieve them and how engaged you intend to be in doing so. How equipped are you already, and how much closer to your goals will earning a business degree from Judge move you? What are you currently doing on your own (and planning to do before you enroll) that will help ensure that 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? You must refer to specific resources and offerings at the school 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 understand you must play an active role in achieving success and that you are ready and willing to do your part, rather than simply relying on the program and its name or reputation to move you forward on your career trajectory. Perhaps you have engaged in job shadowing, arranged informational interviews with individuals in your desired industry and/or role, or read related trade publications; whatever preparation and edification you have thus far completed, make sure the admissions committee is aware. [b]Essay 2: Describe a difficult decision that you had to make. What did you learn from this and how have you changed as a result? (up to 200 words)[/b] Challenges are important learning opportunities. With this prompt, the Judge admissions committee wants to know what you take away from situations in which things are not as clear-cut as you would like or you need to make a sacrifice of some kind. How do you reason through problems and reach conclusions, especially when doing so is complicated? Judge does not specify that the story you share in this essay must be a professional one, so explore all your personal, family, and community life experiences for options as well. Also, 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. You might 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 might be able to create a kind of consonance. For this essay, you will need to share an anecdote in which something was at stake—the reader must feel and understand that your decision involved some level of risk. If you faced no possibility of negative ramifications, reaching your decision could not have been very challenging, as the school’s question specifically stipulates. The reader must understand that you had an indisputable problem on your hands and had to weigh your options carefully. In your essay, take the reader through your decision-making process, briefly noting the different possible outcomes or consequences of your various choices. Keep in mind that your decision does not need to have been proven right, and you could even show that all the options available to you at the time were less than ideal and explain how you optimized the imperfect outcomes. By asking about a demanding decision (rather than the more common “failure” topic), this essay question allows you to discuss a situation in which you might have struggled but that did not necessarily end in defeat or disappointment. Finally, share 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. What you took away from the experience should be something that has fundamentally changed your character in some way. Judge wants to know not only that you have faced and worked through the demanding process of reaching a particular resolution but also how that situation has contributed to the person you are today. [b]Essay 3: Describe a time where you worked with a team on a project. What did you learn from the experience and how might you approach it differently today? (up to 200 words)[/b] As a student at an international business school—one with more than 40 nationalities represented in a class of just over 200 people—you will naturally be enmeshed in a widely diverse environment and will encounter people who think differently from you, operate according to different values, and react differently to the same stimuli. 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. Judge clearly wants to hear about your mind-set and working style in such situations and is 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. Like that of 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. To craft an effective essay response, describe via a narrative approach the nature of your collaboration with the rest of your group, showing both what you contributed and what others brought to the dynamic (though much more succinctly). Consider describing a kind of “before and after” situation in which the information, input, or inspiration you received from your teammate(s) influenced your thoughts and actions as you worked toward your shared goal and have subsequently stuck with you. The prompt’s request for an explanation of how you would approach the team project today implies that what you learned from the experience gave you specific skills or insight that would have made that project better in some way (either the outcome or the process) had you possessed those specific skills or that insight in advance of it. So, once you have determined what those two elements are—what you gained and how it would have affected the execution or result of the project in a positive way—simply spell this out for the admissions committee in your essay. A submission that demonstrates your collaboration style, your ability to contribute to group projects, and your capacity to learn from and analyze such experiences is almost certain to make an admissions reader take notice. [b]Essay 4: If you could give one piece of advice to your 18-year-old self, what would it be? (up to 200 words)[/b] Judge poses four essay questions to its candidates, and three of them have to do with learning from life experiences. The school obviously seeks 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. For this essay, you need to consider all the things you have learned roughly since completing high school, whether in a classroom, on the job, or in your personal life. Then pinpoint specific learnings that occurred during that time period that you feel are most important or have been the most influential and then delve into discovering why these particularly learnings are so meaningful to you. As for Essay 3, the school wants you to analyze how “redoing” something would be different with the knowledge you learned via that something—for Essay 3, that something is a team project; for this essay, it is your life since you were 18. How would knowing then what you know now have changed your subsequent life or career in some way? What decisions might you have made differently? Which people might you have tried to become closer to or distance yourself from? What experiences would you have sought out earlier or made a point of avoiding? What behaviors would you have engaged in more often or chosen to discontinue? Exploring these kinds of questions should help you identify possible topics for this essay. Then, focus on conveying how the information, insight, and/or skills you have acquired over the years has changed how you now view or operate in the world. Business schools outside the United States are increasingly popular among MBA hopefuls, and we at mbaMission are proud to offer our latest publications: [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/collections/international-program-guides]International Program Guides [/url][/b]for international programs. In these snapshots we discuss elements such as core curriculum, elective courses, locations, school facilities, and rankings. Download your free copy of the [url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/cambridge-judge-business-school-program-guide][b]Cambridge Judge Business School Program Guide[/b][/url] today. |
29 May 2022, 09:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: Harvard Business School Is for Everyone |
