Personal MBA Coach’s Takeaways from 2018 AIGAC MBA Applicant SurveyThis is a very exciting time of year for me, for
Personal MBA Coach and the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC). This week, as the chair of the survey committee, I presented the 2018 results to admissions directors of 25+ top MBA Programs including HBS, Booth, Kellogg, Wharton, Ross, Yale and others at our annual conference. A special thank you to Kellogg, Chicago Booth, Michigan Ross, McCombs and Rotman for hosting this year!
Each year, AIGAC conducts a survey of over 2,000 current and previous MBA applicants aimed at better understanding the MBA application process and collecting advice for students, schools and consultants on how to improve this process.
While both MBA consultants and Admissions Directors took away the clear message that applicants have high expectations, the survey also yielded some interesting information for applicants.
Check out this year’s highlights and get some important tips for getting to know perspective schools throughout the application process.
How to Get to Know Business SchoolsAs we shared in our recent blog, courting your target schools and getting to know them better is a crucial part of the process!
This year, we again asked candidates what sources they use to research target programs. While it is no surprise that nearly all applicants used school websites and other online resources, many applicants go above and beyond this step.
Over 50% of applicants have spoken to current students, over 40% to alumni and over 40% have communicated directly with admissions staff.
Further, over 40% have attended an MBA fair or off campus information session.
Keep in mind that while you do not have to do all of these things, it is crucial to leverage multiple avenues for getting to know your target programs. This also helps the schools get to know you, a very important part of the process for some schools!
How Consultants HelpWhen asked how consultants helped during the process, survey respondents said the top two benefits were being educated to apply to more schools and retake the GMAT. Applicants also valued consultants’ advice to consider schools they otherwise would not have considered. Having this “reality check” to make sure that you target the right programs for you is really important (often this means reaching for a school you may not have considered previously).
[url-https://aigac.org/for-media/application-survey/]Check out the full survey results here for complete details! [/url]
If you would like individual and personal support while applying to any of these programs and more, please find information about
Personal MBA Coach’s comprehensive packages or contact me to discuss your profile as well as how I can help! As a Wharton and MIT graduate, I regularly help many applicants navigate their applications each year. We also conduct mock interviews with former top 10 interviewers on our team.
Email me at:
scott@personalmbacoach.com or call +1 617-645-2424 today.
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