Ask Jennifer@Accepted.com: Application-writing advice for the best global B-schools

[amathur]

Dear Jennifer,

I am an 'older' MBA aspirant ( Age 35, 12 years of experience in the steel Industry in India). My GMAT score is 760 (50Q, 42V). I am looking for top one-year programs catering to older applicants. I currently have an admit into the SDM (System Design and Management) program at MIT. I've applied to the PGPX program at IIM Ahmedabad, and am awaiting the final results. I'm also considering the Sloan Fellowship program at LBS, and the Cambridge University (Judge School) MBA. Which of these programs do you think best suits my profile? Are there any other programs (other than IMD/ Insead) that you can recommend for me?

Thanks!

[Accepted]

Originally Posted by apoddar

Hi Jennifer,

I really wanna thank you for answering questions here and I really admire your capacity to answer the same questions over and over again (because some how we as applicants always feel that our questions are unique.)

I would like to ask you for some generic advice while applying to B-schools.

First a quick look into my profile

-Why an MBA (interests)
---Entrepreneurship
---Technology
---International Business.
---Finance (Private Equity and not Wall Street)

Target Schools
--- The best possible in the above areas - 2008. Currently working on essays. [Stan, Sloan and Haas]

-Acads
--- IIT Kgp (7.3/10) - 2005
--- High School (84%)
--- Matric (84%)
--- Excellent Extra Curriculars at IIT - Many leadership roles - lead a team of 20 and took one of my department events to new heights. Lead a gold winning team of over 70 people during one of the inter hostel events.

-Work Ex
--- 2 years (3 years by the time I get admitted) in a start up - stellar performance. more than 200% raise in 2 years + stock options. Work directly with my onsite team. Main responsibilities - Business Analysis and Design/Architechture. Leading a team of 4 currently. Worked in various profiles (started as a software developer and then a team lead).

--- Expect excellent recos - one from my CEO whom I work with closely on the Business Requirements as he is the founder as well. (Also he is a Stern Grad, if that may help)
--- Continue with my hobbies - reading novels, current affairs, financial newspapers and dancing.

-GMAT
---680 (AWA 4.0 )

I feel my application has two weak points
---My acads (IIT + GMAT)
---and social work.

Q1: Shall I give my GMAT again to make my application strong?? Given that the scores from the subcontinent are very high.

Q2: Social Work:
I have been working on and off socially like I was an NCC cadet during IIT years.
Lead the gold winning team in the Innovation at work competition in our company(amongst 20 teams) just a few months ago, where we presented an Idea on CSR. We are currently working on implementing that.

Q3: Work Ex: How would you rate my work experience in terms of the universities mentioned above.

Q4: Keeping my interests in mind, can you suggest me some good universities in the next tier (after Stan and Sloan ). I am very confused reading all the material available on web.

Any help will be great.

Looking forward to your valuable suggestions.

-Ajwani

Hi, Apoddar. To differentiate your application you should focus on the business analysis part of your job and ignore the design/architecture part. Frankly, yes, you probably will need to boost your GMAT score for these schools: you are competing with others in the IT sector and their scores are higher. The CSR project sounds great - I just wonder if you should wait a year before applying so you can have some results from that to point to in the application. By the way, IIT is not seen as a weak point.

In terms of "rating" your work experience, it seems a bit short. Ideally, we will see a longer period of growth, and leading teams of 4 isn't as significant as other applicants who are leading 20 or more. What we really need to see is you guiding the company into new directions, not just leading a team of software developers writing code. There is a big difference.

I do believe the Stern grad's letter will carry more weight - if he is able to *demonstrate* that you are truly exceptional and will make a great addition to the class.

Good entrepreneurship programs that are a little lower down in the rankings include: Babson, UT Austin, and UNC- Chapel Hill.

Best of luck with the applications!

Regards,
Jennifer Bloom, CPRW
Accepted - helping you write your best!

From pre-application consulting and strategizing to essay and letter of recommendation editing, resumes, mock interviews, and wait-list tactics - we guide you through the application maze.
Don’t miss these upcoming chats at Accepted:
Michigan (Ross) – with Director of Admissions Soojin Kwon Koh: Wednesday, November 7, at 6:00 PM GMT
USC (Marshall) – with Senior Associate Director MBA Admissions Kellee Scott: Monday, November 5, at 6:00 PM GMT
Wharton – on the interview process with Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Thomas Caleel: Thursday November 15 at 6:00 PM GMT

[Accepted]

Originally Posted by FreeSpirit

Hello Jennifer

I would like you to please advice on my profile. Plan to apply next year.

