First of all, congrats to those of you who have been admitted in the last few days or weeks! I have to say, what's currently happening in this forum is very inspiring. On the other hand, I also really feel with those who got dinged. Especially when looking at the profiles found in this community, some of those decisions seem very hard to comprehend. On that note, I'm aware that I'll certainly get dinged by some of my dream schools when I apply less than a year from now. Needless to say, I'm definitely not looking forward to that experience. However, at that point I want to be able to say that I did all I could. And I want to avoid any rushed, sub-par results when it's time to shine and show my full potential. Therefore, I wanted to ask this year's applicants a question which has the potential to give all of next year's (re-)applicants a headstart on their journey to business school: If you had to apply (again) a year from now, how would you prepare, starting today? Since the application phase isn't even close to being over, I see this thread as a work in progress. Furthermore, it would be very interesting to see those currently attending business school and those who already graduated chime in with their oppinions and advice. I would be very grateful for your help.

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If you had to apply again next year, how would you prepare?

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solaris1

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12 Jan 2008, 21:36

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holy wha?! and here i was thinking Northwestern would have easy access to Midway since it was on a subway line. well at least you can get there for a $1.75.

kryzak

trying to get from GSB to Evanston (takes 2.5 hours during non-rush hour)

togafoot

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12 Jan 2008, 22:04

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kryzak

Start with a school that has a lot of essays that cover most of the questions, like Kellogg, Haas, and HBS. Once you can answer these and refine the essays a few times, go on to your least important school. Work on that, refine it until it's good, then move on to more important schools. Reiterate. By the time you get to your last school, you should have VERY polished essays. Now, GO BACK to the first school you worked on (Kellogg, Haas, or HBS) and you'll realize you can polish that up even more, even though when you first finished it, you thought it was gold (the "biryani" effect). This way, you don't sacrifice the quality of the schools you apply to first, and you still get the benefit of applying to your most important schools last. If you have time, go to your 2nd school (the least important one) and see if you can refine that again. Reiterate until you're sick of essays, then submit!

I'm not sure if others tried this method, but after I went through my R1 schools this way, I swear by it! (maybe I should call it "Kryzak's Method?"

I did exactly this, except I worked the applications according to deadlines rather than 'importance'.
It's a good method.

If you are time-rushed (like I was), it's important that you write the essays quickly... BUT, it's worth working on a second application before reviewing the first one. It's like creating a baseline from which to judge your work. After you've completed another application you can adjust your baselines accordingly.

kryzak

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12 Jan 2008, 22:20

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solaris1

holy wha?! and here i was thinking Northwestern would have easy access to Midway since it was on a subway line. well at least you can get there for a $1.75.

True, I can't complain about the cheapness of it all, but unless you take the Purple express line during rush hour, the transfer between the purple local line and the red line sometimes takes 10-20 minutes. The red line goes at 5 mph (or feels like it) all the way to downtown Chicago, and then the blue line to the airport also goes at 10-15 mph since they're renovating the lines to make them faster (55 mph in 2009). It took 1.5 hours to get to the airport taking the purple line express (which is sweet!) and the blue line. If it were the red, it would have taken another 2.5 hours.

The Express from downtown to GSB is nice though, 30 minutes each way.

togafoot, I agree, it's ALWAYS better to do at least two sets of essays and review the one you did first again before you submit.

toDoorNot

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12 Jan 2008, 23:15

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Thts a good one Kry Kudos to you!!

Maybe we can compile such tips and make a sticky post out of it for the 2009 students.

kryzak

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12 Jan 2008, 23:35

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thanks todoor. Yeah, will start compiling stuff into wikis soon... hopefully after my Haas decision.

Travel09

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14 Jan 2008, 06:44

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This is a wonderful thread and a gold mine for next years applicant.
Admin,
Can you please make this thread a sticky?
Thanks,

toDoorNot

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14 Jan 2008, 08:17

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In context of this thread, if we apply to the same school again, how can we show that we have improved our candidature for bschool. I am not sure if i could do something drastically different between now and say Sept.

Appreciate if re-applicants can post what worked for them.

bherronp

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14 Jan 2008, 09:04

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OK, Here is my advice.

1. If you are studying for the GMAT right now, stop. This will make sense a little later.
2. Start researching schools you want to go to. Start with a list of about 10-15, then narrow it down to your top 6-8 choices.
3. Check each school's website for info sessions in your area. I have been getting some emails about info sessions in January and February.
4. Schedule school visits for February. If you can't make it by then, check what time frame early to mid spring term is for your schools and schedule visits then
5. Look up and contact students from clubs you are interested in
6. In march or early April start studying for the GMAT.

