Tips & Advice
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March 11, 2023
Which MBA Program is Right for Me? Take Our MBA Program Quiz To Find Out!
Selecting an MBA program to apply to is about more than just rankings and scores. Your fit with a particular program and school – both in terms of what you’re looking for and what they’re looking for – is extremely important. Use...
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August 29, 2021
How to Find the Best MBA Admissions Consultants
If you’re wondering how to find the best MBA admissions consultants, this article is dedicated to you. While I can’t claim to have all of the answers, I can give you my perspective as someone who has been on both sides of the table: I......
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March 15, 2021
Comparison of Top MBA Programs
Choosing the right MBA programs has never been easier with our side-by-side comparison of the top MBA programs....
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October 1, 2025My Stanford GSB Interview Experience: Questions To Expect and How To Prepare
Receiving a Stanford GSB interview invitation brings a flood emotions. At first, you’re overjoyed, after all, you’ve been anxiously refreshing your inbox ever since hitting submit on your applicat...
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September 25, 2025
How to Prepare for MBA Interviews – Expecting the Unexpected
Preparing for MBA interviews may seem straightforward at first. You might think that outlining and practicing your answers to standard MBA interview questions is enough to succeed, right? Hopefully so...
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September 16, 2025
MBA Student Ambassadors: The Secret Resource for MBA Networking
While online research and admissions events are helpful, nothing compares to speaking directly with someone who has lived the MBA experience. Student ambassadors, who are current students or sometimes...
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September 10, 2025
How Sports Can Make Your MBA Application Stand Out
Did you know that many of the highly valued qualities that make an athlete successful also make a business leader impactful? MBA admissions committees place strong value on applicants who demonstrate ...
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September 4, 2025
How to Answer Kellogg’s Video Essay Questions
If you're applying to the Kellogg MBA program, you’ll need to complete three video essays. A link to record them will appear on your Application Status Page after you submit your application and pay...
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August 28, 2025
Round 1 MBA Application Checklist – Do These Things Before You Submit
The last few weeks before the MBA application deadlines can be a whirlwind! To make sure nothing falls through the cracks, here is our 7-step MBA application checklist to help you get across the finis...
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August 14, 2025
What Is a Good GMAT Score? Answer These 5 Questions to See If You Should Consider a Retake
“What is a good GMAT score?” is a question we field frequently from clients. Perhaps they have taken the GMAT or GRE at least once but aren’t sure if their score is “enough” to get them into...
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August 6, 2025
How to Make Your Resume “MBA Ready”
The resume you used to get your last job is not the one you will use to apply to business school. I know, it’s frustrating! You perfected your resume to land a job, only to find that you’re going ...
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July 30, 2025
Round 1 vs. Round 2 MBA Applications
This is the time of year when many applicants realize that the crazy work project, wedding planning, or some other major commitment has left them feeling pressed for time in what is a longer process t...
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July 29, 2025
Should You Request a GMAT Waiver? Top MBA Programs Offering Them and Key Considerations
MBA applicants often ask whether top programs offer GMAT or GRE waivers and if taking these tests is necessary. Preparing for these exams can be time-consuming, so it’s natural to seek alternatives....
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July 24, 2025
MBA Application Deadlines and Essays for 2025-2026
The 2025-2026 MBA application season is underway as schools have begun sharing their deadlines and essays for this upcoming cycle, with many more expected over the next month. While many schools have ...
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July 23, 2025
2025-2026 MIT Sloan Cover Letter Advice & Application Tips
If you’re applying to MIT Sloan’s MBA Program, you’ve likely given thought to what you want to express in the required 300-word Cover Letter. Perhaps the trickiest thing about this unique applic...
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July 17, 2025
2025-2026 [New] Wharton MBA Essay Tips
Wharton has been nothing but consistent with its essay prompts for the last 12 years, making only minor tweaks to its two required essays over that time. But change is inevitable. After a delayed appl...
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July 10, 2025
How to Get Into a Top MBA Program With Less Than 3 Years of Work Experience
Age is just a number, or is it? If you are applying to business school with 4–5 years of work experience, then yes, it is. But if you’re applying with fewer, then unfortunately your age could be a...
