Event announcement: #MBAchat on Twitter, mbaMission to host
April 19, 2013
Date: Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Time: 1:00pm EDT
What: #mbachat
Host: @mbaMission
Why: To learn how to find the right fit for business school.
mbaMission is a highly respected business school admissions consulting firm. Kaplan GMAT initiated a relationship with the organization’s founder and president, Jeremy Shinewald, in 2010 for our Road to Business School events and we have worked closely with this outstanding company ever since.
We are very excited to spread the word about an upcoming Twitter event mbaMission is hosting next week on Wednesday, April 24th. Please, do yourself a favor and set aside the time to attend this event!
Be sure to follow @mbaMission and the #mbachat hashtag. All attendees will have the opportunity to submit admissions questions they might have and get expert advice from Mr. Shinewald himself. This is an outstanding opportunity and we hope to see you there!
Use The MBA Admissions Office as a Resource
April 4, 2013
“Do I need to take the TOEFL if I attended an English-language undergraduate institution outside the United States?”
“Do I need to provide a separate transcript from the institution where I studied abroad for my junior year, even though these grades show up on my ‘home’ university’s transcript?”
“I completed military service before my undergraduate education. Can I still count these years in my ‘full-time work experience since graduation’ total?”
These are just a few of the many technical questions that can arise as you complete the short-answer portion of your business school application (depending on the nature of your candidacy). The reason these and many other questions can be so bewildering is that often, no clear answer can be found in the school’s application materials, and tremendous variation exists from one MBA application to the other.
Generally, candidates tend to think of the MBA admissions office as an impenetrable black box, but the truth is that these offices are open and available to applicants and indeed want to clarify these kinds of small technical issues that candidates may be encountering. Although you should take care to not be a pest and should definitely not repeatedly call the admissions office, if you have a small question or two that seem to have no clear-cut answers, do not be afraid to call. Why not take the guesswork out of the equation and be certain of what the admissions committee expects?
If you would like to ask us a question about your MBA applications, sign up for a free 30-minute consultation at http://www.mbamission.com/consult.php.
2013 MBA admissions decisions
March 15, 2013
The graduate school admissions process is extremely stressful from start to finish. And, the finish, of course, only occurs when those letters from admissions committees start rolling in. This the point at which many of you out there currently find yourselves.
A Bloomberg Businessweek article covers some incoming reports from admissions officers at many of the nation’s top schools. According to the article, most of the decisions for the Round 2 cycle will be pushed out to applicants by the end of March—the 28th to be precise.
Here is a quick summation of decision info from the schools featured in the article:
University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business:
Rnd 2 calls begin March 12th
All decisions posted by March 15th
Rnd 3 decisions announced May 15th
University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business:
Rnd 2 calls begin March 20th
Rnd 3 deadline is March 28th
Unaccepted applicants can register for a feedback phone call in May. Calls will be made in June
University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business:
All Rnd 2 notifications will be complete by March 28th
Rnd 3 deadline is April 4th
University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School:
Rnd 2 decisions made by March 26th
Rnd 3 decisions by May 3rd
Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business:
Rnd 2 decisions pushed out by March 27th
Rnd 3 deadline is April 3rd
MIT’s Sloan School of Management:
Rnd 2 decisions released on April 2nd
No Rnd 3 at MIT
Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business:
Rnd 2 notifications complete by March 18th
Rnd 3 deadline is March 21st
Rnd 3 interview invitations sent by April 10th and decisions made by May 10th
Harvard Business School:
Rnd 2 notifications complete by March 27th
Rnd 3 deadline is 12:00pm EST on April 8th
Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management:
Rnd 3 decisions by April 3rd
Rnd 4 deadline is March 27th (Note: four admission rounds in a unique feature of Cornell’s admissions process)
Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management:
Rnd 2 decisions by March 21st
Rnd 3 off-campus interview request deadline is April 3rd
Rnd 3 decisions made by May 15th
Last summer, the GMAT made the most major change to its format in 15 years by replacing one of the essays with the Integrated Reasoning (IR) section. Since then, GMAT test-takers have been wondering how IR impacts their b-school applications. As it turns out, business schools are wondering exactly the same thing.
In the IR section of the GMAT, test-takers evaluate data in graphs, spreadsheets, and charts, similar to the materials they will eventually see in business school. In theory, IR can better assess students’ ability to perform the tasks expected of them in business school and the work world. Nearly a year after the inclusion of IR, the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), who administers the GMAT, and business schools nationwide are taking the first steps to determine what role IR should play in the admissions process.
Bloomberg Businessweek recently reported that business schools across the country are actively assessing the significance of IR performance on students’ eventual success in business school. While IR isn’t currently being given much weight in the admissions process, largely because many applicants took the GMAT before the test change and therefore do not have IR scores, business schools are analyzing IR data to get a better understanding of the role it will eventually play in admissions. Dan Poston, of the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, states, “We want to see how it [IR] plays out…We want to see how predictive it is of student’s success at school.”
