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

[Accepted]

Originally Posted by applicant

Hi Jenifer,

I wanted your advice on letters of recommendation.
I will be applying to Darden, UNC and ISB for the session starting in 2009, when I will have 4 years of experience.
I have worked at one company for 1 year (straight out of college) and then moved into my current company (one of the big four consulting firm).
My questions:
1. Does a reco from my first company hold much value (since I was just a fresher then)?

2. Does the designation of the recommender matter much? Since asking for a reco from my immediate supervisor (who is a Principal consultant) is a bit dicey, I've asked for the same form another senior member from my team (designation: Senior Consultant). Wanted your opinion about whether that's OK.

3. Who do you think would be a good choice for a second recommender?

Regards,
Applicant

Hi, Applicant. Unless you achieved some truly unparalleled feat in that first year of work experience, then I agree that a recommender from that role would probably add little value.

Ideally, someone with a good deal of experience (say, 10 years or more) will write your letter of recommendation. He needs a great number of years of experience to draw on to make a truly relevant comparison to your peers and others who have held your role before. While it does not need to be your direct supervisor, he or she does need to have seen you in action to share relevant examples of your leadership, insight, business acumen, and initiative.

The second recommendation is tricky, I agree. Don't make the mistake of having someone else tell the same stories about you as the first. If there is another professional in the firm who knows you and saw another set of leadership activities and impact from you, then by all means he or she can write the letter; however, if another letter from within the firm will just mean a rehash of the same material, look elsewhere. You can consider a mentor, a leader in an organization in which you are involved, a former military superior, etc. The key is for this person to share insight into what you have done, how you have done it, and how this far exceeds the norm for someone of your age and experience.

Best of luck,
Jennifer Bloom, CPRW
Accepted – Helping you write your best!

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[Accepted]

Originally Posted by Shiningthistime

I will have 5 years of work ex with a Finance -BPO this Nov'08.I am assistant manager and a graduate (B.sc lifescience) Academics not so good infact very avrage,Profile - nothing much. what can i do get upto the mark of making my profile worthwhile and how much the minimum score required for a guy like me to make it to good B-schools like ISb, NUS or may be schools in US and UK.
Would really appreciate !!!

Gosh, Shiningthistime, that's a tall order!

I would say the first thing you need to do is read the Finance Professional's Guide to MBA Admissions Success. This ebook is all about helping finance guys (and gals!) differentiate themselves from the myriad other MBA applicants from that field.

It sounds like you have a lot to fix. To overcome a low GPA consider taking additional courses, particularly those in areas in which your GPA suffered. If you have a low GMAT, boost it to over 700.

But the key, frankly, will be beyond those. The key will be in demonstrating in your essays that you have unique and interesting experience to share with the class. Highlight examples of your leadership and impact in your application so that the admissions committees will be excited by what they and the class will gain from your sitting in one of the chairs. Detail some of the challenges you have faced and your thought processes and actions in overcoming those challenges. Describe your role in your professional team and greater community so that the admissions committees obtain the full picture of your exciting background and impact. Inspire the ad com with your goal and ability to reach it.

Like I said, that's a pretty tall order!

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.

[Accepted]

Originally Posted by arunsdevine

Hi Jennifer!

Would sending a document detailing the plans for fulfilling my vision along with my application, enhance my chances of admission? Assuming that the quality of the plan is pretty good, of course!
Inevitably, the document would contain details of a big hole where the mba program would fit in!

Also, the following is my profile:

GMAT: 700/4.5
U.G: B.E - 3.8 GPA - NIT Surathkal (Top 10 college in India)
Indian/IT/Male
8 Months International Experience
Extra Curriculars: In College: Multiple instances of managing about 7-10 people to organize certain events.
Learning French.
Work Experience: 2 years (now); Trying for 2009.

At Work: No Managerial experience. But I have conducted motivated and trained my team mates to improve their creativity, which is starting to show results. I expect the manager to vouch for the quality of this initiative.

What would be my chances at Europe's Top 10-15 if i am trying for programs starting in Fall '09? What are the kind of things I should consider to improve my chances?

Arunsdevine,

You cannot attach additional documents to your application, but you can certainly use the career goals essay question to detail how you plan to reach your goals (as long as you stay within the essay's word limits).

