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06 Sep 2022, 13:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: How to Get into Marshall School of Business: USC Marshall Essay Tips and Examples |
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[url=https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/USC-Marshall.jpg?ssl=1][img]https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/USC-Marshall.jpg?resize=300%2C154&ssl=1[/img][/url] The University of Southern California (USC) Marshall School of Business takes a very traditional approach to its application essay questions. For the first required essay, applicants must detail their immediate short-term career goal—without much elaboration, given the 100-word limit. For the second required essay, which can be as long as 600 words, candidates are asked to write a letter to the Marshall admissions committee, though no specific requests are made beyond that, leaving applicants significant latitude. An optional essay gives candidates who feel they have an issue to explain or a particularly significant story to share the opportunity to do so, albeit succinctly. A fourth essay has been added this year for candidates who wish to waive the exam portion of the application, requiring them to explain why they should be granted a waiver. Our analysis of all USC Marshall’s essay questions for this season follows. USC Marshall 2022–2023 Essay Tips [b]Essay #1 (Required): What is your specific, immediate short-term career goal upon completion of your MBA? Please include an intended position, function, and industry in your response. (word limit: 100)[/b] Quite simply, Marshall wants to know that you have a specific intention in mind and are not just applying to business school with the expectation of figuring everything out later, once you are enrolled in the program. Many MBA applicants have a long-term vision for their career, of course, but with this prompt, Marshall is asking you to prove you have really given thought to the necessary steps in between. Your goal in this short essay is therefore to demonstrate that you do indeed have a plan, not just broad ambition. The school’s other key concern is whether its MBA program is truly the right one to help you attain your stated goal and that you have done the necessary research to discover and confirm this for yourself. Marshall has very little impetus to admit you—and you have very little to attend it—if you will not ultimately be equipped or positioned to pursue your intended goal once you graduate! For example, if you aspire to work in a field or position for which Marshall is not known to have particularly strong courses, professors, or other offerings, or if you want to work for a company that has no recruiting history with the program, it might not be the best choice to get you where you want to go right away. At just 100 words maximum, your response needs to be fairly straightforward. Avoid any generalities and vagueness. Do your research to ensure that Marshall can indeed position you to attain what you intend, and simply spell things out. Given that this essay involves at least one key element of a traditional personal statement, we encourage you to download a free copy of our [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/personal-statement-guide]mbaMission Personal Statement Guide[/url][/b], which provides advice on effectively addressing this topic in an essay. [b]Essay #2 (Required) – Please draft a letter that begins with “Dear Admissions Committee.” (word limit: 600)[/b] [b]This letter is meant to be your personal statement that provides the Admissions Committee with an understanding of your candidacy for Marshall beyond what is evident in other parts of your application. This essay is purposely open-ended. You are free to express yourself in whatever way you see fit. Our goal is to have an appreciation for and an understanding of each candidate in ways that are not captured by test scores, grades, and resumes. [/b] As the admissions committee itself admits in the prompt, this is essentially a request for a personal statement, which typically covers (1) why the candidate feels they need an MBA, (2) why the MBA is necessary now, and (3) why they wish to attend the specific school in question. So, at the risk of sounding repetitive, we will start by encouraging you—again—to download a complimentary copy of the [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/personal-statement-guide]mbaMission Personal Statement Guide[/url][/b], which is available for free and includes detailed guidance on approaching and writing such essays, along with multiple illustrative examples. Note the admissions committee’s acknowledgement that it already has a lot of information about you from the other parts of your application, including your resume, extracurricular activities, recommendations, short-answer question responses, academic transcripts, and GMAT/GRE score. You should therefore think first about what these elements convey about who you are as an individual and candidate, so you can determine which parts of your profile would best complement this information and the image it collectively presents of you. This does not necessarily mean that you cannot touch on anything mentioned elsewhere in your application but rather that you do not want to use up valuable word count repeating anything unnecessarily. Focus on supplementing the data the school already has. And despite the somewhat stuffy intro the school provides—“Dear Admissions Committee”—keep in mind that this is an opportunity for you to present yourself as a well-rounded, dynamic individual who would be a positive addition to the Marshall community, so do your best to infuse your essay with authenticity and personality, as well as information. [b]Essay #3 (Optional): Please provide any additional information you would like the admissions committee to consider. (word limit: 250)[/b] In general, we believe candidates should use a school’s optional essay to explain confusing or problematic issues in their candidacy, which this prompt does indeed allow. So, if you need to, use this opportunity to address any questions the admissions committee might have about your profile, such as a poor grade or overall GPA, a low GMAT or GRE score, or a gap in your work experience. Consider downloading our free [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/mbamission-optional-essays-guide]mbaMission Optional Essays Guide[/url][/b], in which we offer detailed advice (and multiple annotated examples) on how best to approach the optional essay to mitigate any problem areas in your application. That said, Marshall clearly leaves the door open for you to discuss any other information about your candidacy that you feel might be pivotal or particularly compelling—that you think the admissions committee truly needs to know to be able to evaluate you fully and effectively (and that might not have been appropriate for your required essay). We caution you against submitting a response to this prompt just because you fear that not doing so would somehow count against you, though (it will not). Remember that with each additional essay you write, you are asking the admissions committee to do extra work on your behalf, so you must make sure that the added time is warranted. If you decide to use this essay to impart information that you believe would render your application incomplete if omitted, strive to keep your submission brief and on point. [b]Essay #4 (Required for all candidates requesting a test waiver) – Test Waiver Essay – Please submit a brief statement that summarizes why you believe you qualify for a test waiver. (word limit: 200)[/b] If you wish to receive a test waiver, you will need to make a compelling, well-reasoned, and persuasive argument as to why you do not need, or should not be expected, to take one of the exams that aspiring MBAs traditionally complete. Marshall, like all business schools, uses these tests to gauge applicants’ verbal and quantitative abilities (including their command of the English language) and their readiness for the rigors of the MBA curriculum. The school does not want to admit and enroll individuals in such an academically demanding program who will ultimately struggle to keep up; this would not be good for the student, nor for their classmates. So you will need to demonstrate clearly for the admissions committee that you already have the skills and knowledge base necessary to absorb and engage with the content and assignments Marshall will require. The school clearly states, “While professional experience can be included as a component of the waiver request, the Admissions Committee will most strongly consider two elements: 1) overall academic achievement; and 2) performance in quantitative coursework.” In your brief essay response, share all the evidence you have of times you have excelled academically in the areas the MBA curriculum is founded on. |
07 Sep 2022, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: How to Get into IE Business School: IE Essay Tips and Examples |
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[url=https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ie-business-school-logo.png?ssl=1][img]https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/ie-business-school-logo.png?resize=200%2C141&ssl=1[/img][/url] The application essays for IE University’s International MBA Program are not overly taxing from a length perspective, but they require candidates to make some important decisions as to what they choose to share and how. We imagine most applicants will end up devoting a good bit of time to considering their options as far as topics to cover and just as much (if not more) time to crafting the presentation of that information. The school’s broad personal essay prompt instructs candidates to essentially “tell us anything important,” and applicants can do so in a video, via a PowerPoint presentation, or in writing. At the other extreme are IE’s “live questions,” which give applicants almost no time to prepare their responses in advance. Read on for our advice on approaching the school’s essays for this season. IE Business School 2022–2023 Essay Tips [b]Personal Essay: This section is important in understanding who you are, not just as a student but also as a person in order to grasp the value that you could add to our program. Take this as an opportunity to showcase your unique attributes and personality. There are three formats you can choose to express yourself: a video (max. 3 minutes), a PowerPoint presentation (max. 10 slides), or a written essay (between 250–650 words). Please pay special attention to punctuation, structure, and content.[/b] [b]What is the most important thing that you would like us to know that is not in your resume or application?