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Harvard Business School (HBS) offers an excellent MBA program. This is largely a given, and we are not questioning that. However, what we will call into question is whether HBS (or any other school, for that matter) is right for you. Every year, we get a few calls from confused MBA aspirants who say, “I visited HBS, and I am not sure if there is a fit,” as if that indicates some sort of problem. Indeed, and this may be shocking to some, HBS is not for everyone—particularly those who do not relate well to case-based learning, those who want a lot of flexibility in their first-year curriculum, and those who would prefer a small class size (HBS’s Class of 2023 has 1,010 students, while the same class at the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business, for example, has just 291). We hope that applicants will use this post as a jumping-off point to critically appraise their target MBA programs and determine which schools are indeed right for them. Start by asking yourself the following questions:
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30 May 2022, 09:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Identifying Your Career Goals: Advice for Starting Business School |
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This post was written by our resident Career Coach, Elissa Harris. To sign up for a free 30-minute career consultation with Elissa, please click here. Many MBA candidates believe that business school will offer them time to explore different careers or gain clarity on their career goals. Unfortunately, this does not magically happen. Developing this kind of insight requires a significant time commitment on your part, along with a lot of targeted research and reflection. So, what parameters and process for your research and reflection will yield maximize results without putting you into a circle of “analysis paralysis”? Consider the following seven tips: 1. Recognize that you will never have 100% perfect information to help you decide on your post-MBA career goals. For example, none of us could have predicted how things have unfolded since March 2020. Significant business challenges have arisen, but so have interesting new opportunities. Your career will be iterative and will likely include lots of twists and turns through which you will learn more about yourself and continue to find new positions that offer more fulfillment. 2. Hold yourself accountable to a process and timeline. Write down weekly and monthly goals and milestones, estimating the amount of time required for each, and then work backward. For example, if you plan to start school in August, ask yourself what you need to accomplish by the end of May, June, and July, respectively. Schedule actual blocks of time on your calendar for your job search–related activities and write down the outcome of your actions; this will not only ensure that you do the tasks but will also provide tangible evidence of your progress. 3. Leverage your MBA program’s resources. Check and see whether summer self-assessment resources are available—perhaps access to external tools such as CareerLeader or internally developed exercises and industry-specific content. Read this blog postfor tactical advice on starting your job search before you even arrive on campus. 4. Identify themes from your past experiences. Explore your previous experiences (go back to your brainstorming documents for MBA program applications) to figure out what key elements you want in your next professional role. Ask yourself questions like What did you like most at work (or in your extracurriculars), and why? What did you like least, and why? When were you at your best? What skills were you constantly praised for demonstrating? What type of problem solving excited you? What are you most curious about? 5. Conduct a 360-degree review. Ask five to seven (or maybe even more) people who know you well—managers, colleagues, direct reports, vendors, friends—for feedback and advice. Prompt them with specific questions, such as the following: What do you think are my biggest strengths? What skills do you think will be most beneficial to a long-term career? In what type of situations am I at my best? When have you seen me most engaged in something? 6. Narrow your options. Evaluate your best options, given the marketplace realities and your interests, skills, and risk tolerance. Use insights from items 4 and 5 to build a set of criteria/priorities for your target role. Identify two or three potential careers, then gather information on each pathway, noting any unanswered questions for future exploration. 7. Network to confirm areas of interest. Speak with people in your target roles, and focus your questions on areas of priority (e.g., if stability and a structured career path are important to you, ask questions on that topic). Seek to understand potential employers’ needs through questions such as these: What type of people are most successful in this role? What skills enable you to be successful in this role? What are the biggest obstacles you face on a day-to-day basis? What are the most effective strategies for job searching in this space? Finally… although we understand that having someone simply tell you exactly what career to pursue would be great (and certainly much easier), we strongly believe that devoting the necessary energy to making this decision for yourself will lead to more success in recruiting and more satisfaction in the role you ultimately accept. |
01 Jun 2022, 10:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Application Tips for Family Business Applicants |
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MBA admissions officers covet applicants who expect to lead significant family businesses because, simply put, they have a higher likelihood of career success. However, family business applicants do not get a free pass. They must still show that they have the professional skills and strong determination to do well in their long-term career. Here we share our top advice for MBA applicants who expect to run a family business after graduating from business school. [b]Show that you can earn it.[/b] Top MBA programs might have a slight bias in favor of candidates who have a clear path to the CEO’s chair, but they absolutely have a bias against entitlement and privilege. Family business applicants need to demonstrate that they have not simply been handed one opportunity after another but can actually earn such opportunities on their own merits. Candidates who have worked outside the family business prior to applying to an MBA program can often establish this fairly easily, but those who are still working within the family business need to be sure that they can detail accomplishments that are independent from a family member. If you are currently working in your family business, you must be able to say you “owned” this accomplishment and can substantiate your depth of commitment in your interviews, essays, resume, and other parts of your application. In addition, maintaining significant engagement in community activities and pursuing personal goals can be quite important and helpful for individuals in a family business—including pursuing entrepreneurial ambitions—because doing so sends the message that they are capable of achieving success on their own. [b]Have your own vision.[/b] The MBA admissions committees are less interested in applicants who plan to become CEO and then simply put the family business on autopilot. They want to see that you can honor the past while having your own ambitions and growth agenda, and that you intend to take what you learn from your MBA experience to propel your family business to the next level. The schools want to know that you can be a catalyst, not just a caretaker. So keep this in mind when sharing your goals in your personal statements or when responding to questions about your aspirations in your interviews. Never disparage the past, but clearly show that you have a personal vision for growth in a new area or a plan to change the company in an exciting way. Hypothetically, if you were in a third-generation manufacturing business, you could discuss anything from reinvesting in robotics to developing new product lines to diversifying profits into entirely different industries. The admissions committee will be less concerned about the specific path you describe and more concerned that the idea you have in mind is exciting and, most of all, yours. [b]Consider recommenders carefully.