Work Exp :

Currently an Asst Product Manager with a French MNC in India. 3yrs Work Ex.Youngest person in the company with this profile. Handle a business worth 80 Crore INR.
Previously 2 years of Sales and Marketing. Solid Achievements at Work.

Acads :

BE Electrical form NIT Surathkal ( Top 10 Engg College in India ) GPA : 3.8

Extra Currics :

Solid Extra Currics in College. Secretary/President of 3 Clubs.
Numerous prizes in Inter Collegiate Events

Currently learning French. Should have DELF A1 by May 08
Member of Toastmasters International

GMAT : Will have to retake in Feb. Will manage 700+

Schools Aiming

Kellogg/Insead/Ross/Darden/Tuck

Post MBA : Consulting/General Management

What are improvements i should incorporate in my profile to apply next year? I will have 4 yrs Work Ex then.

Thanks

Mahesh

Mahesh,
The only weakness I see is a lack of community leadership since graduation.

However, I do also wonder what counts as "solid" in your mind. My idea of solid is:
1) examples of you taking initiative, guiding the company, and making an impact
2) examples of you rising to levels of responsibility and management that surpass your peers
3) high levels of leadership (of large teams, of people who are often senior to you, etc.) through challenges
4) examples of you creating teams that didn't exist before, uniting people across borders (both national and departmental), and leading those teams to make an impact on the company and its markets

If you have these, then, yes, your application is solid!

Regards,
Jennifer Bloom, CPRW
Accepted - helping you write your best!

From pre-application consulting and strategizing to essay and letter of recommendation editing, resumes, mock interviews, and wait-list tactics - we guide you through the application maze.

Don’t miss these upcoming chats at Accepted:
USC (Marshall) – with Senior Associate Director MBA Admissions Kellee Scott: Monday, November 5, at 6:00 PM GMT
Michigan (Ross) – with Director of Admissions Soojin Kwon Koh: Wednesday, November 7, at 6:00 PM GMT
Wharton – on the interview process with Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Thomas Caleel: Thursday November 15 at 6:00 PM GMT

[Accepted]

Originally Posted by just4anshul

Hi,
I am applying to UTA McCombs and am stuck at one of the essays:


The Texas MBA is built around four key pillars of leadership. Describe an experience that you have had that clearly demonstrates your leadership as it relates to one of our four pillars: 1) Responsibility/Integrity; 2) Knowledge/Understanding; 3) Collaborative/Communication; or 4) Worldview of Business and Society.


I am an entrepreneur who owns and runs a coal supply company. For this Q, I have a very good example of setting up a biogas plant which demonstrates why I chose to diversify from coal into biogas (broader global scope) and also shows I am socially responsible (natural gas has a broader global scope too but biogas is cleaner and provides employment to rural communities).


I think it best related to the #4 of the Q - Worldview of Business and Society.


QUERIES:


1.I don’t understand what they mean by “Worldview of Business and Society”. Are they referring to a global vision and being socially responsible?


2.Do you think that my eg fits their to their view point of Worldview of Business and Society? If not, which one of the 4 does it best fit?


Any help would be great as I am trying to submit it by Nov 1.
Thanks.
Anshul

Hi, Anshul. I would go with Responsibility/Integrity. I hope you can finish the essay in time!

Regards,
Jennifer Bloom, CPRW
Accepted - helping you write your best!

From pre-application consulting and strategizing to essay and letter of recommendation editing, resumes, mock interviews, and wait-list tactics - we guide you through the application maze.
Don’t miss these upcoming chats at Accepted:
USC (Marshall) – with Senior Associate Director MBA Admissions Kellee Scott: Monday, November 5, at 6:00 PM GMT
Michigan (Ross) – with Director of Admissions Soojin Kwon Koh: Wednesday, November 7, at 6:00 PM GMT
Wharton – on the interview process with Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Thomas Caleel: Thursday November 15 at 6:00 PM GMT

[Accepted]

Originally Posted by ash123

Hi Jennifer,
I went through this post and your replies. I find them quite helpful in demistifying the admission process in varoius B schools to a great extent. I am planning to go for 1 year MBA and am currently in process of short listing the B schools and preparing for the application. I am hoping if you can provide me some advice/guidance. My brief profile is as below.


Acads:
1994 Graduate from IIT in 1994.
GPA - 8.1/10.0

GMAT:
Overall - 640 (Q50; V27, AWA5.5)

Extra:
Extar curricular: Not whole lot
Self: Indian male, 36 years age, IT profession

Work Experience:
13 years in IT industry. Have worked for 6.5 years in US at fortune 100 software companies and a year stint at a startup in 2000. Currently working as Manager in software product company with primary responsibilities of setting up and leading product teams. I have setup teams of size 50 from scratch twice in past 3 years and managed them while taking complete responsibility various product releases.

