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06 Jul 2017, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: The “Right” Path |
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Each year, we hear from a few people who think their professional position is a liability when applying to business school: “I am a school teacher. Maybe if I transitioned to consulting, I would get into the school of my dreams.” Although bankers and consultants are certainly much more represented at top business schools than teachers, this is not evidence of a bias among admissions officers, but of the nature of those workplaces. Most bankers and consultants need an MBA to progress past a certain point on the corporate ladder, whereas no teacher truly needs that MBA to progress. What is more important than focusing on an industry or on a particular community endeavor is your performance in your endeavors. Classes at top-ranked MBA programs have space for high-performing consultants, bankers, and teachers—something that cannot be said for low-performing individuals in any field. Top programs want a diversity of experience in their classrooms and the promise of achievement going forward, not a job title. |
06 Jul 2017, 17:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: University of Pennsylvania Wharton School Essay Analysis, 2017–2018 |
 The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania has opted to maintain its two broad mandatory essay questions—one focusing on “why Wharton?” and the other on applicants’ expected contributions to the school’s community—this year, with no changes whatsoever. Wharton obviously wants to know that candidates have taken the time to get to know the school’s program and character in depth and can clearly visualize themselves as part of it. Applicants also have the opportunity to submit an optional essay, if they feel a need to do so, to address any problematic or potentially confusing elements of their profile. Altogether, the school’s prompts allow you to craft a rather personal impression of yourself for the admissions committee, one that should complement the more quantitative parts of your application. In our analysis, we proffer our advice on how you might accomplish this. Required Essay 1: What do you hope to gain professionally from the Wharton MBA? (500 words) In a mere 500 words, you must discuss your career goals—giving very brief context for why they are realistic for you—and then reveal how Wharton will help you pursue these goals by demonstrating a thorough understanding of what the school offers and a well-thought-out game plan for availing yourself of these offerings. To effectively do this, you must first familiarize yourself with Wharton’s various resources and pinpoint those that truly pertain to you and the direction in which you hope to go. Simply presenting a list of classes that you think sound interesting will not suffice here, and avoid vague statements about how great the school is. You must clearly demonstrate a connection between your aspirations, what you need to achieve them (e.g., skills, experience[s], connections, exposure), and what Wharton in particular can provide that will enable you to fill those gaps. Note that Wharton asks applicants to address only the professional aspect—not the professional and personal aspect (as it has in past years)—of their business school goals. This allows you to share your career-related stories and ambitions more fully, which in turn means you can and should use the other essay(s) to discuss non-work aspects of your life and thereby provide a more complete and well-rounded picture of yourself for the admissions committee. In many ways, this prompt is asking for a typical MBA personal statement. We therefore encourage you to download your free copy of the mbaMission Personal Statement Guide. This complimentary guide offers detailed advice on approaching and framing these subjects, along with multiple illustrative examples. Be sure to claim your copy today. Required Essay 2: Teamwork is at the core of the Wharton MBA experience with each student contributing unique elements to our collaborative culture. How will you contribute to the Wharton community? (400 words) Whether this question is meant to be about teamwork or about contribution is not immediately clear. We see nothing wrong with relating some of your team-related experiences in this essay, but what the admissions committee is really interested in learning is what you can contribute to a team—and these are not necessarily the same thing. You can be an additive member of the Wharton community and culture in numerous ways. For example, perhaps you have specialized knowledge you could bring to your Wharton Learning Team that would provide context in analyzing certain business problems and cases. Maybe you have a character trait that has enabled you to bring people together in past communities, such as a good sense of humor or even strong listening skills. You might even have specific experience that pertains directly to a club you would like to lead or join. We can think of almost limitless examples, and the ones we have presented here are possibly even a bit banal, because the key to being effective with this essay is to really own your proffered contribution. This you accomplish by sharing your unique personal stories and then relating them to specific resources at Wharton. We suspect that many applicants will discuss a certain trait or skill and then end their essay with a platitude like “And I will bring this skill to Wharton for the betterment of all.” To create a truly strong and compelling essay, you must convincingly show that you fully understand the Wharton experience and are prepared to make a distinct and individualized contribution. To better familiarize yourself with the Wharton program and get an insider’s perspective on its academic program, unique offerings, social life, and other key characteristics, be sure to download a complimentary copy of the mbaMission Insider’s Guide to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Additional Essay: Required for all reapplicants. Explain how you have reflected on the previous decision about your application, and discuss any updates to your candidacy (e.g., changes in your professional life, additional coursework, extracurricular/volunteer engagements). (250 words) First-time applicants may also use this section to address any extenuating circumstances. (250 words) If you are a Wharton reapplicant, this essay is pretty straightforward. Whether you have improved your academic record, received a promotion, begun a new and exciting project, increased your community involvement, or taken on some sort of personal challenge, the key to success with this essay is conveying a very deliberate path of achievement. Wharton 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 Wharton 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. However, if you are not a Wharton reapplicant, pay special attention to the last line of this prompt: First-time applicants may also use this section to address any extenuating circumstances. Here is your opportunity—if needed—to address any lingering questions that an admissions officer might have about your candidacy, such as a poor grade or overall GPA, a low GRE or GMAT score, or a gap in your work experience. If you feel you may need to submit an additional essay for such a reason, consider downloading your free copy of our mbaMission Optional Essays Guide, in which we offer detailed advice on when and how to take advantage of the optional essay (along with multiple sample essays) to help you mitigate any problem areas in your profile. The Next Step—Mastering Your Wharton Interview: Many MBA candidates find admissions interviews stressful and intimidating, but mastering this important element of the application process is definitely possible—the key is informed preparation. And, on your way to this high level of preparation, we offer our free Interview Primers to spur you along! Download your free copy of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania Interview Primer today. |