[/b] That you should not ask a family member for a letter of recommendation should go without saying, but this does not mean that you lack strong options. Instead, you could ask, for example, a client, supplier, mentor, independent board member, or advisor to the family business to write on your behalf. What is most important is that whomever you ask to write your recommendation, you must advise them to not just be a cheerleader but to write a thoughtful and even critical letter, just as they would for any applicant. Your letter must clearly be objective because anything else could seem disingenuous and damage your candidacy. As long as their letter comes across as honest and thoughtful, your recommender can establish credibility and help your chances. If you are a family business applicant and you have questions about how to manifest an “earn it” identity, how to communicate your vision for your firm, or whom to choose as your recommenders, we encourage you to [url=https://www.mbamission.com/consult/mba-admissions/]sign up for a free consultation[/url] with an mbaMission admissions expert. We have worked with many family business applicants over the years and can answer your most pressing questions during this complimentary half-hour session. |
02 Jun 2022, 08:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: How to Get Into Darden School of Business: UVA Darden Essay Tips and Examples |
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[url=https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Darden-Logo-1.jpg?ssl=1][img]https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Darden-Logo-1.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1[/img][/url] The University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business has long highlighted the strength of its community, the way students collaborate both inside and outside the classroom to learn and grow, and the value of bringing people from diverse backgrounds and with differing mind-sets together, and the school’s application essay prompts focus on all these ideas. Candidates must provide three short essays—which the school interestingly refers to as “short answer questions”—of 200 to 300 words. As a whole, the essays cover applicants’ personal, educational, and career objectives while touching on aspects of Darden’s particular character and ethos. Candidates who feel they have still more they need to impart to the admissions committee can take advantage of the application’s 250-word “Additional Comments” section as well. Read on for our analysis of Darden’s 2022–2023 prompts. [b]Essay 1: Given that you will be forming lifelong connections with your classmates that extend beyond the classroom, what is important for your classmates to know about you that is not on your resumé? (200 words)[/b] Before you start writing, do some foundational research into what the Darden community is like and how it functions. The school is known for having a very collaborative, close-knit student body, so the admissions committee understandably wants to know that you are not only aware of this fact but also ready to engage with and contribute to the community. So, in a mere 200 words, you must reveal that you have a perspective, attribute, background, and/or talent that will enrich and support the student body in some way. Although the prompt refers to your future classmates broadly, an important element of the Darden MBA experience that you must keep in mind as you craft your response is its learning teams. These are carefully selected groups of five to six students, assembled with the intent of creating an eclectic mix of personalities and backgrounds. This group meets in the evenings to tackle the next day’s case work together (and if you are not familiar with the case method, now is the time to do your homework on it as well!). Learning teams are a core element of the Darden program, in part because some cases are so voluminous that students must take a divide-and-conquer approach and teach one another the material. In the classroom, students discuss and debate the material at hand, exchanging ideas, knowledge, and proposals and actively working through the lessons together. In short, the learning experience at Darden is intense and complex, requiring strong teamwork skills and contributions but also providing support and camaraderie. Also, much of what occurs outside the classroom at the school is spearheaded and facilitated by the students, rather than the administration. So, perhaps you are a great debater and can clearly see and elucidate multiple sides to a story. Or maybe you have a talent for diffusing tense situations with humor and so can keep a tired and stressed group of ambitious students with strongly held but opposing views in a good headspace and cooperating civilly. Perhaps you are a certified Reiki practitioner and can help your classmates manage their stress and energy levels. Or you might have an interesting and/or novel extracurricular talent, interest, or background and could create or contribute to a club through which to share it with your fellow students (consider, for example, the school’s popular [b][url=https://www.darden.virginia.edu/mba/culture-community/clubs-organizations/school-of-brew]School of Brew[/url][/b], which was founded within the past five years). Within reason, the skill or trait you choose to highlight here does not matter as much as establishing that it would make you a positive addition to Darden’s MBA experience. To learn more about Darden and the characteristic elements of its MBA program, download a free copy of the mbaMission [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/uva-darden-school-of-business-administration-insider-s-guide]Insider’s Guide to the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business Administration[/url][/b]. [b]Essay 2: Please describe a tangible example that illuminates your experience promoting an inclusive environment and what you would bring to creating an inclusive global community at Darden. (300 words)[/b] 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 considering and incorporating others’ input and standpoints. Via this essay, Darden hopes to learn how you view, approach, and engage with such differences. Once enrolled in the school’s MBA program, you will be surrounded every day by people 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 and that you are interested in people and input that come from outside your usual frame of reference. And by asking you to share a time when you “promot[ed] an inclusive environment,” Darden is requesting actual evidence of this open-mindedness in action. At mbaMission, we love when admissions committees request examples, because they invite essays that use a narrative structure, and we believe such essays tend to be not only more revelatory but also more interesting to read (always good when trying to make an impression on someone who reads literally thousands of essays each year!). To illustrate, you might start by launching directly into your story and immediately highlighting the actions you took to enhance inclusivity in a given situation: “When I realized that some of our new hires were reluctant to take part in our company’s weekly ‘wine wind down,’ I committed myself to finding out why and what could be done to ….” Darden will understandably want to