MBA

Getting rejected by a B-school is the last thing that any MBA applicant wants.   But rejections are a normal aspect of the admissions process. It’s understanding why you got rejected and what to do next that are important.   Minimal Interests Outside Of Work and School   One of the potential reasons that MBA applicants get a rejection letter is because they fail to show interest in activities outside of work and the classroom.   “Oftentimes, it is the personal story aspect that shows resilience or a unique hobby that shows a level of depth that can set a candidate apart. “For example, if you have two candidates from top investment banking firms with the same level of experience, the one who also practices and won awards in let’s say archery (this was from a past client), will have a better chance of acceptance because it is not only unexpected, but makes them stand out.”   Inauthentic Personality   When an applicant is too on brand with a B-school and its values, admissions officers will typically pass on their application. Experts say that applicants who tell authentic stories tend to catch the eye of admissions officers.   “No matter how qualified you may be on paper, authenticity counts,”    “The biggest mistake we see candidates make is when they tell us what they think we want to hear, rather than showing us who they actually are. The essays and interview are a great opportunity for you to present your true self.”   High Competition   Oftentimes, a rejection doesn’t mean you aren’t qualified. Rather, it may just mean that competition is at an all-time high.   “This is the top reason why qualified candidates are rejected – there are a limited number of spots open and hundreds of qualified candidates are vying for those spots,”    “Choosing a less popular school increases your chances of getting in, and many schools have excellent programs, not just the big name schools.”   No matter the reason for rejection, experts say, the best next step is to do some self-evaluation.   “Spend some time and evaluate your application strategy and submitted package,You want to determine whether you put together the best application package you’re capable of. If you feel there may have been some issues or there may be other opportunities to improve your profile, take action. “   How Not to Choose an MBA/MS Program “Invert, always invert.”   Put simply, inversion is a principle commonly applied in mathematics, where you rearrange or reverse the order of something. We like to think of it as turning something inside out.    We believe we can apply that same thinking to MBA/MS admissions. We would reframe the question of “How do I get into the right program?” Instead, We’d tell how to get into the wrong one.   When it comes to choosing a business school, here are ten “inversions” that’ll ultimately lead to a decision that you’ll regret:   Prioritize second-hand research over direct experience:  People are naturally biased, and one experience doesn’t tell you everything. Research schools’ facts and figures religiously. Look at outcomes, read the curriculum, and listen to testimonials. Make it rational, focused on numbers and aggregate data. A certain “feel” for a school may make you happy, but this is a professional decision. Do the great investors lead with their intuition?   Use the rankings as your guide:  Pay special attention to the nuances of a ranking to prioritize your schools. A bump from four to three in the U.S. News rankings changes things. While you know the school’s quality hasn’t changed, people’s perception has. What matters most is what the average recruiter or colleague thinks of your school choice. They’ll be the ones hiring you.   Emulate the success of others:  Study the people who have been accepted. Learn their style, their story, and their interests. Use their paths as a map to guide you through the twists and turns of the admissions process. If yours is too different, you’ll lose your audience. The school sees so many applicants that it rewards you to fit the molds they expect. They don’t have time to appreciate the difference.   Write about yourself generally, don’t emphasize specifics: Focus on sharing your complete backstory, and tie it all to what you want to do afterwards. A great essay is a smooth sequence of events inevitably leading to your school and program of choice. Focusing on one experience means that you’ll not show all of yourself.   Come to interviews with the answers: Prepare so you can address any question an admissions officer asks with a concise and confident response. Almost any answer is better than not knowing. If you don’t know what you’ll do in school or after, then you haven’t been thoughtful enough.   Stick to conventional career goals: Don’t be too ambitious or unusual with your goals. About half of most top MBA graduates go into management consulting or banking. If you’re like the average admitted student, then odds are you stand a better chance of being accepted. Being the odd duck out is too risky, and it’s going to invite a lot of skepticism.   