How to Get Into a Top Business School
As an admissions consultant, I am asked frequently, “How do I get into a top business school?” Many candidates believe schools want a certain “type” of candidate—perhaps one with a stellar GMAT score or a certain kind of job. Yet, in my seven years of admissions consulting, I have seen candidates with all kinds of backgrounds receive offers from top business schools. In my experience, schools are not looking for a “type.” Rather, they are looking for a diversity of industry experience, functions, countries of origin, ethnic backgrounds, and also personal interests. As you approach the upcoming MBA application process, consider the following ideas to help you be successful.
This post was written by Debbie Choy, an mbaMission Senior Consultant.
Should I get an MBA?
Do I really need an MBA? These days, with the U.S. economy booming and more and more jobs (particularly in tech) seeming to value work experience over an advanced degree, people are starting to question whether business school is the best route to where they want to go professionally—whether it is truly worth the investment. We would argue that an MBA can definitely add a great deal to both your professional and personal growth. Here are some key reasons to consider pursuing the degree:
[ This post was written by Nisha Trivedi, an mbaMission Senior Consultant. ]
MBA Career Paths: What Are You Going to Do?
This post was written by Harold Simansky, an mbaMission Senior Consultant.
A couple of contradictory truisms are floating around the business school admissions world: 1) the most successful applicants articulate a very clear career trajectory when they apply to business school; and 2) 80% of business school students go off and do something completely different from what they said they were going to do on their application.
How to Succeed in Business School
Your business school wants you to have a successful career. There’s one cynical reason and one neutral reason why: the cynical one is that if you do have a successful career, you will tell everyone you know that you went to, say, the Rady School of Management, and then those people will then want to send their application fees, and ultimately their tuition checks, to said institution, and if you have a really successful career, you may even get in touch with your philanthropic side and get a building named after you at your alma mater. The neutral one is that business schools exist to help you grow the national economy, and your success is the school’s (and ultimately the nation’s) success. Whatever your personal outlook is on the matter, your business school does want you to succeed, and knowing that can help you in a few ways.
Is Earning a JD/MBA Degree Right for Me?
Now that you have begun taking steps toward earning your MBA, you may be wondering whether a joint JD/MBA degree could be a good option for you. Or perhaps you have been considering a JD/MBA all along. After two decades of consulting MBA, JD, and joint JD/MBA aspirants, we have learned a few things about this joint degree option, so let us offer some insight into both its utility and some additional factors you may want to consider.
MBA Admissions Myths Destroyed: My Months of Work Experience Will Not Be Counted!
What have you been told about applying to business school? With the advent of chat rooms, blogs and forums, armchair “experts” often unintentionally propagate MBA admissions myths, which can linger and undermine an applicant’s confidence. Some applicants are led to believe that schools want a specific “type” of candidate and expect certain GMAT scores and GPAs, for example. Others are led to believe that they need to know alumni from their target schools and/or get a letter of reference from the CEO of their firm in order to get in. In this weekly series, mbaMission debunks these and other myths and strives to take the anxiety out of the admissions process.
“I had an internship from June to August of 2014. Will the MBA admissions committee count it as work experience?”
“I was running a lab during my Master’s program—is that part of my total number of months of work experience?”
“I ran a small business that ultimately failed—will I get credit for my time as an entrepreneur?” Read more
The Access MBA Tour is Coming to New York City and Toronto
All registrants will be able to enter for a chance to win a GMAT Complete Course or Interact self-study option with Manhattan Prep.
The Access MBA Tour, the worldwide leader in One-to-One business education events, will return to Toronto on Thursday, March 17th, from 4:30 PM to 10 PM at the Fairmont Royal York, as well as to New York City on Tuesday, March 22nd from 4:30 PM to 9:30 PM at the Warwick New York Hotel, the Advent Group announced today. Read more
GMATPrep® Reading Comprehension: Tackling a Tough GMAT Passage (part 1)
Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free? We’re not kidding! Check out our upcoming courses here.
Halfway through a GMATPrep® free practice test, I hit the passage I’m going to discuss in this series—and I groaned aloud the second it appeared on the screen.
Why? Here’s what I saw (without really reading much of anything!): Read more
The Top 6 GMAT Quant Mistakes That You Don’t know You’re Making
Did you know that you can attend the first session of any of our online or in-person GMAT courses absolutely free? We’re not kidding! Check out our upcoming courses here.
Sometimes, as you solve a GMAT Problem Solving problem, everything seems to go smoothly. You get an answer that matches one of the choices perfectly, so you select it and move on to the next problem. But much later, when you’re reviewing the problem, you realize that you picked the wrong answer entirely. Why does this happen, and how can you stop it?
Here’s Why You May Be Misinterpreting Your GMAT Score
Here’s a scenario that might seem familiar to many of you: you take your first GMAT practice test, then you see the score. Ouch! Probably lower than you were hoping for, right? Read more