An insightful applicant asked me last week “when have you seen an applicant fail?” I love this question. And as I thought about the applicants who had come to us asking for an assessment of what went wrong last year, there was one thing their applications had in common: lack of a clear theme. At Vantage...
As you’re applying to business school, your resume is like your executive summary: it should concisely tell the story of how you’ve grown and developed over the course of your career as well as provide an indication of your focus areas and motivations. However, not all resume bullets are created equal! Simply describing what you did...
At first glance, the Harvard Business School essay question, which will remain unchanged again this year, seems fairly simple. What more would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy? However, after giving it some more thought, many candidates find themselves quite lost, trying to figure out what the adcom is looking for and...
Picture this: in an interview you’re asked a question about something that went wrong in a past job. Instead of simply explaining what happened, you find yourself shamelessly spinning a story about how you had a feeling all along that whatever “it” was would fail but your hands were tied. In different versions, this propensity to...
It’s not “we” it’s “me”. For the ladies out there, repeat that one again to yourself. For a large portion of the women I work with each year who are applying to the top MBA programs, at some point in the process we talk about the “W”: not win, not woman, “we”. Women, much more so than...
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, being an engaged community citizen and leader is critical for your MBA applications. We find that people are often caught in the position of feeling like they don’t...
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...
Business leaders can have an enormous impact on enhancing communities and the world through finding creative solutions to some of society’s most pressing challenges. For example, Coca-Cola’s robust supply chain has brought much-needed medications to rural areas in developing countries, and Google supplies innovative educational technology to school systems in need around the country. What will...
It's already February, and while it may seem like you have plenty of time, there are several things that you can be doing right now to give yourself a leg up on applications this year. Take a look at the list below, start laying-out your timeline for the year, and as always, we offer a free 30-minute...
The short answer is “it never hurts to ask”. Over the years, many of our clients have gotten the amazing news that they have been selected for a scholarship from at least one of their desired MBA programs. Sometimes, however, the money comes from a second or third choice instead of that coveted first choice school....