07 Jul 2017, 09:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: mbaMission Consultant Spotlight: Heidi Granner |
At mbaMission, our consultants are more than just graduates of the world’s top MBA programs—we are also expert communicators who possess an unparalleled knowledge of the admissions process. Each week, we highlight one member of our team who has committed his/her professional life to helping you get into business school. After leaving a career in financial services, Heidi Granner headed to the University of Chicago Booth School of Business to earn her MBA. Among her other activities while studying at Chicago Booth, she worked as a member of the admissions team evaluating applications and interviewing candidates. After graduating, Heidi began a new career in management consulting with The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), where she worked with clients in consumer goods, financial services, and industrial goods while guiding BCG associates through the MBA admissions process in her free time. She was also heavily involved in recruiting, including interviewing more than 100 MBA students and leading a project to define BCG’s global recruiting strategy. She later joined The Wonderful Company as director of strategy, where she worked primarily on the Cuties California Clementines business, all the while redesigning and leading recruiting efforts for BCG. Heidi found her passion in one-on-one coaching and has worked as a full-time MBA admissions coach for five years. In her free time, she volunteers weekly as a resume coach at Chrysalis, a nonprofit supporting low-income individuals in their job searches. Quick Facts: Received MBA from: University of Chicago Booth School of Business Undergraduate field of study: Math and theology Fields worked in before mbaMission: Management consulting, financial services, and consumer goods Working style: Personally invested in client’s success, organized, straight-shooting Five things Heidi wants her clients to know about her:
“Choosing to work with Heidi was by far the best decision I took in the application cycle…I sincerely believe that it was her extremely professional approach and dedicated service that ultimately gained me admission to Wharton.” —Wharton Lauder Admit “Heidi was incredibly valuable in my application process. While I was initially overwhelmed by the process, Heidi helped me craft my overall story, develop essay topics, and provide suggestions on how to improve my essays. This support was extremely helpful, as I ended up with the good fortune of being accepted to both HBS and Stanford.” —Stanford GSB Admit “Thanks to Heidi, I not only was able to get into a top business school, but I also was able to get one of the most sought after internships (Goldman Sachs investment banking). I am proud to be able to say that I am now a fellow alum and look forward to having Heidi help more great candidates demonstrate their true potential in their applications.” —Chicago Booth Admit Read more of Heidi’s testimonials. Watch Heidi’s video: Do you want to speak with Heidi about your business school prospects? Sign up for a free 30-minute consultation here. |
08 Jul 2017, 08:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Explore International Opportunities Inside and Outside the Classroom at UCLA Anderson |
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Although UCLA Anderson might not be as well known internationally as other top-ranked U.S. business schools, it has invested in the development of resources dedicated to international business. The school’s international courses include “International Business Economics,” “Global Operations Strategy,” and “Business and Economy in Emerging Markets”—the latter explores market reform processes in such destinations as China, paying particular attention to issues including privatization, political and economic risk, and global competitiveness. Meanwhile, approximately 40 fully employed, executive, global executive, and full-time MBA students take part in each of the Global Immersion Program courses, which include completing three to four classes at the school before spending a week abroad exploring the local culture, visiting companies, and participating in lectures. The program commenced in 2008 for fully employed and executive MBA students, and it expanded in 2010 to include full-time MBA candidates. Since its launch, the program has been conducted more than 50 times, and participants have traveled to such countries as China, India, Peru, South Africa, and Saudi Arabia. Courses in recent years have included “Doing Business in Central Europe,” “The Economic Environment and Business Opportunities in Chile,” and “Business Opportunities in an Indebted Country.” Indeed, at Anderson, international opportunities (quietly) abound. For more information on other defining characteristics of the MBA program at UCLA Anderson or one of 15 other top business schools, please check out the mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
08 Jul 2017, 13:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Julie Hennessy, Northwestern’s Kellogg 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 focus on Julie Hennessy from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Before students even began describing the quality of their educational experiences with Julie Hennessy to mbaMission, they noted that she “cares a lot” and “makes herself available to chat and talk about recruiting.” In addition to teaching Kellogg MBA students as a clinical professor of marketing, Hennessy teaches executive education at leading firms, and students we interviewed reported that she draws on these experiences in class, but does not just tell stories. Instead, Hennessy challenges students and teases out the responses that facilitate learning. Students with whom we spoke also referred to her as “funny and energetic.” Not surprisingly, then, Hennessy won the school’s 2007 L.G. Lavengood Outstanding Professor of the Year Award—which is voted on by Kellogg students. In addition, she has won four student impact awards and five Chair’s Core Course Teaching Awards—with the most recent having been conferred in 2013 and in 2010–2011, respectively. And in the fall of 2016, Hennessy received the school’s Certificate for Impact Teaching Award. The school’s Web site notes that Hennessy focuses her writing efforts on producing new cases for class discussion; she has completed cases on such brands as TiVo, Apple iPod, Invisalign Orthodontics, and (as separate cases) the antibiotics Biaxin and Zithromax. For more information about Kellogg and 15 other top-ranked business schools, check out the free mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
09 Jul 2017, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Avoiding Getting Multiple GMAT Questions Wrong in a Row |