I do believe you may need a few more years of experience to prove yourself ready for the MBA. The programs outside of India are usually interested in applicants in their mid- to late-20's who have gained experience leading larger teams to make impacts on their companies. If you have not yet earned the opportunity to do that, then I suggest you determine an area where you can take that kind of initiative. The good news is that your GMAT score lasts five years for most programs, so if you are able to make these types of advances in the next two years, the score should still be valid. One less detail to worry about!

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.

[sonofagun]

Hi Jennifer,

Guess, you missed my post.

Could you give a heads-up on my profile. Thanks.

I am an indian applicant and am aiming for Harvard, Stanford, Tuck, Chicago, Cambridge, IMD and INSEAD. I plan to make a career switch - post my MBA i plan to start my second career as a strategy consultant and later would like to come back to India to work in a general management role. I have done a MBA earlier and have 5 years of post MBA work-experience in an Indian blue-chip company and a global healthcare major.

I have been fortunate enough (due to my earlier MBA) to lead large teams from day one of my professional career and my work-ex has been in rural business (a very innovative business model followed by an indian company) and in sales of medical products. In both the above companies i have been a part of start-up divisions and hence have gathered varied functional exposure (recruitment, training, sales, marketing, business development) and had loads of fun

I have won several awards at work (best business manager in 2007, Best business idea award) and have enough leadership experience and successes (no such awards during school and undergrad, though I have secured an "A" grade throughout my academic career). I was recently promoted and made a few mistakes that would be worth writing about in some of the essays

Currently I am working in India for a healthcare major in a middle management sales position. I intend to apply this year. I have following extracurriculars:
Community development and Extra curricular - worked with NGOs to build check dams in rural areas, adult literacy program and adopted 2 rural schools (raised money from my current company and ran the mumbai marathon to raise pledges in support of my initiative). I captain my company cricket team and am also one of the founder members of the sports club. Besides the above, I have found a youth forum in college and am an alumnus of AIESEC (an international youth forum)

Why a second MBA: a) to get an intl outlook - an opportunity to interact with people from different parts of the world and learn from diversity. b)For career switch to consulting. c) To convert my weakness - lack of international exposure - to strength

My GMAT score is 690 (AWA - 5.5). I have negligible international work ex, though my current company has given me adequate exposure to work in a very diverse and challenging environment

Thanks for your help.

[gaurav.inf]

Hi Jennifer,

I am 27 years old male engineer from India.
I am aiming for top business schools (Preferably 1 year) outside India. I would highly appreciate if you can review my profile and suggest which colleges I should target.
My profile:

1) GMAT: 690
2) UG: Excellent acads - Silver Medalist (From one of the Top Engineering colleges in India)
3) Extracurricular: Average
4) International Work-ex: More than 2 years in UK
5) Total Work-Ex: Around 6.5 years by Sep, 2009 (Working in Infosys Technologies)
- Working as a team leader from last 2.5 years
- Rapid Promotion to Project Lead's position
- Received couple of awards
6) Involved in community work.
7) Learning French

I am working in projects related to Manufacturing services (Aerospace & Auto Domain) and want to work in Management Consulting post-MBA in same field.

Could you please evaluate my profile and suggest me the right colleges?

Thanks,
Gaurav

[paritoshagarwal]

Hi Jennifer,

I have recently graduated from India's top ranked undergraduate business school and have taken up a job with a big four consulting firm in the Advisory division. I have 2 questions:

1) Most top ranked business schools in the US now mention that they do consider early career applicants (even recent graduates) for a place, to what extent does this hold true?
Would you suggest an early application, say within the next 2 years with this profile?

2) If not, as a potential aspirant for a top ranked international business school, what can I do in the next few years to increase my chances of getting accepted?

My profile is as follows:

high school-89%
college-82% BBA
consistently ranked amongst the top 2 percent of the university with a few appearances in top 3 ranks.

extra curriculars:

Initiated the college year book tradition from year 2007 onwards which was widely appreciated and applauded.
Managed 2 large scale college events leading a team of 40+ people.
Won distinctions in debate and western freestyle dance in both intra and inter university competitions.
Winner of most innovative business idea and runner up for best sales pitch in a business fest.
Elected student representative.
Led a team of 7 from college in a national level management fest and was All-India runner up for the best manager title.
Runner up in an inter university group case study competition.
college personality contest runner up.

distinct achievements:
elected youth leader of a 50,000 strong ethnic community organization while in freshman year.
participated in a government anti-incumbency movement while in school.

regular blood donation and participation in social causes through clubs and societies.