know the outcome of the incident you describe, so you need to relate the results of your actions, but the admissions committee is even more interested in knowing what your motivations were, what decisions you made, and what steps you took to effect change. In other words, you must illustrate the values and thought process behind your efforts, in addition to clearly conveying your actions and their outcome. Keep in mind, however, that the incident or situation you share should claim only one half of this essay. The admissions committee is also interested in learning about how you expect to apply your mind-set and dedication to inclusivity once you arrive on campus. [b]Essay 3: At this time how would you describe your short-term, post-MBA goal in terms of industry, function, geography, company size and/or mission and how does it align with the long-term vision you have for your career? (200 words)[/b] At an mbaMission annual conference, Darden’s Executive Director of Admissions Dawna Clarke shared with us that one of her favorite expressions is “You don’t know what you don’t know” and that she keeps this maxim in mind when considering Darden applicants’ career goals. MBA students encounter an incredible (and often surprising) number and breadth of professional opportunities while in business school, and given Dawna’s extensive admissions background, she knows only too well that candidates can and do change their minds and trajectories along the way. This understanding is behind the intro to this prompt (“At this time,…”), but Darden nonetheless wants to know that you have given this aspect of your MBA experience very serious thought, have thoroughly researched your options, and are approaching business school with a strong sense of purpose—that you have a fitting and attainable goal in mind and can articulate it clearly. By providing the level of detail the essay question demands (“industry, function, geography, company size and/or mission”), you will be able to convince the school that you have done the necessary background work and are fully cognizant of where you want to go after graduating. Note that the admissions committee asks specifically about your short-term goal, which is often a pretty practical one, compared with applicants’ typically more idealistic long-term goals. So, first make sure that the path you have chosen is a sensible one for you. Ask yourself, “Will a Darden MBA help me get from where I am now to where I want to be?” If, for example, you are a journalist and have dreams of working at a hedge fund after you graduate, the admissions committee will probably not respond very positively to your plan, because hedge funds tend to be the domain of math PhDs and seasoned finance professionals. The school wants to feel that you will be able to achieve your aspirations after completing its program, so you want to avoid goals that could sound farfetched. Instead, as a journalist, you would need to identify a far more realistic path, but one that is true to who you are. Being ambitious is great, but the goal you present must be connected to reality, and to demonstrate that connection, you will have to spell out why your objective is a reasonable one for you. Establishing briefly that you have the skills and knowledge to enter your target field will make that logical connection for your admissions reader, reassuring them that you can be a happy and productive graduate. One’s career goals are often part of a traditional personal statement, so we encourage you to download your free copy of the [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/personal-statement-guide]mbaMission Personal Statement Guide[/url][/b], which helps applicants write this style of essay for any school. This complimentary guide offers detailed advice on approaching and framing these subjects, along with multiple illustrative examples. Be sure to [b][url=https://info.mbamission.com/MBA-Personal-Statement-Guide]claim your copy today[/url][/b]. The next few questions are not technically essay prompts, but they are part of the Darden application and should be treated/approached with the same level of thought and effort. [b]The [url=https://www.darden.virginia.edu/mba/darden-worldwide/scholarship-fund/]Batten Foundation Worldwide Scholarship[/url] provides all Darden students in our full-time MBA program with an opportunity to participate in a [url=https://www.darden.virginia.edu/mba/darden-worldwide/]Darden Worldwide Course[/url]. Darden has an incredible network of alumni and partners around the world, and, in a typical year, the School connects with over 80 countries. If you could choose any location in the world, where would you want to travel? (5 words) [/b] [b]And why? (50 words)[/b] First, we want to make sure you fully understand what this essay prompt is revealing. At the aforementioned mbaMission annual conference, Dawna explained to us that because of this generous Batten scholarship, every single Darden student can now afford to participate in an international course at some point during their two years in the program. Business school is an experience rife with opportunities, and Darden wants to make sure no barriers stand in the way of its students taking advantage of this particular one: the chance to study abroad and explore new horizons. While this essay prompt might initially strike you as hypothetical, let us reassure you that it is very much grounded in reality. In addition, the admissions committee has noted on its blog, “Th[is] question is intentionally broad. While we encourage you to review our Darden Worldwide Course offerings, you are welcome to go beyond the locations where we deliver a course when crafting your response” (emphasis added). So really plumb your interests and identify a location that truly excites you—then write about it! You can reveal yourself to be adventurous, curious, or intellectual by pinpointing which country most entices you. Then clearly and succinctly (your response must fit a delineated box, so no longwinded travelogues!) convey your enthusiasm for this choice and explain how the opportunity would enhance your Darden education and experience. (Note that the previous paragraph is exactly 50 words long!) [b]If there is further information you believe would be helpful to the Admission Committee, please provide it. (250 words)[/b] 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. In our [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/mbamission-optional-essays-guide]mbaMission Optional Essays Guide[/url][/b], 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 Darden does not stipulate that you can only discuss a problem area in this essay, it does open the door for you to discuss something that is not addressed elsewhere in your application but 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. [b]The Next Step—Mastering Your UVA Darden Interview[/b] 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 [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/collections/interview-guides]free Interview Guides[/url][/b] to spur you along! Download your free copy of [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/uva-darden-interview-guide]The UVA Darden Interview Guide[/url][/b] today. |
03 Jun 2022, 08:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: How to Get Into Tuck School of Business: Dartmouth Tuck Essay Tips and Examples |
