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

[lexsite]

Many thanks for your reply.

I did not quite understand the point about length being a factor....I'd have a minimum of three years' experience by that time which, I believe, isn't spectaculary low.

Additionally, I didnt quite understand the LEADERSHIP bit that your dwelt on. I had a number of leadership experience at my previous workplace. I always believed that participating in extra and co-curricular activities was an indicator of leadership potential. Maybe our views differ. And while I am passionately involed in some REAL community work...I do not believe that I need to be involved full time in community work, as suggested by you, to show case my leadership abilities.

I further fail to see why academia doesn't have any impact or entrepreneurial spirit. Again, I believe, its a perception thing. Considering that I'd be conducting two full credit course from start to finish, including framing the course content, it should be taken as anything other than a lack of "entrepreneurial spirit" or "leadership".

I welcome your thoughts.

Thanks and Regards,

Originally Posted by Accepted

Hi, Lexsite. Your career seems to be off to a good start but the biggest weakness I see in it is its length - I just don't know if you can show the type of leadership and impact that the ad com's are looking for. And the move to academia will make that all the more difficult. You may need to pursue an entrepreneurial venture or take a significant leadership role in the community to demonstrate that you have the charisma and personal abilities that the top MBA programs are searching for.

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:
Cornell – with Director of Admissions Randall Sawyer: Wednesday, October 24 at 6 PM GMT
INSEAD – with Marketing Manager Cassandra Pittman: Monday, October 29 at 5 PM GMT

[Accepted]

Originally Posted by sidchib

Dear Jennifer,
Kindly look at my condensed profile and answer the queries mentioned below:
My profile
- Age -31 yrs
-10 years in the Army in varied capacities ranging from commanding a company fighting insurgents in the Kasmir valley, handling logistics, administration and welfare of appx 2000 troops employed in conventional and non- conventinal role to commanding a company- equivalent in an Armoured Div.
- Got selected to do an engineering course in an army institute and completed my degree in IT & Telecom with an aggregate CGPA of 8.33/9
- Have a pretty decent academic record in X(87%) and XII(87%)
- Have been selected for the Army Squash Team and been a keen sportsman , with participation in almost all games at the unit level.
- GMAT given twice: improved from 650(49,30) to 710(49,37)
- Was associated with an NGO in the Army.

Queries
- Is the profile strong enough to apply to the top b-schools(one year)?
- I am married with two kids having minimal savings. What are the chances of getting some financial assistance from the school? Also,is there any scope of my wife taking up the job to minimise the financial burden?
- What are the key factors that the admission commitee looks for in an essay or resume?

Hi, Sidchib. At 31 years of age, you are a bit older than the traditional MBA programs are aiming for, but still within the range for most one-year programs. To stand a chance you will need to demonstrate your leadership, initiative, and impact - and those will need to be signfiicant. Your GMAT score means you are in the running, but the rest depends on what you've done in your military career and community to make a difference on your squadron, division, and country. You will also need to explain very clearly why the MBA is the missing ingredient to you reaching your career goals.

Many schools offer scholarships and help you out in the loan process with a bank, but whether your wife can work in the country in which you study depends on visa issues etc. of which I have no knowledge. You can probably find that information on the internet.

Best of luck in 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:
Cornell – with Director of Admissions Randall Sawyer: Wednesday, October 24 at 6 PM GMT
INSEAD – with Marketing Manager Cassandra Pittman: Monday, October 29 at 5 PM GMT

[Accepted]

Originally Posted by lexsite

Many thanks for your reply.

I did not quite understand the point about length being a factor....I'd have a minimum of three years' experience by that time which, I believe, isn't spectaculary low.

Additionally, I didnt quite understand the LEADERSHIP bit that your dwelt on. I had a number of leadership experience at my previous workplace. I always believed that participating in extra and co-curricular activities was an indicator of leadership potential. Maybe our views differ. And while I am passionately involed in some REAL community work...I do not believe that I need to be involved full time in community work, as suggested by you, to show case my leadership abilities.

I further fail to see why academia doesn't have any impact or entrepreneurial spirit. Again, I believe, its a perception thing. Considering that I'd be conducting two full credit course from start to finish, including framing the course content, it should be taken as anything other than a lack of "entrepreneurial spirit" or "leadership".

I welcome your thoughts.

