The Consortium of Graduate Study in Management opened its 2020-2021 application last week, with its three essays being the same as in past years: two core essays (one of them optional) and its mission essay, divided into three questions. In addition to answering The Consortium’s essays, applicants need to write anywhere from one to six…
What are the Components of a Great Statement of Purpose for Data or Business Analytics?
You have decided to apply to data or business analytics and have narrowed down your list of schools. Now it’s time to complete a statement of purpose (SOP) as part of your application. Although it is becoming increasingly popular for schools to require additional essays, the SOP continues to be the most important (and lengthy)…
Want to Study Data Analytics But Don’t Have Relevant Experience or a Quantitative Degree?
In my experience guiding applicants to data and business analytics programs, I have often encountered applicants who really want to get into data but have little to no experience in the field. Others might have some experience, but lack the quantitative background that is preferred for these programs. If you are in such a position,…
Data Analytics Master’s Programs: What Do They Want in Applicants?
In the last five years, and driven by the tremendous growth of data gathered by companies and institutions across all industries, we have experienced a sharp rise in demand for data analytics jobs, and with that, the birth and expansion of master’s programs in data analytics, business analytics, and data science at many universities. Applications…
7 Action Items for MBA Round 1 Applicants
It’s June, and your plan is to apply for Round 1 deadlines. That’s three months away. What should you be doing now? Decide how you feel about your GMAT/GRE score. Hopefully, you have taken the GMAT or GRE already and are happy with your score. One less thing to worry about. If you haven’t, now…
How Do You Show Demonstrated Interest to MBA Programs?
An article recently published by the Wall Street Journal reported that many undergraduate institutions are now tracking how quickly prospective students opened their emails, how long they kept them open, and whether they clicked on any of their links. They include these metrics in the applicant’s ‘demonstrated interest’ score, which, with the increasing number of…
Are You Selling Yourself Short?
“I founded a small candy company,” said Roberto.* I could see in the faces of my fellow admissions committee members that they were not that impressed with the candidate; none of them had ever heard of “Del Sol Candy,”* and Roberto’s modest description did not make it sound all that impressive an accomplishment. Many times…
9 Tips For Acing The MBA Application Boxes
As you prepare your MBA applications, don’t let the focus on the longer essays take away your attention from the short answer application boxes. The application boxes aren’t merely the fields of your online application that ask you for your personal and professional information, reason for leaving jobs, extra-curricular activities, and so forth. They should…
5 Things the Adcoms Hate
When I was admissions Director there were some things applicants would do that were minor, but that I found to be very annoying. Here are my top 5 “hates” that I’m sure are shared by many adcoms: 1. Asking for information that can easily be found on the school’s website Some applicants would do that…
The Rise of Masters Programs in Data Analytics and Related Fields
As companies and institutions are increasingly able to collect vast amounts of information about their suppliers, processes, and customers, they have sought to recruit professionals who are able to extract, represent, and interpret this “big data,” transforming it into usable patterns that can help them enhance their performance. This newfound ability and need have given…
English Language Skills & Your MBA Admissions Profile
In the previous articles of this series we explored the first four elements of your MBA Profile: your Academic Performance, your GMAT, your work experience, and your extracurricular activities. The topic of the last post of this series is probably the most under-rated in business school admissions, and many times the one that non-native English…
Extracurricular Activities in Your MBA Admissions Profile
While business schools deeply value your academic background, GMAT, and work experience, they also ascribe significant weight to your extracurricular and community service activities. Why? Because they want to see that you are an individual who is not just focused on work, that you have other passions, and that you are well rounded. Whether it…
Work Experience in Your MBA Admissions Profile
The last two articles explored the importance of the academic portion of your MBA application, including your undergraduate performance as well as your GMAT. This article will focus on the other, equally important, side of the coin: your work experience. Although more schools are now open to considering candidates without post-college experience, most top MBA…
The GMAT and Your MBA Admissions Profile
The GMAT, along with your undergraduate academic performance, is the most commonly used predictor of how you will do in the MBA coursework and plays a key role in the MBA application. Your GMAT score is sometimes also used by prospective employers (consulting firms and investment banks mostly) in the pre-screening process for interviews, as…
Academic Performance in Your MBA Admissions Profile
In my last article we laid out the five elements that you must pay attention to when planning your MBA application. We will talk about the first of those five in this post: academic performance. Your academic performance as an undergrad, from the first to the last year, is extremely important for any graduate program,…
Which B-School is the Best for You?
Today and for more than 50 years, the MBA has been the most popular and profitable graduate degree in the world. That’s why year after year, thousands of candidates apply for the MBA. However, today, there are increasingly more “flavors” of the MBA — from the traditional full-time two-year program to the one-year program very…
8 Tips to Make the Most of Your B-School Visit
School visits are common during this time of year. Many applicants wait until their applications are submitted and, while classes are still in session, travel to their business schools of choice to either score some brownie points towards their application or to be better informed about the school’s offerings and fit. << READ: What Should You…
Tu Perfil para el MBA: El Manejo del Idioma
En los artículos anteriores abordábamos los primeros 4 elementos de tu perfil del MBA: 1. Tu rendimiento académico; 2. La importancia del GMAT; 3. La importancia de tu experiencia profesional; 4. La importancia de actividades extracurriculares. El quinto elemento es a primera vista el más obvio, pero es tan decisivo para tu admisión como los…
Tu Perfil para el MBA: La Importancia de las Actividades Extracurriculares
En los artículos anteriores explorábamos la importancia que tienen tu rendimiento académico, el GMAT, y tu experiencia profesional para tu aplicación al MBA. En este artículo abordaremos el cuarto elemento importante para tu perfil: las actividades extracurriculares. Con actividades extracurriculares me refiero a cualquier actividad o proyecto (usualmente sin remuneración) fuera de tus horas de…
Tu Perfil para el MBA: La Importancia de tu Experiencia Laboral
En los artículos anteriores explorábamos la importancia de tu desempeño académico para tu solicitud de admisión al MBA, tanto en tu rendimiento en la universidad como en el GMAT. En este artículo abordaremos la otra cara de la moneda de tu solicitud: tu experiencia profesional. Si bien existen programas que admiten estudiantes directo de la…