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July 2, 2025
HBS Essays: Tips from MBA Admissions Experts (2025-2026)
After much anticipation, Harvard Business School (HBS) has released its 2025-2026 essay prompts with only minor wording changes from the prior year. Although the edits (deletions, mostly) are subtle, ...
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June 26, 2025
Top Reasons Smart, Talented MBA Applicants Get Rejected from Business Schools
We talk to many MBA applicants every year. But it’s the reapplicants – those who truly should have gotten in the first time – who stick with us the most. These are individuals who have alrea...
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June 18, 2025
Pre-MBA Checklist: How to Make the Most of Your Summer
Congratulations! You got into an MBA program, and you're gearing up for what many consider to be the most transformative two years of their lives. While it’s important to celebrate and recharge, the...
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June 5, 2025
How to Stand Out in Your MBA Application: What Really Matters
If you're wondering how to stand out in your MBA application, you're not alone. Before meeting with my MBA applicant clients, I review a background write-up that they put together. Inevitably, when th...
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May 29, 2025
Acceptance Rates at Top MBA Programs – Should They Inform Your Application Strategy?
As an applicant or prospective applicant to top MBA programs, you might be wondering about MBA program acceptance rates …and rightly so, applying to business school takes a ton of time and energy, y...
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May 21, 2025
How to Pursue an MBA in Uncertain Times
Whether you're concerned about job stability, visa policies, or long-term planning, the decision to pursue an MBA in uncertain times may be on your mind. ...
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May 8, 2025
3 Regrets of Rejected MBA Applicants (and How to Avoid Them) | 2025 Edition
As another MBA admissions season wraps up, we’ve been connecting with applicants who didn’t get the news they were hoping for. These rejected applicants came to us for answers, hoping to understan...
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April 30, 2025
How to Have Impressive Extracurriculars When You’re Busy
Keeping yourself involved in extracurricular activities while also gunning for that next promotion or trying to learn Python for your day job is no easy feat. That said, MBA extracurricular activities...
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April 24, 2025
The Best MBA Programs for Sustainability
In a world where environmental consciousness and corporate responsibility are top of mind, sustainability has become more than a buzzword—it’s a driving force shaping the business world. At its co...
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April 17, 2025
Successfully Navigating a Job Change While Applying to Business School
Are starting a new job and applying to business school mutually exclusive? Whether your recent career transition was driven by a disappointing bonus, continued layoffs in the finance or tech sectors, ...
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April 3, 2025
The Real Cost of an MBA from a Top Program
When applying to business school, it’s easy to focus on perfecting your application—acing the GMAT or GRE, writing compelling essays, and crafting a standout story. But one critical factor that’...
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March 27, 2025
Should I Hire an MBA Admissions Consultant? Three Non-Obvious Reasons the Answer May Be Yes
In past articles, we’ve discussed how MBA admissions consultants charge for their services and what to ask when interviewing them. But it dawned on us—we’ve never really shared why you should co...
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March 13, 2025
The Best MBA Programs for Private Equity and Venture Capital
If you browse the “Our Team” pages of top private equity and venture capital firms, you’ll notice a trend—many senior investment professionals have MBAs from top business schools. An MBA provi...
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March 6, 2025
The M7 Business Schools: A Comprehensive Guide To The Top MBA Schools
If applying to a business school is on your radar (or perhaps you’re already in the process of doing so), you’ve likely come across the somewhat mysterious term ‘M7’ - what is this exactly, yo...
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February 27, 2025
Do You Need a Finalized Test Score Before You Hire an MBA Admissions Consultant?
We love this time of year because we get to connect with so many aspiring MBAs. One of the most common questions we hear is: “I’m planning to retake the GMAT or GRE. Should I wait until I have my ...
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February 20, 2025
How MBA Admissions Consultants Charge and How to Decide What Service is Right for You
If you’re researching MBA admissions consultants, you might be wondering how MBA admissions consultants charge—and which type of service is right for you. We get it! The options can be confusing, ...
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February 13, 2025
How to Ace Your MBA Interview
We’re in the thick of Round 2 interview season! If you’ve made it this far, congratulations—you’re one step closer to securing a spot at your target MBA programs. While you’re likely focused...
