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Will Facebook Destroy Your Admissions Chances?

May 13, 2013 by 1 Comment
MBA Waitlist Chat

Never post any comments or pictures that you wouldn’t want everyone in the world to see.

When Kaplan Test Prep released the results of its survey of business school admissions officers, revealing that 32% of business school admissions officers performed internet searches on applicants, 27% visited an applicant’s social media (Facebook, Myspace, etc.) page, and 10% had found something online that negatively impacted an applicant’s admission chances, applicants around the world collectively shuddered. Not only do we have to consider every comma and turn of phrase in the applications themselves, now we have to worry about what we may have posted online in the past as well?! YES! Here are a few tips to consider when using Facebook given these stark statistics.

1. Make sure that your Facebook profile is for Friends only (and not open to Friends of Friends or Everyone), and also remember to check that you’ve selected this option for every picture that you post.

2. As a general rule, never post any comments or pictures that you wouldn’t want everyone in the world to see. That way no one of your closest 1300 friends who is offended by your post can simply take a screenshot of it for global dissemination. Think very hard before using Facebook as a forum to comment on a political matter, your satisfaction with your job, your affinity for a particular teacher or supervisor, etc. Go through now and delete any questionable posts.

3. Even if your Facebook profile is private and viewable only to Friends, you need to keep in mind that some things are viewable by anyone on Facebook: all of the data you’ve entered in Basic Information, the names of Groups you’re a member of, the pages you’ve Liked, all of the pictures you’ve saved as Profile or Cover Photos, and any pictures or comments you’ve posted to an open group. Be conservative in your Group memberships and contributions to open groups, and delete any cover or profile photos that you don’t want in your application file.










Jennifer Bloom  has been successfully helping applicants demonstrate their readiness for the top MBA programs around the world for 14 years. 

Filed Under: Admissions Consulting, College Admissions, Grad School Admissions, Law School Admissions, MBA Admissions, Medical School Admissions

IMD 2014 MBA Essay Tips

May 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment

IMD

IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland, offers a 1-year MBA program focused on general management and leadership. While there are only 90 students in each class, the diversity among that class is wide: students hail from 45 countries: 43% from throughout Europe, 26% from Asia, 11% from the Middle East and Africa, 9% from North America, 8% from South America, and 3% from Oceania (Australia/New Zealand and the surrounding islands). Unlike programs in the US, which tend to build the bulk of their classes from students aged 26-28, IMD’s average student age is 31.

Graduates of IMD tend do very well in their careers after the program: the average graduate salary is over $142,000 per year. 75% of the class join industry (including Consumer Products, Industrial Products, Technology, Healthcare, and Energy) when they graduate, 20% enter Consulting, and 5% pursue Financial Services careers. IMD enjoys a global reputation that affords its graduates some flexibility in their career destinations: while 63% of the class remain in Europe after graduating, 23% find employment in Asia, 8% in the Africa or the Middle East, and 6% in North or South America. IMD is consistently ranked among the top programs in the world: BusinessWeek ranks it #9 among international programs, the Financial Times ranks it #19, and Forbes named it the best 1-year international MBA program.

Essay Questions:

1. What do you consider to be your single most important achievement and why? (1500 characters)

Your single most important achievement should ideally show impact, leadership, and cross-cultural and cross-functional savvy. If you can’t have all the above, make sure you have at least two.

You have room here (1500 characters is approximately 250 words) for a concise story but it must engage the reader and convey the “why” and not just the “what.”

You may want to review a few of these resources before writing:

• Five Fatal Flaws to Avoid in Your MBA Essay
• Leadership in Admissions, a free special report.
• Insights into Common MBA Essay Topics

2. Please comment on a situation where your leadership skills proved to be inadequate and what you learned. (1500 characters)

Briefly describe the inadequacy – and make it a real one – a time when you really blew it. Take responsibility for your actions and show self-awareness. Discuss lessons learned and how you implemented those lessons successfully in similar, more recent situations. 