[/b] IE’s essays are found in the “express yourself” part of the application, which should be a clear sign that the admissions committee wants you to imbue your responses with personality and character. Essentially, this prompt is a way of asking you to reveal who you are as an individual, apart from what the rest of your application already conveys about your job, education, activities, and interests outside of work. We encourage you to be as creative as possible without extending yourself beyond your comfort zone. Play to your strengths. If you are a strong writer, do not feel you need to make a video to stand out. If you are good at extemporaneous speaking, a video would likely be a more fitting choice. If you are great at organizing thoughts in a compelling and clever way, maybe a PowerPoint presentation would be your ideal option. Whichever format feels most appealing to you and aligns best with the kind of information you want to convey is probably the one you should focus on. As for the content of your submission, be sure to adhere to the school’s stipulation of “not in your resume or application.” The admissions committee will already have a lot of information about you that it can and will use to get to know you better from your resume, recommendations, short-answer question responses, academic transcripts, and test scores. You should therefore approach this essay by first thinking about what these portions of your application convey about who you are as an individual and candidate, so you can determine which parts of your profile still need presenting. A primary goal in responding to this prompt is sincerity. Avoid becoming gimmicky in any way. You are not trying to seem “cute” or even more creative than the next applicant; you just want to tell your personal story and provide a more dynamic image of yourself. We recommend that you start by grabbing some paper and making an old-fashioned list of your key experiences, achievements, pastimes, and passions. Then, consider what IE will already know about you and your story and strive to choose the item(s) from your list that can best complement that information to create a well-rounded representation of you. With a maximum of three minutes, ten slides, or 650 words, you will need to be relatively succinct, so take care not to spend too much time or space on unnecessary buildup or repetition. You want your story to have life and sufficient context so the admissions committee can fully understand and appreciate it, but you also want to give yourself enough room to share details that will imbue your message with color and individuality. [b]Live Questions: Once you have submitted the application form and paid the admissions fee, you will receive an email to complete an online assessment through our partners at Kira. During this exercise you will be answering questions to demonstrate why you would be a valuable asset to the IEU community. This will take around 20–30 minutes.[/b] For this portion of the IE application, you will receive three questions. For two of them, you will need to respond in a video of one minute long each, after taking 30 seconds to mentally prepare. For the third question, you will submit a written response and be given five minutes in which to craft it. We know that required videos—and spontaneous ones, in particular—often strike fear into the hearts of business school candidates, but let us reassure you a bit about this component of the IE application process, so you can relax and put your best self forward. First of all, keep in mind that these kinds of video/on-the-spot questions are not intended to trip you up or entice you to do or say anything that would immediately disqualify you from consideration. They are primarily opportunities for the admissions committee to put a “face,” so to speak, with your written application and learn a little more about your personality, energy level, communication style, and other such intangibles. Your goal is not to provide the “right” answer that the school is expecting to hear (because no “right” answer exists!) but to be yourself so as to convey a genuine impression of you as an individual. If you focus on being authentic and sincere, you will provide the admissions committee with exactly what it is seeking. To get a bit more comfortable with the format before you complete this part of the IE application, we suggest practicing responding to interview-type questions in front of a mirror to exercise maintaining a pleasant and natural expression as you speak and timing yourself to ensure your answers do not tend to run long. Although you can prepare as much as you want, you will have only one chance to record your response(s) when you do the official interview. If you stumble while answering or ultimately are unhappy with your answer, you will not, unfortunately, be able to rerecord anything or try again another time. This might make you nervous, but we encourage you to view the situation a little differently. As we have noted, IE wants to get to know the real you through these video essays. If you fumble for words or lose your train of thought, just laugh or shrug and continue with your response. Accepting a mistake with a sense of humor and grace will give the admissions committee a more positive and natural impression of your personality than rigid scripting and overpreparation ever could. For sample questions you can use to practice, consider downloading a free copy of the [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/mbamission-interview-guide]mbaMission Interview Guide[/url][/b], in which we present a list of 100 common interview queries. IE’s prompt notes that it intends for these questions to allow you to “demonstrate why you would be a valuable asset to the IEU community,” so the school will want to see evidence that you have done your research on it and developed a true and thorough understanding of its culture. Ideally, your responses will convince the admissions committee that you are eager to take advantage of opportunities at the school, that you have thoughtfully considered your potential role and place within the program’s community, and that you understand what you can offer as an IE MBA student. So, read student blogs, peruse discussion boards, catch up on the past year or more of the program’s press releases, spend some time on [b][url=https://www.youtube.com/user/iebusinessschool]IE’s YouTube channel[/url][/b]—these are all good places to start (or better, continue!) educating yourself about what life at the school is really like, beyond the coursework. You can also learn more about the school’s defining characteristics and key elements by downloading your free copy of mbaMission’s [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/ie-business-school-program-guide]IE Business School Program Guide[/url][/b]. |
09 Sep 2022, 10:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: How to Get into Tepper School of Business: Carnegie Mellon Tepper Essay Tips and Examples |
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[url=https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/CMU_Tepper_School_of_Business.jpg?ssl=1][img]https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/CMU_Tepper_School_of_Business.jpg?resize=200%2C200&ssl=1[/img][/url] Carnegie Mellon University’s Tepper School of Business has only one required written application essay. For it, the school asks applicants to discuss how they have promoted inclusion and how they expect to apply their related skills and mind-set at Tepper. Candidates are also tasked with recording a brief video about their post-graduation aspirations. Applicants who feel the need to convey an additional important aspect or two of their candidacy to the admissions committee can take advantage of the optional essay, whose prompt is broad enough to accommodate topics other than problem areas in one’s profile. Our more in-depth analysis of Tepper’s 2022–2023 questions follows. Carnegie Mellon Tepper 2022–2023 Essay Tips [b]Required Essay: The Tepper community is dynamic and unique with students who strive to be collaborative, supportive and inclusive. Please provide an example of when you experienced or created an inclusive environment and how you will use that experience to help members of the community reach their full potential. (Maximum 500 words, double spaced, 12 point font)[/b] As an MBA student—and in life in general—you will encounter individuals who think differently from you, operate according to different values, and react differently to the same stimuli. And success in an endeavor often involves considering and incorporating others’ input and perspectives. Via this essay, Tepper hopes to learn how you view, approach, and engage with such differences. Once enrolled in the school’s MBA program, you will be surrounded every day by people who are unlike you in a multitude of ways, and you will need to work in tandem with and alongside these individuals when analyzing case studies, completing group projects, and participating in other activities both inside and outside the classroom. The school is clearly seeking evidence that you are capable of listening, reflecting, learning, and growing and that you are interested in people and information that come from outside your usual frame of reference. And by asking you to share an example of when you “experienced or created an inclusive environment,” Tepper is requesting concrete evidence of this open-mindedness in action. When admissions committees request examples, they invite essays that use a narrative structure, and we believe such essays are usually not only more revelatory but also more interesting to read (this is a definite plus when you are trying to make an impression on someone who sees literally thousands of essays each year!). So, consider starting your essay by launching directly into your story and immediately highlighting the actions you took to enhance inclusivity in a given situation: “When I realized that some of our new hires were reluctant to take part in our company’s weekly ‘wine wind down,’ I committed myself to finding out why and what could be done to ….” The Tepper admissions committee wants of course to know the outcome of the incident you describe, so be sure to relate the results of your actions, but what is even more important to the committee is understanding what your motivations were, what decisions you made, and what steps you took to effect change. This means you must illustrate the values and thought process behind your efforts, in addition to clearly conveying your actions and their outcome. Keep in mind, however, that the incident or situation you share should account for only one half of your essay. The school also asks how you expect to apply your mind-set and dedication to inclusivity once you arrive on campus. So, do your research on the program to identify specific areas and opportunities where you could contribute in this particular way, and clearly demonstrate your understanding of both the Tepper community and your potential to be additive to it. [b]Video Essay–Goals: Now, let’s hear directly from you! We know that your career goals are an important part of your decision to attend business school, and we are excited to hear them. Please describe your post-MBA career goals. You have up to 2 minutes to respond to this question.[/b] [b]Pro Tip: It would be helpful to consider the following information in your response:[/b] [b]-Please be as specific as possible. If you have not yet identified specific companies, that is okay. Just tell us what interests you for your next role or company. What about the industry, company, or functional role is appealing to you?[/b] [b]-If you have any criteria you are using to evaluate career opportunities, please share those as well. We may have great opportunities to add to your list.[/b] [b]-How does this post-MBA career goal relate to your long-term career plan?