Sell an image: Admissions is considering making an investment of a precious seat in their class for you. The key to closing any deal, whether in business or in life, is to create a winning image. Perception is everything. You and your career have to be something that admissions wants to have a part. It’s about learning what admissions wants you to say, and then squeezing yourself into a mold that tells them that.   ROI and Cost: Return on investment (ROI) goes beyond those coveted starting salaries and is inherently individual. Forbes rankings, for example, are based exclusively on ROI and drawn from pre- and post-MBA compensation, location and career choice. Forbes examines the five-year gain for MBAs across a host of key factors, while other media, like The Economist

Texas McCombs has released its full-time MBA essay questions and deadlines for the 2022–2023 application cycle. This year, the school has added a video assessment to its application, giving applicants the opportunity to share their story with the admissions committee in their own voice.   If you are interested in the McCombs MBA program, check out the latest class profile to assess if the program may be a strong fit for you.   The class of 2023 consists of 38% women, 37% US minority students, and 24% international citizens.   The 2022-2023 Texas McCombs Application Deadlines Are:   Round 1: October 11, 2022 Round 2: January 4, 2023 Round 3: March 28, 2023   2022–2023 Texas McCombs Essays:   Essay 1: Picture yourself at graduation. Describe how you spent your time as a Texas McCombs MBA to achieve your personal and professional goals. (500 words)   Essay 1: Picture yourself at graduation. Describe how you spent your time as a Texas McCombs MBA student to achieve your personal and professional goals. (500 words) With this prompt, the McCombs admissions committee is asking you to imagine where you want to go after you have completed your MBA studies (in both your career and your life more generally) and explain how you used your time at the school to prepare yourself to get there. So, without using the actual words “why McCombs?” and “how do you expect to engage with our community?,” the school is nevertheless asking you for precisely this information.   The admissions committee essentially wants to know what has compelled you to choose McCombs in particular for your MBA and how you will take advantage of specific resources and experiences it offers. The assumption is that something you have learned about McCombs leads you to believe that its MBA program will provide the experience, knowledge, skills, exposure, and/or other elements you need to reach your goals. Likewise, something makes you feel you would fit well with the McCombs environment and be comfortable there. So what has given you that impression? All the top MBA programs want reassurance that the candidates they admit have not applied simply because of the school’s reputation or ranking but rather because they are truly excited to be a part of the community and to benefit from that specific learning experience. McCombs is not simply seeking warm bodies with which to fill its classrooms; it is striving to add to a long history of effective global business leaders and a network of alumni dedicated to the school and each other. Demonstrating your authentic interest in the program by offering concrete examples and drawing clear connections between who you want to be and what the school offers is key to crafting a compelling essay response.   If you have targeted McCombs because you feel it is the right program for you, you likely already have an idea of why that is true and how you would function as part of its community. If you do not yet have a handle on these points, you definitely need to start (now!) researching the school thoroughly, including interacting directly with students and/or alumni. Identify at least one (ideally more) resource, offering, or quality that McCombs has that is unique or that it excels in that directly relates to what you need to attain your post-MBA goals. And do not just offer a list—you must explain how the identified element(s) will fulfill particular needs for you.   Keep in mind that business school is not only about course work and recruiting, and McCombs specifically asks about achieving your personal goals as well as your career aspirations. While you are a student, you can (and should!) also have fun, make friends, and be a contributing member of the community outside the classroom. So you certainly can discuss more than just the academic and professional development elements of the McCombs program. Explore the school’s social events and offerings—including affinity, social, and sports clubs, for starters—to identify other aspects of the experience that you anticipate will also play an important role in your MBA journey. Although we would not encourage you to force this angle and mention something just to tick a box, so to speak, addressing these options can be an effective way of revealing more of your values and personality to the admissions committee and thereby presenting a more well-rounded impression of yourself.   