3. IMD develops global leaders…what does global leadership mean to you? (1500 characters)

This essay is your opportunity to briefly summarize your ideas on what it takes to be a global leader and share an example of your own cross-cultural, cross-border leadership.

4. Give us four bullet points that clearly differentiate you, that identify your unique contributions to the program. (1500 characters)

Your MBA essays up to this point are probably very professionally focused. Several of the bullet points could be personal. IMD wants to know about you as a person, as well as you as a professional. This may be a great place to inform the reader of distinctive features in your background or personal life since your resume and the other essays will have already told them about unusual aspects of your professional life. 

5. Give an example of the most unexpected thing that you’ve ever learned. (1500 characters)

I love a wild card question like this one: what a gift! Here’s your opportunity to talk about anything in your background that’s interesting as long as it highlights one of the seven qualities that the admissions committee wants to hear about. To make the essay interesting, you could start by describing the learning experience itself and then reflect on how this has changed your actions or methods since then.

6.
A. For people who are planning to consider new jobs and/or organizations after the MBA: Please give us your short term career goal post-MBA. Which function, industry and geography do you see yourself working in? Are these changes for you, and, if so, why? How will you approach your job search? (1500 characters)

This is a forward-looking, connect-the-dots MBA goals question with a twist. To answer this question, you need to know what you want to do after you complete IMD’s short, intense program, and you also need to explain how you plan to move into that position. You need to know what IMD career services offers and how you will use and supplement those services.

OR

B. For people who are company-sponsored, confirmed going back to their previous company, entrepreneurs planning to go back to their own firm, and/or members of a family who are planning to work for the family business after graduation: Please let us know your short-term career goals and plans after your MBA. (1500 characters)

Even when your future is “assured” with an offer or clear career path after the program, you need to demonstrate to the admissions committee that you have a purpose and a plan. In this essay, you need to explain what impact you hope to make on the company and how you plan to do that.

7. Additional Optional Essay: Is there any additional information that is critical for the Admissions Committee to know which has not been covered elsewhere in this application? (Optional essay). (1500 characters)

With IMD’s seven essays, this may be the one application where the optional essay is really unnecessary. Nonetheless, if you have something to explain – a low GPA, low GMAT, a gap in employment, etc. – or something to add, this is the place to do it.

If you would like professional guidance with your IMD MBA application, please consider Accepted’s MBA essay editing and MBA admissions consulting or our  MBA Application Packages, which include advising, editing, interview coaching, and a resume edit for the IMD MBA application.

IMD 2014 Application Deadlines

February 1, April 1, June 1, August 1 and September 1.

*While you can choose any of our application deadlines, we encourage you to apply as early as possible.
Apply for the February 1st or April 1st deadline to have the option of being interviewed in Singapore.
Apply for one of the first four deadlines if you are a citizen of a country that requires a visa process of over 6-8 weeks. (We recommend that you check with your local embassy, especially if you are bringing your family with you as this can prolong the process.)









Jennifer Bloom By is a Certified Professional Resume Writer and is available now to create an easy-to-read document that highlights your exceptionality. Creating this document now will help you see where you need to generate more content – i.e., take more action – before the fall deadlines .

Filed Under: MBA Admissions Tagged With: ,

Admissions Resume: What to Include

April 17, 2013 by Leave a Comment
To ease the reader’s eye strain, the font should not be smaller than 10 pt.

To ease the reader’s eye strain, the font should not be smaller than 10 pt.

I suggest that applicants for Fall 2014 entry begin assembling materials for their applications now –  five months in advance of the first fall deadlines. One of the ideal documents to begin now is a resume, something that any professional should always have updated and at the ready. Here are some tips on starting the ideal admissions-worthy resume.

First, you need to know how far back in time to detail in this document. As a general rule, if you are applying to graduate school and have at least two years of work experience, your high school activities should not be included in your resume. However, there are exceptions to this rule. For example, if you won a prestigious national award in high school, you may certainly consider including this important recognition.