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February 10, 2025
Why MBA? Three Unexpected Ways Business School Pays Off
Most applicants pursue an MBA to advance their careers or pivot into a new industry or function. And business school absolutely delivers on that front. It fills gaps in your foundational business know...
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January 30, 2025
The Top 3 Pitfalls to Avoid in Your Business School Interview
With Round 2 interview invitations going out, many applicants are shifting their focus to interview preparation. This is a smart move—interviews can be a deciding factor in the admissions process. A...
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January 16, 2025
Understanding the MBA Application Process: Five Things You Can Be Doing Right Now
Yes, it’s only January, and it may seem like you have plenty of time before the first round of MBA application deadlines. However, there are several crucial steps you can take right now to give your...
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January 9, 2025
Applying to Business School in Round 3, Worth It or Not? Here’s How to Decide
If you’re panicking with less than a week to go until round 2 MBA application deadlines begin, you might be wondering if you should consider applying to MBA application round 3 instead. You’ve lik...
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January 2, 2025
How to Choose an MBA Program
If you are fortunate enough to have finished round 1 with acceptances from multiple MBA programs in hand, congratulations! While you may have entered the application process with a mental ranking of y...
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December 26, 2024
Round 2 MBA Application Checklist – Do These Things Before You Submit
The final weeks leading up to MBA application deadlines can feel overwhelming, but the Vantage Point MBA team is here to guide you with our 7-step MBA Application Checklist, designed to streamline you...
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December 20, 2024
MBA Application Form Best Practices
You’ve likely heard the phrase, ‘you’ll never get a second chance to make a first impression.’ Turns out it’s actually a real thing rooted in psychology - a phenomenon called the primacy eff...
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December 6, 2024
What to Do When You’re on the MBA Waitlist – A Step by Step Action Plan
Waitlisted for your dream MBA program? Understanding the MBA waitlist acceptance rate is only part of the equation. Developing a strong MBA waitlist strategy is key to improving your chances of ac...
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December 4, 2024
The Consortium MBA Application and Essay Tips
Are you debating whether to apply via the the Consortium in Round 2 (deadline is Jan. 5th, 2025)? Or perhaps you’re ready to dive in but feeling overwhelmed by the additional essays and their unique...
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November 27, 2024
Thanking Your Business School Recommenders
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, it’s the perfect time to take a pause and reflect on what we’re grateful for. If you’re applying to business school in Round 2, you may still be in the...
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November 22, 2024
Avoid These Three Mistakes in Your MBA Application Essays
If you’re applying to business school in Round 2, you’re likely hard at work refining your MBA application essays. With that in mind, we thought it would be a good time to share how to avoid commo...
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November 14, 2024
Is an MBA Worth It for Me? The Top Three Things to Consider
If you’ve begun to consider whether to apply to business school (maybe you even read our last article, 'Should I Get an MBA? Stuff They Tell You and Stuff They Don’t'), you likely have a multitude...
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October 31, 2024
How Long Do MBA Applications Take and Am I Behind for Round 2?
Preparing a strong MBA application takes more time and effort than most applicants anticipate. With over a decade of experience advising MBA hopefuls, we’ve witnessed firsthand the significant diffe...
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October 24, 2024
Wharton Interview Tips: How to Prepare for the Team-Based Discussion
You were granted a Wharton interview, congrats! You’re one step closer to being accepted. At this point, you might be curious about Wharton interview acceptance rate. Approximately, half of all appl...
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October 17, 2024
What GPA Do I Need for a Top MBA Program? And What Should I Do If Mine Isn’t Great?
As MBA admissions consultants, we’re commonly asked, ‘what GPA do I need for a top MBA program?’ We get it – it’s easy to be concerned that a low GPA (which you have no ability to change at ...
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July 18, 2024
2024-2025 Kellogg MBA Essay Tips
Once again this year, the Kellogg School of Management has revised its MBA essay questions. While the new prompts are certainly on-brand for this M7 program, they are more dense and multidimensional t...
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July 11, 2024
Columbia MBA Essay Questions, Tips & Advice for 2025-2026
Columbia Business School has just released its MBA application essay prompts for the 2025–2026 cycle. The Columbia MBA essays remain mostly consistent with last year (with a minor change), giving ap...