Optional Statement: Please provide any additional information you believe is important or address any areas of concern that you believe will be beneficial to MBA Admissions in considering your application (e.g., gaps in work experience, choice of recommender, academic performance, or extenuating personal circumstances). (250 words)   We tend to believe that the best use of the optional essay is to explain confusing or problematic issues in your candidacy, and this prompt offers an opportunity to do just that.   However, because McCombs does not stipulate that you can only discuss a problem area in this essay, you have some leeway to share anything you think might be pivotal or particularly compelling. We caution you against trying to fill this space simply because you fear that not doing so would somehow count against you. Remember, by submitting an additional essay, you are asking the admissions committee to do extra work on your behalf, so you need to make sure that time is warranted. If you are using the essay to emphasize something that if omitted would render your application incomplete, take this opportunity to write a very brief narrative that reveals this key new aspect of your candidacy.   MBA/MS Application Checklist | Essay Tips With application deadlines around the corner It is time to make your list and check it twice. While most checklists will merely cover the basics, Leap Quest challenges you to ask these 9 questions to assess whether your applications are REALLY ready!   1. Is your story clear? Does the reader walk away knowing who you are and what matters to

With the year’s end rapidly approaching and round 2 application deadlines clearly in sight, you may find yourself contemplating an MBA. You may be wondering: Is this a good time?   Below Leap Quest’s lists a number of reasons you may not want to wait. If you have taken the GMAT/GRE (or think you could do so in time), for example, or you are feeling stuck in your job, consider starting your application process today!   But right now there is an additional—and greatly compelling—reason to take this courageous step: a recession is likely looming. Elon Musk is chopping jobs at Twitter, Amazon announced a corporate hiring freeze, Lyft is cutting 13% of its workforce, and others will likely follow.   While recession forecasting is not exactly down pat, teams of economists have been predicting a serious recession for some time—more than a year, in some cases—and many say we are already well into one. Many factors are propelling the downturn, including the withdrawal of catalysts that have been propping up the economy, such as easy access to low-interest credit. More interest rate hikes are likely to accelerate matters, further propelled by dropping consumer confidence ratings and rising inflation.   Potential MBA applicants can take steps to capitalize on the possibly transformative, life-changing opportunities provided by a looming recession. While a recession can be dangerous, it can also be accompanied by great opportunity: opportunity to reinvigorate one’s life with a transformative educational experience to match the opening doors post-recession. When the job market starts to bubble again, compared to others who have been sitting home watching Netflix or self-doubting, you will have improved yourself through a new degree, you will have new skills and interests, and you may even be prepared to launch into a new, burgeoning field.   Plus, applications to many top business schools are still down but are likely to rise in the coming year(s). Now is a sweet spot when you can apply during a slightly less competitive cycle.   While it is clear that now is a great time to apply to business school, you may be wondering if this is the best time for YOU to pursue an MBA. If one or more of the following rings true for you, now may very well be the time to start developing your MBA Application Plan!   You are ready to switch careers: Switching careers while writing your business school applications can be tricky. While it works for some to change industries or functions pre-MBA, for most people post-MBA is a better time to switch careers. But if you know you want to move from banking to consulting or consulting to product management, why wait? In many ways the MBA is the great equalizer and post-MBA students often start at a similar level to each other. If this is you, think about applying today.   Your personal situation favors the MBA choice: Do you want a break from work? Is your partner going back to school and it will be easier to study together? Going back to school full time is a major lifestyle change, and your personal circumstance should be a key factor in your decision on when to apply. If your circumstances feel right, consider it fortuitous.   