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CATEGORY - ADMISSIONS TIPS

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Admissions Tip: The Comparison Trap

We wanted to take some time today to discuss a frequently-made mistake in the application process. In their desire to make their case to their target MBA programs, many applicants devote sentences and even paragraphs to explaining why the school in question is their “first choice” and arguing its superiority over other schools.

Though certainly understandable, this is actually not a very productive exercise. Let’s consider a few reasons why, from the schools’ point of view:

Tell me something I don’t know. A popular strategy - and not always bad one - for applicants seeking to demonstrate their fit with one school above any other is to study its website to understand the program’s self-determined selling points, and then profess an interest in those. The thing that essay writers don’t always consider is that while a school’s distinguishing characteristics might be the factors that set it apart from others, this is not necessarily what the admissions committee wants to read about in an applicant’s essays. The very admissions officer reading your file spends months every year pushing this marketing message out to prospective students. Members of Harvard’s and Darden’s admissions staff know all about the merits of the case method, Kellogg and Duke’s admissions committees are already up to their ears in team-orientation, and Stanford and Yale could not be more aware of the benefits of a small class size. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t touch briefly on these key points (the schools highlight these for a reason), only to suggest that to put together a really compelling application, it’s important to push beyond high-level differentiators and immediate association and demonstrate that you’ve learned about the program on a deeper level. In making room for this level of detail within a restrictive word limit, cutting other schools out of the picture is a great starting point.

Enough about us, let’s talk about you. It’s not uncommon for applicants to become so engrossed in explaining how their target program differs from other business schools that they neglect to really articulate how their own interests, personality and preferences fit into the picture. Very nearly every school requires that prospective students compose an essay explaining how the MBA program will help them accomplish their goals, but there’s not a single one that adds “better than any other MBA program.” Though several schools do explicitly inquire about other target programs if an applicant advances to an interview, at this early point the adcom is much more interested in hearing about the candidate and his or her fit with the school. It’s a bit premature to assure a school that it’s your #1 when the adcom hasn’t even decided whether they’re interested. Better to use all the space at your disposal in the essays to cover your experiences and accomplishments, share your aspirations and showcase your research on the MBA program.

I bet you say that to all the girls. Seriously, though, if an applicant goes out of his way to profess that Chicago is the best school for him, is his first choice, etc., the GSB really has no assurance that this applicant hasn’t written an equally passionate love letter to regional rival Kellogg. If a strategy seems likely to work in one place, might as well use it everyplace, right? Yes, it’s generally true that schools prefer to admit students who are excited about their program and seem likely to attend, but actions speak louder than words. The details of campus visits and conversations with students and alumni are far better topics to cover in your essays. To invoke a classic essay-writing maxim, “show, don’t tell” the adcom that you care. Further, the best way to convince the adcom that you “only have eyes for their school” is to not mention any other school at all.

We hope that this offers a number of helpful “do”s to offset this big essay “don’t.” It is very important to get an in-depth understanding of your target MBA programs and engage members of the community. Taking the time to learn about the school’s curriculum, special programs and extracurricular activities - whether through a visit to campus, conversations with members of the community or reading the Clear Admit School Guides - will pay dividends here.  Happy writing and researching!

Monday, November 10, 2008

Admissions Tip: Interviewing the Interviewer

We’ve been offering a good deal of advice lately on how to conduct oneself and prepare responses to MBA interview questions; today, we’d like to highlight the importance of thinking about what you might ask. Virtually all business school interviewers conclude their discussion by offering the applicant a chance to ask some questions about the program. While it might be tempting to claim that you’ve already learned all you need to know about the school, this is actually a great opportunity to gain additional insight, show your enthusiasm about a specific element of the curriculum or community, and demonstrate that you appreciate the opportunity to learn from your interviewer’s experiences.

Here are a few simple guidelines to keep in mind while thinking about what you might ask:

1. Focus on the positive. Now is not the time to conduct due diligence or express skepticism about a school’s academic program or career resources. You’re still marketing yourself to the adcom at this stage of the process, so you’ll want to project enthusiasm and demonstrate a desire to become more familiar with a program’s merits and your potential fit.

2. Avoid the obvious and the obscure. Because this is an opportunity to tap the interviewer’s unique knowledge and point of view (and he or she will assume that you did your basic research before applying), it’s best to avoid asking questions that could be answered by perusing the school’s website or speaking with anyone you might happen to encounter on campus. On the other hand, you don’t want to ask something so obscure or specific that your interviewer might not have an answer. Seeking the interviewer’s opinion on or impression of some element of the program often makes for a discussion that both parties will find interesting and enjoyable.

3. Mind your audience. Remember that students, alumni and admissions staff will all have a different perspective on and level of familiarity with the program, and that it’s wise to pose inquiries tailored to his or her experience with the school. For instance, alumni interviewers generally feel strongly about their schools but might not have the most current information on the academic programs and campus culture, so a good question might focus on the classes they have found most useful in their post-graduation career.