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July 3, 2024
2024-2025 Wharton MBA Essay Tips + An Example
Originally published on July 13, 2023. Updated on July 3, 2024. The Wharton MBA essay prompts are confirmed for 2024-2025 and they remain unchanged from last year. The questions are direct and allow e...
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July 1, 2024Leveraging Online Courses and Certifications to Strengthen Your MBA Application
You’ve spent months preparing for this moment. This is the culmination of countless hours of hard work. Soon enough, you will be hitting the submit button on your business school applications. A...
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June 27, 2024
HBS – How to Answer the New Essay Prompts (2024-2025)
HBS sent the MBA community reeling when it announced (after months of rumors) that it would be changing its longstanding, single essay prompt this year. The prior question, “As we review your applic...
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June 20, 2024
2024-2025 Stanford MBA Essay Tips
Earlier this week, Stanford announced its application deadlines for the ’24-’25 admissions cycle and confirmed that its main essay questions will remain unchanged next year. Given the reflection a...
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June 13, 2024
MBA Application Deadlines and Essays for 2024-2025
The 2024-2025 MBA application season is underway as schools have begun sharing their deadlines and essays for this upcoming cycle, with many more expected over the next month. While many schools have ...
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June 6, 2024
How to Write a Great MBA Essay
“I’m glad we trashed those initial MBA essays”, our client, Ben, told his consultant, Alan. Ben is one of those smart, hard-working, rockstars whom private equity firms will one day pay ...
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May 30, 2024
7 Signs You Are Ready to Apply to MBA Programs this Year
If getting an MBA has been in your career plans, it’s not a matter of whether you will apply– but when. It’s a decision that often unexpectedly creeps up, after an external event – a layoff, a...
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May 16, 2024
How Successful Applicants Choose Their Recommenders
Truly spectacular letters of recommendation complement and enhance an MBA application seamlessly. But before agonizing over the content that you want your recommenders to include in their respective l...
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May 9, 2024
Non-Soul Crushing Careers for MBA Graduates
A post caught my eye on the r/MBA Reddit thread this week. It posed a question: “Are there non-soul crushing careers out of MBA?”. The author, an M7 grad, was questioning their career choices. Des...
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April 18, 2024
3 Lessons We Learned from Rejected MBA Applicants This Year
As another MBA admissions season comes to a close, our team has heard from a number of Round 2 applicants who didn’t get the news they were hoping for on decision day. These rejected MBA applicants ...
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April 12, 2024
Why Applicants Can Ignore the 2024 U.S. News MBA Ranking
On April 9, 2024, U.S. News released its annual ranking of the best MBA programs in the U.S. We pay attention because the U.S. News MBA Ranking is typically considered to be the most credible a...
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April 4, 2024
The Best MBA Programs for Technology
2023 was a tough year for graduating MBAs looking to enter the technology industry. As a result of hiring too many people during the pandemic and the threat of a recession, major tech companies...
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March 28, 2024
Decoding Your Undergraduate Transcript for MBA Admissions
If you’re anything like most MBA applicants, you probably haven’t dusted off your undergrad transcript and taken a close look in several years. Most applicants are understandably focused on their ...
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March 7, 2024
Am I Too Young for a Top MBA Program? Or Too Old?
Age is just a number, right? We’d like to think so. But if you’ve been researching business schools, you’ve probably come across the class profile for your target programs. These reports help yo...
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March 6, 2024
Who Gets into Stanford GSB?
You may have seen this article on Poets & Quants, which shared some eye-opening data from our peer firm, Fortuna Admissions, about who gets into Stanford GSB and Harvard Business School. In a nuts...
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February 29, 2024
How Do I Find the Best MBA Admissions Consultant…for Me?
If you’re planning to apply to business school and looking for a partner in the process, your head might be spinning from all the firms you see on MBA forums, Poets & Quants, etc. It’s hard to...
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November 30, 2023
MYTH: GMAT / GRE scores are correlated with acceptance outcomes at the top MBA programs.
Yes, you read that right. Every year our team coaches 125~ management consultants from one of the leading firms. Within this applicant cohort, our data has shown that applicants with a 720 GMAT are ju...