Other general rules for the resume:

• There should be no more than four bullet points beneath each position.
• Each bullet point should ideally be no more than two lines long.
• To ease the reader’s eye strain, the font should not be smaller than 10 pt.
• Margins should be as close to one inch all around as possible – I, personally, will not reduce them lower than 0.7 inches.

With these rules in mind, how should applicants to the top international programs focus the resume on their most relevant and compelling experiences? Limit the number of bullet points describing your early entry-level roles and instead expand the space dedicated to those in which you made the most impact.

For instance, if you were promoted from an entry-level programming position with your company, then you don’t even need to dedicate a separate line to describe that first role. Instead, you can simply impress the reader by describing the fast pace of promotion in a line of the job description, like this:

Team Lead, IT Consulting Company                    2010-Present

Twice promoted from Analyst (2010-2011) to Senior Analyst (2011) and then Team Lead in record 12 months, a full 4 times faster than the average rate of promotion.

What if one position has allowed you significant leadership opportunities and impact? Or what if you have been in your current role for several years? How can you detail all that you have accomplished in just four bullet points? The trick is to break that down into sections, like this for example:

Private Equity Associate, PE Firm                         2011-Present

Lines of job description here…

Leadership Accomplishments Include:

• First point
• Second point
• Third point
• Fourth point

Financial Impacts Include:

• First point
• Second point
• Third point
• Fourth point

Keep in mind that the majority – if not all – of those bullet points should include quantifiable impact that you had on the organization. Breaking up a bulk of text with numbers and section headings makes the entire document more compelling.

Finally, to ensure that your document is easy to read and keeps the admissions officer’s attention, you need to include ample white space. To add some white space above each position in Microsoft Word, highlight the title line of each row (hold the Ctrl button down as you click to keep them all highlighted), then click on Format, Paragraph, then in the Spacing Before box try at least 4 pt. (if you have more space left on the page at the end you can go to 6 pt.). Do the same Ctrl highlighting for the bullet points throughout the document and try 2 pt. or 3 pt. spacing before each of those lines.

Check out this pdf file (viewable in Adobe Reader) to see the difference this little formatting trick can make.













Jennifer Bloom is a Certified Professional Resume Writer and is available now to create an easy-to-read document that highlights your exceptionality. Creating this document now will help you see where you need to generate more content – i.e., take more action – before the fall deadlines .

Filed Under: Admissions, College Admissions, Grad School Admissions, Law School Admissions, MBA Admissions, Medical School Admissions Tagged With:

Indian School of Business 2013 Essay Questions, Deadlines, and Tips

May 14, 2012 by
Indian School of Business campus in Hyderabad

Indian School of Business campus in Hyderabad

The Indian School of Business has become one of the strongest graduate business programs in Asia: it ranks 13th in the Financial Times’ MBA rankings – only two Asian programs surpass it according to FT, more than 98% of its graduates secure job offers within 3 months of graduating, and the salaries those graduates receive are high – 187% above their pre-ISB earnings! Competition for seats in this esteemed 1-year program is steep and the admissions process is highly competitive for native Indians.

The Admissions Office just released the application deadlines and questions for the 2013-2014 academic year. This year calls for a video submission of 90 seconds in addition to a new first question. My recommendations are in blue beneath each essay question. Unlike most other graduate business programs that allow applicants to exceed their word limits by up to 10% without penalty, the ISB application will not allow even one additional word, so applicants will need to be concise and exact!

Upload Video

Life to me is……………………. ( Please complete the following statement in your own words on Video) 90 Secs/15 MB in the format specified below.  

An increasing number of programs are requesting audio or video submissions from their applicants. These “essays” enable admissions committees to get a strong sense of the applicant beyond the written word – does he make eye contact, have good stature, appear poised, speak clearly, and with confidence? While in the past these qualities were only revealed via an in-person interview, a video submission serves as a simple screening tool for these qualities. Choose a topic and a supporting example that has special meaning to you so that you can concentrate on your delivery in this addition to the application.