GMAC has released some key data on the IR section, based upon results of the more than 123,000 test-takers who have taken the GMAT since IR was added to the test. GMAC reports that the distribution of scores is normal and without bias against any subgroup of test-takers. In short, these results suggest that IR has the potential to be a valid predictor of student success in b-school.
In addition to analyzing data from GMAC, some schools are directly studying the connection between IR and student performance. For instance, at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management, a group of 60 second-year students will complete the IR portion of the GMAT. Their IR scores will then be compared to their success in core courses in order to determine whether IR performance positively correlates with b-school performance.
The obvious question for GMAT test-takers is how they should approach IR in order to put together the best application package possible. While IR may not play a major role in the admissions process for the next few years, a solid IR score can only help applicants. As Dawna Clarke of Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business notes, “IR will help prospective students more than it will hurt them…If you are not ‘quant strong,’ but you have strong IR skills, then this test will help you shine.”
When I was a college English teacher, I regularly warned my students about the dangers of plagiarizing their assignments. In addition to pointing out that plagiarism is simply unethical, I made it clear that plagiarists would be punished, through a failing grade on an assignment, expulsion from class, or even academic probation. Nevertheless, every semester I would catch at least a few students who either missed my warnings or chose to ignore them.
Today, some business school applicants take the same risks, ignoring schools’ warnings about plagiarism and submitting plagiarized essays, despite the steep penalties should they be caught. A recent article in U.S. News and World Report reports that both Penn State’s Smeal College of Business and UCLA’s Anderson School of Management recently rejected over 60 applicants due to plagiarized material. Additionally, Northeastern University’s D’Amore-McKim School of Business has identified 50 cases of potential plagiarism, which are currently being investigated.
In today’s digital world, plagiarism is easier than ever–students can easily buy or copy essays from the comfort of their own bedrooms–but plagiarism is also more easily detected. Penn State, UCLA, and Northeastern are among the more than 100 colleges and universities that use Turnitin, software that checks for original work and flags potential plagiarism. Turnitin compares papers to other student papers within its database, public web pages, and commercial pages from books, newspapers, and journals, making the task of identifying plagiarized essays much simpler for admissions officials.
In short, plagiarism might be easy, but it’s not worth the risk. So, now that you’ve reaffirmed your aversion to plagiarism, what can you do to put together a solid MBA application essay? Here are few tips:
- Start thinking about your essays sooner rather than later. The earlier you start brainstorming and writing your essays, the more time you’ll have for revision and improvement.
- Be specific about who you are, why you want to go to business school, and what your goals are. The best way to stand out is to demonstrate your passion for your career interests and goals. Check out last week’s blog “Add Depth to MBA Application Essays by Owning Your Goals” for suggestions for making your essays more specific.
- Get feedback. Have a variety of people read your essays. Get feedback from friends, family members, AND co-workers so you can revise your essays from several different perspectives. You don’t need to go overboard–commentary from too many people can become overwhelming–but the insights of several different people will help you perfect your essay.
- Most importantly, be true to yourself. Business school is a big investment, and as much as you want schools to accept you, you also want to select a program that is right for you. Putting your true self forward in your essays will help to ensure that the programs you are accepted to will be good fits for you and your goals.
B-School Applications Demand Self-assessment. GMAC product offers help
February 19, 2013
How many self-assessment tools for personal development are out there? Let me Google that for you … Well, I don’t know about you, but the ocean certainly seems red with more than 4.7 million search query results.
If you are looking for such a tool or wondering about any that are particularly relevant to meeting your academic and career goals, let me focus your search by directing you to GMAC’s ReflectTM. Developed by GMAC in partnership with Hogan Assessments, Reflect offers clients a unique report and subsequent action plan, including resources, that are presented from a business perspective using business language.
After purchasing the tool for $99.99, customers take approximately 45 minutes to answer more than 500 dichotomous questions (i.e., true/false, yes/no) and immediately receive quantified ranking across ten different competencies. From operational thinking to strategic vision, from resilience to interpersonal intuition, each of the competencies are presented alongside details, actions, and benchmarks. For the next three years, participants can work to complete prescribed actions, utilize embedded resources to do so, and track their personal developmental progress.
Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of Reflect is the action-oriented focus coupled with resources with which individuals can complete those actions. After all, there is little value in reading a descriptive assessment report without any prescriptive information that allows you to strive toward betterment. This notion is precisely what underpins Kaplan’s Smart ReportsTM technology.
Interestingly, the Reflect project was originally began under the auspices of creating a soft-skills assessment for admissions committees at business schools to use when making admissions decisions. It was thought that such an assessment would be a useful complement to the hard skills assessment of competencies the GMAT quantifies. As the product development team moved forward, it became apparent that “soft-skills are coachable and not appropriate for high-stakes testing,” said Andy Martelli, VP of GMAC product development, as paraphrased here. During a product preview event in held last year in Chicago, Mr. Martelli went onto explain that the target customers of Reflect were business school students interested in identifying strengths and weaknesses in order to zero-in on specific behaviors they can work to modify during the time spent pursuing and professionally implementing an advanced degree in management.
If you have used Reflect, please give us your feedback below!
Can I Use Stories from Four Years Ago?
