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The mbaMission Blog

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Cold Calls and Capital Management at Darden [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   24 Feb 2022, 16:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Cold Calls and Capital Management at Darden
MBA students at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business are known to work quite hard amid the rigors of the case method. Each day, they are expected to read a business case and perform their own analysis of the situation presented. Then, they must compare and reason through their analysis with a small, diverse group of fellow students—their Learning Team. Students can often spend two to four hours prepping on their own and then two to three more with their teammates to arrive at an answer (as opposed to the answer). And what might be the reward for all this work? The student may be selected for a “cold call” to start off the class.

At Darden, most first-year and some second-year classes begin with a professor randomly selecting a student to lead the day’s discussion by presenting their case analysis. This student can be subjected to anywhere from five to 20 minutes of questioning, as the professor teases out key points of discussion for the broader class to explore. Many students have sweated through a cold call only to gain the applause of their peers at the end. (Others, of course, may not do as well.) These cold calls can be daunting, but they force students to prepare thoroughly and think on their feet—a key feature of the Darden learning experience.

Outside the Darden classroom, students can apply principles of the school’s general management program in the Darden Capital Management (DCM) club, where they evaluate equities to understand the entire firm while also specializing in asset management to further their careers in this finance industry niche. Many think that because Darden casts itself as offering a general management program, the school has no specialties. General management, however, is a philosophy that suggests that no business problem can be viewed in isolation—for example, a finance problem relates to marketing, a marketing problem relates to operations, and so on.

Through DCM, first-year students pitch long and short investment ideas to second-year student fund managers who oversee more than $28M of Darden’s endowment, which is divided among five funds, each with its own focal area. The first years ultimately “graduate” and run these funds themselves for credit as second years, reporting on their investment decisions and performance to Darden’s finance board. Students who manage these funds report that they have had an advantage breaking into asset management, because this hands-on experience gives them plenty to discuss in interviews. Managing around $30M will do that…

For more information on Darden or 16 other leading MBA programs, check out our free mbaMission Insider’s Guides.
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Professor Profiles: Gregory B. Fairchild, University of Virginia Darde [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   26 Feb 2022, 10:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Gregory B. Fairchild, University of Virginia Darden School of Business


Many MBA applicants feel that they are purchasing a brand when they choose a business school. However, the educational experience you will have is what is crucial to your future, and no one will affect your education more than your professors. Today, we focus on Gregory B. Fairchild from the University of Virginia (UVA) Darden School of Business.

As an academic director for Darden’s Institute for Business in Society, Gregory B. Fairchild (MBA ’92) is charged with promoting ways in which business leadership can connect to broader societal issues. Fairchild, who is the Isidore Horween Research Professor of Business Administration, also serves as an academic director of public policy and entrepreneurship and the associate dean for Washington, DC–area initiatives. In May 2018, the University of Virginia named Fairchild the director of operations in Northern Virginia. He specializes in entrepreneurship, business strategies, and business ethics, and he researches ways to create value in underserved areas. In 2011, Virginia Business magazine included Fairchild in its “Top 25: People to Watch” feature, and in 2012, both CNN/Fortune and Poets&Quants named him one of the best business school professors in the world. In 2020, he received the UVA Public Service Award for Faculty for teaching business courses to prison inmates.

Fairchild has received a number of teaching excellence awards at Darden, including recognition as an outstanding faculty member in 2008. One graduate we interviewed called Fairchild’s classes “exhilarating” and noted that he reviews his students’ resumes and can tie someone’s background to the topic of the day. She added that he is “scarily good” at cold calls and “won’t let go until he has dug all of the facts out of you.”

For more information about Darden and 16 other top-ranked MBA schools, check out our free mbaMission Insider’s Guides.
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MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: I Must Have Done Something Wrong [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   27 Feb 2022, 10:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: I Must Have Done Something Wrong
You have a 720 GMAT score and a 3.75 GPA. You have made solid career progress and procured glowing recommendations. You have been actively volunteering in your community for years. You worked hard on your application and landed an interview at your target school, where you felt you did well. But you still did not get in. You must have done something terribly wrong in your interview or unwittingly made a mess of your essays, right? Not necessarily.

We once spoke with the admissions director at a top MBA program who explained that his school does not give feedback to rejected candidates because doing so is simply a waste of the candidate’s and admissions staff’s time. The admissions director told us that the school would need to nitpick to give candidates something to work on and to fill the time during these hypothetical feedback sessions. He explained that nine times out of ten, the feedback offered to weaker candidates would be patently obvious and that countless strong applicants had done nothing wrong at all. In fact, most candidates create their best applications, but space in the class is simply limited.

Although this may not be comforting if you were rejected, you may just have been the victim of a competitive process during a competitive year. We suggest that you honestly assess your candidacy and simply stay the course as you continue applying. Spending significant time revamping your applications may be a waste of time and a losing strategy. Patience may prove beneficial in the long term.
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MBA Career Switchers: Set Yourself Up for Success  [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   28 Feb 2022, 08:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Career Switchers: Set Yourself Up for Success 
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.

Want to make a career pivot but not sure how to approach it? Looking to get your MBA to transition into a new career? Career switching is possible, but your success will depend on your ability to convince your target audience that you will be able to add value to their organization. To do that, we recommend conducting significant research, presenting a well-crafted career narrative, and believing in yourself.

Here are five practical steps to make yourself a more compelling candidate and improve your chances of success when switching careers:

  • Become an “insider.” Read extensively about your target industry, learning about your target company’s position in the market and its products and services. Develop an opinion on key trends and players in the market. Gain an understanding of the skills and areas of knowledge required for the job and the hiring process.
  • Think broadly about the relevance of your background. Identify any potential connection to your target area of interest. For example, if you are interested in consumer products, maybe you have direct operating or investing experience in the consumer industry. Or maybe you work in an adjacent industry, interact with a key industry vendor, or are just a devoted customer of the firm and admire its business model.
  • Build new technical skills or acquire hands-on experience. Volunteer for assignments outside your core responsibilities. Consider pursuing a pre-MBA internship or attending pre-MBA recruiting events such as ExperienceBain, McKinsey Early Access, and BCG Unlock. Take online certification classes. For example, if you want to be an investment banker, learn financial modeling from Wall Street Prep.
  • Present your interest in a persuasive way. Think about the “why”—what appeals to you about this role or industry, and in what ways are you qualified for it? Identify specific examples of your ability to learn new things and adapt to new environments. Hook your listener quickly; clearly convey how you could contribute to the role.
  • Cultivate new relationships. Invest heavily in networking to confirm your interest in the company or industry, gather information on the recruiting process, and learn how to position yourself for success.
With all of this, remember to set realistic goals. Career switches often happen in baby steps. Consider shifting to a new industry, function, or location, but not all three at the same time.

We wish you much success with your upcoming pivot—stay positive, diligent, and persistent. You might receive a lot of rejections before you achieve your goal, but you will learn from each of them. They will make you an even better candidate.
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How to Approach Overrepresentation and Old Achievements in Your MBA Ap [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   01 Mar 2022, 09:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: How to Approach Overrepresentation and Old Achievements in Your MBA Application Essays
Many MBA applicants—such as male investment bankers and Indian software engineers—worry that they are overrepresented in the candidate pool. Applicants cannot change their work histories, of course, but they can change the way they introduce themselves to the admissions committee. Consider the following examples:

Example 1: “As an investment banker, I…”

Example 2: “Managing a team to code a new software product for ABC Corp., I…”

In these brief examples, the candidates blatantly introduce the very overrepresentation they would like to minimize. Many applicants feel they must start their essays by presenting their titles or company names, but this approach can immediately make the reader pause and think, “Here we go again.”