Essays

1. Please make a strong case to differentiate yourselves from an exceptional set of applicants applying for PGP 2013-14. You could cite personal/ professional achievements to present your case. (300 words max)

Last year’s essay prompt was to detail your two most significant accomplishments. The difference this year is that the admissions committee is guiding you to tell about accomplishments that most other applicants cannot also describe. This is a tip that we at Accepted.com are always recommending: if someone else can tell the same story, don’t write about it. A team-leader role in a traditional IT consulting gig is probably not going to catch the admissions office’s attention, so if you do find yourself in a highly populated pool of applicants, take yourself out of that box by describing unique situations and impacts. In your essay, focus on the unique challenges you faced and how you overcame them. Do not make the mistake of listing only the awards you received without explaining what you did and how you did it. This error would make your application generic, not genuine.

2. Where do you see yourself three years after you graduate from the ISB? (300 words max)

ISB’s Admissions Director has listed “Clarity of thought in terms of career aspirations and goals” as one of the three most important qualities sought in the ISB application essays. The goals essay is your opportunity to show that you possess that clarity. If entrepreneurship is in your future, it should really appear in your past as well. If you aim for a technology or consulting role, you’ll need to demonstrate that you know what qualities you will need to succeed in these and bring some proof as to your readiness for this career. You do not need an exact map of your future, but you do need to reveal a thought process, reasoning, and evidence of your ability to reach your goals.  

3. Please provide additional information that will significantly affect the consideration of your application to the ISB. (300 words max)

The open-ended nature of this question causes infinite hand-wringing, but it should really be viewed as a gift: here is your opportunity to share whatever makes you special. This could be from your work, community service, education, or travels, so take some time to reflect and perhaps even ask your friends, relatives, or mentors their thoughts on what differentiates you. Then, go the extra step of sharing how this quality has shaped your past and future at ISB and beyond.

Key Application & Decision Dates

Round 1

Round 2

Application Deadline

September 15, 2012
23:59:59 Hrs Indian Time

November 30, 2012
23:59:59 Hrs Indian Time

Offer Decision

On or before
November 15, 2012

On or before
February 15, 2013

Acceptance Decision

15 days from
the date of offer

15 days from
the date of offer

These deadlines apply to submission of  complete application. Mere online submission of application by the deadline without supporting documents will not be considered complete. All documents have to be submitted online only. Incomplete application will not be considered.

International applicants are granted much more time to submit their applications: ISB conducts rolling admissions for them until January 15th, and liberal scholarships have been awarded to international applicants who choose to attend the program.

Resume: There is no need for submitting a separate resume.  The online application module will generate a resume in the  format that we require, with the details you have filled as part of the application.  It includes your Academic details, Employment details (along with responsibilities/achievements) and awards & activities.

If you would like help with your ISB MBA application, please consider Accepted’s MBA essay editing and MBA admissions consulting or our ISB School Packages, which include advising, editing, interview coaching, and a resume edit for the ISB MBA application. 

Jennifer Bloom

Jennifer Bloom has been helping applicants to the top MBA programs draft their resumes, application forms, letters of recommendation, and essays for 13 years. If you would you like to work with Jennifer on your application, just fill out an inquiry including any information you think will be helpful. Jennifer will contact you ASAP.

Filed Under: MBA Admissions Tagged With: , ,

MBA Interviews: Startling Stats

December 23, 2011 by

Poets and Quants published a revealing interview with Michigan Ross’s “gatekeeper,” Admissions Director Soojin Kwon Koh last week. Ms. Koh revealed in that interview a key piece of information for all Ross applicants especially but also for all MBA applicants in general: We’re “weighting the interviews …more heavily.” Ms. Koh asserts that “the interview will be a more helpful indicator [than the written application] of what will be useful for a business school experience.”