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[url=https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/tuck.jpg?ssl=1][img]https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/tuck.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1[/img][/url] Applicants to Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business are expected to provide three 300-word essays and have the option to submit a fourth, if anything more about their candidacy needs to be offered or explained. The school’s first prompt broadly covers applicants’ need for an MBA, and specifically a Tuck MBA. Essay 2 deals with candidates’ individuality, and the third essay is about a time when applicants demonstrated or acted on one or more key characteristics the school values in its students. Tuck clearly seeks individuals who will be ambitious, cooperative, and supportive members of its community. Our more detailed essay analysis for Tuck’s 2022–2023 essay questions follows. [b]Essay 1: Tuck students can articulate how the distinctive Tuck MBA will advance their aspirations. Why are you pursuing an MBA and why Tuck? (300 words) [/b] By not specifically requesting short- and long-term goals in this essay prompt, Tuck leaves the decision of how to frame your career aspirations up to you. The natural assumption is that if you have reached a point in your professional journey where you believe an MBA is necessary to move forward, you must have a goal in mind that you are working toward—even if that goal is still fairly nebulous or malleable at this point. To address the “why Tuck?” element of this prompt, you will need to indicate which of the school’s resources and/or what aspect(s) of its program as a whole will be most helpful to you in your pursuits, and this requires more than a pandering summarization or a stark list of offerings. This means you must move beyond the Tuck website, viewbook, and related marketing materials and make direct contact with students, alumni, and other school representatives. In-person admissions events, campus visits, and online events and options allow candidates to familiarize themselves with Tuck’s environment and resources. Understanding what and who the school’s program truly entails, as well as how it works, is key in identifying and then articulating your need for a Tuck MBA in particular. By thoroughly doing your research on the school and drawing a clear picture for your admissions reader of how the particular offerings you have identified relate directly to your needs and how you intend to apply them, chances are high that you will submit a truly effective essay. Because this prompt encompasses some of the most elemental components of a traditional personal statement essay, we encourage you to download a free copy of the [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/personal-statement-guide]mbaMission Personal Statement Guide[/url][/b]. This document provides in-depth guidance on how to consider and respond to these sorts of questions, along with numerous illustrative examples. And for a thorough exploration of Tuck’s academic program, unique resources, defining characteristics, crucial statistics, social life, standout professors, and other key features, download your free copy of the [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/dartmouth-tuck-school-of-business-insider-s-guide]mbaMission Insider’s Guide to the Tuck School of Business[/url][/b]. [b]Essay 2: Tuck students recognize how their individuality adds to the fabric of Tuck. Tell us who you are. (300 words) [/b] This essay question tasks applicants with sharing what they feel are important aspects of their character and personality. With the essay’s rather tight word allotment, keeping the scope of the query narrow makes sense. Nevertheless, we feel that the prompt’s first line, which notes that Tuckies “recognize how their individuality adds to the [school’s] fabric,” is a hint that candidates are expected to understand and be able to articulate how they fit with (and could therefore theoretically contribute to) the school’s community—they just do not need to be overly specific and detailed in conveying this information. First, we suggest you grab some paper and make an old-fashioned list of your key characteristics, values, and interests. Do not concern yourself with trying to identify the “right” ones but focus instead on the ones that would be most representative of who you are. A good brainstorming tactic is to imagine meeting someone for the first time at a party or other event and how you would go about getting acquainted. What kind of information would you want to know about this person, and what facts about yourself would you be most eager to share, as a way of conveying who you are and making a connection? Take some time to delve into your personality in this way. At the same time, keep in mind what the admissions committee will already know about you from the other portions of your application, to avoid wasting an opportunity to share something new, and pinpoint stories that provide context and color to your claims, versus just stating them outright. For example, rather than a declaration like “I tend to be a very altruistic person and enjoy giving back to my community by being a reading tutor,” you might say something more like “Tuesday nights have become my favorite night of the week, because that is when I tutor local elementary students in reading, and the way their eyes light up when they learn a new word or finish another book never fails to inspire and gratify me.” Giving your claims sufficient context and a bit of “life” in this way allows the admissions committee to more fully understand and appreciate them. This essay prompt actually allows you a great deal of freedom to choose and share the information you believe is most important for the admissions committee to know about you. In addition to focusing on the elements of your personality that you feel are most distinct and revelatory of who you are as an individual, give some thought to which of your characteristics mesh best with the Dartmouth Tuck experience. (We strongly encourage you to click through and read the [b][url=https://www.tuck.dartmouth.edu/admissions/criteria]school’s admissions criteria[/url][/b] in detail, if you have not already done so.) Avoid simply trying to fit in as much information as possible about yourself in hopes of stumbling on the “correct” answers and instead clearly present and illustrate your most fitting qualities. Authenticity and enthusiasm are the keys to your success with this essay. [b]Essay 3: Tuck students are encouraging, collaborative, and empathetic, even when it is not convenient or easy. Describe a meaningful experience in which you exemplified one or more of these attributes. (300 words) [/b] This essay prompt aligns perfectly with Tuck’s long-held belief in teamwork and community spirit. By illustrating via this essay that you have a natural interest in helping, working with, and/or caring about others and have a history of doing so, you will demonstrate for the admissions committee that you possess the qualities it seeks in its next class of students. In addition, stepping up to be there for someone in a way that is important to them also shows an instinct for leadership, which is valued by all MBA programs. Because this is a fairly straightforward essay prompt, we recommend responding in an equally straightforward manner. Beyond simply sharing a story of having supported, assisted, and/or encouraged someone in a meaningful way, you will need to share the motivation(s) and thought processes that led you to want to do so in the first place. With only 300 words with which to respond, you will need to clearly but succinctly convey the situation as you originally encountered it, your inspiration to become involved, the actions you took, the outcome, and, ideally, what you learned from the experience (though this last element should be somewhat brief). The qualifier “even when it is not convenient or easy” suggests to us that stories in which the decision to engage might have been fraught in some way or the path to the desired outcome was not entirely direct or smooth could resonate slightly better with the admissions committee. If you are deciding between two or more instances you could discuss for this essay, consider going with one in which your intervention was perhaps not requested or immediately accepted—one in which you perhaps needed to diplomatically negotiate your participation in it. Note that 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. Also consider that the prompt does not indicate that the recipient must be an individual, so it could potentially involve a pair or small group. 