My questions:
1. I am little disappointed about my GMAT score (especially the verbal part). Woudl you advice me to retake it with some more, focused preparation.
2. I have shortlisted a few schools (1 year MBA program) - IIM Lucknow, London Business School, INSEAD, IE Business school (Spain), Nanyang (Singapore). Can you suggest whether at my current score/experience I stand any chance in the above schools. If not can you suggest other schools where I might have better chance or resource to short list others.
3. As I am working on my applicaiton I need some help with essays etc. Can you help me with them?

Thanks
Ash

Hi, Ash. Because you are 36 years of age, I don't believe INSEAD will consider you for its regular MBA program. While I don't know the specific cutoff for each program, many will try to steer you toward an EMBA at your age and level of responsibility.

In my opinion, you could stand to retake your GMAT to boost that verbal score a bit. But you can decide that after you have identified your program choices and compared your score to their averages.

I am happy to help with the essays. Just register at accepted.com (and mention PaGalGuy as your source) to get started.

Regards,
Jennifer Bloom, CPRW
Accepted - helping you write your best!

From pre-application consulting and strategizing to essay and letter of recommendation editing, resumes, mock interviews, and wait-list tactics - we guide you through the application maze.
Don’t miss these upcoming chats at Accepted:
USC (Marshall) – with Senior Associate Director MBA Admissions Kellee Scott: Monday, November 5, at 6:00 PM GMT
Michigan (Ross) – with Director of Admissions Soojin Kwon Koh: Wednesday, November 7, at 6:00 PM GMT
Wharton – on the interview process with Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Thomas Caleel: Thursday November 15 at 6:00 PM GMT

[Accepted]

Originally Posted by psah_thmey

Dear Jennifer,

Thank you for taking your time answering all these anxious potential MBA candidates.

I am currently applying to Jones at Rice MBA programme, and I am currently stumbling on their "Additional information" part.

I have already replied to their three essays: Post career goals, leadership experience, and optional essay.

However, I am absolutely clueless about what to say more that will strengthen my application.

Would you have any ideas or suggestions?

Thank you

Well, Psah_thmey, I have no idea what you wrote about in the essays, but this is what you need to show them in your application:
1) excellent career progress - outperforming peers, impact on the company
2) career goals and your plan for how to reach them
3) why Rice is the ideal program for you to pursue your MBA
4) examples of you taking initiative to lead groups (ideally those that don't need to answer to you)
5) extracurricular involvement and impact
6) ability to work well in a team

If you've shown examples of each of these, then you don't need any additional space. However, if you have a good example of one of these or would relish the opportunity to give an additional example of one or more of them, then this sounds like a great place to do so.

Regards,
Jennifer Bloom, CPRW
Accepted - helping you write your best!

From pre-application consulting and strategizing to essay and letter of recommendation editing, resumes, mock interviews, and wait-list tactics - we guide you through the application maze.
Don’t miss these upcoming chats at Accepted:
USC (Marshall) – with Senior Associate Director MBA Admissions Kellee Scott: Monday, November 5, at 6:00 PM GMT
Michigan (Ross) – with Director of Admissions Soojin Kwon Koh: Wednesday, November 7, at 6:00 PM GMT
Wharton – on the interview process with Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Thomas Caleel: Thursday November 15 at 6:00 PM GMT

[Accepted]

Originally Posted by amathur

Dear Jennifer,

I am an 'older' MBA aspirant ( Age 35, 12 years of experience in the steel Industry in India). My GMAT score is 760 (50Q, 42V). I am looking for top one-year programs catering to older applicants. I currently have an admit into the SDM (System Design and Management) program at MIT. I've applied to the PGPX program at IIM Ahmedabad, and am awaiting the final results. I'm also considering the Sloan Fellowship program at LBS, and the Cambridge University (Judge School) MBA. Which of these programs do you think best suits my profile? Are there any other programs (other than IMD/ Insead) that you can recommend for me?

Thanks!

Hi, Amathur. Congratulations on the SDM acceptance! Your age seems to place you outside of the range for Cambridge, but the Sloan Fellowship is supposed to be outstanding and is geared toward older applicants, so that sounds like one of the better routes for you.

Good luck with the application!

Regards,
Jennifer Bloom, CPRW
Accepted - helping you write your best!

