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Behind
the Scenes of an MBA Application
Jack*
wanted to attend a competitive MBA program in the United
States. See how our consultant takes you step-by-step
through his application and shows you how he got accepted to
Columbia!
Program
applied to: Master's of Business Administration
(MBA)
His
focus: Finance
His
background: Jack was determined to attend one of
the best MBA programs in the United States. He believed that
an MBA was a necessary credential to achieve his goal of
entering the world of investment banking. He had a sterling
academic record at a respected high school and later
attended the top university in Taiwan. Jack, being a
self-motivated achiever, thrived in this competitive
learning environment.
Long
term goals: To work in investment banking.
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My
Initial Comments: Jack looked confused
and very nervous when he first entered my office.
On the phone, he had confidently articulated his
career goals, so I wondered why the drastic
change. The reasons for his uncertainty soon
became clear - he was concerned about his grades.
Let's take a look at his weak areas and how we
worked around them.
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His
university grades were only slightly above average.
In university, Jack was passionate about politics and
chose it as his major. He was strongly committed to
Taiwan's political and social liberalization, and took an
active role by joining student political organizations.
Because of his deep involvement, his marks dropped and he
struggled to keep his marks above average. In fact, his
grades were below the expected range for applicants to
leading US business schools, which is why Jack looked so
worried when I first met him.
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Unrelated
professional experience.
Although poor performance can sometimes be balanced by a
strong, relevant professional background, Jack also
lacked this. For 1.5 years, Jack had worked for one of
the world's largest medical equipment companies,
beginning as a sales specialist and being promoted to
sales manager. Unsure about his goals, he decided to
leave the company and work for his family business, a
kindergarten, for a year. As you can see, his
professional experience was completely unrelated to
finance.
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Low
TOEFL and GMAT scores.
His TOEFL and GMAT scores barely met the average
standard of top MBA programs.
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What
was our strategy? I sympathized with
Jack's concerns. He lacked the experience
that most business school applicants have. True,
he possessed a strong interest in finance, but he
had no past experience in this field. Perhaps most
importantly, he had no evidence of his academic
potential other than that he had marks high school
marks that were high enough to enter the top
university in Taiwan. Our strategy was to 1) make
a connection between his political involvement and
his potential as a business leader
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Implementing
Our Plan:
After
lengthy discussion, I related Jack's political leadership
to his potential as a business innovator. There
are enough applicants who will succeed in business, but
finding an innovator who will challenge norms and
conventions to effect change is rare. I showed Jack that
his background revealed the makings of a business leader,
someone concerned with his community and its improvement.
Our task was to make this connection for the admissions
committee. Together we emphasized his strong interest in
political science, and listed the numerous student
activities in which he had been a team leader, to
demonstrate his concern for his country and the welfare of
its people. This involvement also proved that he was a
natural leader who could coordinate large groups of people
to work together for a single cause.
I
researched the business schools that placed great value on
innovation and entrepreneurship.
Taking into consideration his career goals and
academic and personal requirements, we researched business
schools in the United States. I taught Jack to read the
recommendation form so that he he get a sense of what
qualities the school valued, since it listed student
evaluation criteria. We generated a list of business
schools that were best suited to his strengths and needs.
We
brainstormed his sales experience and past achievement and
identified strengths. Business schools
want to know that the applicant is mature, cooperates with
others, is creative, and can thrive under pressure.
Jack told me of many situations when he had to work under
extreme pressure, handle the conflicting interests other
people, and work in team situations. He also showed
that his job as a sales rep required creative thinking.
We
emphasized his previous management responsibility.
Jack was the general manager of his family's
kindergarten. He managed all aspects of the business and
could give concrete, quantitative evidence of how he
increased the competitiveness of the school. He also
contributed to creating the school's business philosophy.
I urged him to provide clear evidence and examples for the
admissions committee.
I
told Jack to clearly articulate his future career goals. We
emphasized his deep commitment to university political
affairs, demonstrating a clear understanding of the future
direction of his country. Jack also drew upon his sales
experience to show that he knew the key elements of
business success and competitiveness. He also explained
the factors that had caused fluctuations in profitability
and progress in the business. Together, his knowledge,
understanding, and practical experience compensated for
his lack of direct experience in finance. He proved
that he had learned valuable business information as a
sales manager.
Tackling
the Essay Questions:
To
show you how we tacked the essay questions, we'll use Jack's
Columbia Business School application as an example.
What
are your reasons for wanting to pursue an MBA degree, and
why at Columbia? Jack discussed his interest in a
career in finance. He described his previous work
experience and related them to finance to convince the
admissions staff of his capability and suitability for the
program. He concluded by describing why Columbia was
his top choice. He outlined why the MBA program at
Columbia would best help him achieve his career goals. See a
sample
of this essay.
Illustrate
two professional accomplishments. Jack
described his experience at the medical equipment company,
describing how his creativity, and leadership and
implementation skills helped him to overcome adversity.
For the second accomplishment, Jack explained how he used
his leadership abilities to implement a new curriculum for
the kindergarten. He also gave concrete example of how he
developed strategic alliances to maintain the school's
competitiveness. See a sample
of this essay.
Discuss
an experience with failure. As the student
leader of a major political demonstration, Jack literally
had to lead thousands of people. He described the
mistakes he made, what he learned from this experience,
and how he applied this new understanding to other
situations. See a sample
of this essay.
How
will you contribute to the diversity at Columbia Business
School (optional question). He believed
that other students in the MBA program would benefit from
his political science knowledge, professional experience,
and his unique insights and cultural background. To
show how he could potentially enhance the learning
experience of his future classmates, Jack gave a
candid description of himself, and his strengths and
weaknesses. This added a more personal dimension to
his application. See a sample
of this essay.
The
result: Jack was
accepted by Columbia Business School, Yale, University of
Chicago, and NYU. Although Jack had no formal
business training, lacked relevant professional
experience, and had poor undergraduate grades and low
quantitative test scores, we were able to build an
effective strategy to get him accepted to four excellent
business schools.
We
emphasized his leadership, concern for the community,
creativity, learning potential, and contribution to the
learning experience of other classmates.Despite his
shortcomings, we stressed his positive attributes to the
point where the admissions committees at several leading
business schools had to concur.
*
not his real name
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