Monday, November 10, 2008

Taking a time out

Thanks for all your comments and feedback. I'm glad you're finding the blog entries helpful. Unfortunately, I need to suspend blogging for a while to concentrate on my clients. As always, feel free to contact me with any questions.

bryan@elite-essays.com

Monday, October 20, 2008

"Push" Essays/Letters

My last post was about optional essays. Push essays and push letters are similar in that you have to exercise supremely good judgment when using them. For those of you who don’t know, "push" materials are generally additional essays or letters of recommendation that your target school does not require.

Now this sounds like a great idea, except for the fact that every applicant gets the same idea and the result for an MBA adcom is a flood of additional materials that they didn’t request and don’t have the resources to review. Some applicants send these materials even before the initial interview decisions have been announced. Complicating matters further, some programs encourage push materials for people on waiting lists.

The question is: under what conditions should you send push materials? I recommend asking yourself the following questions:

1) Is the information new? Is it a new development or has it not been covered anywhere else in your application? In the case of a push letter, can the writer say something that your other recommenders cannot?

2) Is it significant? For example, did you raise your GMAT or TOEFL score significantly? Did you get a raise or promotion? Did you complete a project successfully, especially one you mentioned in your essays or interviews?

3) Do you have permission? Did the MBA program OK the additional material or did a personal contact (perhaps an adcom interviewer) recommend it?

The more “yes” answers you have, the stronger your case for sending push materials. But like many things in the MBA application process, you will likely be penalized for poor judgment so think carefully before you send.

bryan@elite-essays.com

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Optional Essays

Let me get the first question out of the way.

No, you do not need to submit an optional essay. By definition, “optional” means you have a choice. And an adcom would rather read fewer essays than more.

Having said that, optional essays can be used strategically to explain a weakness (real or perceived) or include additional positive information that wasn’t included in the other essays. Note that some schools (e.g., Columbia, Wharton and Duke) state specifically that they only want the former. If you ignore their instructions you risk having them think you can't follow directions.

When explaining weaknesses, don’t whine or make excuses. If you have a low GMAT score, for example, don’t tell them how difficult the test was or that you were so busy with work that you could not study properly. The test is difficult for everyone and everyone is busy. Stick to the facts and wherever possible point out your strengths that may compensate for your weaknesses. Also, be proactive. If you know you have a weakness, take action to improve and use the optional essay to let the adcom know what steps you are taking. On more than one occasion I’ve recommended clients take a university extension course in calculus, for example, to compensate for a low quantitative score on the GMAT. Impress an MBA adcom with your self-awareness and your commitment to improve yourself.

You can also use an optional essay to provide balance. Introducing something personal through an optional essay, for example, is a great way to diversify a portfolio of essays that is heavily weighted towards professional topics.

bryan@elite-essays.com

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Recommenders & Recommendations

For most applicants with several years of professional experience, the best recommenders are past and current supervisors. They are in the best position to judge your professional abilities and answer the questions that most MBA schools ask. Their recommendations serve to confirm and expand on the information included in your essays. It’s really that simple. Ensuring that happens though is not simple since you don’t have control over what your recommenders’ write. My advice is: get control, as much as possible anyways. I’ll come back to this later.

The most basic rule when selecting recommenders is also simple: choose the people who know you the best because only they can provide detailed examples to support their claims. Choosing someone who doesn’t know you well simply for their title or position, or for their status as an alum will almost certainly backfire on you because the adcom will see you as more interested in surface than substance. Even worse, they may think you were unable to secure a recommendation from someone who actually knows you. Another good rule is to choose recommenders who can say different things about you, i.e. people who are not going to cover the same topics/accomplishments as each other.

Applicants are not always in a position to ask their current supervisors, especially when doing so might put you in an awkward position. Adcoms know this. It should not count against you either as long as you can find someone who knows you well. However, you should find someplace in your application to explain the situation. You could use an optional essay for this or you could even ask one of your recommenders to explain in his or her letter.

If you haven’t been working long or are applying directly from university then consider professors, bosses from part-time jobs or internships, volunteer coordinators, etc. The basic rule of using people who know you well still applies.

As much as possible, work with your recommenders. Let them know what accomplishments you are describing in your essays and ask them to confirm them. Direct your recommenders to cover different aspects of your career so that they are not duplicating each other, which is a waste of a letter. And while adcoms frown upon it, some recommenders will ask you to draft a letter for them to review and sign. If they give you the option, take it. Not only will you be able to manage the content, you’ll also have more control of the timing and will worry less about your recommenders meeting submission deadlines. Here too, work with your recommenders. Try to “interview” them with a standard set of MBA LOR questions in hand. The more feedback you get, the easier it will be to draft.

bryan@elite-essays.com

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Wharton Essay Topic Notes

Sorry for not posting recently. It's starting to get busy...