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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. “How do I make sure I don’t get more than two, three, or four questions wrong in a row?” Students ask this all the time—they have heard that GMAT scoring penalizes us for getting a lot of questions wrong in a row. This is true, to some extent. The GMAT test writers prioritize steady performance over the length of the entire test, so they have built safeguards into the algorithm to ensure that if, for example, we spend too much time early on, we will get penalized for running out of time at the end. So… how do I avoid getting multiple questions wrong in a row? People will say something like, “I am pretty sure I got the last two wrong—I just outright guessed on the last one. Now, how do I make sure I get the next one right?” You cannot. You can never “make sure” that you get any particular question right. If you could… well, then you would not need any help, right? Nobody on the planet, not even the best test takers, can guarantee that they are going to answer any particular question correctly. What do I do when I know I have just gotten a couple of questions wrong? You are going to hate my answer: you ignore it. Do not even think about it in the first place. You likely hate that answer because you feel that you have no control—and you are right. We cannot control this at all. That is why we should not waste a single second thinking about it. Try the question in front of you for some reasonable amount of time. If you just cannot do it in the expected time frame, find a way to make a guess and move on. Spending more time (more than the rough average) does not actually increase the chances that you will get something right! But then, how do I get better? Expect that you are not going to be able to answer everything. Know how to make an educated guess wherever possible. Acknowledge when a problem just is not going your way, and, when needed, make a random guess without wasting a single second longer. Change your response to the thought “I have to get this one right.” Have you already read this article: But I studied this – I should know how to do it!? If so, then you will remember that we talk about changing your response to the “but!” feeling. (If not, go read the article right now.) The same thing applies here. When you find yourself thinking, “Oh, I need to get this one right!,” change your reaction. Instead of spending extra time and stressing yourself out, tell yourself, “I cannot guarantee anything. If I can do this one in regular time, great. If not, I will guess without losing time on it and move on.” |
10 Jul 2017, 08:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Take Advantage of Business School Visits and Access to MBA Admissions Offices |
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Every year, we get many inquiries from MBA candidates who have just started the application process and are curious about whether they should invest the time and resources needed to visit their target programs. Is visiting really worth the effort? Will doing so impress the admissions committee(s)? Of course, one thing to keep in mind is that a class visit has tremendous relevance beyond the formal admissions process—it is a chance for you to give the school a thorough “test drive.” You probably would not invest $30,000 in a car without driving it first, would you? So why would you commit to spending two years of your life, many years as an alumnus/alumna, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in direct and opportunity costs without first knowing what you are getting? We do not think that you need to visit at all costs, however. If you have limited funds or time, you should not deplete your resources by visiting. You have many other ways of getting to know your target schools without traveling to campus, such as Web sites, podcasts, conversations with alumni, and outreach events. However, if you do have the time and money, we strongly recommend that you travel to your target schools and gain that firsthand experience—a brief trip could pay a lifetime of dividends. In addition to gaining information while visiting campus, applicants can contact the Admissions Office to receive definitive answers to questions that arise while completing their application, including the following: “Do I need to take the TOEFL if I attended an English-language undergraduate institution outside the United States?” “Do I need to provide a separate transcript from the institution where I studied abroad for my junior year, even though these grades show up on my ‘home’ university’s transcript?” “I completed military service before my undergraduate education. Can I still count these years in my ‘full-time work experience since graduation’ total?” The reason these and many other questions can be so bewildering is that often, no clear answer can be found in the school’s application materials, and tremendous variation exists from one application to the other. Generally, candidates tend to think of MBA Admissions Offices as impenetrable black boxes, but the truth is that they are open and available to applicants, and admissions representatives indeed want to clarify these kinds of small technical issues that candidates may encounter. Although you should take care to not be a pest and avoid repeatedly calling the Admissions Office, if you have a small question or two with no clear-cut, obvious answers, do not be afraid to reach out. Why not take the guesswork out of the equation and be certain of what the admissions committee expects? |
11 Jul 2017, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: When to Submit an Optional Essay |
Virtually all the top business schools offer applicants the opportunity to address anything unusual or problematic within their profiles, using either the additional information section of the application or the optional essay. This way, MBA candidates can proactively explain any irregularities or inconsistencies so that the admissions committee understands the circumstances behind these issues and is not left to guess or make assumptions. Commonly, applicants will write an optional essay to explain or reveal one of the following kinds of issues:
We have seen candidates overcome any number of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, from very low GMAT scores to arrests for drunk driving. We always encourage applicants to address such issues in a “short and sweet” manner, and time has proven that this strategy can yield results. So, when writing the optional essay to discuss a specific concern or issue, be as brief and direct as possible and always respect any stated word limits. Keep in mind that by submitting an additional essay, you are essentially asking the admissions committee to do more work on your behalf, so you want to be respectful of the readers’ valuable time. Therefore, a clarification of your academic problems need not begin with a rundown of your excellent grades in high school, and similarly, an explanation of a gap in your work experience need not begin with a chronology of how consistently you worked before the gap occurred. At the same time, do not take such a minimalist approach that you present only the problem itself, with no explanation, such as simply noting that you have a low Quant GMAT score and declaring that you feel it does not represent your abilities. The admissions committee already knows your results from your score report, and merely expressing your dissatisfaction with the score does not give the school any more information with which to evaluate you. Instead, offer the admissions committee convincing evidence that despite the low score, you truly have the quantitative skills to succeed in business school, and demonstrate that you can indeed contribute via your quantitative abilities. MBA applicants have many possible reasons for writing an optional essay, but again, you should absolutely not feel that you must write one. If you have nothing unusual in your profile to explain and have generally performed well academically, you should be fine leaving your application as is. Avoid the temptation to submit an essay you wrote for a different school just to fill the optional essay space or to write a new essay that simply repackages your strengths. If nothing about your candidacy requires clarification, you are in an advantageous position and should take a step back and appreciate your situation, not fret about it. |
12 Jul 2017, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Should I Consider Chicago Booth and Wharton for Marketing? |