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 any case, absolutely avoid bragging about your role or suggesting that the party you aided could never have succeeded without you. The school is looking for evidence that you not only have a natural inclination to invest in and bolster others but also have the capacity and skills to do so effectively and are mature enough to grow from the experience yourself. Do not try to include several different experiences (perhaps for fear of offering the “wrong” one) and instead 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. [b]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. (300 words)[/b] You might 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. A past Tuck 360 blog post noted that receiving an unnecessarily long essay would cause the admissions committee to “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 [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/mbamission-optional-essays-guide]mbaMission Optional Essays Guide[/url][/b], 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. [b]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. (300 words) [/b] 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. [b]The Next Step—Mastering Your Dartmouth Tuck Interview[/b] 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 to help you develop this high level of preparation, we offer our [url=https://shop.mbamission.com/collections/interview-guides][b]free Interview Guides[/b][/url]! Download your free copy of the [url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/dartmouth-tuck-interview-guide][b]Dartmouth Tuck Interview Guide[/b][/url] today. |
04 Jun 2022, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: How to Get Into McCombs School of Business: Texas McCombs Essay Tips and Examples |
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[url=https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/U-Texas-McCombs.png?ssl=1][img]https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/U-Texas-McCombs.png?resize=300%2C143&ssl=1[/img][/url] The McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin asks for just one relatively brief yet still revelatory essay from its applicants. Applicants are asked to imagine themselves at the end point of their MBA studies and to reflect on what they have gained and learned at McCombs within the context of their goals. Anyone with a potential problem area or unclear element in their profile can also submit an optional essay to address the issue(s). While minimal, the Texas McCombs essay should still give applicants ample opportunity to provide meaningful insight into their characters and strengths. Our more in-depth analysis of the program’s essay prompt(s) for 2022–2023 follows. [b]Essay 1: Picture yourself at graduation. Describe how you spent your time as a Texas McCombs MBA student to achieve your personal and professional goals. (500 words)[/b] With this prompt, the McCombs admissions committee is asking you to imagine where you want to go after you have completed your MBA studies (in both your career and your life more generally) and explain how you used your time at the school to prepare yourself to get there. So, without using the actual words “why McCombs?” and “how do you expect to engage with our community?,” the school is nevertheless asking you for precisely this information. The admissions committee essentially wants to know what has compelled you to choose McCombs in particular for your MBA and how you will take advantage of specific resources and experiences it offers. The assumption is that something you have learned about McCombs leads you to believe that its MBA program will 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. So what has given you that impression? 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, and McCombs specifically asks about achieving your personal goals as well as your career aspirations. While you are a student, you can (and should!) also have fun, make friends, and be a contributing member of the community outside the classroom. So you certainly can discuss more than just the 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. [b]Optional Statement: Please provide any additional information you believe is important or address any areas of concern that you believe will be beneficial to MBA Admissions in considering your application (e.g., gaps in work experience, choice of recommender, academic performance, or extenuating personal circumstances). (250 words)[/b] 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. Consider downloading a free copy of our [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/mbamission-optional-essays-guide]mbaMission Optional Essays Guide[/url][/b], 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 might 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. |
06 Jun 2022, 08:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: I Have a Gap in My Resume |
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The perfect MBA applicant does not actually exist. However, the perception of the perfect applicant absolutely does—such an individual scales greater and greater personal, community, and professional peaks undeterred until finally applying to business school. Because of this idealized image of an applicant, candidates who have taken any time off from their professional pursuits believe they are automatically at a disadvantage. They worry that the admissions committees will see the gap(s) in their professional timeline and dismiss their candidacy outright. After all, the schools probably have many other, seemingly more determined individuals they could admit instead, right? Time off has the potential to be destructive, true. If you spent a year sitting on your couch watching reality TV, you might be in trouble. If you have a strong professional history and spent one month between jobs sitting on your couch watching reality TV, your record should still speak for itself. But even if you do take (or have taken) an extended leave, as long as you are productive during that time and grow personally, you should still be just fine. In fact, an adventure may even add to your story and help you differentiate yourself. If you spend six months or a year traveling before you start your professional career, you are certainly still an eligible candidate for a top MBA program. If you take personal leave to care for a family member, do charity work, or even pursue a personal passion—an art form, for example—as long as you can show a purpose behind your decision and reveal a broad record of competency, a school should still see your merits. Admissions officers are (this may be surprising to some!) actual human beings. They understand that applicants are not robots and that they have interests, passions, and personal lives. If you make good use of your time, they will not condemn you. They just might envy you. |