We hope that these guidelines are helpful in thinking about how you might approach the end of your discussion, and wish everyone interviewing at business schools in the coming weeks the best of luck!  For personalized interview coaching, mock interviews and school-specific advice, feel free to contact Clear Admit at info@clearadmit.com or investigate the downloadable Clear Admit Interview Guides in our online shop.

Monday, November 03, 2008

Admissions Tip: MBA Interview Prep

With interview invitations from a number of programs already on their way out to Round One applicants, we wanted to offer some more advice on this element of the admissions process. Last week we posted some very basic etiquette information that will help candidates ensure that everything is in order on the big day. Today, we turn our attention to some steps one can take to prepare for the interview itself.

1) Know what to expect. This might go without saying, but interview types and duration vary across programs. For instance, nearly all invited Stanford applicants interview with alumni, while on-campus Wharton interviews are conducted by second-year students (and in rare cases admissions staff). Candidates for Columbia admission participate in an informative resume-based chat, while HBS and MIT interviewers have in-depth knowledge of the applicant’s entire file. Thinking carefully about the format of the interview and the person conducting it will influence the sort of questions you might come prepared to ask and help you arrive at a mindset conducive to success.

2) Review your materials. Because it’s important that you reinforce your positioning during the interview, reading over your essays and reflecting on the themes presented in your application is a great first step in preparing to speak about your ideas and objectives.

3) Tell them something they don’t know. In addition to reinforcing your existing message (a critical component of most interviews), the interview is also a great time to expand or add new information to your file via the interviewer’s notes. Have there been any major developments in your candidacy that you should share? Have you visited the campus or spoken with students since submitting your written materials? Have you made any strides toward your goals? Even if just an example from work or an activity that relates to the interview question but didn’t fit into your essays, it’s a great idea to approach the interview with the goal of enhancing the admissions committee’s knowledge of your candidacy.

4) Anticipate and practice. Though it’s impossible to predict the exact questions you will be asked, the type of interview and historical data will provide some great clues as to the sort of information the interviewer will be seeking. The Clear Admit Wiki could serve as a great starting point, as it features detailed firsthand interview accounts from applicants to the top MBA programs. After arriving at a list of possible inquiries, it’s a good idea to not only reflect on what you might say in response, but to actually practice articulating your responses, explaining your goals and recounting some significant professional and extracurricular experiences.

Best of luck to all those who are eagerly awaiting invitations and preparing for interviews! For more information about Clear Admit’s school-specific Interview Guides and mock interview service, feel free to send an email to info@clearadmit.com.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Admissions Director Shares HBS Policy on Late Recommendation Letters

In a recent post to her blog, Harvard Business School (HBS) Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Dee Leopold addressed a question she hears often from prospective applicants:

“What if my recommender can’t meet the application deadline? Will my application be held over into the next decision round?”

In answer, Leopold explains her team’s protocol with regard to recommendation letters:

Applications with only one submitted recommendation letter by the deadline date are held up for the next round to provide time for the additional letters to come in, she says.

Applications with two submitted recommendations, Leopold explains, are sent out to review by the Admissions Board in the round in which the application was received. The Admissions Board will make every attempt to add the third recommendation letter to the applicant’s file when it comes in, she continues.

But there are no guarantees, she warns. “Since the file can be in any number of places and we can’t stop the reading flow, we can’t promise that the recommendation will be added before review is complete,” she writes. 

Here at Clear Admit, we try to always encourage applicants to engage recommenders early and inform them about the process and your timeline.

For round one applicants, we encourage sitting down with each recommender as early as August, even if actual application forms aren’t yet posted, to present them with a rough sketch of the deadlines and the process. This leaves plenty of time to meet again once the forms are available, at which time you’ll be able to share background materials (a resume, career goals essay, etc.) to help your recommenders understand and support your message.

For round two applicants, now is a great time to begin the process. And if round three is your goal, it’s a good idea to begin thinking about who you might want to ask to write your recommendation letters. For Clear Admit’s tips on how to select recommenders, click here.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Admissions Tip: Interview Etiquette

With interview invites beginning to trickle out to Round One applicants, we wanted to turn our attention to this important step in the admissions process and share a few very basic pointers on interview etiquette. Though the content of your application materials and comments during the interview are of paramount importance, it’s also crucial to put one’s best foot forward and make a positive initial impression. Here are a few guidelines for interviewing applicants to keep in mind:

1) Dress the part. Unless meeting with an alum who explicitly specifies a more casual dress code, assume that business attire is appropriate. We recommend that applicants dress conservatively, opting for a dark suit (pants or skirt are both fine for women) and a blue or white shirt. Steer clear of flashy brand gear and loud ties, and go easy on makeup and fragrances; you want to be remembered for what you say and who you are, not what you wore.