Career stagnation: Have you stretched yourself as much as possible in your current role? Do you need an MBA or advanced degree to reach the next level? If you are bored at work and feel that you have learned all you can in your current role, this is a good sign an MBA might be right for you. Even if you feel you are close to plateauing, now could be a good time to start researching an MBA program as it might still be another 18 months until you are likely to enroll.   Close specific skill gaps: Gaining specific knowledge is one of the top reasons to get an MBA. While naturally MBA programs are great opportunities to strengthen core skills including finance, accounting and marketing, top MBA programs offer courses across broad industries and functional areas, allowing students to learn the fundamentals from industry experts.   In recent years, top MBA programs have begun to offer more unique courses. From Harvard’s Risks, Opportunities, And Investments In The Era Of Climate Change to Kellogg’s Influencer Marketing , MBA hopefuls have access to an array of classes in emerging fields.   Develop soft skills: The “soft” skills that you will gain in business school are just as important as the technical skills you will develop (if not more important). MBA programs strongly emphasize skills including leadership, communication, and teamwork both in and out of the classroom. Naturally, these are all key skills for young professionals, preparing them to become future leaders.   On top of this, various volunteer programs and travel opportunities give students the chance to further develop personally and professionally.   Explore career paths in an open and trusting environment: While Leap Quest advises all clients to apply to business school with clear MBA goals and future plans, no one will actually hold themselves to these goals. Instead, MBA programs foster a safe environment to explore classes or programs in other fields and intern with companies in diverse industries. This exploration can lead students to find new passions or solidify their desired career path.   Receive a “holistic” business education: If you are wondering “Why should I get an MBA instead of a specialized master’s degree?” Leap Quest encourages you to think about your ideal career path. Although specialized masters’ programs can be a great way for folks to advance their careers, for those with broader aspirations, an MBA can open more doors.   For instance, a master’s in marketing might be ideal for someone who wants to focus on marketing expertise and rise via a narrower path. However, an MBA can teach the marketing skills needed to succeed in most companies as well as advanced leadership skills to help you assume higher

A strong woman knows she has strength enough for the journey, but a woman of strength knows it is in the journey where she will become strong Dipti wasn’t planning to apply to an MBA program this spring. But when the coronavirus pandemic caused most top business schools to extend deadlines and suspend testing requisites, Malone, a product manager in the San Francisco Bay Area, found herself in a “Why not now?” frame of mind.   “I was planning on applying in the fall, but ended up speeding up my timeline, given the extended deadlines happening this year,” she says. “I talked with one of my mentors, who had been telling me since the day I met her that I should go back and do an MBA. And she was saying, ‘Why are you waiting? What is there to gain by waiting until next year to start?’ And I said, ‘It’s the first week of Feb are you serious? I can’t do this right now, you’re crazy.’ She went, ‘Well, why not?’ And I went through my list of, ‘Well, there’s only a month. I haven’t even started my essays. I don’t know where I want to apply. I haven’t even taken the GMAT. I don’t know what I’m doing.’ And she went, ‘These are all terrible excuses. Can you give me better excuses? I’ll listen to you, but other than that, I’m going to keep bugging you to apply.’ And I stopped for a minute and I said, ‘You know what? You’re right. These are bad excuses.’”   Dipti applied to four elite B-schools in Feb and March — “It was a hell of a stressful month,” she says. But the work and stress were worth it. She was admitted to 2 of her target schools. She chose the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.   Women At The Top MBA Programs In The U.S. Way back in 2018, USC Marshall achieved the long-sought holy grail of gender parity, with 52% women in its incoming class. Last year Stanford and Wharton led the way, each with 47%; and in 2020 the crown goes to Dartmouth Tuck, which stands on the precipice of parity with 49% women in its MBA. After Dartmouth Tuck, the biggest two-year gains were at UCLA Anderson School of Management and NYU Stern School of Business, which both gained 6 points to 40% and 43%, respectively.   