Thanks and Regards,

Lexsite,
You say you welcome my thoughts, but you sound downright offended by them. I am only trying to be honest and open with you about the issues that the admissions committee is going to have with your background. Do you plan on arguing with them when they have these concerns?

Now may be a good time to define Leadership. Teaching is not really leadership. Mentoring is not leadership either. Real leadership is taking people who don't necessarily agree with you and steering them through a situation, problem, or crisis. When you take a large group of diverse people and get them to follow you in thought and action to make a significant impact on an organization, company, or community, then you've led. Until you've done that, you have not led. At least, you have not led enough for the top MBA programs.

I don't believe you have to dedicate yourself to the community full time; I'm sorry you misunderstood me. What I said was that your law career doesn't sound like it has given you the opportunity to lead - so don't despair; you can still find that opportunity to lead in the community (or among the faculty where you will be teaching, or on campus, etc.). This does not need to be full time but it does need to be significant - tackling an issue or problem, guiding a group to extend themselves beyond what they thought possible, and making an impact (preferably quantifiable ).

I agree that it is all perception. Luckily, you have several essays in which you get to shape the ad com's perception. I am pointing out the issues you will need to address in those essays. Do this well, and you're in!

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:
Cornell – with Director of Admissions Randall Sawyer: Wednesday, October 24 at 6 PM GMT
INSEAD – with Marketing Manager Cassandra Pittman: Monday, October 29 at 5 PM GMT

[lexsite]

My sincere apologies if you thought I sounded offended. I assure you I am not. Difference of opinion is always welcome.

Now to the substance of your argument. While I dont necessarily agree with your definition of leadership, I'd use it nonetheless. According to that definition, no profession, on its own, symbolises "leadership". Indeed, it essentially says that leadership is what one makes of opportunities that present themselves. Its my humble submission then, if that is indeed the case, that teaching a set of highly qualified student (who know a thing or two about seeing things differently and hence taking different positions) presents the maximum of such opportunities. In contrast to, for example, software coding. This, ofcourse, is how I see things.

Thanks and regards,

PS: It, ofcourse, remains for me to craft my essays in such a manner that portrays my leadership experiences optimally. It wouldn't be possible to highlight them in such forums.

Originally Posted by Accepted

Lexsite,
You say you welcome my thoughts, but you sound downright offended by them. I am only trying to be honest and open with you about the issues that the admissions committee is going to have with your background. Do you plan on arguing with them when they have these concerns?

Now may be a good time to define Leadership. Teaching is not really leadership. Mentoring is not leadership either. Real leadership is taking people who don't necessarily agree with you and steering them through a situation, problem, or crisis. When you take a large group of diverse people and get them to follow you in thought and action to make a significant impact on an organization, company, or community, then you've led. Until you've done that, you have not led. At least, you have not led enough for the top MBA programs.

I don't believe you have to dedicate yourself to the community full time; I'm sorry you misunderstood me. What I said was that your law career doesn't sound like it has given you the opportunity to lead - so don't despair; you can still find that opportunity to lead in the community (or among the faculty where you will be teaching, or on campus, etc.). This does not need to be full time but it does need to be significant - tackling an issue or problem, guiding a group to extend themselves beyond what they thought possible, and making an impact (preferably quantifiable ).

I agree that it is all perception. Luckily, you have several essays in which you get to shape the ad com's perception. I am pointing out the issues you will need to address in those essays. Do this well, and you're in!

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:
Cornell – with Director of Admissions Randall Sawyer: Wednesday, October 24 at 6 PM GMT
INSEAD – with Marketing Manager Cassandra Pittman: Monday, October 29 at 5 PM GMT

[Accepted]

Originally Posted by lexsite

...no profession, on its own, symbolises "leadership".....leadership is what one makes of opportunities that present themselves.

It, ofcourse, remains for me to craft my essays in such a manner that portrays my leadership experiences optimally.

Exactly, Lexsite! It doesn't matter what industry you are from, you must demonstrate that you have taken full advantage of opportunities, led people, and made an impact. You don't need to list the ways you have done that for me or this forum; you just need to make sure that you do it well in the application.

Best of luck with it!

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:
Cornell – with Director of Admissions Randall Sawyer: Wednesday, October 24 at 6 PM GMT
INSEAD – with Marketing Manager Cassandra Pittman: Monday, October 29 at 5 PM GMT
Michigan (Ross) – with Director of Admissions Soojin Kwon Koh: Wednesday, November 7, at 6:00 PM GMT

[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

[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

[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

[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

[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