tip of the day

Question

Introducing 'Tip of the day' series:
let's have a thread to contribute a 'tip of the day'. As I am going through my application process, I'll share my learning as tips. Others feel free to add. 
 FAQs: 
1. How is this different from the regular threads where lot of information is posted by experts?
A.Tips are straightforward but useful, tactical and related to execution of the detailed tasks as opposed to being strategic

2. Only one tip per day?
A. no hard and fast rule

3. who can contribute?
A. everyone

4. What is the motto of this thread?
A. To share our learnings and to maintain solidarity during the tough application process

5. What if it turns out to be wrong advice? 
A. experts can request original poster to delete their tip

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Today's Tip: 
1. Create a detailed task list of essay submission process from now until deadline. Besides knowing whether it is feasible for me to able to complete the essays/application form of the schools by the deadline, it also provides a sense of direction to my app. process. Otherwise my mind has a tendency to randomly switch from an unfinished essay of school1 to an essay of school3 just because I am mentally lazy

Eg: Mine looks something like this
 aug20 - request recommender1 at work for reco letter
 aug20 - complete outlines for School1: essay1, essay2, essay3, essay 4
 aug 22 - complete s1_e1_v0 (school1, essay1, version 0)
 -
 -
 sep29: have recommendation 1,2 submitted for school1

gogetter08 · Answer

2. During the application process, it is easy to focus on essays and miss out on other things. Account for time required to request for transcripts from your undergrad/grad school and mail it to the schools you are applying. I know someone who forgot to do this in advance that he missed the round2 deadline.

gogetter08 · Answer

(just posted elswhere about this)
 
tip3: Try to get hold of the questions schools ask the recommender about you so that you can coach them appropriately and feed them relevant examples
Some schools dont publish the questions. Fill the application partially and enter the recommenders' info so that they get the questions. If you've a good relation with them, you can request the questions to provide them the right material

Praetorian · Answer

This is a good idea that could use some participation. Alternatively, you could try posting in this thread and update frequently.. best-mba-application-tips-77803.html

bb · Answer

Thanks - you have my kudos

bb · Answer

Any more tips?

method · Answer

One thing I did recently was research two organizations in the social/public sector that I was really interested in (one for an internship and one for a post-MBA job). Each organization happened to list which schools people came from and their acquired degrees.

It took me a little time to data-mine, but I ended up with a spreadsheet that showed me exactly which schools and degree programs were acting as pipelines. Two schools I had never considered showed up inside the top 5 of what turned out to be a very top-heavy distribution. Needless to say, I will now be including those schools in my planning.

Conversely, a few schools I expected strong representations from were nowhere to be found. Yale and Ross were outright dwarfed, and I mean DWARFED, by schools you would never expect to trump them in this category.

If you have a very specific list of opportunities you are chasing, don't forget to see if there's a really strong connection to your list of schools. And do your own research to double check, you may be surprised at the results.

gogetter08 · Answer

Good point!
Here is one more:
Always try to schedule your campus visit when classes are in session and when students are around. 
The 'lunch with students' is the best time when I get a real scoop of life at that school and sense for the culture. 
The students have more time to loosen up as the conversations become less formal. Thats when I got the important tidbits about the school and got to connect with the students. 
During the infosessions, the students are still helpful but they are still on guard in front of a group of prospective students.

tip of the day

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