[Accepted]

Originally Posted by tank_I

hi jennifer !

I found the thread very informative and appreciate your invaluable advice to fellow aspirants. Can you take a look at my profile ?




10th 93.6% cbse
12th 85% cbse (do they count newhere in the app ?)
Lotsa school level cerificates - NTSE , Maths /physics/chem olympiads, Appreciation for CBSE 10th performance from the Prime minister etc (Do these count ?)

Integrated M.Tech in Mathematics n Computing from IIT Delhi-GPA 5.8
(does a 5 yr. integ masters count as a masters and is it in ne way helpful ?)

Work-ex (26 mths as of date)
* 8 mths in a leading analytics company working in CPG domain for Procter and Gamble - building marketing mix models.

* 18 mths in an outsourcing startup (big names) - Work ranging from analytics to product development to operations support in consumer banking Risk Management. Includes two 3 month onsite stints @ 2 of the top 5 US Consumer banks.
Have delivered some good projects including a Fraud Risk Management project that has been implemented and is set to save the client more than $1MM every quarter.
Currently working in the US Subprime Mortgage division of a bank (Right in the middle of the Storm).

Have done 3 summer internships while in college - in Spain, South Korea n Denmark (do they add value in terms of cultural/int'l exposure ? I have gone backpacking through most of Europe)

Recommendations: 1. Direct Supervisor - with over 30 yrs experience in Indian and Int'l Banking
2. Client VP in a top US Bank (is there a way to leverage the profile of the recommender in the recommendation forms or the optional essays ?)

Community Service: Some work in the field of education for children from economically backward families.
Extra Currics: Avg in college / some work in event organisation (A talent hunt competition) in my hometown.
Languages - Korean (elementary, took a 2 mth course while I ws in Korea), Spanish (picked up from everyday use while I was in Spain and I do listen to spanish music and watch spanish movies a lot, so tht helps), bengali (no bong connection , learnt it in shchool) - Does portrayin as being multi-lingual to an extent help in ne way ?

Expectations - Frankly am yet to decide on whether I am looking for a consulting career or a fin career, and I want to use MBA as an opportunity to help me decide(can this sorta reasoning be helpful or will it show lack of direction ?). Long term career interests -entrepreneurship in India

GMAT - Scheduled for 29th July

The schools that I am looking forward to are
Realistic
1. Tuck
2. Chicago
3. Columbia
Safety
1. Cornell
2. Duke
3. ISB
4. Judge
Stretch(If I crack GMAT 770 + kinds)
1. Harvard
2. Wharton



PS: I am planning to apply R1. Is that Ok or will a R2 (will help me add more work-ex to my story) be better?

Hi, Tank. The only academic statistics that the admissions committees rely on are GMAT and GPA. Yes, your GPA is sad, so you may want to compensate with additional courses or yes, that GMAT of 770 .

So far in your post you haven't really shown me how you have demonstrated your business acumen to make an impact on your companies and clients. The admissions committees are seeking the rare applicants who truly understand how to work with and lead people to exceptional results. You need to think of examples of you doing that either at work or in the community and share the details of how you did it in the applications.

I like the foreign experience and do think it differentiates you, but you will need to demonstrate in the applications that you did more than just spend time in Spain, Korea, and Denmark; we need to see how you adapted to the cultural differences and served as a bridge for others.

To leverage the recommenders' profile, he needs to share his own insight into the impact of other people of your age and role and how you have far surpassed those others. Anything less is really not helpful.

I would recommend that you identify one career goal (for the schools that require that essay) instead of stating that you are undecided (schools like HBS actually do not require that question because they do recognize that there is some leeway during school). Whichever goal you choose, you need to write about how your background and experience has prepared you to succeed in that field.

Statistically, I think R1 is a bit easier to earn an acceptance, but be sure you are ready: with the right GMAT, experience, essays, and letters of recommendation or push it off to R2.

FYI: The programs you listed as safeties are by no means assured admits. You will need to demonstrate to them too that you are truly exceptional since there are so many applicants from India applying with similar backgrounds to yours.