From pre-application consulting and strategizing to essay and letter of recommendation editing, resumes, mock interviews, and wait-list tactics - we guide you through the application maze.
Don’t miss these upcoming chats at Accepted:
USC (Marshall) – with Senior Associate Director MBA Admissions Kellee Scott: Monday, November 5, at 6:00 PM GMT
Michigan (Ross) – with Director of Admissions Soojin Kwon Koh: Wednesday, November 7, at 6:00 PM GMT
Wharton – on the interview process with Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Thomas Caleel: Thursday November 15 at 6:00 PM GMT

[ash123]

Originally Posted by Accepted

Hi, Ash. Because you are 36 years of age, I don't believe INSEAD will consider you for its regular MBA program. While I don't know the specific cutoff for each program, many will try to steer you toward an EMBA at your age and level of responsibility.

In my opinion, you could stand to retake your GMAT to boost that verbal score a bit. But you can decide that after you have identified your program choices and compared your score to their averages.

I am happy to help with the essays. Just register at accepted.com (and mention PaGalGuy as your source) to get started.

Regards,
Jennifer Bloom, CPRW
Accepted - helping you write your best!

From pre-application consulting and strategizing to essay and letter of recommendation editing, resumes, mock interviews, and wait-list tactics - we guide you through the application maze.
Don’t miss these upcoming chats at Accepted:
USC (Marshall) – with Senior Associate Director MBA Admissions Kellee Scott: Monday, November 5, at 6:00 PM GMT
Michigan (Ross) – with Director of Admissions Soojin Kwon Koh: Wednesday, November 7, at 6:00 PM GMT
Wharton – on the interview process with Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Thomas Caleel: Thursday November 15 at 6:00 PM GMT

Thanks a bunch Jeniffer.
As you suggested my age kind of puts not a good fit for 1 year MBA program at INSEAD and possibly others as well. Also you suggested EMBA might be more apt for me. If I am not mistaken most (if not all) EMBA programs are part time/weekend programs which means that I am restricted to the schools in/around where I am currently working ie India.

This makes me wonder if there are any 1 year MBA programs where I can be accepted and age might not be a factor. I really really appreciate if you can advice me. I am not particular looking for schools in Europe only.

Regards
Ash

[apoddar]

Originally Posted by Accepted

In terms of "rating" your work experience, it seems a bit short. Ideally, we will see a longer period of growth, and leading teams of 4 isn't as significant as other applicants who are leading 20 or more.

I have lead teams of 20 and 70 people in two different events during graduation. I think they will speak of my leadership skills. Will that help and should I highlight it ?
Also, precisely this is one of the reasons I want to do an MBA - to move to a higher platform.

Originally Posted by Accepted

Good entrepreneurship programs that are a little lower down in the rankings include: Babson, UT Austin, and UNC- Chapel Hill.

Can you give me an insight into other strengths of these programs. How would you rate these on Technology and Leadership? What about their global image?

Also the other programs I am considering are Anderson and Tepper. I would like to know your view about these.

[Accepted]

Originally Posted by ash123

Thanks a bunch Jeniffer.
As you suggested my age kind of puts not a good fit for 1 year MBA program at INSEAD and possibly others as well. Also you suggested EMBA might be more apt for me. If I am not mistaken most (if not all) EMBA programs are part time/weekend programs which means that I am restricted to the schools in/around where I am currently working ie India.

This makes me wonder if there are any 1 year MBA programs where I can be accepted and age might not be a factor. I really really appreciate if you can advice me. I am not particular looking for schools in Europe only.

Regards
Ash

Hi, Ash. Yes, most EMBA programs are part-time programs where you either attend classes on the weekends or for one-week periods. INSEAD operates one that meets for one or two weeks every 6 or 7 weeks. You can attend in Singapore, France, or even Shanghai I believe.

If you are seeking longer-term immersion experiences then I suggest programs like Sloan Fellows (Stanford, LBS, and MIT have them) and USC's IBEAR. These are geared to middle management executives who are seeking the immersion experience.

Good luck finding the perfect fit!
Regards,
Jennifer Bloom, CPRW
Accepted - helping you write your best!

From pre-application consulting and strategizing to essay and letter of recommendation editing, resumes, mock interviews, and wait-list tactics - we guide you through the application maze.
Don’t miss these upcoming chats at Accepted:
USC (Marshall) – with Senior Associate Director MBA Admissions Kellee Scott: Monday, November 5, at 6:00 PM GMT
Michigan (Ross) – with Director of Admissions Soojin Kwon Koh: Wednesday, November 7, at 6:00 PM GMT
Wharton – on the interview process with Director of Admissions and Financial Aid Thomas Caleel: Thursday November 15 at 6:00 PM GMT