Describe your career progress to date and your future short-term and long-term career goals. How do you expect an MBA from Wharton to help you achieve these goals, and why is now the best time for you to join our program? (1,000 words)

MBA admissions committees (adcoms) are like venture capitalists – they want to “invest” in the best people with the best ideas. Your goals essay then is your “personal business plan,” expressing your short- and long-term career ambitions, their connection with your past experience, and why they matter to you professionally and personally. The most compelling goals express an opportunity that you will be uniquely qualified to pursue immediately after graduating. Your goals need to be realistic (i.e., possible given your previous personal/professional experience plus an MBA) and ambitious (e.g., a significant jump in your current organization, changing your career, starting your own organization). If not, adcoms will not be persuaded, and they will read the rest of your essays skeptically. The goals essay is the most important you will write during the application process.

Most common mistake: vague short-term goals that don’t reflect a realistic and ambitious opportunity. As is true with all essays, well-chosen details separate good essays from great essays. In the case of the goals essay, the details of your short-term plan will show how much thought and research you’ve done regarding your “business plan” as well as allow you to make direct connections to each MBA program. For example, if you plan to consult high-technology firms, then you should be looking for classes, projects, research centers, clubs, etc. that relate to those fields.

Describe a setback or a failure that you have experienced. What role did you play, and what did you learn about yourself? (500 words)

No one is perfect, and even the most successful professionals have failed or experienced setbacks. These experiences represent learning opportunities that disciplined professionals use to grow. This question requires you to recognize your role in a failure or setback. More importantly, it requires you show how you recovered and learned from your failure to become a more complete professional.

Most common mistake: not choosing a “good” failure. A “good” failure is something not too recent, perhaps from early in your career, so you can demonstrate that you had time to analyze your mistakes and make the right choices the next time you faced a similar situation. (If the school requires you to write a leadership essay as well, one strategy is to pick a failure that occurred before your leadership success. Your leadership success can often serve as proof that you grew through your failure.) A good failure also has to be a direct result of your actions or decisions, or else there is nothing for you to learn from the experience. Lastly, you should pick a failure that is “understandable” or “forgivable,” perhaps due to youth or inexperience.


Where in your background would we find evidence of your leadership capacity and/or potential? (500 words)

This is similar to a standard leadership essay, which is your chance to show how you have succeeded in “uncharted territory” through the will and ability to see an opportunity, execute a plan to leverage it, and overcome the obstacles that threaten success. Taking leadership often requires trying something new, which in turn requires winning the support of others. For this reason, this essay also presents a chance to demonstrate your teamwork, interpersonal and persuasive skills as important components of your leadership ability. By using the word “evidence,” Wharton seems to allow for multiple examples. And while they say “potential,” whenever possible you should choose an event that was a clear “win” for you.

Most common mistake: not detailing how you overcame various obstacles and instead relying on generic phrases like “persistent negotiations” or “unyielding efforts” that don’t illustrate core abilities.

Please Complete One of The Following Two Questions:

a. Describe an experience you have had innovating or initiating, your lessons learned, the results and impact of your efforts. (500 words)

While similar to the leadership question above, this topic focuses more on the creative aspects of your problem solving ability. If you answer the leadership question above, though, choosing this topic might lead to some redundancies in your application.

b. Is there anything about your background or experience that you feel you have not had the opportunity to share with the Admissions Committee in your application? If yes, please explain. (500 words)

This could be interpreted as an “excuse” essay to explain away weaknesses in your application, but the fact that Wharton offers a separate “optional” essay means this is meant as a personal experience essay. This essay can be approached from many different directions. One strategy is to concentrate on an important turning point(s) in your life to show the experience(s) that lead to your personal growth. This approach can be especially effective if your experience somehow relates to your future goals, e.g., if you spent time overseas in your teens and now you want to work internationally. You could also focus on personal accomplishments, barriers you’ve overcome, or something unexpected about you, such as an unusual hobby. The important thing is to provide insight into your personal experiences that shows your self-awareness, your personal growth, and if possible, how your personal experiences fit in to your professional life.

These notes are for general guidance only and might not apply to your particular situation. If you have any questions, please contact me. 


bryan@elite-essays.com

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Columbia Essay Notes

I've started providing notes to aid with topic choices on selected essays, particularly for new or unusual essays. Last time I covered Stanford's optional essays. This time it's Columbia.  I know the early round deadline is just around the corner, but this will be for all the late birds and second rounders out there.

(Required) Master Classes are the epitome of bridging the gap between theory and practice at Columbia Business School. View link below. Please provide an example from your own life in which practical experience taught you more than theory alone. (Recommended 500 word li
mit) 



http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4698876883776961370&hl=en

Last year Columbia asked a different but related question requiring applicants to expound on the value they would receive from an MBA education. They seem to be tackling this more obliquely with this question about theory vs. practice. (One of the criticisms against MBA programs is that they only teach theory. Columbia seems to have developed its Master Classes in direct response.)