[/b] First, take a deep breath and let it out again. We understand that video submissions can often be intimidating and make you feel like you are being put on the spot, but Tepper is really not trying to scare you. The admissions committee simply wants to collect this key information from you in a more dynamic way than a written essay generally provides, while also getting a glimpse of your personality and communication style. You cannot answer the school’s questions incorrectly, so do not concern yourself with trying to give the “right” answer. Just respond to the query honestly, as smoothly as you can (despite any nervousness you might be feeling), and be yourself. Thankfully, Tepper explains what information it wants you to provide, so you can prepare your talking points in advance and practice a bit, rather than having to go in totally blind. For this video component, the school simply wants to understand where you hope to go professionally after earning your MBA, in as much detail as you can provide in the allotted time (more on this later). The admissions committee wants to know that you have given this topic very serious thought, have thoroughly researched your options, and are approaching business school with a strong sense of purpose—that you have fitting, attainable goals in mind and can articulate them clearly. First, make sure that the path you have chosen is a feasible one for you and that the connection between your short-term plans and your long-term aspirations makes sense. The school wants to feel that you will be able to achieve your objectives after completing its program, so you want to avoid goals that could sound farfetched. Establishing briefly that you have the skills and knowledge to enter your target field will establish that logical connection, reassuring the admissions committee that you can be a happy and productive graduate. Note that Tepper does not ask you to recap your career thus far, and you do really not have sufficient time in which to do so. Provide this additional context only if it is absolutely needed for your stated goals to be understood and/or believable—perhaps if you are making a fairly significant career change. Although the core prompt says you will have “up to two minutes” to offer your response, the fine print notes that the recording will end automatically at 90 seconds, so prepare to deliver the necessary information within that shorter time frame. You would be better off having a few extra seconds, if two minutes is in fact the correct measure, than running out of time before you finish your message. Because 90 seconds is really not very long, we encourage you to practice a bit in advance—perhaps even in front of a mirror—to get a sense of how quickly that time will pass when you are actually recording. When you are ready to record your video, you will have up to three attempts, so if you are not satisfied with your first (or second) delivery, you can try again. Note, however, that you cannot go back to an earlier version once you choose to record a new one, and your third video (if you use all available attempts) will automatically be your official submission. So if you stumble while answering or are unhappy with your answer, unfortunately, you cannot do anything about it. However, we encourage you to not judge yourself too harshly or become discouraged if your video is ultimately not what you would consider “perfect.” Tepper wants insight into the authentic you. If you make a minor mistake—such as fumbling for words or losing your train of thought—just laugh or shrug and continue with your response. Accepting a small blunder with a sense of humor and grace will give the admissions committee a more positive and natural impression of your personality and merely reveal that you are human—not disqualify you for acceptance. One’s career goals are often part of a traditional personal statement, so consider downloading your free copy of the [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/personal-statement-guide]mbaMission Personal Statement Guide[/url][/b], which offers tips and advice on responding to this type of query. This complimentary guide offers detailed advice on approaching and framing these subjects, along with multiple illustrative examples. Be sure to [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/personal-statement-guide]claim your copy[/url][/b] today. [b]Optional Essay: Is there anything else that you would like to share with the Admissions Committee as we evaluate your application? If you believe your credentials and essays represent you fairly, you should not feel obligated to answer this question. This essay is intended to provide a place for you to add information that you think is important but is not covered elsewhere in the application. This could include clarification of your employment or academic record, choice of recommenders, or helpful context for the admissions committee in reviewing your application. [/b](No word limit is indicated.) Tepper’s optional essay prompt is somewhat broad in the sense that it does not demand that you discuss only problem areas in your candidacy. That said, the second line of the prompt not too subtly implies that the admissions committee expects you to use the essay this way. If an element of your profile would benefit from further explanation—such as a poor grade or overall GPA, a low GMAT or GRE score, or a legal or disciplinary issue—this is your opportunity to address it and answer any related questions an admissions officer might have. We caution you against simply trying to fill this space because you fear that not doing so would somehow count against you, and this is definitely not an invitation to dump a bunch of remaining information about yourself that you have not included elsewhere or to offer a few anecdotes you were unable to use in your required essay. However, if you believe you have something pivotal or particularly compelling to share that is not mentioned anywhere else in your application and that you feel would render your profile incomplete if omitted, Tepper has offered some leeway to do so here. Although no word limit is stipulated, be mindful that by submitting a second essay, you are making a claim on an (undoubtedly very busy) admissions representative’s time, so be sure that whatever you write is worth the additional resources and effort. For more guidance, download our free [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/mbamission-optional-essays-guide]mbaMission Optional Essays Guide[/url][/b], in which we offer detailed advice (along with multiple examples) on when and how to take advantage of the optional essay. [b]Are you a re-applicant? Use the optional essay to explain how your candidacy has strengthened since your last application.[/b] Whether you have improved your academic record, received a promotion, begun a new and exciting project, increased your community involvement, or taken on some sort of personal challenge, the key to success with this essay is conveying a very deliberate path of achievement. Tepper wants to know that you have been actively striving to improve yourself and your profile, and that you have seized opportunities since your previous application to do so, because an MBA from its program is important 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 are presented in the best light possible. |
12 Sep 2022, 10:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Simple Strategies for Increasing Your Visibility on LinkedIn |
 Optimizing your LinkedIn presence requires gaining visibility among your target audience. An effective strategy includes adding relevant content to the LinkedIn platform and crafting a compelling profile. Here are five suggestions for attracting attention to your LinkedIn content:
The bottom line is this: LinkedIn has more than 830 million members across 200 countries, with 77 job applications being submitted every second, making it the place to be seen if you want to invest in and advance your career. |
14 Sep 2022, 12:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Dealing with Long Underlines in GMAT Sentence Correction Questions |
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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. Many of the more “standard” (and lower-level) Sentence Correction (SC) questions have easier-to-identify “splits,” or differences in the answer choices. For instance, answers A and B might use the word “have,” while C, D, and E use the word “has,” indicating a relatively easy-to-spot singular versus plural issue. Sentences with longer underlines, however, are more likely to be testing such global issues as Structure, Meaning, Modifiers, and Parallelism. In these questions, large chunks of the sentence move around, the fundamental sentence structure changes, and so on. In one GMATPrep problem, for example, answer A includes the text “the brain growing in mice when placed” while answer B says “mice whose brains grow when they are placed.” This is not just a simple switch of a single word—something more complicated is happening. Take a look at this article for the full example. To have a chance at answering these correctly, we may need to modify our standard approach to SC. In GMATPrep’s Lake Baikal problem, the entire sentence is underlined, and the answers seem to be changing completely around. Where do we even start? Click the link to try the problem and learn more about how to tackle these types of SCs. Here is another one discussing an organization called Project SETI. When you are done with this, try this third one: FCC Rates. Here, only about two-thirds of the sentence is underlined, but the sentence is unusually long. When you are starting to feel more comfortable with those, I have an exercise for you. Pull up some long-underline Official Guide questions that you have previously completed. Cover up the original sentence and look only at the answers (in other words, if the entire sentence is not underlined, then you are going to do this exercise without actually reading the full sentence!). Based on the differences that you see, try to articulate all of the issues that are being tested and eliminate as many answers as you can. (Note: You will not always be able to eliminate all four wrong answers; sometimes the non-underlined portion of the sentence contains some crucial information!) When you are done, look at the full thing and review the explanation to see how close you got and whether you missed anything. |
14 Sep 2022, 12:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: How to Prepare for Your Business School Admissions Interview |
 Congratulations! All your hard work seems to have paid off, and you have jumped that first hurdle in your race to get into business school—securing an MBA interview! Good for you! Now what? You need to prepare. A business school admissions interview can take many forms. In years past, it was often just a casual conversion in a coffee shop with a graduate of the program wanting to find out whether you would be a good teammate. These days, your interview could be a Zoom call with a second-year student looking to learn how much you know about the school. For some programs, it could be a thorough grilling by an admissions committee member who has read every part of your application and wants to dig down and understand what you are really all about. No matter what the setting or who your interviewer is, the first thing you need to know before beginning to prepare for your interview is whether it will be “blind” or not (“blinded” versus “unblinded”). In other words, will your interviewer have seen and studied your application in full before you speak together (unblinded), or will they have seen only your resume (blinded)? Knowing this bit of key information will have a direct impact on the questions you will be asked and the strategy for answering them. If your interview is blind, then you are free to draw information and talking points straight from your application. Go ahead and repeat anything you have included in your essays—your interviewer will have seen none of it. Leverage all the hard work you put into the various parts of your application, and use the stories and facts you included in them when responding to your interviewer’s questions. Not only is this a very good strategy but it also makes your preparation for the interviewer much easier. For unblinded interviews, however, you have a different imperative: know your application inside and out. In an unblinded interview, the interviewer will often make reference to something you included or discussed in your application, so you need to be familiar with and remember everything in it. Study your entire application before your interview to make sure you will not contradict or be tripped up by something you included in it. Whichever type of interview you might be facing, here are a few basic strategies to remember: Know who you are. Your business school interview will very likely start with a prompt like “Walk