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Apr 2408:30 PM IST
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Join us for a Live Coffee chat with Jenifer Turtschanow where we talk about enhancing your MBA profile and fixing gaps in just 4 months.
Apr 2511:00 AM EDT
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Looking to secure a coveted spot at a top business school? Our team of seasoned MBA admissions consultants, including top B schools alumni and industry leaders, is here to help turn your dreams into reality. Let’s kick-start your journey to success!
Apr 2908:00 PM EDT
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Join us for a live Ask Me Anything (AMA) session with Juno’s Co-Founder, where we’ll break down everything you need to know about financing your MBA in today’s rapidly changing landscape.
Apr 3010:00 AM EDT
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Sia Admissions Founder Susan Berishaj will walk through why reach/target/safety produces the wrong list for many specific profiles, how admissions committees at different programs read the same background differently, and more...
Apr 3010:00 AM EDT
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Applying to business school from a finance background? Personal MBA Coach is here to help with this quick tips video on how to set yourself apart during the MBA application process!
Apr 3012:00 PM EDT
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Starting at $975 and offering up to $545 of savings, our new Amplify Hourly Packages offer structure and support in certain high-value areas (story development, resume, essays, interviewing) to help get your applications across the finish line.
Apr 3009:00 PM IST
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Thinking about PE/VC? Most consultants are. Few actually make it. Learn how to position your profile, build the right skills, and break into Private Equity & Venture Capital.
May 0108:30 AM EDT
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Get the inside scoop on what makes Emory’s Goizueta Business School great, learn how you can present a strong MBA application, and connect with an Admissions Director to get your questions answered.
May 0108:00 PM PDT
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Inquire for a free profile evaluation and guarantee statement for possible admits and scholarships!
23 Sep 2021, 18:46
Kudos
Bookmarks
With Round 1 wrapping up and Round 2 looming larger, one consistent question MBA hopefuls always have is how to develop a strong MBA story.
You often hear how you need to have an “MBA story”, how your MBA story is the most critical component of your candidacy, much more important than your statistics. It’s true that the best way to think of your MBA application is as a story. And it’s also true that a compelling story can outweigh statistics. Yet, it’s often hard to know what this concept means and even harder to know how to develop that story for yourself.
Your “MBA story” is how you paint a picture of where you have been, what you have done, and where you want to go. Within this picture, the MBA program you are applying to serves as a bridge between “before” and “after”.
Where you’ve been and what you have done weaves parts of your personal and professional background. Where you are going is your vision for the future and more specifically your post-MBA goals. As you think about the facets you choose to reveal to the admissions committee, here is an MBA story development framework you can utilize.
Your defining personality traits
You will need a true, honest assessment of who you are as a person and professional. Engaging in thoughtful, deliberate, and honest introspection is key here but it’s not enough. You will benefit from an external perspective so make sure to speak with colleagues, mentors, current or former supervisors as well as friends and family. Many candidates also use assessment tools such as Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, CliftonStrengths or Career Leader. Once you have your answers, it’s helpful to put your defining attributes in a sentence such as “Quiet and compassionate leader who is committed to sustainable innovation”. Think of this as your MBA candidacy tagline. Refer to it periodically as you work on your essays and other materials to ensure it is visible and substantiated in your storyline.
Your accomplishments
This is pretty self-explanatory but let’s go into a bit of detail. Your accomplishments include your academic history, your work history to date, and your extracurricular activities, hobbies, and passions. Within that educational, personal, and professional history you need to tease out the most important examples that add color and dimension and weave them into a narrative. That narrative should support your sentence above. You should demonstrate the ways in which you have been that quiet and compassionate leader in practice and the work and involvement that supports your commitment to sustainable innovation.
Your goals – personal and professional
In thinking of your post-MBA goals, it’s useful to consider both the short and long term. The key is to balance specificity and flexibility. You want to clearly outline the industry and function you are interested in. That industry and function need to be aligned with what the MBA program you are applying to is known for, both in terms of curriculum or specialization as well as employment statistics. Your immediate post-MBA goals also need to have connections to your past. You need to demonstrate that your past experiences have positioned you, with the help of the transformational experience an MBA provides, to achieve these goals. Equally important, you need to allow some room for flexibility. Leaving an admissions committee with the impression that you are focused on a very narrow career path such as one specific role at a specific company may leave them concerned about their ability to support your goals.