2) Be pleasant. This likely goes without saying, but we wanted to state for the record that in addition to fostering a friendly discussion with your interviewer, it’s also important to be polite to administrative staff and anyone else you might encounter while on campus or in your alumni interviewer’s office. Flippant comments to the administrative assistant at the front desk often find their way up the chain of command.

3) Be aware of body language. In addition to your comments about your experiences, interests and reasons for seeking an MBA, your interviewer will also be taking note of the way you present yourself. You’ll also want to avoid taking notes or reading from your resume; it can be fine to have the latter in front of you as a reference, but remember that you should be familiar enough with its content to focus on maintaining eye contact and establishing a rapport.

4) Follow up. Make sure that you get your interviewer’s card and take his or her contact information in order to send a “thank you” email within 24 hours of the interview. This is not only common courtesy, but could also serve as the first step in forging a lasting correspondence.

While these steps should help readers in one element of their interview presentation, we’ll offer some more content and strategy focused advice next week. Meanwhile, applicants who are curious about what to expect might want to check out the Clear Admit Wiki, which features first-hand accounts of interviews at all of the top programs.

Good luck to everyone hoping for an interview invite! For personalized interview coaching and school-specific advice, feel free to contact Clear Admit at info@clearadmit.com.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Admissions Tip: Essay Basics

We often stress that, to present oneself effectively in one’s application essays, it is critical to think carefully about what a given question is asking and what this might indicate about a specific school’s admissions priorities.  Of course, it’s also imperative to communicate clearly and appropriately regardless of the target program or particular inquiry.  Today, we’re going back to basics and offering a few broadly applicable tips on tone and style to keep in mind when drafting written materials for your applications.

1. Be Professional.  While a number of schools ask fun questions and most urge applicants to be themselves rather than submitting “overly polished” materials, it’s important to remember that this is a graduate school application and you should approach your essays with a degree of formality.  You do want your unique narrative voice to come through, but even professional writers know to vary their tone based on their audience.  As such, you should avoid using slang and conversational speech patterns in your writing.

2. Emphasize Action. A common pitfall for many applicants is lapsing into the passive voice, constructing sentences about how some unseen force or agent acted upon something or someone else (e.g. “we were required to” or “the project was completed”) rather than putting their own thoughts and actions at the fore.  By making a conscious effort to write “I/he/she did x” rather than “x was done to y” you can make your comments more informative, dynamic and, often, more concise.

3. Avoid Repetition. It’s often a good idea to give the reader a sense of an essay’s direction through an introduction and to sum up the key ideas through a conclusion, but ideally each sentence of an essay will add some new information to the document or build the reader’s understanding of what you’ve already written.  Keeping this rule in mind as you revise can help trim a response down to the word limit and ensure that you are including as much relevant information about your candidacy as you can within the allotted length.

Best of luck!  For more information about how Clear Admit might assist you in communicating your experiences and goals to the adcom in a way that will be engaging and well received, contact us at info@clearadmit.com to set up a free initial consultation.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Timing the MBA Admissions and Job Markets

As many of our readers know, Clear Admit serves as a ‘featured expert’ in the Beat The GMAT discussion forums.  In this role, we respond to queries from applicants, doing our best to guide them in the admissions process.  A recent post in these forums covered the hot topic of timing the MBA admissions process as it relates to the job market.  We wanted to share the initial post and our response, since we feel this is an important topic for applicants to consider:

Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 12:28 am   
Post subject: General Question to Consultants on [Pursuing] MBA During Recession   

There is a debate in international MBA community on whether it is a good plan to go for MBA now when the economy in the US is going towards recession. Jobs are scant, even the Top B-school students are finding it hard to find good internships. Given the involved costs in the MBA education, does it make for International students (India,China, Europe etc) to go for MBA inUS B-schools?

Can the admission consultants give their views on which option is better:

1. MBA 2009-11
2. MBA 2010-12
3. MBA 2011-13

Thanks

——————————————————————————–

Posted: Fri Oct 10, 2008 7:32 am   
Post subject:    

Thanks for your post!

I must say that I don’t think your question is as much about business school as it is about timing the markets - and I can guarantee you that if anyone in this discussion forum could accurately predict which year would be ideal to graduate from b-school, they’d likely be very wealthy!

Keep in mind that someone applying to a top MBA program in America now will not be graduating until the spring of 2011. That’s more than 2.5 years from now. While the current turmoil in the markets is certainly cause for grave concern, I think that most reasonable people would agree that the outlook could easily be more positive in 2.5 years time.

While I cannot predict the future, my assumption is that someone who applies to business school this year and is fortunate enough to gain acceptance to a top school would likely be making a good career decision to attend.

