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May 0301:00 PM IST
-02:00 PM IST
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!
May 0507:00 PM EDT
-08:00 PM EDT
In this live 60-minute masterclass, How to Get Ahead of MBA Recruiting Now, we’ll walk through the four biggest mistakes incoming MBAs make and how to avoid them so you’re not scrambling to catch up once recruiting begins.
May 0710:00 AM EDT
-10:30 AM EDT
Sia Admissions Founder Susan Berishaj is covering this live on YouTube, May 7: how admissions committees actually evaluate goals statements, who is in the room, and why the goals statement most applicants submit wouldn't survive that conversation.
MBAGuide
Joined: 24 Jul 2019
Last visit: 30 Apr 2026
Posts: 2,373
Given Kudos: 28
Location: India
Concentration: Operations, Marketing
Schools: Insead Sept'18 (A$$) ISB '19 (A)
30 Apr 2026, 05:48
Kudos
Bookmarks
Every few years, something shifts what “being prepared” actually means in business.
The Business school applicants who get ahead are the ones who show they are already thinking in that direction, and this is exactly what MBA admissions committees tend to pick up on early.
We saw this during Covid.
Suddenly, many business school applicants were talking about solving healthcare access, building resilient systems, and operating at scale during crises. Post Covid, with the tech investment boom, everyone wanted to build products and spoke the language of user journeys, scale, and disruption. When supply chains were shaken during the Ukraine war, many applicants started thinking in terms of network resilience, diversification, and risk buffers.
And now, we are in the middle of another shift, AI.
AI is changing how decisions are made, how work gets done, and in some cases, who even remains relevant. For MBA applicants targeting top business schools, the question must not be “Should I learn AI?” but “How do I show I am already operating in an AI-shaped world?” That distinction is exactly what separates a good MBA application from a compelling one.
Where to Start...
1. Show you understand where your role is getting disrupted
The weakest way to approach this in an MBA application is to say, “I am learning AI tools.”
A stronger applicant will frame it differently: “I understand which parts of my role are getting automated and which parts are becoming more valuable.”, showing awareness.
Consulting firms themselves are already moving this way. A significant portion of work today involves AI-assisted research, analysis, and deck creation, freeing consultants to focus on higher-order problem solving and strategy. That is the shift you need to reflect in your own story if you want your MBA profile to stand out.
2. Show how you are applying AI
Many otherwise strong business school applicants struggle because they stay surface level. Simply stating that you have used tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or Microsoft Copilot is no longer impressive and at this point, admissions committees expect that baseline familiarity.
What matters is how you have applied them in real work contexts.
For instance, a supply chain analyst using AI to simulate demand shocks is far more compelling than someone who just mentions tool usage. Top firms are even building internal tools like McKinsey’s Lilli or BCG’s GENE to accelerate research and insight generation at scale. So if your MBA application still reads like “I took a course,” it gives a lagging signal.
3. Show early signs of AI-augmented decision making
The consulting world is very clear on one thing. AI is automating the heavy lifting, but judgment, structuring, and decision-making still sit with humans.
Strong MBA candidates go one step further. They do not just use AI, they show how it changes the way they think. They question AI outputs, combine domain knowledge with AI insights, and use that to make better recommendations.
This is also where traditional profiles can quietly stand out in the MBA admissions process.
None of these are dramatic changes on paper. But they signal a shift from execution to judgment, and that is exactly what MBA admissions committees tend to value.
AI is not sitting in a corner as a tech function anymore.
It is gradually becoming part of how everyday decisions get made across operations, marketing, and core business strategy. This means the advantage lies in showing that you have started to see your own work differently because of it.
That shift in lens is subtle. But once it shows up in your story, it changes how your entire MBA profile is evaluated.
Reach out should you need help navigating your unique circumstances in the B School admissions process.