Rank & School 2020 % Women 2019 % Women 2018 % Women 2017 % Women 2016 % Women 2-Year Change 5-Year Change 1. Stanford GSB 47% 47% 41% 40% 41% Even 6 2. Chicago (Booth) 38% 40% 42% 40% 42% -2 -4 3. Harvard Business School 44% 43% 41% 42% 43% 1 1 4. Penn (Wharton) 41% 47% 43% 44% 44% -6 -3 5. Northwestern (Kellogg) 40% 43% 46% 42% 41% -3 -1 6. MIT (Sloan) 38% 41% 42% 42% 40% -3 -2 7. Columbia 40% 38% 39% 41% 38% 2 2 8. UC-Berkeley (Haas) 39% 37% 43% 40% 38% 2 1 9. Dartmouth (Tuck) 49% 42% 45% 44% 44% 7 5 10. Yale SOM 39% 42% 43% 43% 43% -3 -4 11. Virginia (Darden) 40% 40% 38% 39% 39% Even 1 12. Michigan (Ross) 43% 45% 43% 43% 40% -2 3 13. Cornell (Johnson) 31% 35% 33% 27% 31% -4 Even 14. Duke (Fuqua) 46% 43% 42% 34% 35% 3 11 15. UCLA (Anderson) 40% 34% 35% 38% 32% 6 8 16. NYU (Stern) 43% 37% 35% 38% 35% 6 8 17. CMU (Tepper) 25% 33% 28% 27% 28% -8 -3 18. Texas-Austin (McCombs) 40% 40% 38% 40% 37% Even 3 19. USC (Marshall) 40% 42% 52% 32% 32% -2 8 19. UNC (Kenan-Flagler) 31% 29% 28% 30% 30% 2 1 21. Washington (Foster) 37% 33% 42% 36% 43% 4 -6 22. Emory (Goizueta) 30% 31% 30% 30% 24% -1 6 23. Indiana (Kelley) 35% 33% 35% 29% 30% 2 5 24. Georgetown (McDonough) 32% 29% 29% 32% 34% 3 -2 25. Rice (Jones) 35% 38% 31% 34% 24% -3 11   The average gain among the 10 schools that grew their women’s MBA population between 2019 and 2020 was 3.5 percentage points. Last year when we wrote this story, the average gain among 12 schools was 2.6 points. The average loss this year for the 12 schools that declined was 3.3 percentage points; last year, the average loss between the two cycles at 11 schools was 3.5 points.   Women At The Top MBA Programs Outside The U.S.   School 2020 % Women 2019 % Women 2018 % Women 3-Year Change London Business School 36% 38% 40% -4 HEC Paris 34% 31% 32% 2 Rotman 44% 42% 35% 9 INSEAD 35% 35% 33% 2 IE 32% 30% 31% 1 IESE 31% 31% 32% -1 Cambridge 37% 35% 36% 1 Oxford 47% 44% 39% 8 CEIBS 40% 40% 43% -3   Over the last five years going back to fall 2016, eight U.S. schools have lost ground, one is even, and 16 have improved. The biggest five-year improvement was 11 percentage points at both Duke Fuqua and Rice University Jones Graduate School of Business, the latter of which improved to 35% women this year. Three other schools — UCLA Anderson (32% to 40%), NYU Stern (35% to 43%), and USC Marshall School of Business (32% to 40%) all improved by 8 points. The biggest decline over the last five years: the University of Washington Foster School of Business, which dropped 6 percentage points to 37%. Outside the U.S., only one major school out of nine we’ve watched — London Business School — lost ground from 2019, and only three have lost ground over three years: LBS, IESE of Spain, and CEIBS of Shanghai, China and Zurich, Switzerland. Oxford University’s Saïd Business School and the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, Canada, are the top non-U.S. schools for women at 47% and 44%, respectively. See table above for details Get Help from Leap Quest

Governments around the world spend a huge amount of money on education every year. This includes setting up institutes of higher education or expanding the reach of the ones that already exist. Yet, given a chance, every single student wishing to pursue their MBA from the likes of Stanfords and Harvards of the world will jump at the opportunity. With the growing popularity of international MBA, students have more options to choose from, and not limit themselves to only the biggest names alone. What does an international MBA offer that a degree from a home-grown institute doesn’t? Does the word ‘international’ mean only attending B-schools in the U.S. or Europe? If it does, then why do European & US students reach out to business schools in other countries to do their MBA? Many in the field will explain this word (‘international’) by way of diversity among students in the class. Universities would be wary if their student pool had a majority of students from one particular culture, community or country. So, you’d notice almost all the B-schools will more or less be open to sharing the diversity of their students in terms of gender, nationality, culture, and the like. Even US and European students prefer to pursue their course from a place that gives them the opportunity to study in a more multicultural environment. Then you can basically work with just about anyone, anywhere in the world. And then of course, it looks good on your CV as well! Now, let’s come to the point. What are the benefits of an international MBA degree? Quite a few. Let’s go through these one by one. For all of you out there, one reason could be more important than others so this list is definitely not in any order of priority. 