Overrepresented business school candidates should therefore consider the opening lines of their essays especially carefully. Rather than stating the obvious, an applicant might instead immerse the reader in a situation or present a special aspect of their position.

Example 1 (launching into a story): “At 5:30 p.m., I could rest easy. The deadline for all other offers had passed. At that point, I knew…”

Example 2 (stand out): “While managing a multinational team, half in Silicon Valley and half in Pakistan, I…”

In the first example here, the banker candidate avoids drab self-introduction and instead plunges the reader into the midst of a mystery that is playing out. In the second example, the software engineer candidate is introduced not as a “coder” but as a multinational manager. Of course, every applicant’s situation is different, but with some effort, your story can be told in a way that avoids the pitfalls of overrepresentation.

Another issue that aspiring MBAs should consider is the relevance of the stories they tell in their application essays. Because business school candidates must share examples of a variety of experiences with admissions committees, we encourage applicants to truly reflect on their lives and consider all potential stories, including academic, professional, community, extracurricular, athletic, international, and personal. However, candidates inevitably have questions about which anecdotes are truly appropriate and effective. “Can I use stories from high school and college?” “Can I use a story from four years ago?” “How far in the past is too far in the past?” Although no definitive rule exists, with the exception of questions that specifically ask about personal history or family background, schools generally want to learn about the mature you—the individual you are today. So, we ask you, “How long have you been the you that you are today?”

When considering experiences that occurred long ago, ask yourself, “Would this impress an MBA admissions committee today?” If you ran a few successful bake sales six years ago when you were in college, this clearly would not stand the test of time and impress a stranger today. However, if, while you were still a student, you started a small business that grew and was ultimately sold to a local firm when you graduated, you would have a story to tell that would likely impress an admissions reader.

Inevitably, judgment is always involved in these decisions. Nonetheless, we offer this simple example as a starting point to help you decide which stories to share.
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MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: The Open Waitlist Is a Flood [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   02 Mar 2022, 09:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: The Open Waitlist Is a Flood
Have you heard the following admissions myth?

When a school that has placed you on its waitlist says that it wants no more information from you, this is some kind of “test,” and you should supply additional materials anyway.

As we have discussed in the past, this is patently not true. Similarly, when programs tell their waitlisted candidates they are open to important additional communication, such applicants should not interpret this to mean constant communication. The difference is significant.

As is the case with any waitlist situation, before you do anything, carefully read the waitlist letter you received from the Admissions Office. Frequently, this will include a FAQ sheet or a hyperlink to one. If the school permits candidates to submit additional information but offers no guidance with respect to quantity, this does not mean that you should start flooding the committee with novel information and materials. If you have another potential recommender who can send a letter that highlights a new aspect of your profile, you can consider having them send one in, but you should not start a lobbying campaign with countless alumni and colleagues writing on your behalf.

Similarly, you could send the school an update email monthly, every six weeks, or even every two months—the key is not frequency or volume but materiality. If you have something important to tell the admissions committee that can help shape its perspective on your candidacy (e.g., a new project, a promotion, a new grade, an improved GMAT score, a campus visit), then you should share it. If you do not have such meaningful information to share, then a contrived letter with no real content will not help you. Just because you know others are sending letters, do not feel compelled to send empty correspondences for fear that your fellow candidates might be showing more interest. They just might be identifying themselves negatively via their waitlist approach.

Take a step back and imagine that you are on the admissions committee; you have one candidate who keeps you up to date with a few thoughtful correspondences and another who bombards you with empty updates, emails, and recommendations that do not offer anything substantive. Which candidate would you choose if a place opened up in your class? When you are on the waitlist, your goal is to remain in the good graces of the admissions committee. Remember, the committee members already deem you a strong enough candidate to take a place in their class, so be patient and prudent, as challenging as that may be.
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Professor Profiles: Youngme Moon, Harvard Business School [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   04 Mar 2022, 14:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Youngme Moon, 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 Youngme Moon from Harvard Business School (HBS).

In addition to receiving the HBS Student Association Faculty Award seven times, Youngme Moon was also the inaugural recipient of the Hellman Faculty Fellowship in 2002–2003 for distinction in research. Moon is currently the Donald K. David Professor of Business Administration and has served as the senior associate dean for strategy and innovation and as the senior associate dean for the MBA program at the school. Her work has been published in the Harvard Business Review, the Journal of Consumer Research, the Journal of Consumer Psychology, the Journal of Experimental Psychology, and the Journal of Applied Social Psychology. Students described Moon to mbaMission as being extremely friendly and accessible, even going out for casual dinners with students.

Moon’s bestselling 2010 book, Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd (Crown Business), is described by the publisher as showing “how to succeed in a world where conformity reigns… but exceptions rule.” Moon co-hosts a weekly podcast, After Hours, which is presented by the Harvard Business Review. The podcast features Moon and two other HBS professors discussing “news at the crossroads of business and culture,” according to the podcast’s description on the Harvard Business Review website.

For more information about HBS and 16 other top-ranked business schools, check out our free mbaMission Insider’s Guides.
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Charity Auctions and the Sports Dorkapalooza at MIT Sloan [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   05 Mar 2022, 09:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Charity Auctions and the Sports “Dorkapalooza” at MIT Sloan
MIT Sloan students organize charity auctions typically twice a year. Each “ocean” (the approximately 70-person cohort with which students take their first-semester core classes) selects a charity to support and identifies items to be auctioned, such as lunch with a professor, a home-cooked meal by a student, and more unusual offerings, like having a professor chauffeur you to class in their classic car. First-year oceans compete to see which one can raise the most money, and second-year students organize a similar auction. Altogether, the auctions raise tens of thousands of dollars each year for such charities as the California Wildfires Fund, Children of Uganda, Pencils of Promise, Bridge Over Troubled Waters, and the Sloan Social Impact Fellowship.

MIT Sloan students are active in organizing conferences as well. Did you know that some of the biggest names in sports have met annually since 2007 for an event at the school that former ESPN columnist Bill Simmons once described as “dorkapalooza”? At the student-run Sports Analytics Conference, participants discuss the increasing role of analytics in the sports industry, and students have ample opportunity to network with the elite of the sports world. The event typically features more than 150 speakers and 40 hours of panels and workshops.

The 2021 conference was hosted virtually in April with the theme “Show Me the Data.” Speakers hailed from such companies and organizations as ESPN, the Philadelphia 76ers, Madison Square Garden Sports, and Alt. Panel discussion topics included “Negotiating the Future: How Priorities Changed as a Result of COVID,” “The Case for Activism: Sports’ Impact on Society,” and “Women’s Sports: The Time is NOW.” The event also included a start-up competition, trade show, hackathon, and gaming innovation challenge.

A second-year EMS (Entertainment, Media, and Sports) Club member once told mbaMission, “The event is one of the largest student-organized conferences in the country and was named the third most innovative company in all of sports (behind only the NFL and MLB Advanced Media) by Fast Company [magazine].”