Take this as a warning, applicants. It isn’t good enough to submit strong essays revealing a pattern of success in your career and community. These will earn you an interview, but the interview is not just a conversation to weed out non-fluent, shy, or aggressive applicants: it is one of the most heavily weighted elements of the application.

Many applicants think that they interview well and do not believe that they need to conduct much interview preparation. Think again…

Just check out the statistics: BusinessWeek reports that 50% of Ross applicants were interviewed last year, but only 32% were accepted. Crunching the numbers using the total 2929 applications that Ross received shows that a full 36% of those interviewed were rejected.

And how do these numbers compare to other top programs? At MIT, 38% of those interviewed were rejected. McCombs dinged a full 51% of those interviewed. Duke decided against a whopping 53% of those it interviewed. And Carnegie Mellon rejected 62% of the students it interviewed!

Don’t make the mistake of assuming that you interview well: job interviews and admissions interviews are separate species. Take these numbers seriously and conduct a mock interview with an experienced admissions consultant who can guide you in demonstrating the interpersonal qualities that Ms. Koh and her fellow gatekeepers seek in their students.

Jennifer BloomJennifer Bloom has been conducting mock interviews with applicants since 1998 to help them prepare for this overlooked but essential element of every application.  

Filed Under: MBA Admissions Tagged With: , , , ,

MBA Applications and Typhoid Fever

November 10, 2011 by

“Apologies for the delay, Jennifer. I am recovering from typhoid fever.”

As the birds chirp out my window and my gaze sweeps over the leaves swaying in the breeze under a near-cloudless sky, it is hard for me to believe that just yesterday the heavens were dense with soaked black wool just waiting to drench me with a storm. The change of seasons from autumn to winter is erratic at first, but my hands always show what’s really going on: their skin is already dry and cracking from the winter air. Which is why I marched right down and got a flu shot. And it’s why you should start your round 2 MBA applications now!

Every year, a few applicants drop off the radar for a week or two despite being deep in the writing process. I know what’s coming: it’s either the Sorry-for-disappearing,-Jennifer email that explains that “Work got suddenly crazy!” or it’s the Sorry-for-disappearing,-Jennifer email that describes – often in excessive detail – the horrible illness that befell him or her. I’ve seen it all: typhoid, malaria, food poisoning, even pregnancy’s morning sickness! – illnesses and conditions that require rest and recovery and preclude MBA essay and application writing.

We cannot predict what germs will be transferred to us with the next handshake or what
our work schedules will look like when a sudden exciting opportunity comes our way, but we can prepare our applications in advance of the second deadlines to avoid the impact of those circumstances on our odds of acceptance. There is no time like the present to get started – and to get your flu shot!

Jennifer BloomJennifer Bloom has been helping applicants to the top MBA programs draft their resumes, application forms, letters of recommendation, and essays for 13 years. If you would you like to work with Jennifer on your application, just fill out an inquiry including any information you think will be helpful. Jennifer will contact you ASAP.



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Filed Under: MBA Admissions

HKUST 2012 MBA Essay Tips and Deadlines

November 9, 2011 by

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology has been climbing the global MBA rankings for years, this year reaching 6th in the Financial Times Global MBA rankings. It is a small program with only 100 students and another 100 exchange students from 56 global programs in the class. What makes the program worthwhile? The diversity of the class – 93% of the class is international, and the 142% average salary increase over pre-MBA salary in the first couple of years after graduation means it is a low-risk decision to take 12 or 16 months out of the workplace.

Here are this year’s application essay questions. My suggestions and comments are in blue.

Question 1

Please tell us your motivations to pursue an MBA program, and why is now the best timing to do one. (max 1200 characters, ~200 words)

In order to understand why you are pursuing an MBA, the admissions committee needs to hear about what you have been doing with your career. Briefly discuss what you have achieved and learned from your career and explain what it is that you feel you still need to know to succeed.