6 Benefits of an international MBA degree 1. Gets you closer to your dream job Most students who enroll for an international MBA are professionals. They have a few years of work experience post which they opt for higher study. So, they are already earning a decent amount. Yet a foreign degree shines bright on your CV giving you an edge over other competitors at the workplace. Higher the ranking of the B-school you graduated from, better chances of your dream company hiring you. And in a leadership role! You stand in good stead to take over a role in senior management, as that’s what an international MBA degree trains you in. Following a global curriculum in terms of business, marketing, management, sales and operations along with understanding the various facets of leadership from an international perspective makes you understand business in a different way. You get the confidence to work in any organization in any part of the world.The Financial Times says as of January 1, 2018, almost 31% of the world’s 500 largest listed companies by market capitalization are led by an MBA graduate. 2. Expands your professional footprint For many professionals, stagnation sets in quite early in the career. After a year or two of learning, it generally is more of the same in the years to follow. The biggest culprit is the lack of variety at work. For bosses, it’s more productive to get an experienced employee to continue doing what they have been doing for years. This is why the learning stops and the daily routine becomes a mechanical chore. One big advantage of an international MBA degree is it gives you the chance to expand your area of interest. From a business operations profile, you can learn about business development, or from manufacturing, you can go into consulting. The program is developed in such a manner that it ensures you get an overall perspective and necessary training to shift your career focus. 3. Gets you back into school Talk to the MBA aspirants, and you’d know that one of the reasons why they want to ditch their job or life they are living, is to take a break and do something constructive in the period. There’s nothing better than going back to being a student – sitting down in a room full of people who don’t know you, jotting down informative content, looking up at the professor with eyes full of awe at the knowledge that s/he is spewing. Well, you do end up spending a fortune on this experience, but actually taking time off work could give you a much needed break from all the corporate baggage you’ve been carrying all along. You don’t have to carry your office with you anywhere, no late night office calls, no travel for work. There will be time to think of that business idea you have been toying with in your head. You can chit-chat with new friends and do not feel the urge to network with them for work. It can be quite an experience being a student again. 4. Expands your network As a business professional, one of the key requirements of your job is to network with people from various industries. In fact, almost all companies encourage their employees to network with people other than their colleagues. You never know which connection gets you more work. And while pursuing an international MBA, you have the opportunity to meet like-minded individuals from various industries, from around the world. It is the best setting to make life-long friends and extend these partnerships beyond the classroom. Some of them may just go to head some top-notch organization later in life.And that’s not all. B-schools globally tend to nurture their alumni so as to have an extended network of their wards. You’d have access to such a huge alumni network too who can always counsel, mentor and even help you find a good job. The professors and guest lecturers from various disciplines and industries too shoot up the excitement factor of these degrees. You can learn so much from these accomplished people from various walks of life. These will be invaluable connections. 5. Feeds your entrepreneurial ideas

The most common start to an MBA admissions interview is a friendly, open-ended question: “Tell me about yourself.” It is the only interview question that is so famous as to have its own acronym, TMAYS. Furthermore, because it is often the very first question, answering it well puts your interviewer in a good mood and paves the way for the rest of your interview to go smoothly. This article will explain why admissions committees ask this question, some basic mistakes you can avoid, and what you should do if you want to deliver a great answer that helps you to really connect with your interviewer. Why do MBA Admissions Interviewers Ask This Question? The interviewer already has your resume, and at some schools, such as HBS, the interviewer has conducted a detailed review of your entire application package, including your essays, recommendation letters, and more. Because the interviewer already has this information in front of them, they aren’t looking for you to recap the basic facts. So why are they