How the MBA will serve as a bridge
Your motivation for pursuing an MBA is based on something that is currently missing in your arsenal. Whether it’s comprehensive business fundamentals, a global perspective, soft skills, stronger leadership, you are choosing to pursue an MBA because it will help you develop something that you currently don’t possess – or don’t have enough of. You will sometimes hear of this referred to as your “gap” or “gaps”. The pieces of the bridge will come from the MBA program features and the resources that business school will make available to you. You want to draw clear connections between your gaps and the MBA courses, clubs, centers, and activities that will fill them. You also want to make it clear why you need an MBA now, at this point of your career.
Use this framework to guide your thinking as you start the soul-searching and background digging that are a fundamental part of the MBA application. This needs to be an iterative process and requires time.
You often hear how you need to have an “MBA story”, how your MBA story is the most critical component of your candidacy, much more important than your statistics. It’s true that the best way to think of your MBA application is as a story. And it’s also true that a compelling story can outweigh statistics. Yet, it’s often hard to know what this concept means and even harder to know how to develop that story for yourself.
Your “MBA story” is how you paint a picture of where you have been, what you have done, and where you want to go. Within this picture, the MBA program you are applying to serves as a bridge between “before” and “after”.
Where you’ve been and what you have done weaves parts of your personal and professional background. Where you are going is your vision for the future and more specifically your post-MBA goals. As you think about the facets you choose to reveal to the admissions committee, here is an MBA story development framework you can utilize.
Your defining personality traits
You will need a true, honest assessment of who you are as a person and professional. Engaging in thoughtful, deliberate, and honest introspection is key here but it’s not enough. You will benefit from an external perspective so make sure to speak with colleagues, mentors, current or former supervisors as well as friends and family. Many candidates also use assessment tools such as Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, CliftonStrengths or Career Leader. Once you have your answers, it’s helpful to put your defining attributes in a sentence such as “Quiet and compassionate leader who is committed to sustainable innovation”. Think of this as your MBA candidacy tagline. Refer to it periodically as you work on your essays and other materials to ensure it is visible and substantiated in your storyline.
Your accomplishments
This is pretty self-explanatory but let’s go into a bit of detail. Your accomplishments include your academic history, your work history to date, and your extracurricular activities, hobbies, and passions. Within that educational, personal, and professional history you need to tease out the most important examples that add color and dimension and weave them into a narrative. That narrative should support your sentence above. You should demonstrate the ways in which you have been that quiet and compassionate leader in practice and the work and involvement that supports your commitment to sustainable innovation.
Your goals – personal and professional
In thinking of your post-MBA goals, it’s useful to consider both the short and long term. The key is to balance specificity and flexibility. You want to clearly outline the industry and function you are interested in. That industry and function need to be aligned with what the MBA program you are applying to is known for, both in terms of curriculum or specialization as well as employment statistics. Your immediate post-MBA goals also need to have connections to your past. You need to demonstrate that your past experiences have positioned you, with the help of the transformational experience an MBA provides, to achieve these goals. Equally important, you need to allow some room for flexibility. Leaving an admissions committee with the impression that you are focused on a very narrow career path such as one specific role at a specific company may leave them concerned about their ability to support your goals.
How the MBA will serve as a bridge
Your motivation for pursuing an MBA is based on something that is currently missing in your arsenal. Whether it’s comprehensive business fundamentals, a global perspective, soft skills, stronger leadership, you are choosing to pursue an MBA because it will help you develop something that you currently don’t possess – or don’t have enough of. You will sometimes hear of this referred to as your “gap” or “gaps”. The pieces of the bridge will come from the MBA program features and the resources that business school will make available to you. You want to draw clear connections between your gaps and the MBA courses, clubs, centers, and activities that will fill them. You also want to make it clear why you need an MBA now, at this point of your career.
Use this framework to guide your thinking as you start the soul-searching and background digging that are a fundamental part of the MBA application. This needs to be an iterative process and requires time.
28 Sep 2021, 23:36
Kudos
Bookmarks
Thanks for a good topic. But It will be better if you give a real successful example. Through the link in your signature, I think you have run a business as an MBA consultant. You should set your avatar to enhance the prestige of your gmatclub's profile.