Question 2

Please elaborate on your career goals. How will your academic training, professional experience coupled with an MBA education at HKUST help you achieve your goals? (max 1200 characters, ~200 words)

This is a brief but straightforward career goals essay. Explain what you hope to achieve in your career and how you have prepared for that goal. Then, explain what is unique about HKUST’s MBA program that will further ready you.

Question 3 

If you were admitted, how could your participation at HKUST MBA enrich fellow students’ experience inside or outside classroom? (max 1200 characters, ~200 words)

You have unique experiences that your classmates will benefit from. Share some of the insights you have gained and demonstrate your awareness of classes and activities at HKUST by linking this knowledge to them.

Question 4

Please pick and answer ONE of the two topics. State either 4a or 4b at the beginning of your essay.

4a. Describe a situation where your initial attempt to solve a problem failed. Tell us how you get around to finally solve the problem.

4b. Describe a situation where you created opportunities for yourself and led to a favorable outcome. (max 1800 characters, ~300 words)

Finally, a little more space to elaborate on your experiences! This question is aimed at uncovering your ability to take initiative, be creative and persistent to make an impact. For the failure, accept your failure right at the beginning of the essay to spend the majority of the essay’s space on how you solved the problem. For the “created opportunities” option, summarize the situation you faced briefly at the start so that you can focus most of the essay on your creativity and impact.

Question 5

Please pick and answer ONE of the two topics. State either 5a or 5b at the beginning of your essay.

5a. Tell us a situation when you experienced challenges in team setting, and what you have done to help the team achieve its goals.

5b. Describe a situation when you got frustrated over differences in culture or work style. What have you learnt from that experience? (max 1800 characters, ~300 words)

This essay focuses on your interpersonal abilities. You will be immersed in a class of people very different from you at HKUST, so you need to demonstrate your ability to navigate the challenges that this environment inevitably presents. For either option, you need to share an experience that demonstrates your ability to recognize the causes of the challenges and then show your flexibility, intuition, and soft skills to resolve and overcome them.

Question 6

Please tell us a situation where you faced an ethical dilemma. How did you handle the situation? (max 1200 characters, ~200 words)

HKUST places a great emphasis on accountability and developing responsible business leaders, so this essay is really at the heart of its mission. As you brainstorm for a topic for this essay, remember that an ethical dilemma is one in which no option seems perfectly right; you need to detail an example in which there was no clear “correct” path and briefly – yes the character limit went back down to 1200 for this essay! – explain how you acted, why, and what the results were.

Question 7

What do you want the Admissions Committee to know about you as a person? (max 1200 characters, ~200 words)

Most, if not all, of the previous essays focused on your professional experiences. Here is your opportunity to highlight who you are as a person, what is important to you, and to show the admissions committee how your personal qualities will contribute to the diverse HKUST class.

One possible topic is an example or two of how you formed strong relationships among peers and then used those as the basis for community impact. Since the class at HKUST is small, it depends upon its students to be dynamic; and because peer learning is such a key element of the program, your ability to form bonds and relationships in the past is essential evidence of your ability to do so on campus.

 

If you would like help with HKUST’s essays, please consider Accepted’s MBA essay editing and MBA admissions consulting.

HKUST 2012 MBA Deadlines:

Phase

Application Deadline

Interview Notification By

Admission Results

1

15 November 2011

13 January 2012

10 February 2012

2

15 December 2011

10 February 2012

9 March 2012

3

15 March 2012

11 May 2012

8 June 2012

Click here for more 2012 MBA Application Tips! 

Jennifer Bloom  has been successfully helping applicants demonstrate their readiness for the top MBA programs for 13 years. She would be happy to help you create your best applications. 

Filed Under: MBA Admissions Tagged With: , ,

NUS 2012 MBA Essay Tips and Deadlines

November 8, 2011 by

To prepare for “The Asian Century” – Asia’s expected growth and ascendancy in the 21st century – in 2010 the National University of Singapore opened a new state-of-the-art building to house its business school. NUS seems to be ascending in other ways too, all the way to 23rd best MBA program in the world in 2011 according to the Financial Times.

