Going through the MBA application process is not very easy. There are exams that you have to pass, essays to make, and interviews to go through. Although the application process is a bit difficult, the prize would be worth it. If you pass the MBA application process with flying colors, you can secure a brighter future. To pave your way to a prestigious MBA school, make the necessary preparations as early as possible. But before you do that, make sure that your decision to pursue MBA study is well thought of. MBA Channel has various tips to help you decide and prepare for your MBA application.
Considering your reasons for getting an MBA degree
The MBA decision
Different people decide to do MBA for different reasons. There is no one single best reason to do an MBA and its subject to individual needs and thinking. I like to split these group of reasons to two buckets.
1. Push factors
2. Pull factorsPush factors are those reasons which makes a person move away from current state of life. In the MBA perspective, the so called push factors can any of the following
* Sheer dislike for the current job and its career prospects
* Having achieved enough at the current career function and the need to grow to the next phase of career
* Need to change the current intellectual path and look out for a different way of life altogether
* Being tired of the busy work life needing for a change in lifestylePull factors are those which draws one towards a MBA program, ideally independent of his current state of affairs.These can include variety of factors like
* A great B school with top notch MBA program
* The transformational experience promised by every good MBA
It is important that you make your decision as early as possible so you can focus your future efforts in reaching your goal. You have to weigh the push and pull factors mentioned above in order to come up with the best decision.
Preparing your MBA admission essay
The essays and Interview – It becomes very important to personalize your candidacy as you project it to schools via your essays and interview. Be yourself and tell them the truth. Don’t try to be someone who can please the AdCom. Never try to wear a facade of someone who is not you. Here is excerpt from Interview with Sara Neher, Admissions Director, Darden School of business.
“I don’t always expect people to reveal as much about fit as I think some schools might. I think that if you tell me who you are, what you’re about and what you want to accomplish, I’ll be able to see if you’re a fit or not. It’s more important to me that we get personal details, because one of the mistakes people make is regurgitating the Web site back to us. You telling me that you want to take so-and-so’s class or the case method is important because of what we put on our Web site is just a waste of your word count. It shows me that you can read our Web site, but it doesn’t show me anything about who you are.”
The statement above was quoted from an MBA blog. This sums up what the MBA application essay should be about, and that would be about yourself.
Your decision to go or not to go to MBA school will have a great impact on your future. This is why you have to give yourself enough time to determine if you really want to pursue an MBA degree. You have to weigh in the push and pull factors, and if you decide to pursue an MBA degree, start preparing an essay that tells the world who you really are.
Applying for MBA can be a very daunting task to a lot of people. One of the reasons is that it is very challenging to write an attention-grabbing MBA essay that will give you an upperhand over other applicants. Fortunately, there are some simple guidelines on writing an MBA personal statement that are not that difficult to follow. Magic MBA’s blog can give you the tips on how to make your personal statement more remarkable. Below are some of the things that students should avoid when writing their MBA essay.
* Answering a different question. Answering a different question tells me the candidate cannot follow directions and gets distracted easily.
* Using distracting creative imagery. Many candidates fall into trap of trying to become a best selling novelist. Unless you’re a naturally talented writer, don’t try. Just answer the question as powerfully, precisely, and efficiently as possible. And when appropriate, entertain the reader.
* Glorifying accomplishments. I read a client essay that was filled with over 20 different names; this technique is commonly referred to as “name dropping” I didn’t recognize any of the names. And even if she claimed some relation to Barack Obama or Michael Jordan, it would be completely useless if it didn’t include some context that was specific and relevant to the essay question.
Other MBA essay writing mistakes
Here are the other mistakes mentioned in the blog.
* Skimming over the Details
* Language and Grammar error
These two are very common mistakes among applicants when writing their MBA admission essays. When you skim over the details, you are actually stuffing your essay with tidbits of information without really discussing them. This would leave the readers hanging and unsatisfied. You have to include a few but relevant details and make sure that you explain them clearly. The language and grammar error, on the other hand, are technical mistakes that could give readers a negative impression about you.
How to avoid the common mistakes in MBA personal statement
Here are another set of tips from an MBA blog on how to avoid the mistakes people make when writing a personal statement for MBA.