As to your comments, I am puzzled by your claim that “even top b-school students are finding it hard to find good internships” - since current students are not yet recruiting for internships and last year’s students did fine in this regard. While I certainly expect the coming year’s students to feel the effect of the slowdown, I’m not aware of any data that has been released for this group as of yet.

Overall, my advice is that you go to business school when the time is right for your career - and not in an effort to ‘time the market.’ Keep in mind that those students who are graduating this coming year likely felt that they were entering b-school at the ideal moment - since things looked very good back in 2006 when they applied. In addition, one would hope that your interest in the MBA also relates to a desire to learn key business concepts for the long-term - something that is presumably timeless.

Best of luck,

Graham
_________________
Graham Richmond
Clear Admit, LLC
Admissions Blog: http://blog.clearadmit.com
School Guides: www.clearadmit.com/guides

Monday, October 13, 2008

Admissions Tip: Common Recommendation Dilemmas

As many of our readers are aware, letters of recommendation are a central part of the application process.  We would like to take a look at how to handle the snags that often arise for applicants in unique employment situations.

The applicant who is most likely to have trouble finding a suitable recommender is either self-employed or works in his or her family’s business. First, self-employed entrepreneurs by their very nature do not have a direct supervisor. Similarly, an applicant who works for the family business may have trouble finding a non-related supervisor, or someone who can offer a truly objective opinion.

Applicants who find themselves in this dilemma should not despair. Some applicants might be in a position to solicit a letter from a client or customer with whom they have worked extensively. In an ongoing relationship like this one, the applicant is accountable to the client and in this sense the client may act as a supervisor. A letter from a client or customer works best, of course, when the relationship has been intensive and ongoing; the writer should be familiar with the applicant’s responsibilities and the way he fulfills them, as well as his career trajectory.

Another option is to look to former supervisors for a letter of recommendation. This is a great option for an applicant who has maintained a close relationship with a previous employer. In this scenario, it is important that the applicant has kept the recommender informed about any developments in his career goals. This way, the letter will be oriented towards the future, even if it draws on anecdotes from the past.

For applicants who have pursued extensive community involvement outside of work, yet another recommendation option may exist within a volunteer organization. Someone who has contributed to a nonprofit for several years, and has taken on responsibilities at the organizational level would be in a great position to explore this option. Again, an applicant in this position should look for a recommender who ranks above him in the organization’s hierarchy and has first-hand knowledge of his contributions.

Following this criteria, in conjunction with some of the more general guidelines, applicants can wind up with insightful, enthusiastic recommendations that bolster their entire applications!

Monday, October 06, 2008

Admissions Tip: Word Limits

With applicants for the round one deadlines putting the finishing touches on their applications, the question of how strictly applicants need to adhere to word limits is perhaps more popular than ever. MBA Candidates naturally have a good deal of information they want - and need - to convey in their materials, and getting the important ideas down under restrictive word counts is a difficult task. While it might be tempting to run a bit beyond the guidelines to slip in that one extra thought, it’s important to keep the reasons for word limits in mind.

In addition to being a forum for explaining your goals and sharing your story, the essays also serve as a test of the applicant’s ability to communicate clearly and concisely, not to mention follow directions and answer a question. Because business schools and post-MBA employers place a premium on all of these elements, adhering to word counts ultimately works to the candidate’s advantage.

The other consideration is the reader’s time. Because of high application volume and the need to give every applicant fair and thorough consideration, schools are forced to limit the amount of information in each file. If you consistently extend your answers beyond the suggested limits, you are essentially asking the reader to give you more time than they are devoting to the other applicants. In other words, if you were to ignore the word limits and overshoot by 20% throughout, this might imply that you consider yourself to be 20% more interesting than everyone else who applied.

That being said, there is some leeway. For the vast majority of programs, it’s generally acceptable to exceed the word limit by 10%. There are, of course, a few exceptions:

Caveat #1: If a school gives you a range (e.g. 250-750 words), you should stay within that range.
Caveat #2: If a school gives you a page limit (e.g. 2 pages), you should stay within that limit - without excessive margin manipulation or font size reduction.

In terms of the other end of the length issue, it is likely unwise to consistently fall more than 10% below the word limits, as this is valuable room in which to share further information about your candidacy (and might signal a lack of effort).

Best of luck to all those working on their application essays!

Monday, September 29, 2008

Admissions Tip: MBA Application Data Forms

With MBA schools’ R1 deadlines just around the corner, we wanted to offer some words of advice about an often overlooked element of one’s file: the application data forms. All too often, we see candidates leave these online application forms for the last minute, even rushing to enter all the required information from work on ‘deadline day’. The truth is that a weak effort on these forms can do serious harm to one’s candidacy, as it might reflect poorly on the applicant’s professional polish or commitment to the application process. This being the case, here are a few tips for those who are in the midst of completing this component of the application:

1) Don’t be lazy. We know that many applicants feel ‘burned out’ from their essays, and that it’s tempting to zip through the application forms and provide a bare minimum of information. While it’s fine to use your resume as a starting point, make sure that you think beyond this ready-made content and consider other information that might be of interest. In many cases, the forms are a great opportunity for you to list outside activities in depth, offer a quick explanation of a bad semester, share the significance of some professional awards you’ve received, and so on. In fact, your application forms will often be the starting point for the admissions officer’s review of your file. Put your best foot forward!