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You may be surprised to learn that Chicago Booth is making inroads into an area that its crosstown rival (Northwestern Kellogg) is known to dominate: marketing. Through the James M. Kilts Center for Marketing—named for the Chicago Booth alumnus who was formerly CEO of Gillette and Nabisco (and is now a partner at Centerview Partners)—Chicago Booth offers students roughly ten marketing electives. In particular, the school is growing its experiential opportunities in the marketing field, with students taking part in marketing management labs (semester-long consulting projects) at such companies as Abbott Laboratories, Bank of America, and Honeywell International. Further, professors in the department saw opportunities for increased practical involvement and created “hybrid” classes in “Marketing Research” and “New Product Development” that involve a lecture component but also allow students to work on shorter-term consulting projects. Students can also sign up to be paired with an alumni marketing mentor or apply for Marketing Fellowships, which provide scholarship funds and a two-year mentoring relationship. Another potentially overlooked destination for marketing-driven MBA applicants is the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, which might be best known for its reputation in finance (as its original name, the “Wharton School of Finance and Commerce,” would imply). Nevertheless, the school prides itself on its breadth and depth of expertise in a multitude of business areas. For instance, consider these facts about Wharton’s highly regarded marketing program:
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13 Jul 2017, 08:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Terry Taylor, UC Berkeley Haas School of Business |
Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand when they choose a business school. However, the educational experience you will have is what is crucial to your future, and no one will affect your education more than your professors. Today, we focus on Terry Taylor from the Haas School of Business at the University of California (UC), Berkeley. After stints at Columbia Business School and the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, Terry Taylor joined the faculty at the University of California, Berkeley, Haas School of Business in 2007. Considering that Taylor, who has a PhD from Stanford in management science and engineering, is often named in student blogs and online student chats as a favorite among the school’s aspiring MBAs, he not surprisingly won the Earl F. Cheit Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2009 and again in 2011. He was also named the fifth most popular professor at a top U.S. business school by Bloomberg Businessweek in 2011. Taylor’s academic interests include the economics of operations management and supply chain management. His core “Operations” (previously “Operations Management”) course looks at operational issues confronted by manufacturing and service companies. In addition to reportedly having a well-organized curriculum and classes—which a second year we interviewed said include “no down time”—Taylor can make technical subjects very interesting, sometimes even using references to Seinfeld episodes to illuminate concepts. A second year told mbaMission, “He’s pretty young and has a style that mixes high energy with a dry sense of humor.” For more information on the defining characteristics of the MBA program at UC Berkeley Haas or one of 15 other top business schools, check out the free mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
14 Jul 2017, 08:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: mbaMission Consultant Spotlight: Rachel Beck |
At mbaMission, our consultants are more than just graduates of the world’s top MBA programs—we are also expert communicators who possess an unparalleled knowledge of the admissions process. Each week, we highlight one member of our team who has committed his/her professional life to helping you get into business school. A graduate of Lehigh University, Rachel Beck holds a master’s degree in journalism and earned her MBA from Columbia Business School, where she was awarded the prestigious Knight-Bagehot Fellowship in Economics and Business Journalism. While at Columbia, Rachel was both a teaching assistant and an officer in the retail club. She also served as a resume reviewer for the MBA program’s Career Management Center and volunteered for iPrep, a program that helps the underprivileged learn and improve their interview skills. Since graduating from Columbia, Rachel has been an alumni admissions interviewer for the school. Before joining mbaMission, Rachel was the national business columnist and features writer for The Associated Press, where she covered such topics as the financial crisis and Great Recession, consumer trends, accounting issues in corporate America, and executive pay. Rachel has interviewed dozens of Fortune 500 CEOs and has been featured in numerous radio and TV spots on major news events. Her award-winning columns and stories have appeared in newspapers and on online news sites worldwide. Quick Facts: Received MBA from: Columbia Business School Undergraduate field of study: Government Fields worked in before mbaMission: Journalism Working style: Energetic, supportive, and positive, but firm when necessary Five things Rachel wants her clients to know about her: 1. Coming from a journalism background, storytelling is in my blood. I see my clients’ lives as the ultimate stories to tell, and I love to look for interesting details to bring them to life. 2. Working as an alumni interviewer for Columbia Business School, I loved being on the “other side” of the table. It made me acutely aware of what works during MBA interviews (clearly defined career goals) and what doesn’t (vague, drawn-out answers). 3.I often joke that I know more about my clients than some of their friends and family. But that is a good thing—I love the bonds we form and the long-term relationships we build. 4. Nothing makes me happier than hearing from a former client who is doing exactly what he/she had hoped post-MBA. It reminds me of why I love this job. 5. I used “love” a lot in this list. I know that means I am passionate about the work I do and the service that I offer my clients each and every day. What clients are saying about Rachel: “I found Rachel Beck to be highly creative, responsive, eloquent, supportive, and most importantly honest during my few months working with her on my applications. I recommend her to anyone applying to business school, especially those applying to top programs.” —Wharton Admit (via GMAT Club) “I decided to work with mbaMission at the recommendation of a friend and couldn’t have been more pleased with the result. Rachel was an incredible asset throughout. She was able to help me compartmentalize the overwhelmingly large process into small manageable chunks and tackle each one effectively. From crafting my ‘story’ all the way through interviewing, she was there to provide great advice and guidance. I can say with near certainty that I would not have been accepted [at] a top 5 school without her help!” —UT Austin Admit (via GMAT Club) “I highly recommend working with Rachel Beck at mbaMission; this was the BEST decision I made during the admission process.” —Kellogg, Columbia Business School, Yale SOM, and NYU Stern Admit (via GMAT Club) Read more of Rachel’s testimonials. Watch Rachel’s video: Do you want to speak with Rachel about your business school prospects? Sign up for a free 30-minute consultation here. |
14 Jul 2017, 11:01
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Oxford University (Saïd Business School) Essay Analysis, 2017–2018 |