me through your resume” or “Tell me about yourself.” These might sound like easy starting points, but you really need to prepare for them properly. Although the exact wording might differ, your response will involve sharing who you are and explaining how you reached this point in your life and career. This does not require going all the way back to first grade and detailing every formative experience you have had between then and now, but it does demand that you communicate what is important to you and to outline the path you envision for your future. A good approach is to walk the interviewer through your resume backward, meaning that you begin by describing what you are doing now and work your way back to your earliest entry. The advantage of this strategy is that you do not risk running out of time talking about something that happened long ago that might be a lot less relevant to your current situation—and a lot less compelling for your interviewer. That is the fatal mistake you want to avoid when asked this question—going on for 20 minutes, never quite getting to the present day, while your interviewer becomes increasingly bored and totally loses interest. The simplest way to avoid such a scenario is to practice. Start your stopwatch and deliver your resume spiel. How long did you take? If it was less than three minutes, great! If not, keep practicing and refining your response until you can hit that mark. Be ready to answer the three “whys.” 1. Why business school? Keep in mind that fundamentally, business schools are institutes of higher learning, so answers like “for the credential” or “to network” are not good. In fact, they are bad.Business schools fully understand the market value of their degree and how much this might appeal to you. They also recognize the value of the network they offer. But first, they want you to be a student, an active member of the community, someone who is there to learn what they want to teach. So, to prepare yourself to effectively answer this question, think about what an MBA education provides that you need to be able to reach your goals. What skills must you develop? Clarify for your interviewer that the future you want is possible only with an MBA. 2. Why that school? One question that comes up in practically every admissions interview is why the candidate wants to attend that business school in particular. This is a great opportunity to earn some positive interview points. Lean in to the research you have done on the program: prepare to offer the names of any students and alumni you have spoken with, professors whose TED Talks you have watched, conferences you are excited about, and so on.This is where being specific is key. If you are interested in the school because you want to study entrepreneurship, for example, you will need to say more than that and go into some detail. Every business school teaches entrepreneurship, so how would studying the topic at this particular school be different? What courses, faculty members, experiences, and/or other resources does it offer that resonate with you? Be prepared to go into some depth with this question. 3. Why now? This question might be somewhat less relevant for some candidates. If you have been working for five years in a profession that requires an MBA to progress, such as consulting, you will not likely be asked this because the reasons behind your pursuit of the degree are understood. However, if you are older or younger, you want to be ready to respond to this query and explain your situation.If you are an older candidate, your interviewer will probably be interested in understanding why you have chosen to attend a full-time MBA program rather than an executive MBA (EMBA). So, be prepared to talk about your preference for the more immersive experience a full-time program provides and the exposure you will have to a broad and diverse range of people, versus what you would generally experience with an EMBA. If you are a younger applicant (one with fewer than three years of experience), be ready to outline the well-formulated career path you have devised for yourself and to explain how critical earning an MBA sooner rather than later is for your best chance of success. Because these three questions are core components of a traditional personal statement, we encourage you to download a free a copy of the mbaMission Personal Statement Guide, which offers in-depth guidance on how to approach these queries, along with multiple illustrative examples. Prepare some flexible core stories to use with behavioral “Tell me about a time when…” questions. For many applicants, these types of behavioral questions are the scariest because there is an almost endless number of them. Tell me about a time when you served as a leader. Tell me about a time when you failed at something. Tell me about a time when you needed to ask for help. And on and on. How do you prepare for such questions without having to formulate individual, tailored answers to the 50 or so options you can imagine—let alone the 500 or more you cannot? First, think broadly. These questions tend to fall into a few different categories: a time when you led, a time when you followed, a time when you succeeded, a time when you failed, a time when a team experience went smoothly, and a time when it went less smoothly. So a good strategy is to have three to five go-to stories that you can mold to fit a question that falls into any of these categories. For example, perhaps you once led a team that really went off the rails, and you had to pull things together and get everyone back on track. That one experience could be used as the basis for a response to any sort of team, leadership, or conflict question. You could also prepare by working backward, so to speak. In this case, you identify two or three compelling stories about yourself that you really want to share with your interviewer. Start examining those stories now to figure out how you might frame or present each one as a fitting answer to any of these kinds of questions. Remember, “Tell me about a time” questions never have a wrong answer. Go with whatever comes to mind, include sufficient detail, and you should be all set. For additional help with preparing for your admissions interviews, download your free copy of the mbaMission Interview Guide, which goes into more detail on the different kinds of interviews you might encounter, as well as the types of questions typically asked (including 100 common interview questions), and provides tips for what to do before, during, and even after your interview. Another useful resource to consider is mbaMission’s suite of school-specific Interview Guides, which break down what you can expect in an interview with your target school and how to prepare accordingly. Let me offer a final word of advice: too much practice can backfire. The purpose of an admissions interview is for the school to get to know you in a less formal and more dynamic way. Your interviewer wants to get an idea of how you will be in the classroom, conference room, and extracurriculars. They are looking for people they want to invite to join their community. If you have clearly memorized all your answers, that will give the interviewer pause and make them wonder how you truly are at thinking on your feet and interacting with others. Business schools want engaging people, not robots. Finally, rather than viewing your upcoming interviews as a challenge, see them as an opportunity, a chance to show how excited you are about attending that particular school. Let your interviewer see your enthusiasm, and that in turn will make them enthusiastic about you. |
16 Sep 2022, 13:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: The Admissions Committee’s Glass Is 99% Empty |
 “I was the first in my class to be promoted at McKinsey. I have a 710 GMAT score and completed Level 1 of the CFA exam, but I had a B- in calculus during my freshman year. Will that grade ruin my chances for admission?” “My company has been under a hiring and promotion freeze for the past three years, but during that time, I have earned pay increases and survived successive rounds of layoffs. Will the admissions committee accept someone who has not been promoted?” “I have been promoted, but my company changed names. Will the admissions committee think I am going somewhere at a sketchy company?” Although these questions may seem somewhat silly—the individuals’ strengths are obvious and their “weaknesses” comparatively innocuous—we get asked about scenarios like these every day. In short, we can assure you that your candidacy, even at vaunted schools like Harvard and Stanford, is not rendered tenuous by such trivial “shortcomings.” The admissions officers do not consider you guilty until proven innocent, and they are not looking for little reasons to exclude you from contention. Many candidates have mythologized the “perfect” applicant and fear that any small area of concern means that they do not measure up to this myth—and thus that their candidacy is insufficient. Rather than fixating on small details that in truth are inconsequential, you should think about the big picture with respect to your overall competitiveness. You can take us at our word on this. Or, if you prefer, heed the words of a former admissions officer at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, who explained to mbaMission that “everyone has something, or more than one thing, in their application that they need to overcome.” But he added, “We read with an eye toward wanting to find all the good things about an applicant. We look for their strengths. We look for things that make them stand out, that make them unique. We look for their accomplishments. We look for positive parts of the application. |
19 Sep 2022, 13:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Professor Profiles: Kevin Murphy, University of Chicago Booth 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 Kevin Murphy from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. In 2005, Chicago Booth professor Kevin Murphy—who has a joint appointment in the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics at the University of Chicago, where he teaches PhD-level courses—became the first business school professor to win the MacArthur Genius Grant, which he received for his groundbreaking economic research. Murphy’s course “Advanced Microeconomic Analysis” is affectionately called “Turbo Micro” because of its enormous workload. One recent graduate told mbaMission that a typical Chicago Booth class is supposed to be complemented by five hours of homework per week but that Murphy’s course demands roughly 20 hours. So, why would students clamber to take the class? The alumnus with whom we spoke raved that it was taught at the PhD level and that Murphy is deserving of his “genius” title, pushing students to think about their opinions in profoundly different ways. A first year we interviewed identified Murphy’s course as the most impressive he had taken thus far, saying it offered “a very complicated but logical way to view the world.” Murphy also teaches such MBA courses as “Big Problems,” which is open to both business and law students, and “Sports Analytics,” which explores such themes as decision making, causation, and fixation through the context of sports. For more information about Chicago Booth and 16 other top-ranked business schools, check out our free mbaMission Insider’s Guides. |
21 Sep 2022, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Understanding the MBA Job Market: Fall 2022 |
As job recruiting for full-time MBAs begins, many students are pondering questions such as the following:
The full picture is always a bit complicated, and the job market can change rapidly. To understand how robust the job market you might face will be, consider these factors:
And finally, remember that even when indicators predict a strong job market, you need to be a compelling candidate. Focus more on your ability to take advantage of the opportunities available to you—and less on the potential competitiveness of the market. The following mbaMission blog posts provide tips for helping you stand out in a positive way: |
22 Sep 2022, 08:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: How to Get into Cox School of Business: SMU Cox Essay Tips and Examples |
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[url=https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/SMUCOX.png?ssl=1][img]https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/SMUCOX.png?resize=300%2C51&ssl=1[/img][/url] Applicants to the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas (SMU Cox), must submit three required essays, with one being largely a traditional personal statement and another essentially a “Why our school?” essay. The third essay is more unique to the program and requests that candidates provide evidence of their quantitative knowledge and skills. Applicants whose professional background does not include sufficient quantitative work to respond to this query, however (and therefore would not have real-world experiences to offer in this essay), have the option of instead discussing how they expect to perform well in such an environment. Read on for our full analysis of SMU Cox’s 2022–2023 application essay prompts. SMU Cox 2022–2023 Essay Tips [b]Please describe your immediate post-MBA career goals, including the target industry, sector, and/or organization. Why are you interested in pursuing a career in this particular area? (250 word limit).[/b] Cox wants to know that you have given this aspect of your MBA experience serious thought, have researched your options, and are approaching business school with a strong sense of purpose—that you have a fitting and attainable goal in mind and can articulate it clearly and thoroughly. By providing the level of detail the essay question demands (“industry, sector, and/or organization”), you will be able to convince the school that you have done the necessary background work and are fully cognizant of where you want to go after graduating. Note that the admissions committee is asking only about your short-term objective (“your immediate post-MBA career goals”). Applicants’ short-term goals are typically more practical and well formed than their long-term aspirations, which tend to be more idealistic and theoretical. Think about what you truly want to do with your career in the short term and state this aspiration directly. Keep in mind that the rest of your application needs to provide evidence that your stated goal aligns with your existing skills and profound interests, especially once they have been augmented by an MBA education. This will show that your professed goal is achievable and lend credibility to your claim. To reinforce that the path you have chosen is a sensible one for you and to effectively convey the “why” element, you will need to include some context for your goal. For example, imagine that you plan to move from consumer marketing to equity research for consumer goods companies after graduating. If you were to simply state, “Post-MBA, I want to join a boutique equity research firm” as your opening sentence, your reader could be left wondering where this interest comes from. But if you were to instead write, “For the past four years, I have basically lived and breathed Fruity Pebbles. I now understand how the tiniest increase in coconut oil prices or a ten-cent competitor’s coupon can affect a product’s margins. I have subsequently become obsessed with the big data that drive computer goods and want to spend the next phase of my career in equity research, helping investors understand the riddle.” These are two very different answers, all because of some helpful context. From here, you can delve deeper into why equity research is right for you—how you intend to grow in your role and further develop your passion for the position. One’s short-term goal is part of a traditional personal statement, so we encourage you to download your free copy of the mbaMission [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/personal-statement-guide]Personal Statement Guide[/url][/b], which helps applicants write this style of essay for any school. This complimentary guide offers detailed advice on approaching and framing the topic, along with multiple illustrative examples. [b]Each candidate is unique. Please outline your top expectations for your MBA program and why SMU Cox would be a great partner in assisting you to achieve your professional development and career goals (250 word limit).[/b] To effectively answer the school’s question for this essay, you will need to conduct some significant research on all aspects of Cox and the MBA experience it offers, from its resources and community to its extracurriculars and location. In your essay, you must present a clear plan of action, showing direct connections between Cox’s offerings and your interests, personality, and needs within the context of your career aspirations. Approach this query from three primary angles—academically, culturally, and professionally—to ensure that you consider and identify the aspects of and resources at the school that are truly the most important to you and your projected path. Note that generic claims and empty pandering have no place in this essay. The elements of the Cox MBA program that you reference must be specific to your interests, character, and needs, and the connections between them must be made very clear. Be authentic about what draws you to the school, and clearly explain how you will grow through the opportunities available there and benefit from the overall experience. The “Why our school?” topic is another common element of a typical personal statement, so we (again) encourage you to download a free copy of the [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/personal-statement-guide]mbaMission Personal Statement Guide[/url][/b] before beginning to write your essay response to this prompt. The guide explains ways of approaching this subject effectively and offers several sample essays. [b]One of the three pillars of the SMU Cox MBA program is Data Analytics. We are committed to helping all students develop skills in data analysis and to further develop an analytical mindset. Please answer one of the following prompts (500 word limit).[/b] [b]Please describe how you have used data to solve a complex problem, including how you communicated your solution to others.[/b] The important thing to understand here is that with this prompt, SMU Cox wants insight into your ability to not only use data to navigate complicated issues but also explain the data in a way that is understandable to other people, including, we would assume, the non-quantitatively minded. We suggest you start by identifying some difficult problems you recently solved or considered at length. For each one, what were the factors involved in helping you reach your final solution or conclusion? Some were undoubtedly qualitative (what your instincts told you with respect to the situation), but many, if not most, were based on the facts, numbers, and other information involved. How was your decision-making process driven by these numbers or data? And which numbers and data? Once you have determined the answers to these questions for each of the situations you might discuss in this essay, you will have options for the foundation of your submission. Then, consider the way in which you presented the data in each instance so that the other individuals involved (or affected) could understand it—and this part is key. If your presentation style was extremely complex or sophisticated, you might think the admissions committee would be impressed with your advanced analytic capabilities, but a data visualization that is clean, clear, and easy to digest could be more effective here. If you can show the admissions committee evidence that you can communicate complex ideas in simple ways—or even simple ideas in compelling ways—you will also demonstrate that you could be useful to your Cox classmates in navigating the challenging MBA curriculum, making you a compelling candidate. Once you have identified a situation from your past in which you tackled a difficult problem using data and presented it a way that a wide range of individuals could understand it, you are ready to start writing. Clearly outline the problem you addressed, the factors you considered in reaching your ultimate solution/resolution, and why these factors were central to your decision(s). Then, describe how you conveyed your solution to the other parties involved. [b]If you have limited experience with analytics or quantitative work, please use the following question:[/b] [b]Explain how you are prepared to succeed in a quantitatively rigorous program.[/b] The issue at hand here is pretty straightforward. Cox needs to know that if you enroll in its program, you will be able to keep up with the necessary course and project work, both for your own sake and for that of your fellow students. Likewise, the admissions committee wants to be sure that you will be extracting what you should (and what you need) from your classes and assignments, not struggling just to keep up and handle basic calculations and concepts. After all, the school’s goal is to teach you about business, not math. If you are in this position, you obviously want to highlight any inherent skills you have that would be applicable and present any experiences that would indicate that you can manage a quant-heavy academic workload. We also recommend pursuing as many relevant quant and business courses as you can complete well before matriculation time. Doing so not only helps prepare you for the work ahead but also demonstrates drive, determination, commitment, and problem solving on your part. Recognizing where you are lacking in certain skills and experience and taking the proper steps to address this lack reveals your self-awareness and reinforces the message that you are serious about attaining your goals and will not hesitate to seek out and apply the appropriate resources and opportunities to stay on track. |
23 Sep 2022, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: How to Get into Questrom School of Business: BU Questrom Essay Tips and Examples |