2) Follow instructions. If a school asks you to list activities in order of importance to you, then do not list them chronologically (as you may have done for another school). If the school asks for a contact person, title or the number of hours/week, do not leave these fields blank. Attention to detail is very important, making spell checking another important step in this process. In fact, many admissions officers have stated that they use the application forms as a way to see whether or not candidates have the ability to follow instructions and show attention to detail.

3) Make everything clear. The last thing you want is for your reader to have to play detective in understanding your career progression, making sense of gaps in employment, or evaluating your undergraduate performance. If your listings are not clear, the reader may assume you are hiding something - a conclusion that could seriously damage your chances. By the same token, you should avoid using industry jargon and be sure that all of your statements will make sense to a reader who is not familiar with your industry or function. Given the level of competition in the applicant pool, the admissions office can afford to dismiss files that are confusing or difficult to follow.

4) Don’t go overboard. Admissions officers typically review several files in a sitting - devoting much less time than you might imagine to each file. With this in mind, avoid listing 18 activities, 22 awards and 17 publications - especially if some of those items date back to high school (or are more than 10 years old). Stay focused on the elements of your background that are most relevant, while following the instructions that have been outlined. Remember that the application process is an exercise in marketing, and that the schools appreciate an applicant who is discerning about what details to share and knows how to present him or herself most effectively.

As always, best of luck to those of you who are applying!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Admissions Tip: Know Your Audience

As applicants are coming to understand as we move towards R1 deadlines, applying to business school is an incredibly demanding process. In addition to taking the GMAT, assembling academic transcripts and providing recommendation letters, candidates are required to draft multiple essays, job descriptions, lists of activities and more.

With the obvious incentive to save time where ever possible, it’s understandable that many applicants simply cut and paste content from an existing resume and write about their work in the manner that comes most naturally. Indeed, each year countless candidates assemble their materials without ever asking a fundamental question:

Who will read my application?

While the answer to this question may vary from school to school, one thing is certain: it is unlikely that the person reading your file will have an intimate level of familiarity with your specific industry or job function. This being the case, if you use industry-specific jargon or assume prior knowledge of your field on the part of the admissions officer, you undoubtedly will lose the reader.

It’s also important to keep the big picture in mind; many applicants become so mired in the details of their own work and role that they fail to provide sufficient context for a company outsider to understand the importance of one’s efforts to the department or organization as a whole. The solution is to write about your experiences in a way that the average person will understand. While this is easier said than done, it underlines the importance of sharing your materials with an unbiased advisor (ideally not a work colleague or mom and dad) to make sure that you aren’t off-base with some of your assumptions.

To learn more about who will actually read your essays at the various schools or to inquire about our application editing services, simply contact Clear Admit with your CV/resume and sign up for a free initial assessment.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Admissions Director Q&A: Dawna Clarke, Tuck School of Business

~A CLEAR ADMIT EXCLUSIVE~

In our continuing series of interviews with admissions directors at each of the top business schools, we spoke most recently to Dawna Clarke, director of admissions at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business.

Clarke joined Tuck’s admissions staff as director in 2005. Prior to coming to Tuck, she spent 15 years in the admissions office at the University of Virginia’s Darden School, including five years as admissions director there. Before Darden, she also served as associate director of admissions at University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler.

In the interview that follows, she has interesting information to share about a new initiative called Tuck 2012, as well as some useful dos and don’ts for application essays.

Clear Admit: What’s the single most exciting development, change or event happening at Tuck this coming year?

Dawna Clarke: One of the initiatives that has been introduced this year at Tuck is a new program called Tuck 2012. One of the goals for the school is to provide the world’s best business education.

Tuck’s philosophy of business education is highly personalized and our targeted class size is 240. One of the underlying beliefs of Tuck is that the quality of student-faculty interaction is greatly enhanced by having such a personal scale. And one of the initiatives to be implemented this year is the opportunity for students to take specialized courses with Tuck faculty who are experts in their chosen career fields.

We are increasing the faculty by about 10 but maintaining the student body size, and we are introducing new research-to-practice seminars as elective courses. One of our goals is to have the most small-scale courses – with the highest percentage of them taught by full professors – of any business school.

The new research-to-practice seminars will offer students an opportunity to take a deep dive into a specific managerially relevant topic. They will be research based with a seminar format and quite small. We are really going to be differentiated in terms of the access to faculty expertise.

