Options Without Retaking the Exam All medical school applicants (or any other professional school applicant) must assess their credentials realistically in order to present themselves best during the application process. Since applicants are evaluated based on specific academic (undergraduate and graduate GPA and MCAT scores) and non-academic (research and clinical exposures, leadership skills, mentoring experiences)…
Indian School of Business 2010 Application Deadlines and Essay Questions
UPDATE: The tips for the ISB 2012 MBA Application are now available online. Please review the tips and post questions or comments to the new post. Check out the entire 2012 MBA Application Tips series for more valuable MBA application advice. The Indian School of Business is one of the newest graduate business programs in…
Darden 2010 MBA Essay Questions, Deadlines
UPDATE: The tips for the 2011 UVA Darden MBA Application are now available online. Please post questions or comments to the new post. 2009-2010 MBA Application Essay Questions 1.How have the changes in the global economy over the last 18 months affected you and your plan for the future? (400 words) 2.What will you contribute…
MBA Re-Applicant Lessons: Why Not Me?
Last year was an incredibly competitive year for MBA applicants, as more people applied to programs hoping to ride out the recession. So what can you do to increase your chances of admissions this year? Stratcase’s recent blog entry has some tips for reapplicants that are worth highlighting: 1. “Re-categorize your school – instead of…
What Does It Mean to Write from the “Inside Out”?
After devoting many days and countless revisions to his 250-word Stanford GSB Reliance Fellowship essay, the blogger at MBAdreamz concludes: “The mantra for writing essays should be bringing one’s ‘INSIDE OUT.’ The more one knows and reveals (about himself) in the essays, the more comfortable and confident he would be with the essays.” Having worked…
MIT Sloan 2010 MBA Application Questions, Deadlines, Tips.
UPDATE: The Tips For MIT SLOAN’S 2011 Application Are Now Online- Please post questions or comments on the new Post. MIT Sloan 2010 MBA Application Deadlines Round Due Date Notification Round 1* Oct 27, 2009 Feb. 1, 2010** Round 2 Jan 12, 2010 Apr. 5, 2010 Application must be received by 12 noon pacific time….
MBA Math Monday: Marginal Analysis by Table
The MBA Math Monday series helps prospective MBA students to self assess their proficiency with the quantitative building blocks of the MBA first year curriculum. Marginal analysis yields insight into the optimal production quantity, and corresponding profit, by examining whether each additional quantity sold generates more revenue than it costs to produce. Many students new, or…
Prepare for Interviews with Positive Imagery
In the conference room, I imagined myself standing on a tennis court: I tossed the ball into the air then smashed an ace serve right past my opponent. Back in real life, I smiled to myself when the assistant came to tell me the McKinsey partner was ready to meet with me. With confident steps,…
7 Signposts to Differences Among MBA Programs
After reading “Musings on Kellogg’s Differentiators” by Managing Magic, who describes well a few distinguishing characteristics at Kellogg, I decided to explore the factors MBA applicants should examine to uncover the differences between programs. Researching these elements will help MBA applicants as they start their school research. They may also be worth a second look…
The Three Essential Components of Successful Wait-List Letters
Effective wait-list letters often contain three key components. First is an “update” section informing the school of recent professional and nonprofessional developments since you submitted your application. This section is your ostensible reason for writing, so it should be substantial and full of as many significant changes as you can think of (promotions being the…
Medical School Admissions: Deferral?
“Suppose I want to defer….” Congratulations! You’ve made it into medical school! All your hard work has paid off, and you’re free of stress for the first time in years. Not exactly. Maybe you’re feeling more than a little burned out with the school scene. Maybe you’re thinking about the travel and study abroad opportunities…
Highlight Your Kellogg Kontributions
(note: “contributions” is normally spelled with a ‘c’) Describe how your background, values, academics, activities and/or leadership skills will enhance the experience of other Kellogg students. That’s good old Question 2 on Kellogg’s MBA application. It’s a simple enough query, but one that stymies many of my clients, leading to several questions:…
US News 2009 College Rankings
The much maligned, used, cursed, and pored over US News College rankings have been released for 2009. The Top 10 Universities are: Harvard Princeton Yale MIT (tied with Stanford) Stanford (tied w/ MIT) California Institute of Technology (tied with Penn). University of Pennsylvania (tied with CalTech). Columbia (tied with Duke and Chicago) Duke (tied with…
Approaching the Ethics Essay
No b-school application essay may be harder to write than the ethics essay. For most applicants, one challenge is simply identifying an appropriate story. Many applicants assume that the ethics essay is designed to put their morals to some stringent litmus test. They brainstorm for examples that show them proudly refusing bribes, pointedly excusing themselves…
Kellogg’s GIM Program and You
Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management is a dream school for many of my MBA clients. And why not? The program features a top-notch marketing and general management curriculum, the standard-issue highly accomplished but well-rounded student body, and what’s viewed as the most people-focused culture among top business schools. Today an increasingly popular Kellogg offering is…
Dartmouth Tuck 2009 MBA Application Questions, Deadlines, Tips
UPDATE- THE TIPS FOR DARTMOUTH TUCK’S 2010 MBA APPLICATION ARE NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE. PLEASE POST QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS TO THE NEW POST. Dartmouth Tuck 2009 MBA Application Deadlines Application and CSQ Due Early Action Round Oct. 15, 2008 Nov. Round Nov. 12, 2008 Jan. Round …
See India In Your Future? Get Money for an MBA in Hyberadad!
Think you’re up against tough odds to get into a top MBA program? In India, over 200,000 applicants vie for 1600 spots at the country’s elite MBA schools—the IIMs (Indian Institute of Management). These programs aren’t ranked internationally. They mostly serve as a launching ground for Indian engineering students who seek management and finance exposure….
The Stanford Reliance Dhirubhai Fellowship
All Indian students considering applying to the Stanford MBA program should check out the new Reliance Dhirubhai Fellowship. The scholarship covers everything for up to 5 Indian students to attend Stanford GSB, and the top 50 finalists for the Fellowship will even receive a break on applying – taking the GMAT and submitting Stanford’s application…
HBS 2+2 Essay Questions and Tips
UPDATE: The Tips For Harvard Business School’s 2+2 2009 Application Are Now Online- Please post questions or comments on the new post. The Harvard 2+2 application is online and the submission deadline is July 1, 2008. Harvard’s instructions and question are in black below; my comments and tips are in red: First, compose…
Accepted Admissions Almanac Adds Authors
As of today, the Accepted Admissions Almanac will start to present the posts of different Accepted editors. The first guest post on the Accepted Admissions Almanac will appear later this morning to be followed by the posts of other Accepted editors in the future. They will all post regularly going forward. And for my fans:…