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[url=https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Questrom-1-1.png?ssl=1][img]https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Questrom-1-1.png?resize=199%2C198&ssl=1[/img][/url] Applicants to Boston University’s Questrom School of Business can either submit a written essay or respond on video to three questions that the school does not provide in advance. This approach gives Questrom candidates the opportunity to choose the format that better fits their character and personality and that they feel more comfortable with. An optional essay is available for any applicants who want or need to share additional information with the admissions committee. Our more in-depth analysis of the school’s rather straightforward prompts for 2022–2023 follows. BU Questrom 2022–2023 Essay Tips [b]Essays[/b] [b]In order to get to know you on a more personal level, applicants to our full-time and part-time MBA programs are required to complete either three short video essays OR one written essay during the application process. Because everyone expresses themselves in different ways, the choice is yours.[/b] [b]VIDEO ESSAYS[/b] [b]If you’re someone who feels they can better express themselves and their reasons for applying to the Questrom School of Business through a video, we encourage you to complete the video essays. Within the “Documents” section of the “Program Materials” portion of the application, you will find your personalized link to the video essay website. Clicking this link will bring you to the Kira Talent website, our partner for the video essay process. When you register, you must use the same email address that you used to create your admission application account.[/b] [b]Upon creating your account with Kira Talent, you can begin your video essays. You’ll need to use an internet-connected computer with a webcam and microphone. We will first ask you a question that all candidates will receive. You’ll have thirty seconds to prepare, and then 60 seconds to record your answer. This will then repeat for two additional random short-answer questions.[/b] [b]You can practice an unlimited number of times with Kira Talent’s provided example questions, but once you start the formal video essay questions, you are only allowed one opportunity. This allows the committee to see your candid responses. The formal process should only take you about five minutes to complete, and can be done on your own time. If you have any questions about your video essays once you’ve registered, please contact support@kiratalent.com.[/b] [b]Preparing for your video essay: We want your recording process to be as easy as possible. As such, we encourage you to dress in business casual attire – no need for a suit. The admission committee will review your responses as part of the application process, and are interested in your presence, personality, and fit with our community. We recommend trying out a few of the sample Kira questions prior to recording your formal video essay responses.[/b] Questrom does not let its applicants know beforehand which questions they will need to answer in these short video essays. However, given that candidates can submit either these videos or a written essay—which implies that the two options are likely designed to elicit generally the same information from applicants—we suspect that the topics covered in the two formats are probably similar. In the written essay, which we will address more fully later in this post, the school asks candidates to “explain to the admissions committee why you’d like to earn your degree from the Questrom School of Business specifically. . . . address why you have selected the program you are applying to . . . and how that program will help you achieve your post-graduate goals.” So, in preparing to respond to the program’s video questions, be sure you are ready to speak to these subjects in case they are in fact addressed in the queries you receive. In this prompt, the admissions committee notes that it is “interested in your presence, personality, and fit with our community,” so you want to be prepared to respond to questions that relate to your “fit” with Questrom as well. This means you should be able to provide evidence that you have done your research on the school and developed a true and thorough understanding of its culture. If needed, you want to be ready to convince the admissions committee that you are eager to take advantage of opportunities at the school, that you have thoughtfully considered your potential role and place within the program’s community, and that you understand what you could offer as a Questrom MBA student. To prepare, read student blogs, peruse discussion boards, catch up on the past year or more of the program’s press releases, and spend some time on [b][url=https://www.youtube.com/user/bumanagement]Questrom’s YouTube channel[/url][/b]. These are all good places to start (or better, continue!) educating yourself about what life there is really like. When the time comes to record your video essays, you will receive three questions. For each of them, you will need to respond in a video of one minute long, after taking 30 seconds to mentally prepare. While we know that videos—and spontaneous ones, especially—can sometimes be nerve-racking, let us reassure you a bit about this component of the Questrom application process, so you can relax and put your best self forward. First of all, keep in mind that these kinds of video/on-the-spot questions are not intended to trip you up or entice you to do or say anything that would immediately disqualify you from consideration. They are primarily opportunities for the admissions committee to put a “face,” so to speak, with your written application and learn a little more about your personality, energy level, communication style, and other such intangibles. Your goal is not to provide the “right” answer that the school is expecting to hear (because no “right” answer exists!) but to be yourself so as to convey a genuine impression of you as an individual. If you focus on being authentic and sincere, you will provide the admissions committee with exactly what it is seeking. To get a bit more comfortable with the format before you complete these video essays, we suggest practicing responding to interview-type questions in front of a mirror to exercise maintaining a pleasant and natural expression as you speak and timing yourself to ensure your answers do not tend to run long. Although you can prepare as much as you want, you will have only one chance to record your response(s) when you do the official interview. If you stumble while answering or ultimately are unhappy with your answer, you will not, unfortunately, be able to rerecord anything or try again another time. This might make you nervous, but we encourage you to view the situation a little differently. As we have noted, Questrom wants to gain some insight into the “real you” through these video essays. If you fumble for words or lose your train of thought, just laugh or shrug and continue with your response. Accepting a mistake with a sense of humor and grace will give the admissions committee a more positive and natural impression of your personality than rigid scripting and overpreparation ever could. For sample questions you can use to practice, consider downloading a free copy of the [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/mbamission-interview-guide]mbaMission Interview Guide[/url][/b], in which we present a list of 100 common interview queries. [b]WRITTEN ESSAY[/b] [b]If you’re someone who feels they can better express themselves and their reasons for applying to the Questrom School of Business in writing, we encourage you to complete the written essay. [/b] [b]Your written essay should be no more than 750 words, and should explain to the admissions committee why you’d like to earn your degree from the Questrom School of Business specifically. It should also address why you have selected the program you are applying to (Full-Time MBA, Professional Evening MBA, Health Sector MBA, Dual Degree, etc.) – and how that program will help you achieve your post-graduate goals.[/b] To a large degree, this prompt is essentially a request for a personal statement, which typically covers (1) why the candidate feels they need an MBA, (2) why the MBA is necessary now, and (3) why they wish to attend the specific school in question. So, we will start by encouraging you to download a free copy of the [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/personal-statement-guide]mbaMission Personal Statement Guide[/url][/b], which includes detailed guidance on approaching and writing such essays, along with multiple illustrative examples. To craft an effective essay response here, you will need to demonstrate a strong understanding of the Questrom program and everything it offers in relation to your professional needs and aspirations. So, if you initially skipped over the earlier section of this post that discusses the school’s video submission option, go back and read that now for our tips on how to familiarize yourself with the school in depth. In this essay, you want to present yourself as a well-rounded, dynamic individual who would be a positive addition to the Questrom community, so do your best to infuse your submission with authenticity and personality, as well as information. [b]Optional Essay: If you have any additional information to bring to the attention of the Admissions Committee, you may address it in an optional essay of no more than 250 words. Acceptable topics for the optional essay include gaps in post-college work experience, choice of recommenders, and concerns about academic/test performance. If you plan to retake any admissions tests (GMAT or GRE; TOEFL, IELTS or PTE), please provide the date of your scheduled test here. [/b] With this prompt, Questrom is acknowledging that some candidates have aspects of their profiles that might need a little special clarification. If this is you, this essay is your opportunity to address any lingering questions that an admissions officer might have about your candidacy, such as a legal or disciplinary incident, an unconventional recommender choice, or, of course, one of the circumstances the school suggests in its prompt. However, keep in mind that by submitting an optional essay, you are requiring the already overtaxed admissions readers to do additional work on your application, so you must ensure that the admissions committee’s extra time and effort are truly warranted and avoid being verbose or sharing more information than is truly necessary. If you feel you might have a valid reason for submitting this additional essay or are not sure if the issue you are considering would warrant doing so, we encourage you to download a free copy of the mbaMission [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/products/mbamission-optional-essays-guide]Optional Essays Guide[/url][/b], in which we offer detailed advice on when and how to take advantage of the optional essay, along with multiple sample essays. |
26 Sep 2022, 12:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: The Role of Exercise in Your GMAT Preparation |
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[img]https://i0.wp.com/www.mbamission.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/physiotherapy-595529_1920.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1[/img] With regard to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything. [url=https://www.manhattanprep.com/gmat/][b]Manhattan Prep[/b][/url]’s [url=https://www.manhattanprep.com/instructors/stacey-koprince/][b]Stacey Koprince[/b][/url] teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense. The New York Times’ Well blog featured a [url=https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/04/10/how-exercise-may-boost-the-brain/][b]fascinating post[/b][/url] on exercise. Exercise has a whole host of benefits, including ones associated with memory. Two studies delved even deeper into how this works. [b]How does exercise help memory?[/b] In the blog post, New York Times journalist Gretchen Reynolds details two studies—one conducted on humans and the other conducted on rats. In the human study, elderly women who already had some mild cognitive impairment were split into three groups. One group lifted weights, the second group engaged in moderate aerobic exercise, and the third group did yoga-like activities. The participants were tested at the beginning and end of the six-month exercise period, and the results were striking. First, bear in mind that, in general, we would expect elderly people who are already experiencing mental decline to continue down that path over time. Indeed, after six months, the yoga group (the “control” group) showed a mild decline in several aspects of verbal memory. The weight-training and aerobic groups, by contrast, actually improved their performance on several tests (remember, this was six months later!). The women were better at both making new memories and remembering/retrieving old ones! Another group of researchers conducted a similar study, only this time, rats were getting some cardio in or lifting weights. (The rats ran on wheels for the cardio exercise and, get this, for the weight lifting, the researchers tied little weights to the rats’ tails and had them climb tiny ladders!) At the end of six weeks, the running rats showed increased levels of a brain protein that helps create new brain cells. The tail-weight-trainers had higher levels of a different protein that helps new neurons survive. [b]How can I use this? Get up and MOVE![/b] Reading this study has made me want to exercise more—and not even for the GMAT! I would like to stave off mental decline in my old age. The women in the study were performing fairly mild exercises only twice a week (remember, they were elderly), so we do not suddenly have to become fitness fiends. We do not know, of course, exactly how the study results might translate to younger people, but the general trend is clear: exercise can help us make and retain memories. That is crucially important when studying for the GMAT—every last bit will help! Get a little bit of both weight training and cardio in every week. You do not have to become a gym rat (pun intended). Engaging in some moderate activity every few days is probably enough. Look for ways to incorporate mild exercise into your daily routine. For example, when I go to the grocery store, I carry a basket around on my arm rather than push a cart (unless I really have to buy a lot). I will fill that basket right up to the brim—often, I end up having to use both hands to continue carrying the thing. I figure that every time I do that, it has to be worth at least 10 to 15 minutes of pumping iron! Studying for the GMAT is tiring, so use this news as an excuse to take a brain break. Get up and walk around the block for 15 minutes, or turn on some music and dance or run the vacuum cleaner (vigorously!). Then sit back down and enjoy the brain fruits of your physical labors. |