Another element of Tuck 2012 is that we have introduced a new class on personal leadership. It’s a required class that ensures that leadership development it an ongoing process for Tuck students.

A third element of Tuck 2012 is the goal of globalizing the program to a greater extent. There have been great strides in terms of increasing the amount of global content throughout the curriculum. We have both looked at ways to enhance existing classes and added new classes that are focused on global issues and specific global regions.

We also have expanded opportunities for students to develop a global perspective outside of the classroom. We now offer a greater variety of one- to two-week tours and treks that allow and encourage Tuck students to travel to other parts of the world. An annual case competition at Tuck also will be introduced on a global issue in conjunction with a corporate sponsor.

The introduction of Tuck 2012 is probably our most exciting addition this year. Of course, it won’t all happen at once. Adding 10 faculty members could take us several years to accomplish. But at least there is a strategy in place that supports these underlying beliefs and philosophy.

CA: Walk us through the life of an application in your office from an operational standpoint. What happens between the time an applicant clicks ‘submit’ and the time the committee offers a final decision (e.g. how many “reads” does it get, how long is each “read,” who reads it, does the committee convene to discuss it as a group, etc.).

DC: Initially what happens is an application is processed. What that means is that it is put in a folder and we make sure all elements are complete – that both letters of recommendations, GMAT scores, all the various application components are there.

At Tuck, every application is read by two admissions committee members, they are not read by student readers. After each application has been through two thorough reviews, they are all are sent to me for a final decision. In many cases, I am able to make a final admissions decision. However, there are often candidates who present clear strengths as well as areas of concern – in other words, they are “on the border.” It is extremely helpful for us to discuss those candidates as an admissions committee. At the end of each admissions round the committee meets for two to three days to finalize the decisions for that particular round. 

CA: How does your team approach the essay portion of the application specifically? What are you looking for as you read the essays? Are there common mistakes that applicants should try to avoid? One key thing they should keep in mind as they sit down to write them?

DC: I would say – this is going to sound like common sense – but I would encourage applicants to make sure they are answering the question we asked. Sometimes a candidate may be more interested in telling us what’s on their agenda and less interested in answering the question asked. We do offer an optional essay so applicants have the opportunity to articulate an element of their background that is important to them.

I find tangible anecdotes, examples and vignettes to be an effective “vivid” way to articulate a point. So, instead of saying, “I have a global perspective,” applicants might talk about a time they worked abroad or traveled abroad.

Also, I would avoid quotations. We see a fair amount of those. “As Thomas Jefferson said…” that kind of thing. I am more interested in what the applicant thinks and less what other people think.

I would definitely proofread. Do not say in your application, “Here are the three reasons I would be interested in Harvard…” It’s not always Harvard, but it does happen. Proofread.

Finally, before you do the essays, really think about the questions and try to prioritize the most important things you want to convey to the admission committee. Don’t go into unnecessary detail – keep it a little bit more big picture.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Reminder: Clear Admit MBA Admissions Strategy Seminar in San Francisco (Free!)

Thanks to everyone who turned out for Monday’s MBA admissions seminar in Santa Clara - it was a pleasure meeting all of you!  Just a handful of spots remain for tomorrow evening’s seminar in downtown San Francisco.  For details and sign-up information, please read on…

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Clear Admit will be offering a free MBA application seminar for applicants in San Francisco.  The event will be in downtown San Francisco on Thursday, September 18th and will take place from 6:30 - 8:30 PM.  Registration is mandatory and space is limited.  Sign-up details are below.

What You’ll Learn at the Clear Admit MBA Application Seminar
As the deadlines for leading schools approach, now is the perfect time to attend a seminar that will review the application process, explain MBA admissions from an insider perspective and help you to think through your overall positioning strategy as well as your approach to the essays.  Learn what admissions officers look for, how to avoid ‘red flags’ in your application, how to address weaknesses and more.  Both seminars will be led by Clear Admit’s Stacey Oyler.

About Stacey Oyler
With a mix of MBA admissions and recruiting experience, Stacey Oyler is ideally prepared to guide business school applicants toward the right schools given their background and goals - and to help them get in.  Serving as assistant director of admissions at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth from 2003 to 2005, Stacey read applications, conducted interviews and participated directly in admissions decisions. She also oversaw the waitlist process and provided feedback and coaching to candidates who were not granted admission.  Beyond her perspective on what a top MBA program looks for in its students, Stacey’s view extends into what post-b-school employers want. Upon leaving Tuck, she joined McKinsey & Company, leading all West Coast recruiting efforts for advanced degree and MBA candidates.

Prizes!
Seminar attendees are also eligible to receive several prizes, including:
• A set of five Clear Admit School Guides (a $175 value)
• A set of five Clear Admit Interview Guides (a $100 value)

How to Sign Up
Clear Admit has teamed up with our friends at ManhattanGMAT to offer this seminar.  The event will take place at the Manhattan GMAT test center in downtown San Francisco. To sign up for the seminar, click here.  (Note: These links will take you to the manhattangmat.com website. If it is your first visit to the site, you will be asked to complete a short student profile.) For questions about the event, contact ManhattanGMAT at 800-576-4628 or email studentservices@manhattangmat.com.