For a thorough exploration of what MIT Sloan and 16 other top business schools have to offer, please check out our free mbaMission Insider’s Guides.
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An Overview of Deferred Admissions MBA Programs [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   07 Mar 2022, 09:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: An Overview of Deferred Admissions MBA Programs
After you graduate from college, would you not love to know that you have a guaranteed spot at a top MBA program in a few years? If you had secured such a spot, you would likely pursue work that genuinely interested you in the interim. Deferred admissions programs, which allow candidates who have been accepted to leading business schools to postpone their actual enrollment, can provide this kind of opportunity. Individuals are eligible to apply if they are in their final year of college or a full-time master’s program they entered directly from college. Some business schools offer admission to third-year undergraduate students as well. If admitted, applicants will typically gain two to four years of work experience after graduation before enrolling in the MBA program.

The deferred admissions application mirrors the regular MBA application but has different deadlines. For example, the Harvard Business School (HBS) 2+2 deadline is in April, which is much later than the deadlines for the first two rounds of applications for the school’s regular MBA program. While the deadlines for all deferred admissions programs differ, they are generally in the spring.

Given the advantages—and absence of disadvantages—of applying to a deferred admissions program, these options can actually be more competitive than their respective regular MBA programs, which are of course already highly competitive! Admitted deferred applicants tend to have very high test scores and GPAs.

The HBS 2+2 program was the first and is now the largest and most well-known deferred admissions program. Other leading schools have created their own versions; Columbia Business School, MIT Sloan, and UPenn Wharton all introduced deferred admissions programs in recent years. All deferred admissions programs have a similar structure, and most are open to candidates from any college, though this was initially not the case.

Which Schools Have Deferred Admissions MBA Programs, and How Do They Compare?
The following deferred MBA admissions programs each require candidates to have approximately two to five years of work experience before starting the program. Check the programs’ websites for details about cohort size, scholarship opportunities, and other differentiators:

  • Chicago Booth—Scholars Program
  • Columbia Business School—Deferred Enrollment
  • Harvard Business School—2+2
  • MIT Sloan—MBA Early Admission
  • Northwestern Kellogg—Future Leaders
  • NYU Stern—NYU x NYU/Stern
  • Stanford GSB—Deferred Enrollment
  • UVA Darden—Future Year Scholars
  • Wharton—Moelis Advance Access
  • Yale SOM—Silver Scholars
Applying to these programs is not much different than applying to typical full-time MBA programs—however, you will not have much, if any, career experience to draw from and use in your application essays. So, rather than focusing on your professional accomplishments (or lack thereof), look at your community and volunteer endeavors, club involvements, college athletics, academic engagements such as teaching assistantships, and personal accomplishments. Be sure to highlight your depth of achievement in your resume and essays. For your recommendations, consider an internship manager, a professor you are particularly close with, a coach or mentor, or even a faculty supervisor from a student group you belong to. One more piece of advice is to try to have full-time post-college work lined up. This will signal to the admissions committee that you are already positioned for success.

For more information about deferred MBA programs, download our free guide The HBS 2+2 and Deferred Admissions Guide.
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MBA Application Tips for Nontraditional Candidates [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   09 Mar 2022, 09:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Application Tips for Nontraditional Candidates
If you want to go to business school but do not have a “traditional” background in consulting or finance, you might be worried that you will not be accepted to a top MBA program. Maybe you are a teacher, an athlete, or a journalist. Perhaps you are in the military or have a background as a chef. Nontraditional applicants like you are different, and believe it or not, admissions directors love that!

If you are a nontraditional MBA applicant, here are a few tips to help you navigate the application process and give you some confidence about your candidacy.

1. Do not try to be something you are not.
Although more MBA applicants come from finance and consulting, your unique background helps you stand out. Highlight what you are good at and showcase accomplishments you have had in your field. Remember that no professor wants to be in front of a class of just bankers and consultants. Your experience adds diversity and allows you to look at situations from a different perspective than that of others. Emphasize your distinctiveness!

2. Showcase your quantitative or analytical skills.
Even if such skills are not a major part of your work experience, you need to show the admissions committee that you can handle the quantitative rigor of an MBA program. A recent applicant who worked for a TV station had little quant experience, but she conducted an analytical study of the station’s social media impressions, which led to some programming changes and ultimately resulted in a boost to advertising sales. That story became an important part of her applications! You can also think about taking some courses that would bolster your quant profile, such as Harvard Business School’s Credential of Readiness program or a college class in statistics or economics. By doing so, you are showing the admissions committee that you are dedicated to strengthening your quantitative skills, thereby creating greater confidence in your ability to perform well in its MBA program.

3. Be clear on why you want an MBA and where it will lead you.
The good news if you are a nontraditional applicant is that you most likely do not have an undergraduate degree in business, so your reasons for needing an MBA are easy to establish in your applications. Still, articulating career goals that make sense for your specific background and skill set is important, meaning you want the admissions committee to feel confident that you will get a job after business school without a struggle. For instance, a client who worked as a chef and TV food stylist built her career goals on moving into consumer products marketing, with a focus on food. This path made perfect sense to the admissions committee.

4. Highlight your team-building skills.
Almost every career requires teamwork, so make sure the admissions committee knows how well you work in a group or team setting. Think about your experiences within your work environment or through extracurriculars, and tell stories about times you have engaged positively and productively with others. For instance, a teacher might write about collaborating with fellow staff members to develop programming that raised test scores school-wide.

If you have questions about your nontraditional background or wonder which schools you would be competitive at, sign up for a free 30-minute consultation with an mbaMission Senior Consultant.
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MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: Never Mention Religion or Politics in [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   11 Mar 2022, 10:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: Never Mention Religion or Politics in Your Application!
The other day, one of our consultants was chatting with a potential client who had applied to business school on his own the previous year but had not succeeded in being accepted. Together, they were exploring what he might do differently this time, and our consultant asked whether he had discussed any of his community service activities in his previous application.

The candidate hesitated a moment before confessing, “Well, I have some volunteer experience, but I can’t write about it in my application. It has to do with my church.”

In fact, this applicant had been involved with church activities for a decade—leading fundraising activities, facilitating group discussions, organizing social events, and participating in extensive community service. But he believed that because his efforts all fell under the umbrella of a church group, he should avoid sharing them with the admissions committee.

We disagree.

With respect to potential hot-button topics such as religion and politics, we have a simple rule of thumb for deciding whether or not to address them in your MBA application. If your intention is to convince your reader to agree with or accept your views, then you should not write about them. But if you are describing why the topic is meaningful to you, then including it gives the admissions committee insight into your personality and value system, helping them get to know you better as an individual and candidate.

Sharing activities you have done within a religious context is certainly fine, but what about discussing your religious beliefs? Are those taboo? We have read compelling emotional essays from applicants about how they lost the religious beliefs they were brought up with, and others from applicants who discovered and adopted religious practices and beliefs on their own. Again, our rule of thumb applies: as long as you are writing about your personal beliefs—not condemning anyone else’s or trying to push your own beliefs onto others—the topic can truly be a powerful one.
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What Do MBA Admissions Consultants Do? And Do You Need One? [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   14 Mar 2022, 07:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: What Do MBA Admissions Consultants Do? And Do You Need One?
Often, we hear from candidates who are just beginning their business school research and have questions about the MBA experience, application components, and submitting their applications. Many applicants who are entirely new to the process of MBA admissions might be wondering, What do MBA admissions consultants do? And do I need one?

If this sounds like you, we want to provide an explanation of the kinds of services MBA admissions consultants offer their clients. Hopefully, this information will facilitate your decision on whether hiring such a consultant would be right for you.