26 Sep 2022, 12:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: The Five Most Common MBA Interview Mistakes |
 So, you applied to business school and finally landed that coveted interview! Excited, you rush to prepare—researching the most likely questions you will be asked, memorizing your answers, and rehearsing them in front of a mirror, right? Wrong. MBA interviews are not about memorizing answers but rather having thoughtful conversations regarding who you are. Here are the five most common mistakes you can make when approaching a business school interview:
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27 Sep 2022, 14:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: I Can Use the Same Essay for Multiple Schools |
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You have poured your heart and soul into your business school applications and taken the time to craft the perfect essays. Now you are eagerly looking forward to finishing up a few more applications to your target schools. You have heard that you can expect to spend as much time on your second, third, and fourth applications combined (!) as you did on your very first one. Encouraged, you might scan your third application and think, “Oh, look—here’s a ‘failure’ question. I can just adapt the ‘mistake’ essay I wrote for my first application to answer that one!” or “There’s a question about leadership. I’ve already written an essay on that, so I can just reuse it here!” Not so fast. First applications usually do take longer to complete than subsequent ones. However, this is not because once you have crafted several essays for one or two schools, you can then simply cut and paste them into other applications, adjust the word count a bit, change a few names here and there, and be done. Admissions committees spend a lot of time crafting their application prompts, thinking carefully about the required word limit and about each component of the questions. They present prompts they believe will draw specific information from applicants that will then help them ascertain whether those candidates would fit well with the program. Therefore, if you simply reuse an essay you wrote for School A for your application for School B because you believe the schools’ questions are largely similar, you could easily miss an important facet of what School B is really seeking. For example, consider these two past questions: Northwestern Kellogg: Describe your key leadership experiences and evaluate what leadership areas you hope to develop through your MBA experiences. (600-word limit) Dartmouth Tuck: Discuss your most meaningful leadership experience. What did you learn about your own individual strengths and weaknesses through this experience? (approximately 500 words) Even though both essay prompts ask you to explore leadership experiences, they certainly do not ask the exact same question. Kellogg wants you to share more than one leadership experience and outline the areas you want to develop while at Kellogg. Tuck, on the other hand, asks about only one leadership experience—your most meaningful leadership experience, in particular—and wants to know what you learned about yourself as a result. In this case, if you were to simply take your 600-word Kellogg essay, cut out 75–100 words, and then submit it as your response to Tuck’s question, the admissions committee would immediately recognize this and know that you had not taken the time to sincerely respond to the school’s prompt. Believe us, the admissions committees have seen hundreds, if not thousands, of cases in which applicants clearly submitted an essay originally intended for one school in response to another program’s question—and vice versa. Understandably, this is not the way to win them over. Although you may use the same core story for more than one application essay, always stop and examine that story from the angle proposed by your target school’s question and respond accordingly. One simple rule will always stand you in good stead: answer the question asked. |
29 Sep 2022, 13:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Should You Interview On Campus or Off Campus? |
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You have received a coveted invitation to interview at your target business school, but the school is giving you a choice: interview on campus with an admissions committee member or student interviewer, or interview off campus with a graduate of the program. Which should you choose? MBA Interview Options Every business school has different admissions interview requirements. Historically, NYU Stern and Harvard Business School (HBS) offered interviews only with admissions committee members, either on campus or in select locations in the United States and abroad, wherever admissions committee members traveled. Columbia Business School (CBS) and the Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) offered alumni interviews all over the world. And Northwestern Kellogg, Dartmouth Tuck, and Duke Fuqua offered a hybrid—candidates could choose to interview on campus or could schedule a meeting with a member of the school’s alumni network in a city near them. For the past two years, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, almost every MBA program has relied on virtual interviews, with applicants interviewing with admissions committee members, students, or alumni via Zoom. For the 2022–2023 MBA admissions season, a few schools are offering on-campus and off-campus, in-person interview options. Some, including HBS, CBS, and Duke Fuqua, are using both in-person interviews and virtual ones. At this point, we do not anticipate that the virtual interview option will go away anytime soon for most programs. Which Interview Format Should You Choose? If a school offers a variety of interviews options, do they all generally carry the same weight? In short, yes! They are essentially the same. Think of it this way, why would an admissions committee allow alumni to interview applicants off campus if they did not feel that they were getting quality reports on those applicants? And often, the line of questioning is virtually the same for on-campus interviews as for off-campus interviews, especially when those interviews are blind, meaning that the interviewer has not read the candidate’s full application beforehand. These alumni interviewers are carefully chosen and trained to interview applicants and have a very defined line of questioning that they follow. Here is one exception, though: if you have not yet visited your target school and doing so would not be an imposition on you, you should use an on-campus, in-person interview (if available, of course) as an opportunity to travel to campus, attend a class, and perhaps meet with a student or two. This will position you to then be able to speak far more intelligently about your target program, potentially even in your interview, depending on how the timing works out. If you have already visited the school or cannot make the trip during the interview period, do not worry! Admissions committees understand when applicants cannot visit, whether because of work, cost, or location. If you are given options, do not obsess over making the “right” choice; just focus on preparing for your interview and then performing your best with whoever ultimately interviews you. For help with preparing for your upcoming interview, download a free copy of the mbaMission Interview Guide and any applicable school-specific Interview Guides, which include more in-depth information about the types of interviews your target schools conduct, along with sample interview questions provided by past applicants. For even more preparation support, consider scheduling a mock interview with an mbaMission application expert. You can sign up for a general Mock MBA Interview Session, a Wharton Team-Based Discussion Simulation, or an HBS Intensive Interview Simulation, facilitated by our HBS Interviewer in Residence, Devi Vallabhaneni. |
30 Sep 2022, 10:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Set the Tone Early, and Employ Active Verbs in Your MBA Application Essays |
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Any good journalist will tell you that the key to writing a good news story or opinion piece is to grab the reader’s attention with the very first line. Many book authors employ this same tactic. Although only a small percentage of people have actually read Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, most know that the novel begins with three famous words: “Call me Ishmael.” A powerful first line can stick with readers long after they have finished reading something (and sometimes with those who have not even read it!). For example, we all likely recognize the statement “It was a dark and stormy night,” but few may know that it is the opening line of a book by an obscure writer (Paul Clifford by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton). Although beginning an essay with a very short introduction is the norm, sometimes a punchy opening line can capture a reader’s attention in a useful way. Consider the differences between the following pairs of openers. Which line in each example better captures your attention? Example 1: A “Why MBA?” essay A: “After I graduate with my MBA, I want to work in the wine industry.” B: “Blood runs in the veins of all humans, but wine also runs in mine.” Example 2: A “What are you most passionate about in life?” essay A: “I enjoy nothing more than playing ice hockey.” B: “As soon as the nearby river freezes, I wake at 6 a.m. each day and join my teammates for a prework hockey scrimmage.” No set formula exists for opening lines—the possibilities are endless, and each opener depends on the context of the story being told. Nonetheless, our point is that you must carefully consider your opening line, because it will set the tone for your essay and determine whether your reader will want to read more. Now let us examine the role of active verbs in your essays. Anyone who has ever written an email that has been misunderstood—let alone an MBA application essay—is no doubt aware of the subtleties of language and the nuances that can change a message’s meaning. Indeed, you can enliven a basic sentence simply by choosing more active verbs. For example, consider the verb “earn.” By using “earn” rather than a more passive verb in the following examples, we can alter the meaning and impact of each sentence. Suddenly, you are in control. Suddenly, you worked hard and, as a result, accomplished great things. Passive/poor example: “I was promoted from junior to senior analyst.” Active/good example: “I earned a promotion from junior to senior analyst.” Passive/poor example: “After being awarded my MBA, I will be able to…” Active/good example: “After earning my MBA, I will be able to…” Once you have finished your application essays, review them to see how often you can replace certain words with “earn” or a similar verb—such as “achieve,” “gain,” and “attain”—that denotes action on your part. |
