Every year thousands of candidates from India apply to US B-Schools. These candidates are usually apprehensive about the admission process. One faces several questions before starting his application journey. This walkthrough will help candidates to understand and prepare themselves better for their B-School process.
The application process to a B-school is administered by the admissions committee (Ad Com). The committee consists of faculty members, industry practitioners, program Director and its composition varies with each school. A senior professor usually heads the chair of this committee. This blog gives an insight to step by step process of how application is reviewed by Ad Com.
The Arrival
Once the candidate’s application is received by B-School, it is usually sent to admission office and is checked by someone in operations. It is very important to ensure that all required documents are present in application packet. If something is missing (a transcript, GMAT score, essay, etc.), then the application is put on hold. Our advice is to triple check your application before submitting it. If you forget to include something, your application might not be looked at for several weeks by an admissions committee member. You’ll end up going back and forth with someone from operations for several days. It’s not a good first impression.
First Review
If all the information is in place, the application is independently reviewed by two members of the admissions committee. The goal is to get two separate, objective opinions on the strength of the application. Each reviewer fills out a one page summary form. The form has 5 parts: Grades, Essays, GMAT, Work Experience and References.
If you are applying to a top 10 MBA school, you should aim for a GMAT score of at least 700. With over 100,000 people applying to the top 10 MBA programs, it’s important to aim high. If a candidate has a score under 700, most committee’s look further into the application to see if the candidate took the GMAT at least twice. If you got a score below 700, take the GMAT again. Even if you don’t break 700 the second time around, it at least gives the committee a more favorable opinion of your determination. This is why we tell people to take the GMAT at least a year before you plan to apply. It gives you enough time to prepare and get a good score. If you don’t get a good score, you have a lot of time to try again.
While the GMAT score is a standardized way to compare different applicants, the admissions committee takes multiple factors into consideration when looking at your undergraduate grades. A 3.5 GPA in Engineering from IIT is quite different from a 3.5 in Economics from a State University. The better the school, the harder the major, and the higher the grades, the greater ranking you’ll be given by a reviewer.
Now, if you had bad grades in school, not all is lost. Many times candidates with poor undergraduate grades are admitted if they have shown significant accomplishments after school. However, it takes time to rack up these accomplishments. Most people accepted with poor undergraduate grades were older and had a few more years of work experience and proven leadership qualities.
Essays
The third part of the review is your essays. We would say that the essays are the most important part of the application. Admission committee essays on how clear you are about your goals, ambitions, and dreams. Most importantly, they want to know you as the person. Ad com wants to understand what things in your life have bought you to this point and what you plan to do with your MBA.
Regardless of the essay questions, your goal is to give the committee a good sense of where you came from, why you want an MBA, and how you will leverage that degree in pursuit of your future aspirations. The biggest mistake I see applicants make in the essays is to focus too much on work accomplishments. Especially amongst bankers and consultants. Over 25,000 bankers and consultants apply to MBA programs each year. If you want to separate yourself from the pack, don’t waste the essays on work topics.
Your essays should be genuine, honest and of your own voice. Many times, we have seen candidates that had below average grades and GMAT scores. However, the essays were so compelling that we just wanted to meet the applicant in person, and therefore moved the application to the interview stage. For example, one applicant had below average grades as an undergraduate, but she wrote a convincing essay on the various issues she was dealing with at that time. We were so impressed that we started to look at the fact that she was able to graduate with all those issues in her life as an achievement itself.
Work Experience
Work experience is a must for admission to a top MBA program. Only a very select few people go directly from undergrad to MBA. The average length of work experience is four years. For a while, some schools starting to consider five years of work experience the average. However, corporate recruiters complained to MBA programs that they did not want MBA graduates to be too old when they re-entered the work force.
The most important thing the committee wants to see in your work experience is how you have progressed within your field. Were you were promoted more often, and given more leadership responsibility than your peers? While many bankers and consultants apply for MBA programs, it is actually quite hard to get into one of the top MBA programs from these fields. With so many applicants within the same field, it’s tough for a candidate to separate themselves from the pack.
This is one of those times where working in a non- traditional field is an asset. Every MBA program wants a diverse class. The more unique your work experience, the better shot you have of getting accepted.
Letters of Recommendation
The final part of the first review is your reference letters. Many times, people get recommendations from people they think would impress the committee. We have gotten recommendations from senators, CEOs, and world leaders. Unless the applicant worked directly for the recommender, these letters of reference are usually very vague and un-insightful. It’s better to get a reference from someone who has had direct supervision responsibility over you and can talk about your accomplishments with firsthand knowledge.
Skill Maestro offers comprehensive test preparation and study abroad counseling to students aspiring to go abroad for further studies. Skill Maestro trains for international tests like GRE, GMAT, SAT, TOEFL & IELTS required for study abroad. Our counselors and faculty believes in customized coaching for each candidate based on their requirement for the tests. The classes are conducted in various batches as per the convenience of the students.
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