This question asks you to walk a thin line. You have to describe an experience (in reality, an accomplishment) before which you had certain expectations, thoughts or beliefs. Then you have to describe how reality got in the way, forcing you to adapt, expand or apply the theory in a different way than expected. In other words, show how theory alone was not sufficient to succeed. You cannot discount the value of theory completely, of course, since theory is a mainstay of any MBA curriculum. By the end of the essay, you should have shown that you can appreciate the synergy of a theoretical foundation supplemented by real world experience.

(Required): Please provide an example of a team failure of which you’ve been a part. If given a second chance, what would you do differently? (Recommended 500 word limit)

This is a fairly typical failure essay with the condition that it has to have occurred in a team context. As with all failure essays, you should choose an experience in which you were directly responsible for the failure, either through your actions or inactions, in order to be able to show what you learned and how you grew as a result. Hint: try to choose something that happened a few years ago so you have the chance to show not only what you would do differently but what you did do differently.

bryan@elite-essays.com

CMU/Tepper Essay Questions

Here they are, finally. Please note that it's unclear what the length limitations are. I'll post them as soon as I can find them.


bryan@elite-essays.com

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Stanford GSB Optional Essay Analysis

Stanford's optional essays deal with multiple dimensions of leadership and teamwork. It is often difficult to separate good leadership from good teamwork, but when it comes to choosing MBA essay topics there is a difference. A leadership story, like Options 2-4, should recount how you, working alone or with a team, confronted and hopefully overcame an external problem.

A teamwork topic like Option 1, on the other hand, should demonstrate leadership that improved the team itself. In both cases, you have to play the lead role in your story. Don’t let the word “teamwork” fool you. Your team is not applying for an MBA. A final note when choosing topics: the best ones will be consistent with the theme you choose for Essay A (What matters most to you and why?)

Option 1: Tell us about a time when you built or developed a team.

If you’ve started a team at work or for a volunteer project, for example, this is a great chance to show how you built a strong team from the ground up, including member recruitment and selection, duty assignment, effective communication, mutual support, and most importantly conflict resolution. A key theme should be pro-activity. Explain what decisions you made and steps you took to avoid common teamwork pitfalls. If you did encounter problems, explain how you solved them.

Meanwhile, a “team development” story should showcase how you fixed a broken team. This involves identifying the main problems (which are often the result of poor communication), devising concrete solutions, and gaining the buy-in of your teammates. In both of these approaches, you are the leader, but your leadership is aimed at building or fortifying your team.


Option 2: Tell us about a time when you felt most effective as a leader.

An effective leader gets things done. This topic, then, requires a story in which the outcome is a clear “win”. You can start by outlining the situation, including all the factors that will eventually challenge you and your team, then explaining in detail your responses and results, and ending with the final outcome. Often these stories hinge on persuading a key person or group of persons to take a chance on an innovation that you or your team is promoting.

Option 3: Tell us about a time when you tried to reach a goal or complete a task that was challenging, difficult, or frustrating.

Despite your best efforts, not all situations end positively. By including the word “tried" this option accounts for that possibility. Instead of focusing on the final outcome, you can highlight your perseverance and problem solving ability throughout the process, much like you would do for Option 2. If you worked with a team, you can also illustrate how you kept your team motivated throughout. Please note that any good leadership story should show how you deal with challenges, difficulties and frustrations, so the main difference between Option 2 and Option 3 is the final outcome.

Option 4: Tell us about a time when you went beyond what was defined, established, or expected

A leader breaks barriers and takes responsibility in situations when other people might say, “Not my job.” Your topic can accentuate your willingness to act alone and take a chance when you have no clear support. If you have a leadership accomplishment in which there was no teamwork involved, then this might be a good option.

This essay also presents the interesting possibility of showing moral leadership, i.e., taking a firm stand on an ethical position that contradicts your superiors or colleagues.

As I mentioned, there is a lot of potential overlap between these options. Feel free to ask me about your particular situations.

bryan@elite-essays.com

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Goals Development #2: Realistic and Ambitious

I mentioned in a previous post the goals “sweet spot,” which falls on the spectrum between realistic and ambitious. In the last few days I’ve had several discussions that made me realize I should explain in more depth.

Here is a typical exchange I’ve been having, much simplified.

Applicant: “My short term goal is to be involved in IT and strategic consulting.”

Me: “What do you do now?”

Applicant: “IT and strategic consulting.”

Stop. This person has certainly provided a realistic goal. It’s so realistic in fact, that she is already doing it. And without any further explanation, an admissions committee (adcom) will likely think that she does not need an MBA.