 In the past, we have referred to the essay questions posed by the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford as “old school,” but things have definitely changed this year. Said has replaced its rather stodgy “how do you fit with Oxford Saïd’s mission” query with one that is clearly rooted in the present and in contemporary issues. A second required essay allows candidates to provide additional information they may have otherwise not been able to share with the admissions committee, providing a good bit of useful leeway, if not a lot of room, given its 300-word limit. Read on for our thoughts on how best to approach Oxford Saïd’s most recent round of essay prompts. Essay #1: Consider a statistic or trend that shocks you. Why it is important to you and how could it be changed for the better? (Maximum 500 words) Few could argue that the news and social media outlets today are void of eye-opening and often surprising events, ideas, information, practices, and fashions. We are sure that at least a few things have struck a chord with you and caught your eye in recent months. The school’s use of the word “shock” here and its subsequent request for possible ways of “chang[ing] things for the better” imply to us that the admissions committee expects to hear about something you view as a negative within this context, something in need of improvement. On the Welcome page of its Web site, Saïd says, “We aim to provide the world’s future business leaders with the skills, knowledge and personal qualities needed to meet the world-scale challenges of the 21st century,” a statement with which this essay question clearly resonates. The school wants candidates it can equip with the tools necessary to make the world a better place, and this is your opportunity to frame yourself as such. That said, if the issue that resounds with you most strongly is actually a positive one, with some careful finessing, you should be able to still use it as your topic for this essay. For example, perhaps you are pleasantly surprised to know that childhood obesity rates have fallen. In this case, you would need to approach the “how could it be changed for the better” portion of Saïd’s prompt by explaining how this trend could be encouraged and continued, perhaps by incorporating new initiatives in elementary schools or rethinking marketing tie-ins between products perceived as unhealthy and movies aimed at young audiences. As long as your choices and ideas are authentic to you and speak to the concept of improving the world as a whole, you will likely be on a successful track. A successful essay response will of course address all three components of this prompt—the shocking statistic/trend, why it matters to you, and your thoughts on how to rectify the situation—but the 500-word limit does not provide a massive amount of space in which to accomplish this, so you need to be clear and concise. One of your goals here is to show the school your values and passion, what motivates you and why. The nature of topic you choose will do this in part, but you must also respond directly to the portion of the query that asks why your chosen issue is significant to you personally. You will likely not be able to present a guaranteed solution to the issue you have chosen in your essay, and especially not within a few hundred words. However, you must demonstrate that you are a problem solver at heart. You want the admissions committee to understand that when you encounter something amiss, you do not just see it but instinctively try to figure out some way of addressing it. Show that you have the spirit of a doer. Tying your ability to execute your projected solution to a skill you would learn or an experience you would have in the Saïd MBA program—if truly appropriate and not forced—could make your response even more compelling. Essay #2: Is there anything not covered in the application form which you would like the Admissions Committee to know about you? (Maximum 250 words) If you are not paying close attention as you read through Oxford Saïd’s application information (though of course, you are, right?), you might accidentally dismiss this question as a standard optional essay prompt. This is certainly almost verbatim what we have seen from other schools as an add-on essay invitation, but in this case, an essay is required, so this is not a mistake you want to make. Perhaps Saïd is hoping to check candidates’ attention to detail with this query? If you have a problem or issue in your candidacy, this would be the right place to address it, given that the school does not offer a typical, separate optional essay opportunity with which to do so. However, this is an essay that all applicants must submit, so if your profile is free of questionable components, you must still provide some key additional information here for the school to use in deciding whether to include you in its next incoming class. You will therefore need to determine what is most important for the admissions committee to know to evaluate you thoroughly and fairly, whether that is the story behind a seemingly unfavorable or deleterious part of your application or whether it is one about a significant learning experience or impressive accomplishment (or something else altogether). As always, take time to consider everything the admissions committee will already be able to learn about you from the other parts of your application, from your statistics and resume to your recommenders’ contributions. The goal here is to round out that information in a positive way that pushes your candidacy forward in the direction of acceptance. Even though this piece is not optional, we still recommend downloading a free copy of our mbaMission Optional Essays Guide. It might help you in determining whether you need to write this essay on a problem area/issue or not (or perhaps which one, if your candidacy somehow includes multiple questionable elements), and if so, the advice and many examples within will direct you in how to do so most effectively. If you are applying under the 1+1 scheme you also need to submit the following essay: Explain why you see this as particularly beneficial for you and how it fits with your careers and personal development aims (Maximum 250 words) For this essay, Saïd provides a very straightforward prompt. Oxford has created an innovative two-year program through which you can earn two master’s degrees simultaneously. But the school has a simple request first—explain why you want/need that non-MBA master’s degree. If you hope to participate in this program, you will need to help the school understand exactly why and how it will affect your career. With a mere 250 words in which to detail precisely how this particular program will contribute to your management education and where you will apply that learning, you have no room to be vague. You must clearly demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship between the dual-degree program and the achievement of your goals. Your underlying message needs to be readily comprehensible: “I will complete X degree, which will benefit me by manifesting in Y part of my career.” Re-applicants will need to complete the essays mentioned above and another essay on the topic: What improvements have you made in your candidacy since you last applied to the Oxford MBA? (Maximum 250 words) Whether you have improved your academic record, received a promotion, begun a new and exciting project, increased your community involvement, or accepted some sort of personal challenge, the key to success with this essay is conveying a very deliberate path of achievement. Saïd 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 Saïd 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. Business schools outside the United States are increasingly popular among MBA hopefuls, and we at mbaMission are proud to offer our latest publications: Program Primers for international b-schools. In these snapshots we discuss core curriculums, elective courses, locations, school facilities, rankings, and more. Click here to download your free copy of the Saïd Business School Program Primer. |
15 Jul 2017, 08:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: I Have No Managerial Experience |