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November 16, 2023
Should I Get an MBA? Stuff They Tell You and Stuff They Don’t
In a recent LinkedIn post, our Co-Founder and President, Melody Jones, shared the following: “On Friday last week, a prospective client asked me why I decided to get an MBA. I’m actuall...
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October 5, 2023
The HBS Interview – What to Expect, How to Prepare & Sample Questions
Congratulations! If you’ve received an invitation for a Harvard Business School (HBS) interview, you’re one step closer to your MBA dream. While only about 20% of applicants make it to this st...
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October 3, 2023
The Top Deferred Enrollment MBA Programs
If you are currently in your senior year of college or enrolled in a masters’ program that you began right after graduation, this article is for you. While it might be tempting to coast through to y...
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September 14, 2023
Common MBA Interview Questions and How to Prepare
Relieved that you’ve clicked submit on your Round 1 MBA applications? Congratulations! We know the hard work and late nights that go into crafting those essays and filling in seemingly endless appli...
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September 13, 2023
What Kellogg’s Adcom Told Us About the Kellogg Video Essays
Kellogg’s Round 1 deadline is today! As you are likely aware if you are applying, the application includes three video essays that are due within 96 hours of submission. As such, today we’re sh...
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September 7, 2023
Do Business Schools Care if You Visit? Demystifying MBA Networking
What is MBA networking and why exactly is it important are questions we’re frequently asked by our MBA admissions consulting clients. In an already subjective and sometimes vague process, “network...
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August 17, 2023
The Best MBA Programs for Entrepreneurship
If you’re interested in pursuing an entrepreneurial career, either immediately post-MBA or in the long term, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’re sharing the entrepreneurshi...
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August 11, 2023
Sloan MBA Essay Guidance for 2023-24
Aside from HBS and Stanford GSB’s notoriously open-ended prompts, MIT Sloan’s essay ‘question’ (if you want to call it a question) is undoubtedly the one that leaves app...
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August 3, 2023
What is a Deferred MBA Program and Should I Apply?
The rise of deferred MBA programs at the top business schools has been remarkable. What began with the HBS 2+2 program and Stanford Deferred Enrollment MBA has now come to Wharton, Chicago Booth, Co...
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July 27, 2023
How to Ensure Your Tuck MBA Essays Are Stellar
If you thrive in tightknit communities and value experiential learning, particularly in an international locale, Dartmouth Tuck might be the perfect fit for your MBA journey. Speaking of ‘fit’, th...
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July 6, 2023
MBA Application Deadlines for 2023-2024
The MBA application season is in full swing! Most top business schools have released their MBA application deadlines for 2023-2024. Some schools have also officially opened their applications, and man...
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June 29, 2023
The Best MBA Programs for Healthcare
If you’re interested in pursuing a post-MBA career in healthcare, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’re sharing the healthcare-focused resources offered by the top US MBA progra...
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June 16, 2023
Columbia Business School – What’s New (a Lot!) and How to Wow the Adcom with Your Essays
Several key things have changed this year when it comes to the Columbia Business School application. First, they’ve done away with rolling admissions for their fall cohort as well as the option to a...
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June 8, 2023
MBA Letter of Recommendation Questions and a HBS Letter of Recommendation Sample
Letters of recommendation play a vital role in MBA applications. These MBA recommendation letters, crafted by trusted individuals who have witnessed the applicant’s professional journey, validat...
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June 1, 2023
When Do MBA Applications Open? A General Timeline to Help You Plan
When it comes to plotting out your MBA applications, knowing when to start and what to expect can feel like trying to solve a puzzle without the right pieces. You may be wondering, when do MBA applica...
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May 25, 2023
Virtual MBA Admissions Events – A Comprehensive List by School
Expressing why a specific MBA program is a fit for your career goals, personality, and more is crucial for a compelling application. But you can’t make your case solely by relying on a school...
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May 18, 2023
The GMAT Focus Edition and What it Means for Your MBA Applications
GMAC’s announcement of the updated version of the GMAT called the GMAT Focus Edition has generated quite a bit of excitement within the business school community. But since the test hasn̵...