03 Oct 2022, 21:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: My Harvard Business School Interview: A Firsthand Account from Our Harvard Interviewer in Residence |
 Prepare for Your Harvard Business School Interview with a Former HBS Interviewer: Devi Vallabhaneni, mbaMission I arrived at my interviewer’s office in Chicago’s Loop a few minutes early. His assistant showed me in and offered me a seat at an empty table. While waiting, I looked around the office. Between the nerves that were causing my heart to jump out of my throat and the weight of the moment, it took me a few seconds to focus on the wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling color photo of my interviewer (a Harvard Business School graduate) and his wife skiing with Michael Jordan and his wife—all four looking sporty and stylish on top of a mountain under the bluest of skies. Gulp. Luckily, I had no time to overthink the situation because my Harvard Business School interviewer walked in and began our conversation. In 30 minutes we touched on many topics: growing up as an only child, deciding to study accounting and finance, working with the Royal Hong Kong Police Force on what was then its largest white-collar-crime case, having lunch every day with the last Hong Kong governor’s former bodyguard, debating British influence in India and Hong Kong, traveling through Russia and Romania, and exploring my goals. When the interview ended, I thanked him for the opportunity. As I walked through the skyscraper’s lobby, a rush of emotions stopped me in my tracks. I was thinking, If the road to Harvard Business School ends now, I will not be sad because I think I just received a bigger gift—what it feels like to observe yourself reaching a personal best. The outcome felt so farfetched that I could not focus on it. I was just a happy-go-lucky, studious kid from Chicago who had somehow been drawn to business at a young age. In high school, we had had to pick a biography to read, and I chose a book about Lee Iacocca and how he saved Chrysler. I was reading Mark McCormack’s What They Don’t Teach You at Harvard Business School alongside Flaubert and Dostoevsky. Harvard Business School admits people, not applications. The interview is a human experience, more of a right-brain than left-brain exercise. You have no spreadsheets to crank out during the interview, and no one is going to ask you to recite the Black–Scholes formula. Instead, you have to express who you are, what you have done, and where you want to go—in a simple, self-reflective, and comprehensive manner. Doing so is easier said than done, so work backward from how you want to feel afterward as you plan what you want to say and how you should say it. Do you want to feel like you barely scraped by? Do you want to realize that you had the answers in your head but had trouble verbalizing them? Do you want to know that the interview was conversational and straightforward? Do you want to feel that you achieved a new personal best? Do you want to feel like you had fun? (This question shocks people. How could something so stressful be fun? Practice, I say.) Even now, more than 20 years later, I return to that moment in the lobby whenever I have to push myself to achieve a new personal best. Yes, my goals have evolved, but the feeling is the same. Attending Harvard Business School has many benefits, and this one is, by far, my most cherished. Do not wait for business school to give you confidence. Bring it to your interview. Practice wisely! By practicing for your HBS interview, you create your new personal best by seeing yourself differently. This is my goal for each of my clients. Do you want to prep for your HBS interview with Devi? Click here to learn more about her HBS Intensive Interview Simulations and sign up for a session with her! |
04 Oct 2022, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: My Work Performance Is All That Matters |
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Because you spend so many of your waking hours working, and the MBA is the vehicle you are choosing to use to drive your career forward, you may naturally believe that your professional experiences are all that matter to the admissions committees. Do not get us wrong: you need to have strong professional stories to share, but top-tier business schools are looking for much more than just examples of professional excellence. If you discuss only your work experiences in your application, you will present yourself as a one-dimensional character, and today’s managers need to demonstrate that they can handle a multitude of tasks, situations, and personalities—both inside and outside the workplace. Occasionally, we at mbaMission post an offer on our blog to review applications submitted by candidates who did not use our services and who did not receive an offer of admission from a single program of their choice. We find that the most common error committed by these applicants is that they discussed only their work accomplishments and gave no sense of who they truly are as well-rounded human beings. Although professional accomplishments definitely have a place in your applications, do not go overboard and focus on this one aspect of your candidacy to the exclusion of all else—balance is crucial. To the best of your ability, strive to offer a mix of accomplishments from the professional, community, and personal fields. Your goal is to keep the reader learning about you with each essay. A diversity of stories will reveal that you have the skills to accomplish a great deal in many different fields and circumstances, which is the hallmark of a modern general manager. |
07 Oct 2022, 09:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: Storytelling: Talking About Yourself to Potential Employers |
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This post was written by our resident Career Coach, [url=https://www.mbamission.com/who-we-are/team/elissa-harris/]Elissa Harris[/url]. To sign up for a free 30-minute career consultation with Elissa, please [url=https://www.mbamission.com/consult/career-coaching/]click here[/url]. Many MBAs use their degree to pivot or enhance their careers. But in order to secure an offer, you must excel at explaining who you are and how you can add value to your target employer. So, how do you build a compelling story? [b]Know Your Target Audience[/b] Step 1: Identify requirements for your target role. Seek to understand the skills, experiences, and attributes required for success. Check out our [b][url=https://shop.mbamission.com/collections/career-guides]mbaMission Career Guides[/url][/b], review the [b][url=https://www.learneducatediscover.com/]Learn Educate Discover[/url][/b] podcast, talk with classmates who have direct experience in your target areas, and/or listen to employer informational sessions. [b]Know Yourself[/b] Step 2: Catalog your pre-MBA experiences. Think about your functional and industry expertise but also the transferable skills you developed doing your job. Review your application essays and performance reviews. Reflect on what you liked most about what you did prior to your MBA program and the skills you used to achieve success. Step 3: Find the common threads. Ask yourself the following question: where is the overlap between the requirements of your target role and your pre-MBA experiences? Common threads could be things like serving key stakeholders and convincing them to take specific actions, analyzing data to drive decision making, understanding drivers of growth or company success, or communicating complex concepts in easy-to-understand ways. Step 4: Brainstorm specific examples of when you demonstrated each of these common threads. Look at bullet points on your resume for ideas. Brainstorm your biggest accomplishments and how you made them a reality. Think about the situation, your key actions, and the outcomes of those actions. Step 5: Identify elements that were missing from your previous role but are desirable to you and exist in your target role. Perhaps your previous role focused on one industry but a different industry excites you, or perhaps your previous role was very operational and you are now seeking to contribute in a more strategic way. [b]Prepare Your Story [/b] Step 6: Curate the information gathered in Steps 1 to 5 to craft your story. Put yourself in the mindset of the employer; start with content that will be compelling to them and use keywords that will resonate with them. Show your excitement and commitment to their company/role. Prepare three different versions of your story: [list] [*]A one-sentence version to introduce yourself to a larger group of people[/*] [*]A 30- to 45-second version to introduce yourself to a smaller group of two to three people or one-on-one for networking purposes[/*] [*]A 90- to 120-second version to introduce yourself one-on-one in an interview setting[/*] [/list] Bottom line: Compile and deliver a relevant, memorable, and concise story that engages the listener while connecting the dots between your previous experiences and your interest in/qualifications for your target roles. |
08 Oct 2022, 08:00
| FROM mbaMission Blog: How to Study for the GMAT |
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With regard to the GMAT, raw intellectual horsepower helps, but it is not everything. Manhattan Prep’s Stacey Koprince teaches you how to perform at your best on test day by using some common sense. This time, I have got a short and sweet post for you. Take a look at your calendar, and find a weekend to take off from your studies (or even an entire week). Yes, I am serious! People tend to get really burned out studying for the GMAT; you will be doing your brain a favor if you give it a bit of a break. (Note in general: when your brain is fatigued, it cannot make solid new memories. Do not keep pushing yourself to study under those circumstances!) Second, I have a few resources for you. I put together a couple of posts that highlight what I think are the most useful articles from recent years. Take a look at What Would Stacey Do? for resources and advice on areas with which you may be struggling. I do want to take time to mention explicitly the one post that I think is the most important and the first thing that every GMAT student should read: What the GMAT Really Tests. Third, recently we discussed how to study for Critical Reasoning. Here are two available resources: Explaining a Critical Reasoning Discrepancy Top 10 Tips for GMAT Critical Reasoning Finally, go take a break! Take a look at your calendar, and find a good time to rest your brain. I have never met anyone who can study effectively for months straight without at least one solid weekend break (and an entire week is often better!). |
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Hi Generic [Bot],
Here are updates for you:
ANNOUNCEMENTS
 Wednesday, Apr 24, 2024 11:30am NY / 3:30pm London / 9pm Mumbai Watch earlier episodes of DI series below EP1: 6 Hardest Two-Part Analysis Questions EP2: 5 Hardest Graphical Interpretation Questions
Tuck at Dartmouth
AGSM at UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE
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