[b]What is the general idea behind MBA admissions consulting?[/b]
Let us provide some context. Imagine you are interested in a high-level position at a prestigious, top-tier company you know very little about. While doing your preliminary research on the company, you find that its application process is very rigorous and includes several components that are completely new to you, such as writing about yourself and your past experiences in depth, demonstrating your professional mastery, and detailing what has led you to want this job in particular. You surmise that given the demands of your busy schedule, you might need several weeks (or even months) to put together an application that properly captures who you are and gives you the best chance of being considered for the job. And to complicate matters further, you realize that you are competing for this coveted position against thousands of other applicants—many of whom seem to be more qualified than you.

What would you do?

A. Quickly submit an application sight unseen by anyone other than you

[b]or

[/b]B. Thoughtfully prepare an application with the help of a trusted advisor, mentor, or former leader at the company

Option B seems far more likely to yield a favorable outcome, right? We think so, too.

With any important decision or move in your life, we believe that getting a second opinion (ideally from a trusted advisor or mentor) is generally always a good idea to help inform your decision-making process and fine-tune the execution of your next steps.

For applicants to the world’s top-15 MBA programs, the stakes are high. Gaining admission to a premier business school will lay the foundation for the rest of an applicant’s life, ensure a quick return on investment, and foster future business success. Each year, thousands of candidates compete for just a few hundred spots in each MBA program’s incoming class, and they all know they need to stand out among the applicant pool. If you think this sounds like an uber-competitive process, it is.

MBA admissions consultants exist for this very reason: to advise MBA hopefuls through the application process and help ensure that the application they ultimately submit is the [b]most compelling[/b] version possible.

But what does that process look like? We will explain that next.

[b]What do MBA admissions consultants actually do for their clients?[/b]
On a day-to-day basis, MBA admissions consultants collaborate with their clients on the various components of the MBA application process, helping them brainstorm, execute, and polish their application materials. These tasks include the following:

[list]
[*][b]Pre-application Coaching: [/b]As you approach your business school applications and prepare for this incredibly important step in your life, having a long-term plan in mind and benchmarks to achieve is crucial. An admissions consultant can help you navigate this stage of the admissions process so that when the time comes to differentiate yourself, you will have a host of professional, community, and personal achievement stories from which to draw.[/*]
[*][b]Assessing Your MBA Profile:[/b] You can take several significant steps at the beginning of the application process that will help you develop your profile and improve your candidacy. An MBA admissions professional can advise you on these steps and other important issues, such as taking or retaking the GMAT/GRE, enrolling in math and/or finance courses, selecting a volunteer organization to join, planning campus visits, and connecting with students and alumni to learn specifics about the different programs. By proactively targeting any weaknesses in your candidacy and complementing your strengths, you can strengthen your profile.[/*]
[*][b]Choosing MBA Programs: [/b]An MBA admissions consultant can help you identify the business schools at which you will be competitive and explain the attributes and strengths of the top programs so you can pinpoint the best fit for you and your goals.[/*]
[*][b]Brainstorming Ideas for Your Personal Statements and Essays:[/b] Through one-on-one idea-generation sessions, an MBA admissions consultant can assist you in identifying interesting and inspirational stories from your past and guide you in how best to incorporate these unique personal anecdotes into the larger context of your application, developing compelling and comprehensive statements that will highlight your notable attributes. Sometimes, as a result of this process, your admissions consultant will get to know you almost better than you know yourself. Having an outside observer is a huge benefit at this stage because the advisor can see strengths in what you might have perceived as weakness or help you reframe a weakness into a story of growth.[/*]
[*][b]Providing High-Level Edits on Your Written Materials: [/b]An MBA admissions consultant can pose questions and offer suggestions designed to increase the detail, color, and flow of your writing, while respecting each program’s word limits. The goal is to refine your ideas, focusing on sentence structure, grammar, and style, while maintaining your distinct voice. In addition to critiquing and providing guidance on your application essays, a consultant can offer feedback on the following pieces:
[list]
[*][b]Resume and Short Answers: [/b]Your resume and responses to your target school’s short-answer questions are also critical parts of your application. An admissions consultant can ensure that these elements are detailed, well developed, and results oriented, thereby bolstering your overall chances for success and allowing you to capitalize on every opportunity to make a good impression on the admissions committee.[/*]
[*][b]Letters of Recommendation: [/b]Selecting and managing the individuals who will write your letters of recommendation takes thought and skill. An admissions consultant will give you the tools to identify and guide the recommenders whose letters will both complement and supplement your application and grab the attention of the admissions committees.[/*]
[*][b]Unconventional Essays:[/b] A skilled MBA admissions consultant will even assist you in creating and managing the new wave of alternative “essays” that business schools are increasingly requesting, such as videos and PowerPoint presentations.[/*]
[/list]
[/*]
[*][b]Interview Preparation: [/b]Your MBA admissions consultant will ensure that you are thoroughly prepared for your admissions interviews by conducting a “mock” (simulation) interview with you in advance and offering feedback on key points to position you for success.[/*]
[*][b]Waitlist Guidance: [/b]If you have been placed on a school’s waitlist, an experienced MBA admissions consultant can explain ways of improving your candidacy in the interim and of properly communicating any improvements/updates to the admissions committee.[/*]
[*][b]“Ding” Review:[/b] If you have unfortunately been rejected at your target program, an MBA admissions consultant can examine all aspects of the application you submitted—including your test scores, resume, essays, transcript, short-answer responses, reference letters, and any other related materials—and provide written feedback that highlights your strengths and weaknesses and recommends ways to improve your candidacy for your next application.[/*]
[*][b]Post-acceptance Counseling:[/b] Determining which business school to ultimately enroll in is sometimes an agonizing process. An MBA admissions consultant can provide objective advice and sober second thought to help you make this choice that will affect the rest of your life.[/*]
[/list]
Depending on the admissions firm and the individual consultant, these advisory sessions can be conducted virtually (over the phone, via email, or using telemeeting software) or in person around the globe.

MBA admissions consultants typically pride themselves on their mastery of all things related to MBA admissions, but not all consultants hail from the same background. Whether they have [url=https://www.mbamission.com/blog/do-i-need-an-mba-application-consultant-with-an-admissions-background/]served on a business school admissions board[/url], attended a leading MBA program, or dedicated their lives to counseling students and professionals, these advisors come from a variety of personal and professional backgrounds and can claim different forms of expertise.

[b]Do I need to hire an MBA admissions consultant?[/b]
Naturally, you might be wondering whether hiring a consultant is the best decision for your MBA application journey. The truth is that not everyone needs the support of an admissions consultant to get into business school. However, there are a few reasons you might want to hire a consultant like the experts at mbaMission. In the following video, we provide a brief overview of some key considerations to keep in mind when deciding whether to hire an MBA admissions consultant.



You might benefit from working with an MBA admissions consultant if any of the following statements applies to you:

[list]
[*][b]You are an incredibly driven person[/b] who always strives to do your best at anything and everything you do, and you recognize that earning an MBA is an important step in your career. Working with someone who knows the admissions process inside and out can ensure you are putting your best foot forward in your applications.[/*]
[*][b]You have not written anything substantial for some time [/b]and worry that you might struggle to identify and tell your strongest stories. An experienced admissions consultant can help you sort through your personal and professional stories to discover the right ones to share with the admissions committees.[/*]
[*][b]You are overwhelmed by the complexity of the MBA admissions process [/b]and could use some help with efficiency, organization, and timeliness. An expert admissions consultant who has already guided hundreds of applicants successfully through this process can really help as you navigate it yourself.[/*]
[*][b]You need help overcoming cultural or language barriers.[/b] The right consultant can help make your essays clearer and more understandable to the admissions readers without putting words in your mouth or changing your stories in a way that is not true to who you are.[/*]
[*][b]You feel your application could benefit from a “second look” by an expert.[/b] We believe that no one should submit an application that has not been reviewed by a second set of eyes. An experienced MBA admissions consultant, especially one who lives and breathes business school admissions the way the full-time consultants at mbaMission do, knows exactly what admissions committees look for and can really give you an advantage over the competition.[/*]
[/list]
So, you certainly do not need to hire an admissions consultant to get into an elite business school, but a professional MBA admissions consultant would be able to give you the insight to craft your most compelling application.