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It might seem ironic to some that formal managerial experience is not a prerequisite for admission to a top MBA program. It is important to keep in mind that an MBA education is for those who aspire to become managers and is not exclusive to those who already are managers. If you are fretting about the fact that you have not had any subordinates to date and feel that overseeing a staff is a prerequisite to gaining admission to a top program, you are adhering to a myth and should worry no more. Instead, think about how you have simply excelled in your position and made the most of the leadership opportunities before you. So, for example, consider the numerous investment banking analysts who apply to MBA programs each year. While analysts are at the bottom of the banks’ organizational charts and therefore do not have staffs to manage, they still have demanding jobs and must perform exceptionally well each day to succeed. Most analysts can tell the story of thriving in an ultra-competitive environment and thus reveal their professional excellence via their resumes, essays, and recommendations. And, even if most analysts do not have staffs of their own, there are still ample opportunities for senior analysts to train and mentor newer analysts. So, without a title and a staff, investment banking analysts can still demonstrate their leadership and de facto management skills. |
16 Jul 2017, 08:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: The Role of Confusion in Your GMAT Prep |
 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. That seems like it should be a typo. Maybe I meant Confucius, the Chinese teacher and philosopher? No, I really do mean confusion. Journalist Annie Murphy Paul contributed a post to NPR’s Mind/Shift blog: Why Confusion Can Be a Good Thing. Why Is Confusion Good? Murphy Paul supports her thesis with an important point: When we do not know the “right” way to do something, we open up our minds to many potential paths—and sometimes an alternate potential path is better than the “official” path. When a test like the GMAT is concerned, the discomfort inherent in figuring out that best path allows us to determine why a certain approach is preferable. That knowledge, in turn, helps us to know when we can reuse a certain line of thinking or solution process on a different (but similar) question in the future. How Can I Use Confusion to Help My Prep? Murphy Paul offers three suggestions (the following quotes are from the article; the rest is just me): (1) “Expose yourself to confusing material.” On the GMAT, you have no choice: you are going to be exposing yourself to confusing material every day. So I will tweak Murphy Paul’s suggestion slightly: embrace the confusion. Rather than feeling annoyed or frustrated when that feeling of confusion creeps in, tell yourself: okay, I am on track here. I am going to figure this out—and, when I do, I am going to remember it, because my current confusion is actually going to help me remember better once I do know what I am doing! (2) “Withhold the answers from yourself.” Sometimes looking at the answer immediately is appropriate. If you are doing drill sets and you want to make sure that you learn from one problem before trying the next, then check the solution immediately. Other times, though, you are not doing yourself a favor by jumping right to the answer. In particular, when you know that you do not know… then do not look at the answer right away! Struggle with it for a while first. Look stuff up in your strategy guides/books. Ask a friend or search a forum. Spend as much time as you want, then pick an answer—even if it is just a guess—and have a rationale for why you eliminated the answers that you eliminated. If possible, also have a rationale for why you chose the answer that you did. Got that? Okay, now go look at the answer. But wait! Do not read the solution yet—just look at the answer first. Maybe you will want to go look at the problem again because
This approach lets us know what we know and, more importantly, what we do not know going into our study of that lesson or chapter, and that can actually help us to learn more effectively. I suggest starting a new chapter with a few of the problems listed as practice or drills at the end of the chapter. If those go well, then try a lower-numbered Official Guide problem. Keep going until you hit a couple of substantial roadblocks. Then dive into the chapter with a serious curiosity to figure out how to get around those roadblocks! |
17 Jul 2017, 08:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: How to State Your Goals and Avoid Misusing “Unique” in MBA Application Essays |
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When writing about your career, strive to inspire your reader by showing that your goals are ambitious, but not to the point of being implausible. You should work to find a middle ground between goals that are easily achievable and those that are naïve or entirely fantastic. For example, stating your short-term goal is to return to your existing position at your firm would be an example of an unambitious goal and thus an unwise approach. On the other hand, declaring that your short-term goal is to become CEO of the New York Yankees would be shooting unreasonably high, and the goal would therefore be viewed as unrealistic. Generally, with respect to short-term goals, you should be able to identify a reasonably precise position that you could expect to enter after graduating from your MBA program—or if you intend to start your own firm, you should have a clear understanding of what that firm will be, the direction you will take, and how you will steward the business to achieve its short-term goals. As for the long term, pick a goal that derives from your existing career path or could be considered a logical transition from it and that represents an ideal of sorts. Essentially, we recommend that you write about goals that would be within your grasp if everything were to go according to plan. Another thing to look out for while writing your essays is misusing (and overusing) the term “unique.” Consider these examples, which one of our consultants recently found in a single 600-word essay: “The semester I spent in France during high school was a unique experience.” “I want to attend Columbia Business School because of its unique Entrepreneurial Club.” “The opportunity to do hands-on consulting at Ross is unique.” “My finance background and strong interpersonal skills will allow me to make a unique contribution to Cornell’s Investment Management Club.” Not one of these examples actually fulfilled the term’s correct definition: “existing as the only one or as the sole example.” Business school applicants tend to use the word “unique” in an attempt to make themselves stand out to the admissions committee. However, because they use the word imprecisely—and often too frequently—it ends up having the opposite effect instead, and the essay loses its distinctiveness and believability. Another danger of using the term too casually is that you risk exposing your lack of research about the school if you claim something is unique to the school when it really is not. Here are the same four statements we presented earlier, written without the generic “unique.” In each case, the sentence is far more descriptive and therefore much less likely to appear in any other applicant’s essay. “The semester I spent in France during high school was eye-opening, from the frogs’ legs I was served at dinner to the concept of shopping daily for my food.” “I want to attend Columbia Business School because its Entrepreneurial Club offers an incredible range of activities that will prepare me to better run my own company.” “The opportunity to do hands-on consulting at Ross will complement the theoretical background I will gain by taking classes on consulting.” “My finance background and strong interpersonal skills will ensure that I will effectively coach and mentor classmates new to finance through the mentorship program offered by Cornell’s Investment Management Club.” |
17 Jul 2017, 11:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: University of Cambridge Judge Business School Essay Analysis, 2017–2018 |