Best wishes
Aanchal Sahni (INSEAD MBA alumna, former INSEAD MBA admissions interviewer)
Founder, MBAGuideConsulting
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aanchal-sahni-83b00819/ |WEBSITE: https://mbaguideconsulting.com/| Message(WA): +91 9971200927| email- [email protected]
Best wishes
Aanchal Sahni (INSEAD MBA alumna, former INSEAD MBA admissions interviewer)
Founder, MBAGuideConsulting
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aanchal-sahni-83b00819/ |WEBSITE: https://mbaguideconsulting.com/| Message(WA): +91 9971200927| email- [email protected]
The Business school applicants who get ahead are the ones who show they are already thinking in that direction, and this is exactly what MBA admissions committees tend to pick up on early.
We saw this during Covid.
Suddenly, many business school applicants were talking about solving healthcare access, building resilient systems, and operating at scale during crises. Post Covid, with the tech investment boom, everyone wanted to build products and spoke the language of user journeys, scale, and disruption. When supply chains were shaken during the Ukraine war, many applicants started thinking in terms of network resilience, diversification, and risk buffers.
And now, we are in the middle of another shift, AI.
AI is changing how decisions are made, how work gets done, and in some cases, who even remains relevant. For MBA applicants targeting top business schools, the question must not be “Should I learn AI?” but “How do I show I am already operating in an AI-shaped world?” That distinction is exactly what separates a good MBA application from a compelling one.
Where to Start...
1. Show you understand where your role is getting disrupted
The weakest way to approach this in an MBA application is to say, “I am learning AI tools.”
A stronger applicant will frame it differently: “I understand which parts of my role are getting automated and which parts are becoming more valuable.”, showing awareness.
Consulting firms themselves are already moving this way. A significant portion of work today involves AI-assisted research, analysis, and deck creation, freeing consultants to focus on higher-order problem solving and strategy. That is the shift you need to reflect in your own story if you want your MBA profile to stand out.
2. Show how you are applying AI
Many otherwise strong business school applicants struggle because they stay surface level. Simply stating that you have used tools like ChatGPT, Claude, or Microsoft Copilot is no longer impressive and at this point, admissions committees expect that baseline familiarity.
What matters is how you have applied them in real work contexts.
For instance, a supply chain analyst using AI to simulate demand shocks is far more compelling than someone who just mentions tool usage. Top firms are even building internal tools like McKinsey’s Lilli or BCG’s GENE to accelerate research and insight generation at scale. So if your MBA application still reads like “I took a course,” it gives a lagging signal.
3. Show early signs of AI-augmented decision making
The consulting world is very clear on one thing. AI is automating the heavy lifting, but judgment, structuring, and decision-making still sit with humans.
Strong MBA candidates go one step further. They do not just use AI, they show how it changes the way they think. They question AI outputs, combine domain knowledge with AI insights, and use that to make better recommendations.
This is also where traditional profiles can quietly stand out in the MBA admissions process.
- A CA who earlier focused on checking numbers in audit now starts thinking about predicting risks before they even surface in reports.
- A mechanical engineer who used to fix machines after they broke starts thinking about how to anticipate failures before they happen.
- A doctor who once worked only with individual patients begins looking at patterns in data to understand which treatments actually work better over time.
None of these are dramatic changes on paper. But they signal a shift from execution to judgment, and that is exactly what MBA admissions committees tend to value.
AI is not sitting in a corner as a tech function anymore.
It is gradually becoming part of how everyday decisions get made across operations, marketing, and core business strategy. This means the advantage lies in showing that you have started to see your own work differently because of it.
That shift in lens is subtle. But once it shows up in your story, it changes how your entire MBA profile is evaluated.
Reach out should you need help navigating your unique circumstances in the B School admissions process.
Best wishes
Aanchal Sahni (INSEAD MBA alumna, former INSEAD MBA admissions interviewer)
Founder, MBAGuideConsulting
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aanchal-sahni-83b00819/ |WEBSITE: https://mbaguideconsulting.com/| Message(WA): +91 9971200927| email- [email protected]
Best wishes
Aanchal Sahni (INSEAD MBA alumna, former INSEAD MBA admissions interviewer)
Founder, MBAGuideConsulting
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aanchal-sahni-83b00819/ |WEBSITE: https://mbaguideconsulting.com/| Message(WA): +91 9971200927| email- [email protected]