Thursday, September 18th, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
San Francisco Manhattan GMAT Center: 870 Market Street, 6th floor San Francisco, CA 94102
Register Now!

We look forward to seeing you tomorrow night!

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Q&A With Chicago GSB Admissions Director Rose Martinelli

~ A CLEAR ADMIT EXCLUSIVE ~

Today marks the debut of a new content series here at Clear Admit – Admissions Director Q&A. In our first installment, Rose Martinelli, director of admissions at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business (GSB), shares her thoughts and insights on the upcoming application season.

Read on to learn about some of the features that makes Chicago’s MBA program unique, as well as just what process the school’s admission committee follows when reviewing prospective students’ applications. Our warm thanks to Rose for taking time out of her busy schedule to participate in this Clear Admit exclusive!

Later this week, we’ll feature our next installment in the series, a similar question-and-answer exchange with Dawna Clarke, director of admissions at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. So be sure to check back!

Clear Admit: What is the one area of your program that you wish applicants knew more about?

Rose Martinelli: One of the most common misperceptions about Chicago GSB is that our flexibility and commitment to individual choice has an adverse impact on our community. I think it is important for prospective students to understand that our community is strong, and student commitment to this school and one another is a direct result of the flexibility we provide.

At Chicago GSB you create your own community – you develop and cultivate relationships that mean something to you as a student and future professional. Because of the flexibility in our curriculum your classmates will change regularly, causing your networks to constantly change.

At Chicago GSB you will develop vast networks and meet people from all different walks of life who share the same belief … that each path to an MBA is a personal one and success is predicated on leveraging a strong community, not competing against it. At Chicago, ideas compete, people collaborate and community, like our curriculum, is not dictated but rather facilitated through the classroom, student groups and the vibrant diversity of the city of Chicago.

CA: Walk us through the life of an application in your office from an operational standpoint. What happens between the time an applicant clicks ‘submit’ and the time the committee offers a final decision (e.g. how many “reads” does it get, how long is each “read,” who reads it, does the committee convene to discuss it as a group, etc.). 

RM: First it is important to note that Chicago GSB’s full-time program office does not start reading applications until the application deadline, and although we do not encourage you to wait until the last second to submit your application, we do encourage you to take your time to prepare the best application you possibly can.

Once you have submitted your application our operations team makes sure it is complete, prints the entire application and then passes your file to one of our admissions fellows (hired, second-year students) who reads your application. Admissions fellows make a recommendation to the committee to either invite you to an interview or not. The application is then passed on to an admissions director who goes through the exact same process. If decisions match and both members of the committee agree, a mid-decision is released to the applicant. If they do not agree, the dean of admissions reviews the files and makes a tie-breaking decision.

At mid-decision, an applicant is either invited to interview or denied admission. If you are invited to interview you are given an opportunity to sign up for an interview with an alumnus in your area or come to campus to meet with one of our admissions fellows. Interviews are standardized, and all are weighted the same regardless of who you interview with.

Once the interview is complete and the interview feedback is submitted, the complete file is given to an admissions director who has not previously reviewed the application. She or he makes a decision to admit, committee or deny the candidate.

Similar to the first phase of the process, if all decisions match a final decision is made. If there is disagreement, a file goes to committee, where a group of admissions directors debate the file and make a final recommendation to the dean to either admit, waitlist or deny the applicant.

CA: How does your team approach the essay portion of the application specifically? What are you looking for as you read the essays? Are there common mistakes that applicants should try to avoid? One key thing they should keep in mind as they sit down to write them?

RM: One thing many applicants miss in the essay section is that success in this section is dictated more by strategy than creativity. When applying to a top business school it is very hard to find something that can truly differentiate you amidst an elite group of applicants. So spending time thinking about that one creative truly unforgettable detail or topic that is going to move that committee is not realistic. Instead, think about who you are and why your life experiences to date are a good fit for that particular institution.

Realize that each part of the application should reveal something different about your qualifications, and you do not want to use multiple sections revealing the same information. Therefore think strategically. Ask yourself, “What do I want the committee to know about me?” and “How and where do I best communicate that in the application?” If you can map that out on paper, chances are your essays will be meaningful and direct.

For Chicago GSB it is always about substance and analytical thought. How cohesive is your application? How on point and logical is your thought process? And do we understand your goals and how they fit with our culture when we’re done reading your application? If you can feel confident that you addressed these questions through the entire application you will be taking a big step in the right direction.