 Except for reordering its essay questions, the Cambridge Judge Business School has made no changes in its prompts since last season. The program’s three essays touch on a nice variety of topics—allowing candidates to share important stories and elements from several facets of their lives to create a well-rounded picture of themselves for the admissions committee—but the associated word limits require that applicants keep things condensed and forthright. Although Cambridge’s MBA program has been in place only since 1990, the university itself has been welcoming students for more than 800 years, so we imagine that by now, the school knows what it wants to learn from applicants and how to extract that information. In our analysis of Judge’s essay questions for this year, we offer our best tips on how to ensure your essays hit the mark. Essay 1: Please provide a personal statement. It should not exceed 500 words and must address the following questions:
More specifically with respect to Judge’s multipart question, the school wants to know not only the basic facts of your career aspirations but also how you view your readiness for and active role in achieving them. How equipped are you already, and how much closer to your goals will earning a business degree from Judge be able to get you? What are you already planning to do on your own before you enroll and while in the program that will ensure you graduate with the skills, experiences, knowledge, and/or connections you need to build a bridge between where you are now and where you want go? Be sure to refer to school-specific resources and offerings that connect directly to these areas of improvement so that the admissions committee knows you have thoroughly considered and researched your options and determined that Judge is the best fit for your particular needs and interests. The school also wants to see evidence that you are cognizant you must be an active participant in your own success and are ready and willing to contribute, rather than relying on the program and its name/reputation to solely move you forward on your career trajectory. Essay 2: What did you learn from your most spectacular failure? (200 words) Failures are learning opportunities. With this prompt, the admissions committee wants to know what you take away from situations in which things do not turn out as you had planned or hoped. Do you place blame elsewhere and try to make excuses? Or do you view these sorts of experiences with an analytical eye, using what they can teach you to achieve better results with similar ventures going forward? That a world-class business school would be interested in candidates who are eager and open-minded learners only makes sense. Judge has been posing this particular essay prompt since 2010, so it clearly touches on a topic the admissions committee views as pivotal in identifying applicants they feel will be successful in its MBA program. With respect to the word “spectacular” here, the school is not hoping to hear about a time when you were exceptionally embarrassed in front of a vast audience but instead about an instance that had an incredibly significant impact on you. Perhaps, for example, you were blindsided by the shortfall, having previously thought you were on the right track to success, making the failure particularly stunning and memorable. The scale or scope of the situation in an objective sense is not as important as how affecting and influential it was for you personally. Note that the school does not specify that the story you share must be a professional one, so explore all your personal/family/community life experiences for what you believe is truly the most “spectacular.” You may want to consider your options for this essay and the third essay simultaneously, because if you select a career-related incident to discuss in this one, you might want to draw on a personal story for the other, for balance. However, this kind of distribution works best if it is not forced—the first criterion should always be whether the narrative is the most fitting one for the essay’s prompt; if two options seem equally fitting, then you may be able to create a kind of consonance. With a limit of only 200 words, you cannot waste any by starting with a bland statement like “My most spectacular failure was [fill in the blank].” Instead, leap directly into the action of your story and immediately convey what was at stake in the situation. After all, the opportunity for true failure exists only when you have something to lose. Next, briefly explain how you failed, and then dedicate the majority of the essay to demonstrating what you took away from the experience. Avoid clichés such as gaining resilience or learning to be humble and show that you can be honest about your weaknesses and blind spots. Convey that the information, insight, and/or skills you acquired via the shortcoming have changed how you view or operate in the world in a positive way—and that you know how to apply these learnings in new situations. Essay 3: Describe a situation where you had to work jointly with others to achieve a common goal. What did you learn from the experience? (up to 200 words) Judge poses only three essay questions to its candidates, and two of them have to do with learning from a life experience. Clearly, the school is seeking individuals who absorb lessons by interacting with and participating actively in the world around them, not just by listening to an instructor in a classroom. As a student at an international business school—one with roughly 40 nationalities represented in a class of not quite 180 people—you will naturally be enmeshed in a widely diverse environment, and Judge wants to hear about your mind-set and working style in such situations. As for Essay 2, this prompt does not stipulate which part of your life you must draw from for content, so hearken back to our advice for the previous essay with respect to selecting between a professional story or a more personal one. In business school—as in life in general—you will encounter people who think differently from you, operate according to different values, and react differently to the same stimuli. And success in an endeavor often involves evaluating and even incorporating the views of others in one’s efforts. As we have noted, at Judge, you will be surrounded every day by individuals who are unlike you in a multitude of ways, and you will need to work in tandem with and alongside these individuals when analyzing case studies, completing group projects, and participating in other activities both inside and outside the classroom. The school is clearly seeking evidence that you are capable of listening, reflecting, learning, and growing. If you are not, it might assume that you simply do not have the necessary qualities to become an integral part of its next incoming class, let alone a standout manager later in your career. To craft an effective essay response to this query, describe via a narrative approach the nature of your collaboration with the others on your team, showing both what you contributed and what others brought to the dynamic (though more briefly), and which elements became long-term takeaways that still serve you today. Consider describing a kind of “before and after” situation in which the information or input you received from your teammate(s) influenced your thoughts and actions as you worked toward your shared goal. An essay that demonstrates your openness to collaborating with peers in pursuit of a common goal, your ability to contribute to such projects, and your capacity to naturally learn from such experiences is almost certain to make an admissions reader take notice. Business schools outside the United States are increasingly popular among MBA hopefuls, and we at mbaMission are proud to offer our latest publications: Program Primers for international b-schools. In these snapshots we discuss core curriculums, elective courses, locations, school facilities, rankings, and more. Click here to download your free copy of the Cambridge Judge Business School Program Primer. |
18 Jul 2017, 10:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: How to Approach Lifting Your GMAT Score |
