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 GRE 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 series, mbaMission debunks these and other myths and strives to take the anxiety out of the admissions process.

The perfect MBA applicant does not exist. However, a perception of the perfect applicant does—an individual who is scaling greater and greater personal, community, and professional peaks unabated until he/she finally applies to business school. So, those who take time off at any point perceive themselves as disadvantaged. They worry that the admissions committees will see the gap(s) in their resume and dismiss them outright. After all, they probably have numerous more determined individuals they could admit, right? Read more