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May 4, 2023
MBA Rankings and Their Role in School Choice
The results are in! The latest MBA rankings have been released by U.S News & World Report, with the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business being at the top of the list. U.S News uses e...
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April 27, 2023
Booth – An Insider’s Guide
Think of Booth as just a ‘finance school’? Think again. Booth’s marketing and entrepreneurship departments are also fantastic. Marketing is distinguished by its focus on analytics and its recent...
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April 21, 2023
Will Gen Z Kill the MBA?
You may have seen headlines in the past few weeks with outtakes from GMAC’s latest survey of prospective graduate business students (i.e., people who have registered for the GMAT and submitte...
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April 13, 2023
Kellogg – An Insider’s Guide
To continue our ‘Insider’s Guide’ series, this week we’ll turn our attention to Kellogg. You may have heard of Kellogg’s reputation as a marketing school. Yes, it has a very strong ma...
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April 6, 2023
Wharton – An Insider’s Guide
This week, we’re giving you a peak behind the curtain at Wharton! You may think of Wharton as ‘the finance school’, but that’s not all this top ranked program has to offer. It also boas...
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March 30, 2023
Stanford GSB – An Insider’s Guide to Stanford MBA Admissions
Overview of For the second installment of our ‘Insider Guides’ series, we’re sharing everything you need to know about Stanford MBA Admissions. You’ve likely heard of the GSB’s reputation fo...
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March 23, 2023
Harvard Business School – An Insider’s Guide
This week we’re kicking off a new series! Follow along as we share ‘Insider’s Guides’ for many of the top MBA programs, beginning with – you guessed it – Harvard Business School...
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March 16, 2023
MBA Scholarships – Can You Negotiate Them and, if So, How?
If you were lucky enough to emerge from the Round 2 MBA application process with one or more acceptances in hand, congrats! If you’ve also been offered scholarship money, you might be wondering, c...
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March 11, 2023
Which MBA Program is Right for Me? Take Our MBA Program Quiz To Find Out!
Selecting an MBA program to apply to is about more than just rankings and scores. Your fit with a particular program and school – both in terms of what you’re looking for and what they’re lookin...
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February 16, 2023
What GMAT Score Do I Need for Harvard? Answers to Your Most Pressing GMAT and GRE Questions
As an MBA admissions consultant, I often see clients, particularly those just starting their MBA journey, feeling anxious and uncertain about standardized testing—namely the GMAT and GRE. Questions ...
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February 9, 2023
Who Gets into Harvard Business School and What Does that Mean for You?
We often get asked “How hard is it to get into Harvard Business School?” as applicants wonder if it’s even worth submitting an application. You may have seen this recent article on P...
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February 2, 2023
MBA Interview Questions With Answers – Don’t Let These Stump You
Preparing for your MBA interviews can seem fairly straightforward at first. All you need to do is bullet out and practice your answers to the standard MBA interview questions and you should be good to...
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January 26, 2023
The Case for the Employer Sponsored MBA
We recently came across this article, where the Dean of Loyola Marymount’s business school eloquently makes the case that, by investing in employees’ continuing education, employers can cultivate ...
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January 20, 2023
Top Deferred MBA Programs: Should You Apply?
If you are currently in your senior year of college or enrolled in a graduate program that you began right after graduation, this article is for you. While it might be tempting to coast through to the...
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January 12, 2023
Applying in Round 1? Start This Part of the MBA Application Process Now
There’s something about a new year, the promise of what’s to come and the thrill of possibility, that has our whole team feeling excited about 2023! The new year is also when we see a major shift ...
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January 4, 2023
Round 3 MBA Applications
If the first two application deadlines for the top MBA programs got away from you, you’re not alone! Now you might be questioning if you should apply in round 3 or wait until next year. While...
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December 8, 2022
MBA Waitlist Strategy – 10 Dos and Don’ts
So, you’re on the waitlist for your dream school? It wasn’t the decision you were hoping for, but the good news is that you’re still in the running. Being on the waitlist means that the adcom re...
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December 1, 2022
Top MBA Program Comparison and How to Use It
Deciding where to apply? Our newly updated Top MBA Program Comparison tool can help! This sortable table ranks the top business schools on dimensions such as class size, average post-MBA salary, top r...