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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. How do you maximize your score on the GMAT? Sure, you have to learn to answer harder questions correctly—but that is not actually enough. Let us stipulate a couple of things. First, whenever I say “easier” or “harder” in this post, I am referring to easier or harder for you, the reader; everything here is relative to your current scoring level and your desire to lift that level to whatever your goal score is. In other words, this works at every level and for every goal. Second, as a general rule, you take (on average) more time to answer harder questions than you take to answer easier ones. Okay, so what does that mean? Most people do not spend much time studying the things that they generally already know how to do; they do not analyze questions that they answered correctly unless there was some other issue (such as spending too much time). That is a mistake—and not just because we can still learn things from questions that we answer correctly. More importantly, if you want to lift your score, then the questions that you find of medium difficulty today need to turn into questions that you find easier in the future. Think about how the test works: if you are scoring in the 80th percentile, then 65th percentile questions are generally fairly easy for you, the 75th to 85th range is medium, and 90th percentile questions are too hard. If you want to lift your score to 90th percentile, sure, you have to learn how to tackle those harder questions. At the same time, the 75th to 80th percentile questions have to become your “easier” question pool—“medium” level will no longer be good enough! Remember when I said that we generally take more time to answer the harder questions? That is okay, within reason (say, up to 30 seconds beyond the average for that question type). To have that extra time, though, you have got to be saving time on the easier questions. Those questions that are medium for you right now—you have actually got to be able to do them more quickly for them to turn into easier questions in the future. Beyond all of that, there is yet another benefit. Shortcuts or alternate solution methods that you figure out for those easier and medium questions can often be used on harder questions as well. You will actually learn how to tackle some of the harder stuff by getting even better at the easier and medium stuff. If you are going for a really high score (720+), then I will leave you with a couple of “challenge” exercises. Answer this math question and this Critical Reasoning question in one minute (or less). Good luck! |
19 Jul 2017, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Clayton Christensen, Harvard Business School |
 Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand when they choose a business school. However, the educational experience you will have is what is crucial to your future, and no one will affect your education more than your professors. Today, we focus on Clayton Christensen from Harvard Business School (HBS). With research interests in the areas of technology management and innovation management, Clayton Christensen (MBA ’79, DBA ’92) joined the HBS faculty in 1992, after having cofounded CPS Technologies (where he was chairman and president) in 1984, working as a consultant for Boston Consulting Group (1979–1984), and serving as a White House Fellow (1982–1983). He is currently the Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration at HBS. Christensen’s “Building and Sustaining a Successful Enterprise” course is an elective he designed that shows students how to manage a successful company using theories of strategy and innovation to better understand which tools may be effective in various business situations. Students address such questions as “How can I beat powerful competitors?” and “How can we create and sustain a motivated group of employees?” In 2010, Christensen, who is the author of numerous books—including The Innovator’s Dilemma: The Revolutionary Book That Will Change the Way You Do Business (Harvard Business Review Press, 1997), The Innovator’s Solution: Creating and Sustaining Successful Growth (Harvard Business School Press, 2003), Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns (McGraw-Hill, 2008), and How Will You Measure Your Life? (HarperBusiness, 2012)—received an Extraordinary Teaching Award from the HBS Class of 2010 as well as a Lifetime Achievement Award. In both 2011 and 2013, Thinkers50, a ranking released every two years by the consulting group CrainerDearlove, named Christensen the World’s Most Influential Business Thinker, and in 2015, he received an Edison Achievement Award for his contributions to the field of innovation. For more information on the defining characteristics of the MBA program at HBS or one of 15 other top business schools, please check out the free mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
19 Jul 2017, 12:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Meet with Former Director of Admissions Dawna Clarke in New York City! |
 Dawna Clarke Are you interested in applying to business school? Could you use some help and advice from an experienced admissions professional? Do you live in or near New York City? If you answered “yes” to these questions, then we want to meet you! Former Director of Admissions at Dartmouth Tuck and UVA Darden and mbaMission’s Chief MBA Strategist and Senior Consultant Dawna Clarke will be in New York City on Sunday, July 23 from 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. local time, doing free, in-person, one-on-one consultations! If you would like to meet with Dawna to get a head start on your MBA applications and get your most pressing questions answered, please provide some basic information about your candidacy via the submission form at www.mbamission.com/consult. We will follow up with you within one business day to schedule your in-person, 30-minute consultation with Dawna! |
20 Jul 2017, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Two Boston-Based MBAs: Experience Public and Nonprofit Management at BU and “Core Values” at BC |
 Boston University’s Questrom School of Business Since 1973, the Boston University (BU) Questrom School of Business (formerly the School of Management) has offered a Public & Nonprofit Management MBA (PNP), specifically designed to cultivate business management skills that can make a real difference in the world. Standing at 57th among U.S. MBA programs in the The Economist’s 2016 rankings, Questrom exposes PNP students to a robust general management core curriculum and also offers specialized courses and resources targeting the governmental, public, and private nonprofit sectors. Nearby, at Boston College’s (BC’s) Carroll School of Management, students begin their MBA experience within two cohorts, enjoying a close-knit classroom environment in which they gain exposure to broad management skills, with a particular emphasis on business ethics. Both the curriculum and the student community at the school engender a set of core values: “honesty and integrity,” “mutual respect,” “pursuit of excellence,” and “personal accountability.” In addition to taking a class on public speaking, a SQL workshop, and a structure, analysis, and integration workshop, students at the Carroll School must complete at least 20 hours of community service, which the school requires to help instill an appreciation for and a spirit of community service in its MBAs. Boston College’s Carroll School of Management These values are also reflected in the school’s core “Management Practice Experience” simulation, in which students learn to think critically about the challenges involved in business leadership. As one graduate commented in a past Bloomberg Businessweek profile of the Carroll School, “In the background of your core classes, and many electives, is a strong consideration on the moral and ethical dilemmas that often arise in the business world. I never felt that ‘morality’ was being pushed on us, but the consequences of each decision we make were always placed in front of us and we were left to make up our own mind.” |