Best of luck,
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.

[Accepted]

Originally Posted by ajsin

hi, im from india,i have 15 years of education . a 3 year b.a in economics and 3 years of work ex. do i need 16 years of education to apply to the states,
i will be applying in round one for august intake. please let me know asap
and if so what options do i have to complete 16 years of education cheers

Hi, Ajsin. Some MBA programs do accept just 15 years of education. Some of the ones I know of are Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Columbia,NYU, Chicago, MIT, Kellogg, Tuck, Yale, Duke, Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, UVA, Rochester. You should certainly confirm this information with the schools themselves before applying though.

Good luck,
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.

[Accepted]

Originally Posted by sonofagun

Hi Jennifer,

Could you give a heads-up on my profile. Thanks.

I am an indian applicant and am aiming for Harvard, Stanford, Tuck, Chicago, Cambridge, IMD and INSEAD. I plan to make a career switch - post my MBA i plan to start my second career as a consultant and later would like to come back to India to work in a general management role.
I have done a MBA earlier and have 5 years of post MBA work-experience in an Indian blue-chip company and a global healthcare major.

I have been fortunate enough (due to my earlier MBA) to lead large teams from day one of my professional career and my work-ex has been in rural business (a very innovative business model followed by an indian company) and in sales of medical products. In both the above companies i have been a part of start-up divisions and hence have gathered varied functional exposure (recruitment, training, sales, marketing, business development) and had loads of fun

I have won several awards at work and have enough leadership experience and successes (no awards during school and undergrad, though I have secured an "A" grade throughout my academic career). I was recently promoted and made a few mistakes that would be worth writing about in some of the essays

Currently I am working in India for a healthcare major in a middle management sales position. I intend to apply this year. I have following extracurriculars:
Community development - worked with NGOs to build check dams, adult literacy program and adopted 2 rural schools (raised money from my current company and ran the mumbai marathon to raise pledges in support of my initiative). I captain my company cricket team and am also one of the founder members of the sports club. Besides the above, I have found a youth forum in college and am an alumnus of AIESEC (an international youth forum)

Why a second MBA: a) to get an intl outlook - an opportunity to interact with people from different parts of the world and learn from diversity. b)For career switch to consulting. c) To convert my weakness - lack of international exposure - to strength

My GMAT score is 690 (AWA - 5.5). I have negligible international work ex, though my current company has given me adequate exposure to work in a very diverse and challenging environment

Thanks for your help.

Hi, Sonofagun, your profile looks good and I only have one concern: your age. If you are 30 or over, the schools start considering you EMBA material because you are less sought after by recruiters. You didn't mention your age, but my rough calculation puts you around there.

I do think that your background makes you interesting to the schools you mentioned. Be sure to share examples of your mindset as you have guided those teams and the impact you were able to make. The most important message is that you really do need the MBA education and not just the network - otherwise, they will worry that you are just keeping a seat warm and not really contributing.

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.

[paritoshagarwal]

Originally Posted by paritoshagarwal

Hi Jennifer,

I have recently graduated from India's top ranked undergraduate business school and have taken up a job with a big four consulting firm in the Advisory division. I have 2 questions:

1) Most top ranked business schools in the US now mention that they do consider early career applicants (even recent graduates) for a place, to what extent does this hold true?
Would you suggest an early application, say within the next 2 years with this profile?

2) If not, as a potential aspirant for a top ranked international business school, what can I do in the next few years to increase my chances of getting accepted?

My profile is as follows:

high school-89%
college-82% BBA
consistently ranked amongst the top 2 percent of the university with a few appearances in top 3 ranks.

extra curriculars:

Initiated the college year book tradition from year 2007 onwards which was widely appreciated and applauded.
Managed 2 large scale college events leading a team of 40+ people.
Won distinctions in debate and western freestyle dance in both intra and inter university competitions.
Winner of most innovative business idea and runner up for best sales pitch in a business fest.
Elected student representative.
Led a team of 7 from college in a national level management fest and was All-India runner up for the best manager title.
Runner up in an inter university group case study competition.
college personality contest runner up.

distinct achievements:
elected youth leader of a 50,000 strong ethnic community organization while in freshman year.
participated in a government anti-incumbency movement while in school.

regular blood donat