[b]How much does hiring an MBA admissions consultant cost?[/b]
As in any industry, the costs of services offered in MBA admissions consulting range all along the spectrum.

In [url=https://www.mbamission.com/blog/which-mbamission-service-is-right-for-me/]this blog post[/url], we detail all of mbaMission’s services, what you can expect from each, and the associated cost so you can better understand the commitment involved and what you get for your investment. (Of course, not all MBA admissions consulting firms are created equally, so we strongly encourage you to shop around and do your research to determine which firm is truly best for you!)

[b]Can I speak with an MBA admissions consultant to get a feel for the process?[/b]
Yes! If you think hiring an MBA admissions consultant might be right for you, we invite you to [url=https://mbamission.com/consult]sign up for a free 30-minute consultation[/url] so you can speak directly to one of our MBA admissions experts about your candidacy. And if you are curious about what a free consultation with an admissions advisor is like, you can [url=https://www.mbamission.com/blog/what-to-expect-during-a-free-consultation-with-an-mba-admissions-consulting-firm/]read our blog post on the subject[/url] to learn more.

We hope this post was helpful to you in your efforts to learn more about MBA admissions consulting firms and what they offer. If you have any questions about our company, our team, or our process, please [email=info@mbamission.com]reach out to us[/email] anytime
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Ace the GMAT Essay? No, Thanks! [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   15 Mar 2022, 08:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Ace the GMAT Essay? No, Thanks!
We all know that the GMAT essay is scored separately and that the schools do not care as much about the essay score. We also know we have to write the essays first thing, before we get to the more important Quant and Verbal sections (or even Integrated Reasoning), so we do not want to use up too much brainpower on the essay. Still, we cannot just bomb this section; the schools do care about the essay somewhat. So how do we do a good enough job without expending so much energy that we are negatively affected during the multiple-choice portion of the test?

We need to develop a template, an organizational framework on which to hang our writing. The template will not, of course, tell us exactly what to write. For that, we need the actual essay prompt, which we will not see until we take the test. We can, however, determine how to organize the information ahead of time, as well as the general kinds of messages we need to convey at various points throughout.

The template should tell us the following:

  • how many paragraphs to use
  • the primary purpose of each of those paragraphs
  • the kinds of information that need to be conveyed in each paragraph
The template will vary a little bit from person to person; the important thing is to have a consistent template for yourself that you have worked out in advance of the official test.

As a general rule, essays should have either four or five paragraphs total. The first paragraph is always the introduction, the last paragraph is always the conclusion, and the body (middle) paragraphs are for the examples we choose to use.

Each paragraph should contain certain things; these are listed in the following sections. The information does not need to be presented in the given order, though; just make sure that each paragraph does contain the necessary information in some sort of clear and logical order. In addition, the information listed here is the minimum necessary info; you can certainly add more where appropriate.

Brainstorming
First, read the essay prompt. It will look/feel just like the Critical Reasoning (CR) arguments we see on the Verbal portion of the test, so tackle it in the same way! The argument will most closely resemble Assumption Family arguments, so find the conclusion and make sure you understand how the author is trying to support their conclusion. Next, brainstorm any assumptions* that you can think of and jot these down (or type them into the essay response area).

*Note: if you have not started studying CR Assumption Family questions yet, assumptions are unstated pieces of information that the author is assuming must be true to draw their conclusion.

Next, articulate flaws. Any assumptions are automatically flaws, because the author has not established that those assumptions are, in fact, true. You may also think of other flaws along the way.

Finally, pick your two or three best flaws; these will form the basis of your essay.

This whole process should take roughly three to four minutes. Many people find this the hardest part of writing an essay; you can practice by opening up the essay chapter of your Official Guide book and simply brainstorming for one essay prompt. Do not write the whole essay—just do the brainstorming portion once a day (only five minutes out of your day!) for a week or two, and you will become much more skilled at this step.

First Paragraph
  • summarize the issue
  • state a thesis
  • acknowledge that the other side does have some merit
  • introduce your examples
  • three to five sentences total
First, briefly summarize the conclusion of the given argument in one to two sentences. Make sure to write using your own words (do not simply quote the exact language from the essay prompt, though using the same word here or there is fine).

The first paragraph should also contain a thesis statement. The thesis is typically one sentence and conveys to the reader your overall message or point for the essay that you wrote. For the argument essay, you can write most of your thesis sentence before you get to the test! You already know that the argument will contain flaws, and that you will be discussing how those flaws hurt the author’s conclusion. Guess what? That is always your thesis!

“While the argument does have some merit, there are several serious flaws which serve to undermine the validity of the author’s conclusion that XYZ.”
DO NOT USE THAT EXACT SENTENCE. They are going to get suspicious if hundreds of people use the same sentence. (Besides, that is my sentence. Come up with your own!)

Note the opening clause: “While the argument does have some merit.” This is what is called acknowledging the other side. We do not say, “Hey, your argument is completely terrible! There’s nothing good about it at all!” We acknowledge that some parts may be okay, or some people may feel differently, but our position is that the flaws are the most important issue (that is, our thesis is the most important thing).

Notice one other thing that I do not say: I do not say, “I think.” I state my thesis as though it is fact and reasonable people surely agree with me. That is a hallmark of a persuasive essay.

Finally, the first paragraph needs to introduce whatever examples we are going to use in the body paragraphs. Do not launch into the examples fully; that will come later. Do, though, mention the two or three flaws that you plan to discuss in the essay.

Body Paragraphs
Each flaw gets its own paragraph, so you will write either two or three body paragraphs of four to six sentences each. (I personally pick my two best flaws, so I write two body paragraphs. Remember, we just need to be good enough!)

Your goal here is to support your thesis statement. In each paragraph,

  • introduce one flaw (do not repeat the exact language from the prompt)
  • explain why it is a flaw (how does this make the conclusion less likely to be true?)
  • suggest ways to fix the flaw (you are fixing the flaw, not changing the conclusion; what could the author do to strengthen their argument?)
For example, let us say that an argument claims that firing half of a company’s employees will help the company to reduce costs and therefore become more profitable. What is the conclusion, what supports that conclusion, and what assumptions is the author making?

While it’s certainly true that chopping half of your payroll will reduce costs, it doesn’t necessarily follow that the company will become more profitable! That loss of personnel may negatively impact revenues, reduce productivity, hurt morale of the remaining employees, and so on. The author is assuming that no such adverse effects will result from this action; that’s a flaw in their thinking.

The author of such an argument could bolster the claim by, for example, presenting evidence that half of the employees are truly deadweight and firing them would not affect the company adversely. (Do not worry about whether this is likely, whether such evidence actually exists, or even whether this is the best way to improve profitability. Your job is only to strengthen the author’s existing argument a little bit. If the author could actually produce evidence showing that there would not be adverse effects from such layoffs, then their conclusion would be strengthened. Period.)