* Know the possible questions to be asked
If you don’t have anyone to ask for MBA essay topics, what you can do is research on your own. Online, you’ll find tons of good samples. These samples don’t necessarily have to be the same as your own. You can use them merely as guide to possible questions and topics to be discussed. By reading some of them, you’ll also see what separates the good from the bad.
* Stick to the topic or question
The common mistake in writing an MBA admission essay comes from saying too much that the message tends to get lost somewhere in between the paragraphs. In which case, an outline will help get the message across more clearly. Develop different ideas for the topic. From the main ideas, create sub-topics that will help expound your thoughts and even make a relevant connection to your application for an MBA program. Only cite experiences or ideas that will support the thesis of your essay.
* Read, edit, and proofread
After you’ve written your article, go over your essay several times. Note what’s missing or what’s not clear. List them out, and use the list as a guide for editing. Don’t rush yourself to edit the whole thing. Be patient and take time to consider not just some ideas but the content of the entire article as well. You should stop at nothing to get the whole thing right. Don’t try to be so poetic or profound. Remember your readers.
Writing an MBA essay that could make your dream of going to MBA school a reality does require a keen eye for details. Avoid the common mistakes and follow the helpful tips mentioned above, so you can be confident that your application will be given due consideration by the admissions panel.
How important is your MBA admission essay in the whole school application process? Generally speaking, your essay is one of the factors that could make or break your application. It has a domino effect on the application process. It can even influence the interview questions. MBA Admission secrets tells us about the importance of MBA admission essay and how it impacts your interview.
Interviews present a great opportunity for applicants to seal the admission deal…The questions that may arise may be as simple as probing for more details with regards to an essay you wrote. It could be feedback that your mistake essay seems weak and for you to come up with another example. Perhaps the choice of essays and the way you approached all your essays did not reveal fully who you are and this could be a flag that the admission committee has about you. Perhaps you have focused too much on work or too much on your personal/community side. The important thing with preparing for your interview is to have one or two people who know you well evaluate your admission essays and identify the knee-jerk response/issues that jump out at them. Then you may want to have an objective person who has experience evaluating candidates to assess your story in order to flag blind spots and potential gaps/issues which you can prepare for ahead of the interview.
Tips in acing the interview
Preparation for the interview requires a lot of effort. As part of your preparation, you should read blogs written by students who made it into prestigious schools. Here’s an excerpt from a blog where you can find a lot of tips that could help you prepare for MBA.
Tip #1: Share stories that demonstrate your leadership skills, team experience and approach to solving complex problems.
Tip #2: A confident appearance goes a long way.
Tip #3: Be passionate about future goals.
Tip #4: Be authentic with your interviewer, and don’t assume SOM is looking for a specific candidate.
Tip #5: Have clear career goals upon graduation, and explain how an MBA from Yale SOM with help get you there.
Tip #6: Show how your goals tie in with the school’s mission of educating leaders for business and society.
Tip #7: Don’t over-sell your volunteer work, and have confidence in the contributions business makes to society.
MBA admission interviews in Stanford
You should not only prepare yourself for questions based on your personal statement. Some universities ask questions about almost any topic. For a more specific example, let’s take a look at how Stanford conducts their MBA admission interviews.
Some schools outsource their interviews to alumni primarily. Stanford GSB is an example. My advice to candidates interviewing at Stanford is to be prepared to talk about ANYTHING. The interview is really more of an assessment of who you are, your vibe, whether you will fit at Stanford versus how impressive your particular work project or leadership impact was. Subtlety is key. That’s not to say that other MBA programs do not ask for awareness. It matters regardless of MBA program but pay particular attention to it for Stanford. And know the schools’ brand. If a school is very big on team culture (think Kellogg, Tuck) for example, going on and on about what you did and your great, impressive achievements could signal that you are not a good fit for the program. It also appears that Stanford is taking a great deal of time in matching alumni interviewers with MBA applicants which is interesting because it allows the school to get a really good read on the candidate’s authenticity. Don’t however assume that this is based primarily on work experience similarities.
You can increase your chances of getting admitted by writing an interesting personal statement and acing the interview. You can accomplish these things if you make the necessary preparation. Prepare a clear essay and review it carefully, as some questions in the interview will probably come from it. However, you should also be ready to answer questions about topics not discussed in your essay.
