MBA applications take up a TON of time!! From studying for the GMAT to visiting schools, writing essays, prepping recommenders and interview prep, we estimate that the average applicant spends around 150 hours to 250 hours applying to b-school depending upon the number of schools you’re focused on. That’s a pretty serious part-time gig in addition...
This time of year, our team is doing a lot of “ding analysis”, which is when someone who applied last year comes to us and asks our team to help them understand what went wrong. Below are some of the common pitfalls that we’ve seen, and that you can avoid as you start the application process...
Every year we run into a question that the “interwebs” appears to be conflicted about. Is it ok to write your own recommendation, or hire an admissions consultant to write your recommendations, and then have your actual recommender submit it? A lot of people apparently do this. Should you? No. And here’s why: first and foremost, your...
For those Round One MBA applicants out there, if you haven’t had the “oh sh#t” moment yet, then you’re probably not paying attention. Harvard Business School applications are due in two weeks. Starting with HBS on 9/5, round one applicants face a crazy couple of weeks as they finalize their applications and make last minute changes before...
If you find yourself on the waitlist at this point in the application season, we know how frustrating it can be. After months of hard work and waiting for a decision, it’s tough to hear that you have to wait even longer. However, being on the waitlist doesn’t mean that you should just sit on your...
Putting in the time and effort to apply to top tier schools only to be rejected across the board is extremely disappointing. For many people, this defeat leads them to give up on business school completely. However, with hard work and a good strategy, in many cases it's worth it to reapply. To illustrate how it...
One of our clients was recently in this exact situation. Her Kellogg application was submitted and her interview was completed. She was just waiting for the final decision. Then, she received an email inviting her to an intimate networking brunch in her hometown of [major US city*]. Her mind immediately started racing, wondering “What does this...
Letters of recommendation can be a tricky aspect of the MBA application process, particularly if you’ve just changed jobs or don’t plan on telling your employer that you’re applying to business school. We often speak with applicants who are unsure who to ask to write their recommendations or are wondering if the adcom will read into...
If you're in your first few years of work after college, the challenge of meeting the "leadership potential" threshold for the top MBA programs can seem daunting. You may have just barely started to feel comfortable with the job you were hired for, so how are you going to show the admissions committees that you have...
Every week we speak with MBA applicants who are trying to figure out how the MBA application process works and how they stack up to the competition. So, in this series we will track the best questions we’ve received and periodically send out a summary of the answers (think FAQ style) to help fast track the...