The 17-month program includes time for students to hold an internship and enroll in a student exchange program to one of over 40 MBA programs around the world. After completing the program, a full 40% of the class enters the finance industry, 17% enter consulting, and 13% join the technology industry – and the average salary according to the Financial Times research for graduates in the past 3 years is over $100,000.

All applicants to the NUS MBA Program must complete three essay questions via the online application system. The word limit for each essay is 300 words. My tips are in blue below.

Essay 1

Choose one of the two questions below:

A. Describe your most valued accomplishment and explain why you view it as such

OR

B. Describe a time when you failed. What did you learn from that failure? How has that failure made you better equipped for the future?

Whenever you’re given a choice between two topics, your first step has to be to brainstorm about examples for each. Then, choose the topic that demonstrates your actions and achievements best. How could a failure essay possibly demonstrate that better than an accomplishment essay, you ask? By illustrating your risk-taking nature and ability to recover and learn from your mistakes.

Essay 2

Name one current issue (economic / social / political) that Asia is facing and identify a couple of strategies that you feel may adequately address the issue.

Human rights, market reform, monetary policy, labor markets, sustainability – the list of potential issues to discuss is a long one! Choose an issue that is important to you and use this essay to demonstrate your ability to strategically problem solve and make a clear argument.

Essay 3

“Rampant consumerism (seeking material goods without the ability to afford them) is one of the main causes for the current global economic crisis. Restraining consumerism remains a key task for developed countries like the US and Western Europe.” What are your views?

The classroom at NUS is dynamic and interactive. To create a class of students that bring diverse opinions and perspectives to the classroom, the admissions committee wants to hear yours. Share your opinion and how you arrived at it in this essay, present your analysis and recommendations cogently, and let the admissions committee hear your voice.

Short Answer

Why is it important for you to embark on your MBA now? (max 300 char)

This is a very brief (300 characters is less than 4 lines of typical text) opportunity for you to explain what is happening in your professional and personal life that make now the right time to pursue this education.

Reapplicant Essay

If you are a re-applicant to the NUS MBA Program or its Double Degree programs, please highlight your progress since your last application. (max 300 char)

You don’t have room for a detailed explanation here. Instead, emphasize your promotions, new areas of responsibility and impact.

Briefly describe your post MBA career plans and the course of action you intend to take in order for you to meet your goals successfully.

There is no specific word limit for this question since it is not one of the “essays” limited to 300 words, but their guidance to “briefly” describe your plans should be heeded by concisely describing what path you plan to pursue. I recommend including your goals for immediately following graduation and your path beyond that. You may choose to include specific milestones you hope to achieve in time or a way that you plan to shape a company, industry, or economy. I recommend linking this path with what you are hoping to learn at NUS.

If you would like professional guidance with your NUS application, please consider Accepted’s MBA essay editing and MBA admissions consulting.

NUS Application Deadlines

Round I:   01 October 2011 – 31 January 2012

Round II:  01 February 2012 – 31 March 2012

Scholarship qualifying period for the full-time program: 01 October 2011 – 31 January 2012

If you liked this advice for NUS, check out our other 2012 MBA essay tips.

Jennifer Bloom  has been successfully helping applicants demonstrate their readiness for the top MBA programs for 13 years. She would be happy to help you create your best applications. 




exemplary-report



Filed Under: MBA Admissions, MBA Goal Tagged With: ,

2012 CEIBS MBA Admissions Tips

October 30, 2011 by

CEIBS (China Europe International Business School), located in Shanghai, is the longest-running MBA program in China, boasting the largest MBA alumni pool in China and over 10,000 alumni around the world. Ranked 2nd in China by the Financial Times and 17th in the world, the program focuses on endowing students with a global business perspective plus a local cultural understanding. Last year’s curriculum reform made a greater emphasis on endowing students with soft skills like interpersonal communication, strategy development, and an integrated management perspective that allows graduates to solve challenging business problems that cut across functional business lines. Program graduates seem to do quite well: the average salary according to the Financial Times research for graduates in the past 3 years is over $126,000!