asking this question? The interviewer wants to make you feel comfortable. This is meant to be an easy question — it’s open-ended, and is a totally foreseeable question that you had plenty of time to practice again and again until you got it right. The interviewer wants you to connect the dots between the different areas of your background. Your resume shows where you attended college, where you work, and what you do outside of work, but it doesn’t explain why you chose those schools, employers, and activities. The interviewer is evaluating your soft skills. During an MBA, you’ll introduce yourself to hundreds of people — among others, classmates, alumni, employers, and professors. Will you make a good impression during those interactions? You might notice that none of these reasons have anything to do with understanding the facts of your background. Although a good answer will always include some facts about your education and work experience, this question is NOT primarily about memorizing the content of your resume, or figuring out a short way to cover every single experience you’ve ever had. It is about explaining your deeper motivations and making a personal connection with your interviewer. Mistake #1: A Chronological Summary The first big mistake would be giving a blow-by-blow chronological account of your life: So, I was born in Los Angeles, where I played football in high school, and eventually attended Notre Dame for college, where I majored in… By my junior year, I secured an internship with… Why would this be a mistake? First of all, how many times do you think your interviewer has heard this one before? For experienced interviewers, it may be hundreds of times. This type of story can bore the interviewer because every part is so predictable. Nearly every MBA applicant in the world: Went to high school and pursued some extracurricular activities there Attended a good undergraduate program Secured an internship, and then a full-time job (often in traditional areas like finance, consulting or technology) You do NOT want to bore your interviewer by giving an answer that is totally predictable, and similar to what hundreds of competing applicants will say. Second, this type of answer makes it very easy to fall into the trap of giving too much detail. During mock interviews, some applicants begin by telling me about two or three college internships before they even get to their first full-time job, at which point they’ll start talking about the details of several work projects per job. And this huge amount of detail leads them right into the second big mistake. Mistake #2: Too Long! There is a fundamental asymmetry in MBA admissions interviews: If you give short, clear answers, your interviewer will be happy to dig for extra details by asking follow-up questions. However, your interviewer is unlikely to cut you off if you ramble. It would be a violation of social norms to interrupt you and insist that you wrap up your answer quickly… so the interviewer will simply watch and wait until you finish, even if they are getting bored. This means that you want to give short, understandable answers, and trust the interviewer to dig for more detail if they want it. This enables the interviewer to get through all of their desired topics. The average MBA admissions interview lasts 30 or 40 minutes, and your interviewer probably wants to cover your career goals, your fit with the school, and a few examples of your previous experiences in which you succeeded, failed, or worked on teams. Taking too much time on any one question can prevent your interviewer from covering their full agenda. How to Answer the ‘Tell Me About Yourself’ Question If you treat your interviewer as a real human being, and the interview as a conversation — not an interrogation — you’ll do wonderfully with this question. The right answer should be interesting and memorable, but not too clever or overly engineered. You should take full advantage of the fact that there’s no prescribed structure, which allows you to frame your profile in exactly the way you want. We could never give a one-size-fits-all answer, but a few successful openings have looked like: Sometimes, I wondered how I ended up in private equity… for an applicant who was in a traditional PE job, but had a rather non-traditional background. You could say that I’m like a legal Walter White… for a medicinal chemist who was using the MBA to transition into a business-oriented role. Both of these examples offer an engaging start, while also getting directly to the practical point of explaining what the applicant does professionally, and setting them up to say more about that. The way you deliver your answer is equally important as the content — maybe more — and for this reason, Admitem’s MBA interview preparation service includes spending two hours with our professional experts on communications training. 5 Tips to Create Your MBA Elevator Pitch   1.