I started studying for the GMAT last year in either late January or early february. That was a mistake. By may I was done with a killer score (retook it once), and ready to research schools. However, I then discovered that most schools were closing for the summer (duh). I researched schools as best I could, but then I had quite a while to wait before the essays officially came out and I could schedule class visits. Do the class visiting and research now. Spend the late spring/early summer nailing the GMAT. Then you can visit schools again if you want. Start writing drafts of the generic "Why MBA, why now, why our school" stuff in late July/August. You should be in good shape by the time the real essays come out.

Also, start looking at weaknesses in your profile and how to resolve them.

1. Mitigate bad grades with an alternative transcript and/or very high GMAT.
2. Get more involved in stuff. This was another mistake I made. Many of my extracirricular activities I enjoy are somewhat solo. I like to work out, read, spend time with my wife and friends. But I could have taken these activities and made them more b-school appealing. I could have joined a running club and trained for a 10k. I could have joined or (better yet) created a weekly book club.

kryzak

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14 Jan 2008, 09:15

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stickied... will have to convert this into wiki's before next year's class comes in!

branson

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15 Jan 2008, 03:39

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I might repeat points of previous commenters - but then repetition is key to understanding, right?

Okay, your question sort of implies what would you do differently, and what did you do right.

1) Get the GMAT out of the way early. There is nothing like the real test, never mind those test exams. You might have to take it again, leave SUFFICIENT time in between those tests to think about a new study strategy (I changed mine completely after a mediocre first try)

1a) This applies to the TOEFL as well. I got my TOEFL too late because they didn't have available testing slots until late October. That screwed up my R1 Kellogg app.

2) Think about schools. river outlined that well.

3) I bought Montauk's book when my application process started. That one gave me quite a few hints as to what to do when. (buy that thing EARLY!

)

4) Try to get applications done in the first Round. Start with the one that matters least. (some people will recommend starting with Kellogg if you apply there)

5) Leave enough time for writing essays. Find people that will help you and give you feedback.

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15 Jan 2008, 15:42

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Another tip - dont have too many people review your essays. You can never please everyone; you may, however, lose the essence of your content, if you try to tailor it to 10 different styles. Key is to find 3-4 reviewers (at most) but GOOD reviewers, whose feedback makes sense, who are not afraid to tell you that "this bit is crap !!" , and those who respond in reasonable time. The ideal reviewer is someone who's already been through the b-school essay writing process.

sperinko

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18 Jan 2008, 22:32

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I agree 100% with bsd's comments. I am giving my 2 cents though I am yet to receive an admit.

- You need to have "strong" reviewers of your essays. Avoid family/friends who tend to be biased towards you. When you ask folks to review...make it clear that you expect them to do a "harsh" critique of your essays.
- If you visited a school, make sure you highlight WHAT is it that you learnt ...dont just make a last-minute visit and add a final line in the essay "Finally, visiting your school convinced me absolutely that I love you the most"...that you had reserved just to show that you visited them. They won't care much unless you show how the visit clarified the school's strengths with your own interests.
- try to identify unique qualities of a program by researching well and contacting students. Stating that "my goal is to become a great marketing guy and Kellogg is the best school for marketing" does not highlight enough the ton of other things that Kellogg is famous for. It also indicates poor research....after all, everyone knows Kellogg is synonymous with marketing.

Lacking an admit, I think I am not qualified at this point to talk more about this. But I will revert back to this thread when (if) things turn out positively.

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19 Jan 2008, 00:39

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Dont worry sperinko , I haven't received an admit yet either

kwam

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19 Jan 2008, 08:32

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I believe that everyone who applied is qualified to post here. All perspectives are welcome, at least in "my perspective" :lol:

sperinko

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19 Jan 2008, 20:53

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Thanks kwam !
Really like your GSB avatar...you will get my vote for "best avatar" if we have something like that in this forum.

rajpdsouza

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04 Feb 2008, 12:35

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Start early! Start early! Start early!

gmatnoob

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12 Mar 2008, 21:35

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sperinko

sperinko,

I understand that generic statements that Kellogg is good at marketing won't really fly with the adcoms. How specific should you get when describing a particular thing that interests you? Talk about some center that focuses on topics in marketing? Classes, clubs, professor?

Thanks,
gmatnoob

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15 Mar 2008, 16:01

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If I had to do this again next year, I would start strategizing five years ago

Seriously, it seems that the amount of time you put into this is directly linked to the likelyhood of a positive outcome so the earlier you start, the better.

f00kie

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24 Mar 2008, 20:30

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xerox

If I had to do this again next year, I would start strategizing five years ago

Seriously, it seems that the amount of time you put into this is directly linked to the likelyhood of a positive outcome so the earlier you start, the better.

Well, I'm a minimum of 3 years away from business school, so do my chances triple?

lanter1

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26 Mar 2008, 15:58

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I would not change my process or strategy...I would just hope to not laid off again in September. That made the process a lot harder than it would have been otherwise.