Essays are not an island in the application. They make up a part of the continent. Do not think of them in isolation, but rather think about how they might provide greater depth about who you are. Finally, creativity is great but to quote one our faculty, it will never trump strategy.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Admissions Tip: Declare Your Love and Explain It

With round one deadlines for a number of programs just around the corner, it’s the time of year when many applicants are working hard on application essays and learning more about their target programs in the process of rounding out their ‘why MBA/why school X’ discussions. Keeping this important component of the admissions process in mind, we wanted to take the time today to offer some advice on really polishing this element of one’s file and getting the most mileage out of this aspect of your remarks.

1. Make it personal. Schools look for applicants who seem genuinely excited about their program, and the best way to bring this across in your essays is to come right out and say it. Many applicants are well-researched, but present their findings in the form of objective facts. The adcom will already know whether their program features a flexible curriculum, is very strong in marketing, or offers an international focus. What they don’t know - and what you should be explaining in your essays - is what you find exciting and appealing, and why. Stating your interest in a school by connecting its offerings to your goals and interests is a great way to help the adcom understand (and ideally get them to agree with) your opinion that you would be a good fit with the program.

2. Cite your sources. In addition to hearing about your impressions of the program, the adcom will also wonder how you arrived at your conviction that their program is right for you. Did you attend an information session or an MBA tour? Visit the campus? Sit in on a class? Contact the heads of student clubs? Speak with alumni in your current or target field? Sharing the steps you’ve taken to familiarize yourself with the school will showcase the effort you have put into learning about the program, and will also add credibility to your comments about your commitment.

3. Keep it tailored. Just as it’s important to mention aspects of the curriculum or community that make a particular school unique in comparison to others, it’s also essential that you highlight how your own interests and goals guide your discussion of school-specific elements. This approach will not only have the benefit of showing off the research you’ve done on the program in question, but will also help you to stand out from other applicants by virtue of your unique goals and interests. Sure, it’s reasonable to mention the core curriculum, as this is an important aspect of the business education, but because this could be a draw for any applicant to a given program, you would be better served by focusing on those classes that are most relevant to your particular educational needs.

Of course, arriving at in-depth knowledge is the first step in this process, and those applicants who are looking to gather key facts for their essays may want to use the Clear Admit School Guides as a starting point. Good luck to everyone who is hard at work on this challenging element of the application process!

Friday, September 12, 2008

Reminder: Free MBA Admissions Seminars in California Next Week!

 Clear Admit will be offering two free MBA application seminars for applicants in San Francisco and the Silicon Valley.  The first seminar will take place in Santa Clara on Monday, September 15th and the second will be in downtown San Francisco on Thursday, September 18th.  Both events will take place from 6:30 - 8:30 PM.  Registration is mandatory and space is limited.  Sign-up details are below.What You’ll Learn at the Clear Admit MBA Application Seminars
As the deadlines for leading schools approach, now is the perfect time to attend a seminar that will review the application process, explain MBA admissions from an insider perspective and help you to think through your overall positioning strategy as well as your approach to the essays.  Learn what admissions officers look for, how to avoid ‘red flags’ in your application, how to address weaknesses and more.  Both seminars will be led by Clear Admit’s Stacey Oyler.

About Stacey Oyler
With a mix of MBA admissions and recruiting experience, Stacey Oyler is ideally prepared to guide business school applicants toward the right schools given their background and goals - and to help them get in.  Serving as assistant director of admissions at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth from 2003 to 2005, Stacey read applications, conducted interviews and participated directly in admissions decisions. She also oversaw the waitlist process and provided feedback and coaching to candidates who were not granted admission.  Beyond her perspective on what a top MBA program looks for in its students, Stacey’s view extends into what post-b-school employers want. Upon leaving Tuck, she joined McKinsey & Company, leading all West Coast recruiting efforts for advanced degree and MBA candidates.

Prizes!
Seminar attendees are also eligible to receive several prizes, including:
• A set of five Clear Admit School Guides (a $175 value)
• A set of five Clear Admit Interview Guides (a $100 value)

How to Sign Up
Clear Admit has teamed up with our friends at ManhattanGMAT to offer these seminars.  The events will take place at the Manhattan GMAT test centers in Santa Clara and downtown San Francisco. To sign up for the Santa Clara seminar, click here.  To sign up for the San Francisco seminar, click here.  (Note: These links will take you to the manhattangmat.com website. If it is your first visit to the site, you will be asked to complete a short student profile.) For questions about the event, contact ManhattanGMAT at 800-576-4628 or email studentservices@manhattangmat.com.

Monday, September 15th, 6:30 - 8:30 PM. 
Santa Clara Manhattan GMAT Center: 2905 Stender Way, Suite 66, Santa Clara, CA 95054
Register Now!

Thursday, September 18th, 6:30 - 8:30 PM
San Francisco Manhattan GMAT Center: 870 Market Street, 6th floor San Francisco, CA 94102
Register Now!