Conclusion Paragraph
  • restate your thesis (using new words)
  • reacknowledge the other side (using new words)
  • briefly summarize how your examples supported your thesis (using new words)
  • three to four sentences
Are you noticing a theme within these bullet points? Basically, the conclusion paragraph is not going to contain much new information. It is a conclusion; the major points should already have been made earlier in the essay. What you are doing now is tying everything together in one neat package: “Yes, the other side has some merit, but here is my point-of-view and, by the way, I proved my case using examples X and Y.”

Before you go into the real test, you should have a fully developed template, so that all you have to do is come up with your two examples and then hang your words onto your framework. This does not mean prewriting and memorizing actual sentences, but do know in general the kinds of points you want to make in each paragraph. Practice with the above as a starting point until you develop something with which you are comfortable. Do not forget to leave some time to proof your essay; a few typos is okay, but systematic errors will lower your score.

Manhattan Prep is one of the world’s leading test prep providers. Every one of its instructors has a 99th percentile score on the GMAT and substantial teaching experience. The result? Two decades and thousands of satisfied students. By providing an outstanding curriculum and the highest quality instructors in the industry, it empowers students to accomplish their goals. Manhattan Prep allows you to sit in on any of its live, online GMAT classes for free! Check out a trial class today.
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Professor Profiles: Robert Pindyck, MIT Sloan School of Management [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   16 Mar 2022, 08:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Robert Pindyck, MIT Sloan 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 Robert Pindyck from the MIT Sloan School of Management.



Robert Pindyck, who is the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi Ltd Professor in Finance and Economics and a professor of applied economics at MIT Sloan, has won multiple teaching awards going back more than 25 years, including an MIT Sloan Outstanding Teaching Award, the MIT Sloan Excellence in Teaching Award, and the school’s Teacher of the Year Award. More recently, Pindyck and a fellow faculty member received the 2018 Jamieson Prize for Excellence in Teaching, described on the MIT Sloan site as “the most prestigious teaching prize offered by the School.”

Students and alumni with whom we spoke made note of Pindyck’s intense passion, which inspires his students to involve themselves ever more deeply into the material they are studying. A Sloan graduate described Pindyck’s “tremendous authority,” which the professor balanced with “immense accessibility,” and a second-year teaching assistant in Pindyck’s “Industrial Economics [for Strategic Decisions]” course once noted in an MIT Sloan Students Speak blog post that working with him was “a great learning experience.”

For more information about the MIT Sloan School of Management and 16 other top-ranked MBA schools, check out our free mbaMission Insider’s Guides.
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Alumni Generosity and Research-to-Practice at Dartmouth Tuck [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   17 Mar 2022, 12:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Alumni Generosity and Research-to-Practice at Dartmouth Tuck
The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth has approximately 10,700 living alumni. Although that figure may sound small compared with a larger school’s alumni base, numerous students and graduates we have interviewed report that Tuck has an active and close-knit alumni community. Through their continued involvement with the school as mentors, visiting executives, recruiting contacts, and internship providers, Tuck alumni maintain an open channel between the MBA program and the business world. The Tuck students with whom we have spoken cannot say enough about the strength of student-alumni interactions, emphasizing that the vitality of Tuck’s close-knit community endures long after graduation.

One second-year student shared that he had had pretty high expectations with regard to the school’s alumni network “but still underestimated how strong the network can be.” He explained, “The connections were instant. I received same-day responses, all the time. There is a strong pay-it-forward mentality and a genuine interest in seeing people from Tuck do well. Alums go out of their way to help with networking, job preparation, anything.”

Tuck alumni also stay connected to the school through its annual fundraising campaign. The school reportedly boasts the highest giving rate of all U.S. MBA programs. Tuck noted that its giving rate is “more than double the average giving rate of other business schools” in an August 2015 news article on the school’s website. In 2018, Tuck set a new record when it raised $51.3M from its alumni. In April 2018, the school launched a new capital campaign titled “The Tuck Difference: The Campaign for Tomorrow’s Wise Leaders.” The fundraiser is part of the larger university’s $3B campaign, for which Tuck has set an investment target of $250M. As of July 2021, the campaign had raised $235M.

Tuck takes pride in not only its active alumni pool, but also its close-knit community and small faculty-to-student ratio. The school’s Research-to-Practice Seminars complement these characteristics and allow incoming students to quickly get acquainted with the Tuck culture. An article on the school’s Tuck Today website explained that “International Entrepreneurship” was the first of several such seminars designed to give students insight into a real-world business issue. The courses bring together a small group of second-year students with top faculty for a “deep dive” into a specific topic. Research-to-Practice Seminars that have been offered in the past include the following:

  • “Corporate Takeovers”
  • “Deconstructing Apple”
  • “Management of Investment Portfolios”
  • “Marketing Good and Evil: Consumer Moral Judgment and Well-Being”
  • “Strategy in Innovation Ecosystems”
  • “Time in the Consumer Mind”
For more information on other defining characteristics of the MBA program at Dartmouth Tuck or one of 16 other top business schools, please check out our free mbaMission Insider’s Guides.
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Should I Apply to Business School in Round 3? [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   18 Mar 2022, 14:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Should I Apply to Business School in Round 3?
Before we can offer any guidance on whether submitting your business school application in Round 3 is a good idea or not, we need to clarify some terminology. Business schools typically have three admissions deadlines by which candidates can submit their applications: Round 1 (usually in September or October), Round 2 (typically in January), and Round 3 (usually in March or April). However, some MBA programs have four rounds (e.g., one in September, one in November, one in January, and one in March). Four rounds is more common with European schools, but some U.S. schools have four as well. So, when we talk about “Round 3,” we actually mean a school’s last round. The advice we offer here therefore applies to the final deadline in an application cycle, whether that is labelled Round 3 or Round 4.

Business schools typically refer to Round 3 as “the shaping round.” By the time admissions officers are reviewing Round 3 applications, they have already accepted the vast majority of the next incoming class of students (in Rounds 1 and 2) and have a pretty good sense of how balanced that class is in terms of diversity (e.g., gender, age, race, citizenship, industry, college, background). Therefore, in Round 3, the schools’ primary focus is on increasing the diversity of the class, and this is the lens through which they view that round’s applicants. Of course, the programs first have to confirm that any candidates under consideration are qualified, but beyond that, their goal is ensuring that the class is as varied as possible. And remember, Round 3 applicants are competing for the few remaining spots not only with other Round 3 applicants but also with waitlisted candidates from Rounds 1 and 2.

Given these factors, we would say that if you believe you are coming from an overrepresented demographic in business school admissions (e.g., consultant, investment banker), you would likely have a better chance of being accepted at your target program if you wait until Round 1 of the next admissions season to apply. However, if, on the other hand, you are from a less represented industry or country—or have some other particularly distinctive attribute in your candidacy—you might have a better shot at success in Round 3.

We should note that these concerns about Round 3 are generally only applicable to the top 20 or so U.S. schools. So if you are considering applying to an MBA program in Round 3 (or the “last” round), one way of balancing the risks is by applying to schools outside the U.S. top 20.
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MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: Reapplicants Should Not Reapply [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   19 Mar 2022, 08:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: Reapplicants Should Not Reapply
You applied to business school(s) once and did not get in. It took a lot of effort and caused a lot of heartache. Now what do you do? You cannot apply to those schools again, can you? What would be the point? They already rejected you once, so they will definitely do the same thing next time, right? Not necessarily!