09 Jun 2022, 09:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: How to Minimize Careless Errors While Taking 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. Remember those times when you were sure you got the answer right, only to find out that you got it wrong? For a moment, you even think that the answer key must have a mistake in it. Then, you take another look at the problem, check your work, and say, “I can’t believe I did that!” By definition, a careless mistake occurs when we did actually know all of the necessary info and we did actually possess all of the necessary skills, but we committed an error anyway. We all make careless mistakes; our goal is to learn how to minimize these mistakes as much as possible. A lot of times, careless errors are due to one of two things: (1) some bad habit that actually increases the chances that we will make a mistake or (2) our own natural weaknesses. Here is an example of the former: they ask me to find how long Car B takes to go a certain distance, and I do everything perfectly, but I solve for Car A instead. So, what is my bad habit here? Often, I did not write down “Car B = ?” I also noticed that I was more likely to make this mistake when I set up the problem such that I was solving for Car A first; sometimes, I would forget to finish the problem and just pick Car A’s time. So, I developed several different good habits to put in the place of my various bad habits. First, I set up a reminder for myself: I skipped several blank lines on my scrap paper and then wrote “B time = ______?” I also built the habit of solving directly for what I wanted. Now, while I am setting up the problem, I always look first to see whether I can set it up to solve directly for Car B, not Car A. So, what did I do here? First, I figured out what specific mistake I was making and why I was making it. Then, I instituted three new habits that would minimize my chances of making the same mistake in the future. Incidentally, one of those habits (solving directly for what is asked) also saves me time! Happy studying, and go start figuring out how to minimize those careless mistakes! |
09 Jun 2022, 09:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Barry Nalebuff, Yale School of Management |
 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 profile Barry Nalebuff from the Yale School of Management (SOM). Perhaps best known as one of the founders of Honest Tea, Barry Nalebuff is the Milton Steinbach Professor of Management at the Yale SOM. An expert in game theory and strategy, Nalebuff has been a professor at the SOM since 1989. A second year told mbaMission that in the classroom, Nalebuff “is a favorite for his sharp wit and insights.” Nalebuff is also an accomplished author with more than 400,000 copies in print. His book The Art of Strategy: A Game Theorist’s Guide to Success in Business and Life (W.W. Norton & Co., 2008), for example, explores how almost all interactions—business and personal alike—have a game theory component. Nalebuff’s new book, Split the Pie: A Radical New Way to Negotiate (Harper Business), explores the art of negotiation and will be released in March 2022. Nalebuff and Adam Brandenburger, a professor of business economics and strategy at New York University’s Stern School of Business, developed the concept of a new business strategy called “co-opetition,” which they write about in the book Co-Opetition: A Revolutionary Mindset That Combines Competition and Cooperation: The Game Theory Strategy That’s Changing the Game of Business (Crown Business, 1997). The book’s listing on Amazon.com describes co-opetition as “a business strategy that goes beyond the old rules of competition and cooperation to combine the advantages of both. Co-opetition is a pioneering, high profit means of leveraging business relationships.” A first year noted in a SOM Community Blog post, “Prof. Nalebuff never misses an opportunity to illustrate the ways in which companies can cooperate to grow the PIE (potential industry earnings). Of course, he then always reminds us that these same companies should compete aggressively to secure the biggest piece of that newly expanded PIE.” For more information about the Yale SOM and 16 other top-ranked business schools, check out our free mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
10 Jun 2022, 14:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: How to Get Into Yale School of Management: Yale SOM Essay Tips and Examples |
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[url=https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/yale-logo.png?ssl=1][img]https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/yale-logo.png?resize=300%2C60&ssl=1[/img][/url] The Yale School of Management (SOM) is one of the few top business schools that give candidates just one required application essay with which to make their desired impression on the admissions committee. The Yale SOM requires applicants to expound on a significant commitment and its underlying impetus and meaning. The essay has a 500-word maximum, so you need to be clear, direct, and rather succinct in your response, without much preamble or extraneous text. If you feel the required essay’s topic does not allow you to share a particularly important or compelling aspect of your profile, or if you have an issue in your candidacy that would benefit from further explication, you can use the “optional information” space to fill in the blanks. The program’s asserts that this is “not an additional essay,” however, and that “most candidates do not need to complete this section.” Also, the submission is limited to 200 words, so you must again be concise in conveying the necessary details. Our full analysis of the school’s essay prompts for 2022–2023 follows. [b]Describe the biggest commitment you have ever made. (500 words maximum)[/b] [b]The question evolved from a conversation with Professor of Organizational Behavior Amy Wrzesniewski, who noted, “Reading about future plans is helpful, but actions speak louder than words.” In your response, we are looking to learn about how you have approached a particular commitment, whether personal or professional, and the behaviors that support it. You should be less concerned about what we want to hear and instead focus on being honest with yourself in selecting and describing the commitment that has been most significant to you.[/b] When this intriguing essay prompt was originally introduced in 2016, Assistant Dean for Admissions [b][url=https://som.yale.edu/blog/assistant-dean-admissions-yale-som-application-essay-question-announced]Bruce DelMonico noted[/url][/b] that the “seemingly simple and straightforward question” was composed with assistance from one of the program’s organizational behavior professors. Yale’s admissions committee clearly takes the application essay seriously and is thoughtful about the mind-set and types of behaviors it wants to see in the school’s students. In an online [b][url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0uVg70ZVl4&t=66s]Q&A session with several leading admissions officers[/url][/b] we hosted, Assistant Dean for Admissions Bruce DelMonico declared himself “agnostic” about whether applicants should discuss a personal commitment or a professional one, noting that he wants to gauge the level to which candidates commit themselves, rather than the context of the engagement: “We don’t have a preference for professional or personal accomplishments. . . . We are not making value judgments about what that commitment is, but it is more about how you approach that commitment, how you have demonstrated that commitment, and what sorts of behaviors underlie that commitment.” You might initially perceive this prompt as rather narrow in scope, allowing you to share the story of just a single professional or community project and nothing more, but that is not the case. You can certainly discuss your dedication to a particular project or cause, of course, but you are definitely not restricted to this approach. Consider this: you can also be committed to an idea (e.g., personal liberty) or a value (e.g., creating opportunity for others), and approaching your essay from this angle instead could enable you to reveal much more of and about yourself to the admissions committee. For example, you might relate a few anecdotes