CEIBS’s essay questions are straightforward and focus on three areas: goal orientation, leadership/impact, and personal introspection. My comments and advice are in blue below:

Essay 1

Why are you seeking to pursue your MBA study at this moment of your life in relation to your short-term and long-term career goals? Explain how an MBA from CEIBS will contribute to these goals. (500 words)

To predict your career’s future development does require a brief summary of its evolution to date, but don’t make the mistake of writing 400 words about your past and leaving only 100 to outline your future and CEIBS’s role in preparing you for it! I suggest starting by discussing your goals in about 100 words then spending about 200 words on how your past has prepared you for them and 200 words on the unique way that the CEIBS program will prepare you for your future. Be sure your goals are consistent with what other graduates go on to do after graduating!

Essay 2

For question 2(a) and 2(b), you only need to answer one of the two questions.
2(a). Describe your most significant work-related achievement and explain why you view it as such. (400 words) OR
2(b). Describe a difficult situation where you demonstrated leadership skills to achieve a positive outcome. (400 words)

Whether you answer question 2a or 2b, the emphasis here is on impact. This essay is your opportunity to focus on what challenges you have overcome – both business and interpersonal – and the extent of the impact you succeeded in making.

Essay 3

For question 3(a) and 3(b), you only need to answer one of the two questions.
3(a). Describe a professional failure and what were the lessons learned? (400 words) OR
3(b). Describe a situation where your values, ethics or morals were challenged and how did you handle the situation. (400 words)

Both 3a and 3b require introspection: when you failed, what disappointed you? What did you learn about yourself in the process? How did you apply these lessons to succeed subsequently?
When your ethics or morals were challenged, what was your thought process and how did you resolve the conflict without ruining relationships in your path? Ethical challenge questions are the most difficult to answer because applicants need to avoid preaching. Creativity and interpersonal skills will surely play a large part in successful ethical challenge essays.

Essay 4

(Optional) Is there any other information that you believe would be helpful to the MBA Admission Committee in evaluating your application?(200 words). Re-applicants are suggested to describe the progress you have made since your previous application.

I highly recommend submitting an optional essay to CEIBS. In particular, essays that demonstrate cultural insights in Asia or abroad will demonstrate your ability to contribute to the global perspective in the classroom.

DEADLINE
The 18-month CEIBS program beginning in August 2011 conducts its application reviews in rounds. While the third round ends April 6th, applicants from within Asia should certainly try to submit their applications by the second round on February 12th, otherwise the class may already be full of students from similar backgrounds. However, applicants from outside of Asia should still have a good shot at a place in the class in the final round since the school would like to have a good representation of students from outside of Asia (around 20% of last year’s graduating class hailed originally from Europe/US).

CEIBS Application Rounds

Round

Application Deadline

Decision by

1

Nov. 15, 2011

Dec. 20, 2011

2

Feb. 2, 2012*

Mar. 22, 2012

3

Mar. 29, 2012

Apr. 30, 2012

 

 

 

 

*Please note that all the scholarship application (except CEIBS Scholarship) should be submitted before Feb. 2, 2012.

Check out more of our 2012 MBA essay tips!

Jennifer Bloom  

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Reminder: Accepted MBA Positioning Webinar Tomorrow

August 29, 2011 by

 

Accepted Positioning System Webinar

Are you seeking specific, detailed instructions to guide you to the b-school of your dreams? Are you uncertain about which schools you should be applying to? Do you need help positioning yourself so that you’re headed in the direction of application success? Then register now for Accepted Positioning System: A Guide to MBA Admissions, which will take place on Tuesday, August 30, 2011 at 10:00 AM PT/1:00 AM ET/5:00 PM GMT, for tips on how to choose (and then get accepted to) the best schools for you.

Space is Limited. Reserve Your Spot Now.

Accepted.comAccepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best

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