Remember, MBA admissions committees are governed by self-interest. Simply put, the schools want the best candidates out there. If you are among the best candidates, why would any admissions director think, “Well, this is an outstanding candidate who can add something special to our school and has unique potential going forward, but he applied last year, so we’ll just forget about him.” Indeed, the reapplication process is not a practical joke or a disingenuous olive branch to those permanently on the outside. If the schools were not willing to admit reapplicants, they would not waste time and resources processing and reviewing their applications.

Although many candidates fret about being reapplicants, some admissions officers actually see a reapplication as a positive—a new opportunity. Soojin Kwon, the managing director of full-time MBA admissions and student experience at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, told mbaMission, “They are certainly not ‘damaged goods.’ We have had many successful reapplicants join our program after they’ve spent a year strengthening their candidacies.”

Meanwhile, the Yale School of Management’s assistant dean and director of admissions, Bruce DelMonico, noted, “I can certainly bust [that] myth. Our admit rate for reapplicants is actually the same as it is for first-time applicants. It’s important, though, for reapplicants to explain to us how their candidacy has improved from the previous time they applied. Reapplicants need to make sure they enhance their application, rather than just resubmitting the same application.”

In short, reapplicants, you have no reason to believe that you only have one chance. Like any competitive MBA applicant, continue to strive and achieve; if things do not work out this time, they just might the next time.
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Learn How to Build Your Best MBA ApplicationFeaturing CBS, Chicago Boo [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   21 Mar 2022, 08:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Learn How to Build Your Best MBA Application—Featuring CBS, Chicago Booth, UVA Darden, MIT Sloan, and Yale SOM
[url=https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/2022-Shared-Series-Email-Image.png?ssl=1][img]https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/2022-Shared-Series-Email-Image.png?resize=465%2C165&ssl=1[/img][/url]
So, you have your sights set on applying to business school. What comes next?

Whether you are just starting to prepare for the GMAT, GRE, or Executive Assessment (EA) or are working on crafting a compelling MBA application, the leaders in the MBA admissions space—[url=https://mbamission.com][b]mbaMission[/b][/url] and [b][url=https://www.kaptest.com/gmat]Manhattan Prep, Powered by Kaplan[/url][/b]—are coming together to make sure you will be ready for the 2022–2023 business school admissions season.

Join us for a free eight-part webinar series, running weekly from April 7 through May 26, to learn what you need to be doing now to create a compelling MBA application.

Admissions consultants from mbaMission will explain different MBA admissions processes, while experts from Manhattan Prep will help you tackle some of the toughest test-taking challenges by providing valuable insight and advice.

This free online series will offer you helpful guidance as you work toward your goals. From figuring out which test is best to take (the GMAT or GRE, or even the EA) to speaking with admissions officers, you will get a well-rounded, step-by-step overview of the MBA admissions process.

Click here to enroll (for free) in our “[b][url=https://www.kaptest.com/study/gmat/mba-mission-series/]Building Your Best MBA Application[/url][/b]” webinar series, and continue reading to preview the series schedule! 

[b]Build Your Best MBA Application Series Schedule[/b]
[list]
[b]Part 1: Your 2022 MBA Action Plan[/b][b]

[/b][b][/b]Thursday, April 7, 2022

8:00–9:30 p.m. ET

Applying to business school in 2022–2023? It is not too early to start planning! Join mbaMission Founder/President [url=https://www.mbamission.com/who-we-are/team/jeremy-shinewald/]Jeremy Shinewald[/url] as he discusses such topics as creating your ten-month (and beyond) timeline; getting “stats ready,” including accelerating personal goals; attaining your target GMAT/GRE/EA score; and taking additional coursework.[/*]
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[list]
[b]Part 2: Which Business School Is Right for Me?[/b][b]

[/b]Thursday, April 14, 2022

8:00–9:30 p.m. ET

Which MBA program is right for you? How can you find the best fit? During this free webinar, mbaMission Managing Director [url=https://www.mbamission.com/who-we-are/team/rachel-beck/]Rachel Beck[/url] will help prospective MBAs understand the differences among top MBA programs.[/*]
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[list]
[b]Part 3: Should I Take a Test? If So, Which One: GMAT, GRE, or EA?[/b][b]

[/b]Thursday, April 21, 2022

8:00–9:30 p.m. ET

Join Manhattan Prep instructor [url=https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/jamie-nelson/]Jamie Nelson[/url] and mbaMission Founder/President [url=https://www.mbamission.com/who-we-are/team/jeremy-shinewald/]Jeremy Shinewald[/url] as they explain the key differences among the exams and how business schools view each test—and help you determine which one may be best for you.[/*]
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[list]
[b]Part 4: Are My MBA Profile and Test Score Strong Enough?[/b][b]

[/b]Thursday, April 28, 2022

8:00–9:30 p.m. ET

Every year, thousands of strong candidates apply to business school. To get noticed, you will need an impressive GMAT, GRE, or EA score and an unforgettable application. Join Manhattan Prep instructor [url=https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/chris-gentry/]Chris Gentry[/url] as he discusses the GMAT’s scoring system and how you can approach the test with the right mindset to get your best return on investment. Then, mbaMission Managing Director [url=https://www.mbamission.com/who-we-are/team/krista-nannery/]Krista Nannery[/url] will share what admissions officers look for and how to build a noteworthy application.[/*]
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[list]
[b]Part 5: How Can I Make My MBA Application Essays Stand Out?[/b][b]

[/b]Thursday, May 5, 2022

8:00–9:30 p.m. ET

To grab the attention of a top business school, you will need to write an essay that is well crafted and memorable. Learn to do just that in this session led by mbaMission Managing Director [url=https://www.mbamission.com/who-we-are/team/john-sisk/]John Sisk[/url], who will help you start to uncover your personal story, craft a strong opening statement, develop your goals, and connect those goals to your target school.[/*]
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[list]
[b]Part 6: How Can I Nail My MBA Application Materials?[/b][b]

[/b]Thursday, May 12, 2022

8:00–9:30 p.m. ET

So, you have mastered how to write a compelling MBA application essay, but what comes next? Join mbaMission Managing Director [url=https://www.mbamission.com/who-we-are/team/jessica-shklar/]Jessica Shklar[/url] as she details how to tackle “everything but the essay”—an in-depth examination of short answers, recommendation letters, and other components of an MBA application that need to stand out to the admissions committee.[/*]
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[list]
[b]Part 7a: GRE for MBA: How Do I Handle the Toughest Topics?[/b][b]

[/b]Thursday, May 19, 2022

7:00-8:15 p.m. ET

Taking the GRE for b-school? Have a top MBA program in mind? We have you covered with this free event. Manhattan Prep instructor [url=https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/ryan-starr/]Ryan Starr[/url] will teach you how to approach the toughest topics—from Quant to Verbal. This is a great event for applicants at any stage in their prep. Even if you have already started your preparation, we will help position you to reach your highest potential.[/*]
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[list]
[b]Part 7b: Advanced GMAT: How Can I Master 700+ Level Quant and Sentence Correction?[/b][b]

[/b]Thursday, May 19, 2022

8:30–9:45 p.m. ET

The GMAT has four subscores, but your Quant score will likely be the most important. Get ready to tackle the most difficult Quant problems with this free event led by Manhattan Prep instructor [url=https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/jamie-nelson/]Jamie Nelson[/url]. Jamie will also walk you through an equally tough section: Sentence Correction. Learn how to nail the most challenging problems, no matter how long or confusing each passage may seem.[/*]
[b]Part 8: Top Admissions Directors Answer Your Questions[/b][b]

