This is not about “community service” — it’s not about doing halo-worthy things in your free time. (Though neither HBS nor I will discourage that, and “engaged community citizenship” and “community service” certainly can overlap.) Community service is an activity that you do; engaged community citizenship is a quality that you embody. Doing community service…
What Harvard Business School is Looking For: Analytical Aptitude and Appetite
This is the second post in our series, What HBS is Looking For. So, HBS wants “analytical aptitude and appetite.” Hardly a surprise. You might be tempted to just skim that section of the website message. Maybe it’s not as obvious as it sounds. Let’s break it down. Analytical: This word encompasses a range of things…
What Harvard Business School is Looking For: The Habit Of Leadership
This is the first post in our series, What HBS is Looking For. Thank you, Harvard Business School. IMHO, that’s what applicants should think when they visit the program’s website and find “habit of leadership” on its “Who are we looking for?” admissions page. It’s common knowledge that HBS values leadership, but with this phrase, the…
Emory Goizueta Business School MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines
Taken together, these essay questions cover a lot of ground: your professional path and plans, your alignment with the program’s core values, and your unique individuality. Moreover, this vast ground is covered in few words – these essays are short, requiring tough decisions about what key points and anecdotes to include and what to leave…
EMBA Interview Tips You Need to Get Accepted
If you’re like many of my EMBA clients, it’s been quite a while since you’ve interviewed – at least as the interviewee. And if you have recently sat in the hot seat, it’s been for a job interview, not a school interview. Most EMBA applicants have strong interpersonal and communication skills (otherwise, you wouldn’t be…
Understanding Stanford GSB’s Interest in Personal Qualities and Contributions
What are the qualities that Stanford GSB is looking for as they build their class? How do successful applicants stand out from the crowd? At a school as competitive as Stanford, it’s a fact that many smart, accomplished applicants won’t get in—so how can you demonstrate that you have that “it” factor? Let us walk…
Understanding Stanford GSB’s Take on Demonstrated Leadership Potential
What are the qualities that Stanford GSB is looking for as they build their class? How do successful applicants stand out from the crowd? At a school as competitive as Stanford, it’s a fact that many smart, accomplished applicants won’t get in—so how can you demonstrate that you have that “it” factor? Let us walk…
Understanding Stanford GSB’s Core Value of Intellectual Vitality
Do you have the smarts that Stanford GSB is looking for? What are the qualities that Stanford GSB is looking for as they build their class? How do successful applicants stand out from the crowd? At a school as competitive as Stanford, it’s a fact that many smart, accomplished applicants won’t get in—so how can…
How MBA Adcoms Evaluate Your GPA
“But my undergrad school was highly competitive…” “But I worked 20 hours a week during college…” “But I was a varsity athlete at a Division I school…” “But even though it took me a couple of years, once I got it together I made dean’s list every semester…” “But my PhD GPA was 3.9…” These…
Toronto Rotman MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines
The University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Business is one of the leading business schools in Canada. Known for its design approach to MBA education and strong emphasis on problem solving, Rotman’s program has grown in renown. This year’s essay questions will enable you to show that you have the self-knowledge and personal insight to…
The MBA Family Tree: A Roundup & Overview of Different MBA/EMBA Options
At its core, the MBA is a graduate program in business administration for professionals who seek knowledge, skills, a credential, and/or a network to advance in business and to maximize their business performance. While “MBA” makes many people automatically think of a two-year, full-time program, in recent years the variations on the MBA theme have…
7 Tips to Jumpstart Your 2018 MBA Mission – Ready, Set, Go!
It’s not even spring yet. So why am I nagging you to get moving on your MBA application prep? Not just because those Round 1 deadlines creep up with wicked stealth and speed. But also because there is so much you can still do between now and then to improve your candidacy (sometimes a lot,…
Executive MBA Applicants: 4 Immediate Action Items
The EMBA application process has some idiosyncrasies that, if not addressed early, can trip you up down the road, when you’re hurrying to hit “submit.” I’ll walk you through these special preparation factors in this post. Note that they’re in addition to the preparation steps any MBA applicant should take. 1. Plan to request scheduling…
MBA Choices: Dream School vs. Scholarship School?
Sweet agony. You have been accepted to both your cherished top-5 reach MBA programs and a strong but less competitive school that has offered you a great scholarship. How do you choose between them? Of course there’s no one right answer, because each person’s MBA priorities and life situation are unique. And these factors are…
HEC Paris MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines
These essays give the adcom a well-rounded view of you – they go beyond what you’ve done to capture how you think and respond, even how you imagine. Moreover, they require you to communicate complex thoughts and experiences in few words. For the four short essays especially, don’t waste words on conventional introductory and concluding paragraphs. Jump…
Oxford Said MBA Essay Tips & Deadlines
Oxford Said expects its graduates to address the world’s great challenges, such as energy and food and water security. Whether such challenges are one’s actual focus, the work of a business professional will inevitably overlap with such issues. This reality leads the adcom to seek individuals who understand integrity, who value the program’s effort to…
4 Tips for Demonstrating Professional Growth in a Flat Organization
If you work in a flat organization, how do you demonstrate advancement and growth? After all, your progress will be compared to that of other candidates who have regular promotions with clearly delineated expanded responsibilities. In a flat organization, you may hold the same title for five years. It is a point that your MBA…
INSEAD MBA Criterion #4: Leadership Potential
This is the last post in a 4-part series that examines INSEAD MBA’s admission criteria. INSEAD is not unique among MBA programs in desiring leadership potential in applicants. All do. It is unique in how it characterizes leadership and leadership potential. The adcom has a two-pronged view of leadership: • factual (what you did, your experience that reflects…
INSEAD MBA Criterion #3: Academic Capacity
This is the third post in a 4-part series that examines INSEAD MBA’s 4 admission criteria. The operative word in this criterion is capacity. This word conveys the adcom’s perspective on the academic component of the application: it’s dynamic, focusing on how you can grow and perform and achieve academically going forward. The only way for the adcom…
INSEAD MBA Criterion #2: International Motivation
This is the second post in a 4-part series that examines INSEAD MBA’s 4 admission criteria. Sure, international experience is a big plus for an INSEAD applicant. But the website says that they seek candidates with international motivation which, in their eyes, means having “perceptive insights into the complexities of business in an international setting.”…
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