My Recommender’s Grammar Will Ruin My Chances At Leap Quest, we emphasize the need for effective written communication. Indeed, gaining admission to your target business school involves no real “trick”—earning that coveted letter of acceptance depends on your ability to tell your story in a compelling way and in your own words. But is good grammar vital to good communication? And if so, will your recommender’s bad grammar be detrimental to your chances?   We can assure you that no MBA admissions committee will reject a candidate’s application because they incorrectly used a semicolon instead of a comma. The committee is seeking to learn about you as an individual to evaluate you and your potential, both as a student at the school and in the business world after graduation. What is most important in your application is that you convey your unique stories—and ideally captivate your reader—in your own voice. Of course, you should always strive to perfect your presentation, but in the end, the quality and authenticity of your content carry more weight than your verbiage and punctuation. And if you are not a native English speaker, you can certainly be forgiven for the occasional idiosyncrasy in your expression.   This is even truer for your recommenders. The committee is not evaluating these individuals for a spot in the school’s program, so their grammar is largely irrelevant to your candidacy. And again, if your recommender is not a native English speaker, the admissions committees can be even more forgiving. The school will not penalize you for having a recommender who grew up in another country or whose English skills are not very polished for any other reason. As long as your recommender can offer anecdotes about your performance that create a strong impression about you and complement the abilities and qualities you have presented elsewhere in your application, you should be just fine. The substance of the recommendation is always what matters most.   Leap Quest is planning to bust more MBA Application Myths. Continue Reading… Yes, Indian, IT, and male are probably the three most dreaded words in MBA admissions. In that order.   In fact, so huge is the category by itself, that it is the biggest of its kind at most global MBA programs. Sometimes, it even outnumbers the number of local (citizen) candidates. Despite the size, the commonality, and the competitiveness, this category is still sending plenty of students to top MBA programs every year. If you’re in this category, are you already doomed, or is there hope?   That’s not the only category of Indian MBA applicants looking at top business schools though, even if it is the largest by far. We also have doctors, lawyers, administrators, chartered accountants, merchant navy officers, and (a small but growing legion of) fashion designers, media professionals, and even artists applying to business school from the sub-continent. The number of Indian applicants to top MBA programs is rising every year. We should know – we work with hundreds of them every year, and by now, have worked with easily more than a thousand. The MBA is more than a degree for Indian applicants. For many, it is a life accomplishment, and even a life qualification. Most still view it as the transition from a job (usually an engineering one) to a career (of choice).   This is why we are focusing on the top myths that Indian applicants have about the MBA admissions process. Given the sheer numbers, this should help plenty of people get a better grip on MBA admissions, and even the journey beyond.   Myth #1: Business school prepares students to work in only a few fields. In the past, an MBA degree helped boost the careers of professionals primarily focused on banking and consulting. These days, people heading to b-school are interested in entrepreneurship, healthcare, technology, human resources, real estate, marketing, non-profits, entertainment, and much more. Even if you work in a field that doesn’t traditionally require an MBA degree, you may still benefit from it. This is especially true if your career goals include rising to senior management within your company or starting your own company. Seek out people who are pursuing your target career at any level. It’s a great way to understand what you need to do to accomplish your goals.   Myth #2: I won’t be successful because I don’t have a business background. This is one of the most common MBA admissions myths that we’d like to debunk permanently. Admissions teams continue to ramp up efforts to attract non-traditional applicants to their MBA programs, says the Graduate Management Admission Council. These prospective students bring unique experiences and skills to business school and the business world. Applicants with unconventional or less traditional work or academic experience before business school often worry about how admissions committees will assess their records. However, it’s more than okay to be different. No MBA program wants to fill an entire class solely with candidates from investment banking or consulting. In fact, non-traditional applicants often stand out in the MBA admissions process. Such applicants bring different perspectives to classroom discussions, which enhances the learning environment for all. Working in diverse teams is one of the most effective ways to learn essential soft management skills.   Myth #3: High rankings mean the school must be better for me. The majority of applicants fall for admissions myths such as this one. But, you should determine if a school is better in ways that suit your list of priorities. Job placement statistics and average salary post-MBA are the most important criteria for many MBA candidates. You may find that a smaller regional school, while not highly ranked nationally, has an excellent record of placing graduates in the industries of their choice. Ensure you’re looking at the data points necessary to your career path when determining a particular ranking’s value. Don’t worry about whether you’ll get into the best MBA program of all. Figure out which business school is