[/b]Thursday, May 26, 2022

8:00–9:30 p.m. ET

In this event, we are bringing you direct access to some of the world’s best business schools so you can ask them all your questions, learn what makes each one unique, and get advice on how to put your best foot forward in your application. mbaMission Founder/President [url=https://www.mbamission.com/who-we-are/team/jeremy-shinewald/]Jeremy Shinewald[/url] will host an interactive Q&A session with a panel of admissions officers from leading business schools, including the [b]MIT Sloan School of Managemen[/b][b]t[/b], [b]Columbia Business School[/b], the [b]University of Chicago Booth School of Business[/b], the [b]University of Virginia Darden School of Business[/b], and the [b]Yale School of Management[/b]. Panelists include the following:

[list]
[url=https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/cbs-directory/detail/abc101][b]Amanda Carlson[/b][/url], Assistant Dean of Admissions at Columbia Business School[/*]
[url=https://som.yale.edu/programs/mba/admissions/contact-us][b]Bruce DelMonico[/b][/url], Assistant Dean for Admissions at the Yale School of Management[/*]
[url=https://www.darden.virginia.edu/about/leadership/administrative-leadership/dawna-clarke#:~:text=Senior%20Assistant%20Dean%20of%20Admissions,Dartmouth%20College%20for%2011%20years.][b]Dawna Clarke[/b][/url], Senior Assistant Dean of Admissions at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business[/*]
[url=https://mitsloan.mit.edu/staff/directory/dawna-sherri-levenson][b]Dawna Levenson[/b][/url], Assistant Dean of Admissions at the MIT Sloan School of Management[/*]
[url=https://www.chicagobooth.edu/about/deans-and-administrators][b]Donna Swinford[/b][/url], Associate Dean for Student Recruitment and Admissions at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business[/*]
[/list]
[/*]
[/list]
Are you ready to put your best foot forward for the upcoming MBA application season? [url=https://www.kaptest.com/study/gmat/mba-mission-series/][b]Click here to enroll (for free) in “Building Your Best MBA Application.”[/b][/url]

If you cannot attend one of the sessions, no problem! Be sure to register; we will email you a recording link after each session.
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How to Build the Ideal Resume for Your MBA Application [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   23 Mar 2022, 08:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: How to Build the Ideal Resume for Your MBA Application
Present Both Responsibilities and Results

In your MBA resume, be sure to showcase your accomplishments, rather than merely stating the responsibilities of your position. When your responsibilities are presented with no accompanying results, the reader has no understanding of whether you were effective in the role you are describing. For example, consider the following entry, in which only responsibilities are offered:

2020–Present Household Products Group, Flocter & Gramble Cincinnati, Ohio

Brand Manager

  • Responsible for managing a $10M media campaign, supervising a staff of five junior brand managers, monitoring daily sales volumes, and ensuring the consistent supply of product from five production facilities in three countries.
The reader is left wondering, “Was the media campaign successful? Did the staff of five progress? Did sales volumes increase? Did the supply of products reach its destination?” When this one long bullet point is instead broken down into individual bulleted entries that elaborate on each task and show clear results, the reader learns not just about the candidate’s responsibilities but also about that person’s ultimate effectiveness and successes.

2020–Present Flocter & Gramble Cincinnati, Ohio

Brand Manager

  • Initiated $10M television/Internet “Island Vacation” promotion introducing new Shine brand detergent, surpassing first-year sales targets within three months.
  • Mentored and supervised five junior brand managers, each of whom was promoted to brand manager (company traditionally promotes 25%).
  • Analyzed daily sales volumes and identified opportunity to increase price point in Midwest, resulting in 26% margin improvement and $35M in new profits.
  • Secured “safety supply” of vital chemicals from alternate suppliers, ensuring 99% order fulfillment.
By comparing the first entry with the second, you can see how much more effective an accomplishment-driven resume is than one that simply lists responsibilities.

Demonstrate Nonquantifiable Results

Presenting quantifiable results in your resume is preferred because such results clearly convey your success in the actions you undertook. However, in some instances, you simply cannot quantify your success. In such cases, you can instead demonstrate nonquantifiable or even potential results. Consider the following examples:

  • Persuaded management to review existing operations; currently leading Manufacturing Review Committee, which will table its final report in June 2022.
  • Established divisional continuing education series, noted on review as “crucial” and “game changing.”
  • Initiated biweekly “Tuesday at Five” team social event, resulting in enhanced workplace morale.
In each of these bullet points, the results of the writer’s actions are not measurable, but they are nonetheless important. The accomplishments, while “soft,” are conveyed as clearly positive.

Keep It Concise

Ideally, your resume should be only one page long; admissions committees generally expect and appreciate the conciseness of this format. If you choose to submit a resume consisting of two pages or more, your reader may have difficulty scanning it and identifying (and remembering) important facts. With these space constraints in mind, we offer two fairly straightforward “space saver” ideas:

  • Do not include a mission statement at the beginning of your resume. Your mission in this case is to get into the MBA program to which you are applying—and, of course, the admissions committee already knows this! A mission statement will take up precious space that can be used more effectively for other purposes.
  • Your address should take up no more than one line of your resume. Many applicants will “stack” their address, using four, five, or even six lines, as if they were writing an address on an envelope. Consider how much space an address occupies when presented in the following format:
Ms. X

123 Y Street

1st Floor

City, State 10001

646-111-2222

x@y.com

You just wasted five lines of real estate! To help whittle your resume down to one page, try putting your address on just one line so you can save five others for valuable bullets.

And, while we are discussing the document’s length, resist the urge to shrink your font or margins to make your resume fit on one page. Your font should be no smaller than ten-point type, and your margins should be no smaller than 1″ on either side and 0.75″ at the top and bottom. Rather than trying to squeeze too much information onto the page, commit yourself to showcasing only your most important accomplishments that tell your story best.
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Professor Profiles: Rawi Abdelal, Harvard Business School [#permalink] The mbaMission Blog   24 Mar 2022, 10:00
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FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Rawi Abdelal, 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 profile Rawi Abdelal from Harvard Business School (HBS).

Rawi Abdelal is the Herbert F. Johnson Professor of International Management and the director of Harvard’s Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies. In addition to teaching, he serves as a faculty associate for such groups as Harvard’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and the Minda de Gunzburg Center for European Studies.

His first book, National Purpose in the World Economy: Post-Soviet States in Comparative Perspective (Cornell University Press, 2001), won the 2002 Shulman Prize for outstanding monograph dealing with the international relations, foreign policy, or foreign-policy decision making of any former Soviet Union or Eastern European state. In 2016, Abdelal was granted the HBS One Harvard Faculty Fellowship, and in 2013, he received the Robert F. Greenhill Award, given to outstanding members of the HBS community who are making significant contributions to the school. Moreover, in 2004, he was awarded the Student Association’s Faculty Award for outstanding teaching in the required curriculum.

Abdelal is a student favorite, we were told by those we interviewed, because of his willingness to spend time with students outside the classroom (even those who are not in his section), explaining macroeconomic concepts that can be difficult to grasp. He is also known for incorporating unusual references from literature and popular culture into his class discussions. He has made allusions to Shakespeare, the movie Fight Club, and even rapper Jay-Z’s song “Blue Magic” to help explain complex topics.

For more information about HBS and 16 other top-ranked business schools, check out our free mbaMission Insider’s Guides.
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