February 14, 2013
Business school candidates are often asked to share examples of a variety of experiences with MBA admissions committees for their MBA applications. We always encourage applicants to truly reflect on their lives and consider all potential stories—academic, professional, community, extracurricular, athletic, international, personal and more. However, questions inevitably arise: “Can I use stories from high school and college?” “Can I use a story from four years ago?” ”How far in the past is too far in the past?” Although no definitive rule exists, with the exception of questions that specifically ask about personal history or family background, schools generally want to learn about the mature you—the individual you are today. So we ask, “How long have you been the you that you are today?”
When considering experiences that occurred long ago, ask yourself, “Would this impress an MBA admissions committee today?” If you ran a few successful bake sales six years ago when you were in college, this clearly would not stand the test of time and impress strangers today. However, if, while you were still a student, you started a small business that grew and was ultimately sold to a local firm when you graduated, you would have a story to tell that would likely impress an admissions committee.
Inevitably, judgment is always involved in these decisions. Nonetheless, we offer this simple test as a starting point to help you decide which stories to share.
Make Sure Long-Term Goals are Logical and Achievable
February 12, 2013
Many business school candidates struggle to define their long-term goals in their application essays. Although short-term goals should be relatively specific, long-term goals can be broad and ambitious. Regardless of what your short- and long-term goals actually are, what is most important is presenting a clear “cause and effect” relationship between them. The MBA admissions committee will be confused by a long-term goal that lacks grounding. Still, you should not interpret this to mean that you need to choose one industry and state that you will stay in it for your entire career. You can present any career path that excites you—again, as long as you also demonstrate a logical path to achieving your goals.
For example, many MBA candidates discuss having ambitions in management consulting. Could an individual with such aspirations justify any of the following long-term goals?
A) Climbing the ladder and becoming a partner in a consulting firm
B) Launching a boutique consulting firm
C) Leaving consulting to manage a nonprofit
D) Leaving consulting to buy a failing manufacturing firm and forge a “turnaround”
E) Entering the management ranks of a major corporation
The answer is yes! This candidate could justify any of these long-term goals (and many others), as long as he/she connects them to experiences gained via his/her career as a consultant. With regard to your goals, you need not feel constrained—you just need to emphasize and illustrate that your goals are logical, achievable and ambitious.
Add Depth to MBA Application Essays by Owning Your Goals
February 5, 2013
When MBA admissions officers read your application, they want feel inspired by your personal statement; they want to feel that you have a strong sense of purpose and that you will aggressively work toward your goals. So, you need to ensure that you are not presenting generic or shallow goals. Although this problem is not industry specific, it occurs most often with candidates who will to pursue careers in investment banking or consulting but do not have a true understanding of what these positions actually entail.
For example, a candidate cannot merely state,
“In the short term, when I graduate from Wharton, I want to become an investment banking associate. After three years, I will be promoted to vice president, and then in the long term, I will become a managing director.”
This hypothetical candidate does not express any passion for his/her proposed course, does not show any understanding of the demands of the positions and does not explain the value he could bring to the firm. We suggest that to avoid these kinds of shortcomings, you conduct this simple test when writing your personal statement: if you can easily substitute another job title into your career goals (“In the short term, when I graduate from Wharton, I want to become a consultant. After three years, I will be promoted to vice president and then in the long term, I will become a managing director.”), you know you have a serious problem on your hands and need to put more work into your essay.
To effectively convey your goals, you need to own your goals. This means personalizing them, determining and presenting why you expect to be a success in the proposed position and explaining why an opportunity exists for you to contribute. For example, a former forestry engineer could make a strong argument for joining an environmental impact consulting firm (Note: This candidate would still need to explain why he/she would want to join one.); similarly, a financial analyst in the corporate finance department at Yahoo! could connect his/her goals to tech investment banking. Although the connection need not be so direct (especially for candidates seeking to change careers), relating your past experiences and/or your skills to your future path is still extremely important. This approach will add depth to your essay and ensure that the admissions committee takes you seriously.
MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: I Need a 750!
February 1, 2013
We all know that the GMAT is a difficult test and a significant factor in establishing your academic competencies in the eyes of MBA admissions committees. However, the GMAT is not the only factor used to evaluate your candidacy, but is in fact just one of several. Although a high GMAT score can enhance your overall competitiveness at top-tier schools, it alone cannot secure your admission. Meanwhile, a low or average score on the GMAT by no means precludes your admission. Remember, the average scores listed on admissions Web sites, are, after all, averages! The nature of an average is such that some people are above and others are below— meaning that roughly half the class at your target school will be below the stated average and will, lo and behold, still get in!
Previously on the mbaMission blog, we wrote the post, Well, I Had My Chance on the GMAT, which stresses that there is no risk in retaking the GMAT if you are unhappy with your initial score. However, if you have already taken the test a few times and have scored similarly each time, you should consider whether continuing to retake the test is truly worth the effort. Rather than attempting to study for and take the test again (and again), you should probably focus your energies on bolstering the other components of your application: your essays, short answers, resume, recommendations, etc. A strong complete application is not a guarantee of success, but is your best shot at overcoming a low GMAT score.