that on the surface seem unrelated—drawing from different parts of your life—but that all support and illustrate how you are guided by a particular belief or world view. Or, to use the example of personal liberty as a theme, you could show how you take control of your academic and professional paths, adhering steadfastly to your values and vision. Whatever you choose to feature as the focus of your commitment, your actions and decisions, manifest via a variety of experiences, must allow you to own it as a genuine part of who you are as an individual. Identifying a theme that you think no one else will ever use is not your goal here; presenting authentic anecdotes that powerfully support your selected theme is what is important. If you elect to focus on a single anecdote, the commitment you claim must be truly inordinate. Being particularly proud of an accomplishment is not enough to make it an effective topic for this essay. You need to demonstrate your constancy and dedication in the face of challenges or resistance, revealing that your connection to the experience was hard won. Strive to show that you have been resolute in following a sometimes difficult path and have doggedly stayed on course, citing clear examples to illustrate your steadfastness. Nothing commonplace will work here—you must make your reader truly understand your journey and leave them more impressed by your effort than the outcome. Within its application, the Yale SOM also poses the following question: [b]How did you arrive at these [your] career interests? How have you or how will you position yourself to pursue them? (250 words maximum)[/b] Although this is not presented by the school as an official essay question, its length (at 250 words) and topic lead us to feel that a little guidance might be helpful. Here, the admissions committee is essentially asking for context for your professional aspirations, which typically involves some level of information about your work history, and wants to learn how you expect to use the Yale SOM experience and degree to move your forward on your path to achieving your goals. Keep in mind that the admissions committee will already have your resume on hand to review, and this should provide the basic information as far as your previous positions/titles, responsibilities, and accomplishments. What the school is looking for here is the more personal side of the story—what has motivated you along the way and is motivating you still, prodding you to pursue an MBA as part of your efforts to continue on your chosen professional path. In an [b][url=https://som.yale.edu/apptips-post-mba-interests]application tips blog post[/url][/b], Kate Botelho, associate director of admissions at the Yale SOM, offers this advice when considering your response: “You may want to think about the answers to questions such as ‘How did these interests develop?’ ‘What kind of exposure have you had to them?’ ‘What steps have you already taken to explore these interests?’ ‘What enables you to pursue them successfully?’” Given that this prompt essentially covers some of the elements found in a typical traditional personal statement essay, we encourage you to download a free copy of the [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/personal-statement-guide]mbaMission Personal Statement Guide[/url][/b], which offers in-depth advice on how to address these sorts of topics and provides examples. [b]Optional Information:[/b] [b]If any aspect of your candidacy needs further explanation (unexplained gaps in work experience, choice of recommenders, academic performance, promotions or recognitions, etc.), please provide a brief description here. (200 words maximum)[/b] Yale’s optional information prompt invites you to address any potential problem areas in your profile if you feel you need to. The use of the adjective “brief” clearly conveys that the school wants you to focus on imparting key information rather than offering a detailed and long-winded explanation of the issue in question. This is absolutely not an opportunity to share another cool story or otherwise try to impress or pander to the admissions committee. If you do not truly need to explain an issue or potentially confusing element of your candidacy, we do not recommend that you complete this section; if you do have issues to clarify, keep things concise. In our free [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/mbamission-optional-essays-guide]mbaMission Optional Essays Guide[/url][/b], we offer detailed advice on when and how to take advantage of these kinds of opportunities, with multiple examples. For a thorough exploration of the Yale SOM academic program/merits, defining characteristics, crucial statistics, social life, academic environment, and other key features, check out the mbaMission [url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/yale-school-of-management-insider-s-guide][b]Insider’s Guide to the Yale School of Management[/b][/url]. [b]The Next Step—Mastering Your Yale SOM Interview[/b] 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 [url=https://shop.mbamission.com/collections/interview-guides][b]free Interview Guides[/b][/url]. Download your free copy of the [url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/yale-school-of-management-interview-guide][b]Yale School of Management Interview Guide[/b][/url] today. |
13 Jun 2022, 09:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: I Love Your School So Much I Cannot Stop Writing About It |
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Although admissions officers want to know that you are interested in their school, they do not want to read your repeated professions of love for it. Some candidates mistakenly believe that in their essays, they must constantly repeat enthusiastic statements about how they will improve their skills at their target school, regardless of whether the school asks for such information. For instance, consider the following sample (hypothetical) response to the essay question “What achievement are you most proud of and why?”: “In starting ABC Distributors, I learned a great deal about entrepreneurship, and I hope to formalize this knowledge at the XYZ School of Management. Only with XYZ’s vast entrepreneurial resources and profound alumni connections will I be able to take my next venture to a higher level. At XYZ, I will grow my business skills and potential.” We can identify numerous problems with this submission—including that the statements are cloying and have no real substance. However, the most egregious issue is that the school never asked applicants to discuss how the program would affect their abilities. Thus, the “Why our school?” component is just empty pandering. As you write your essays, always focus on answering the essay questions as they are written—do not try to anticipate or respond to unasked questions. So, if your target school does not explicitly request that you address the question “Why our school?,” do not look for ways to sneakily answer that question in your essay(s). Of course, if the school does ask for this information, then certainly do your research and provide it. Again, the key is to always respond to the school’s question and give the admissions committee the information it wants. |
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Hi Generic [Bot],
Here are updates for you:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
 Wednesday, Apr 24, 2024 11:30am NY / 3:30pm London / 9pm Mumbai Watch earlier episodes of DI series below EP1: 6 Hardest Two-Part Analysis Questions EP2: 5 Hardest Graphical Interpretation Questions  ➡️ Sayali narrates her experience of succeeding on the GMAT after 4 attempts & 2 years of preparations with 32 percentile improvement on GMAT verbal.
Tuck at Dartmouth
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