This post was written by Kim Leb, an mbaMission Senior Consultant.

At first glance, applying to business school can seem overwhelming. But at the end of the day, this comprehensive process gives you a chance to show admissions officers who you really are and what differentiates you from other applicants. We will break down the requirements, but these are the basic components of the business school application:

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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.

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Each week, we are featuring a series of MBA admission tips from our exclusive admissions consulting partner, mbaMission.

By being proactive and doing some advance planning, aspiring MBA candidates can remove a great deal of stress from the business school application process and substantially bolster their candidacy. We have several big picture recommendations for applicants to consider to help them be as competitive and prepared as possible when admissions season begins in earnest. Read more

Stacey Koprince

Business Insider recently reached out to our very own Stacey Koprince for expert guidance on navigating the increasingly relevant “GMAT or GRE?” conundrum.

Stacey told Business Insider that there are only two circumstances in which a prospective b-school student would spurn the GMAT for the GRE:  Read more

We’ve invited mbaMission to share their Business School Essays Analyses as they’re released for the 2013-2014 application season. Here is their analysis for Yale School of Management. 

As we have seen several top MBA programs do this year, the Yale School of Management (SOM) has reduced its essay requirements for the current round of applicants. During the 2011–2012 application season, the school asked candidates to respond to six questions using 1,600 words; in 2012–2013, this was condensed to four questions and 1,050 words; this season, the SOM poses just two questions, for which it allots only 750 words (300 for Essay 1 and 450 for Essay 2). This reduction should not be taken as an indication that the admissions committee is less interested in what applicants have to say, however. Instead, the school is in the process of incorporating a video component into its application in which candidates will respond orally to typical essay-style questions in a spontaneous manner, without knowing the questions in advance. We therefore encourage you to make the most of your essays, for which you will be able to take your time and carefully plan and craft your responses.

Essay 1: What motivates your decision to pursue an MBA? (300 words maximum)

Yale’s first essay question for this season is very similar to the one it posed last year, but the school has doubled the word count and removed the query “When did you realize that this was a step you wanted—or needed—to take?” The focus and tone have also changed, in that the SOM had previously asked candidates what “prompted [their] decision to get an MBA,” which essentially emphasized a past event—in other words, what happened in the past to make you realize your need for this degree. This year, however, the school’s use of the word “motivates” carries with it a sense of positive, forward momentum and progression toward a goal—people are motivated to accomplish or attain things. You should therefore keep your focus forward as well and center your response on what you hope to gain from the MBA experience/education and what you plan to pursue after graduation. Identify the skills, guidance, experience and/or other factors that are key to enabling you to achieve your goals and that business school can provide. Then explain how gaining these will prepare you to succeed in your desired post-MBA position and industry.
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Catch up on some business school news and tips with a few of this week’s top stories:

Seek Online MBA Programs The Provide Travel Opportunities (U.S. News Education)

Traveling abroad can help online business students network and improve their resumes.

The Nuances of an MBA Resume (Poets & Quants)

In an application, a resume is more than a chronology of your academic and professional career.

How Getting an MBA can Help You Be a Better Entrepreneur (Upstart Business)

Whether an MBA is necessary to be an entrepreneur is the subject of lots of debate, but getting a master’s in business administration can be a huge help in getting your startup off the ground.

M.B.A. Admission Tip: Always Go for an Easy ‘A’ (The Wall Street Journal)

Business-school applicants with high undergraduate grade point averages are more likely to be admitted than those who performed slightly less well but did so amid tougher grading standards.

From a Dark Foundry to The Milanese Sunshine: Do An MBA, Says MIP Engineer (BusinessBecause)

Former technical manager of engineering giant Metec WA shares why all engineers who want to be recognized as good managers should get an MBA.

Did we miss your favorite article from the week? Let us know what you have been reading in the comments below or tweet @ManhattanGMAT