Here are some questions that could help her refine her thinking. Will she be working with bigger clients or international clients? Will she be managing larger project teams or an entire consulting division? Is there a new opportunity in IT/strategic consulting that she can’t capture with her current skill set? In essence, she needs to define her new challenges in such a way that an MBA is clearly necessary.

Here is another example:

Applicant: “I want to help my company expand its investments overseas.”

Me: “Sounds great, but you’ve been doing that for the past few years successfully. How will these future investments differ from the investments you’ve made in the past?”

Applicant: “Oh. Well, our investments so far have been in developed countries. But in our business that means the growth potential is not as high. Our future strategy is to invest in developing countries where the potential is greater, but so is the risk.”

Perfect. This person just hit the sweet spot. He can show that his goal is realistic by referring to his past success. At the same time, his goal is ambitious because his investment direction is changing and there is more risk involved. Most importantly, an MBA is the perfect vehicle to prepare him for these changes. Finance and accounting classes will help him with due diligence. International strategy and negotiation classes will help him in his face-to-face dealings with potential partners. Study trips and an international network of classmates can provide first-hand, up-to-date information as well as inter-cultural experience that can make a subtle but important difference in closing a deal successfully.

It is also possible to be too ambitious, which is usually less of a problem and also easier to detect, especially when it comes to short-term goals. For example, if you have two years of experience in investment banking at Goldman Sachs, you will not become CEO right after graduation no matter what MBA program you graduate from.

bryan@elite-essays.com

Cornell Questions

Here they are.


bryan@elite-essays.com

Friday, August 29, 2008

The Goals Essay: An Overview

MBA admissions committees (adcoms) are like venture capitalists – they want to “invest” in the best people with the best ideas. Your goals essay then is your “personal business plan,” expressing your short- and long-term career ambitions and why they matter to you professionally and personally. You should not discount your personal reasons since those may very well distinguish your career plans from those of other applicants. After all, very few people have unique goals. Unique reasons? Yes. Unique goals? No.

The most compelling goals express an opportunity that you will be highly qualified to pursue immediately upon graduating. Your short-term goals in particular need to be both realistic (i.e., possible given your previous personal/professional experience plus an MBA) and ambitious (e.g., a significant jump in your current organization, changing your career, starting your own organization). If not, adcoms will not be persuaded of your need for an MBA and they will read the rest of your essays skeptically. The goals essay is the most important and often the most time-consuming you will write during the application process.

The above is excerpted from a 3-page PDF file I provide to my clients. If you would like a copy, please contact me.

bryan@elite-essays.com

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

LBS Questions

Here they are.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Monday, August 18, 2008

New Essay Questions: Stern & Darden

Here they are.

Resumes: The Foundation of a Strong Application

Good essays start with a good resume. That might sound strange, since the standard 1-page MBA resume doesn't provide much room. However, as a structured list of your best academic, personal and professional accomplishments your resume should be the primary source for your essay topics. And as opposed to simply describing job duties, which people in similar positions will share, a stand-out resume should detail stand-out accomplishments, which only you can claim.

There is a big difference, for example, between this:

"Responsible for helping client improve international sales in food industry."

and this:

"Developed global manufacturing strategy for leading food company, managing two international sub-project teams; playing central role in developing client as key account"

The difference is that the second example includes detail showing more context and the importance of the accomplishment. It is almost a complete story in itself, only waiting to be fleshed out. This example also shows how you can measure intangible results. While the strategy may not have borne fruit yet, the client company is pleased enough to consider an ongoing relationship. Not every accomplishment can be developed to this level and some can be refined even more. The point is to go beyond mere description and develop your resume as an overview of all the good stuff that is forthcoming in your essays and interviews.

Developing the resume is the first step I take with my clients, to give us both a common foundation and understanding of their background. Having my clients discuss their accomplishments also helps me begin identifying what I call their "core skills" - the tools they rely on consistently to be successful in diverse fields, not necessarily just work. Knowledge of these deeply personal traits is invaluable during all phases of the application process.

Consider the following line:

"One of youngest Senior Consultants, recognized as leading project manager especially for global-scope or troubled projects; excel in settling conflicting interests."

With this kind of insight on a resume, an admissions committee understands not only the nature and import of this person's accomplishments, but also "how" and "why" she was successful. Now if the client faces an essay topic (or even an interview question) such as, "Describe your most significant professional accomplishment. Elaborate on the leadership skills you displayed, the actions you took and the impact you had on your organization," (Ross, 2008-09 Application) the client has a fantastic answer: 

"My leadership, centered on my ability to settle our conflicting interests, was key to my team's success."

If you were paying attention, you would have recognized in these samples the potential for integration and consistency among the resume, essays and interview. This synergy creates an incredibly powerful application "portfolio" that will be a joy for an admissions committee to read. And it all started with the resume.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Good Questions #3

Here is the last entry (for now) in a recent series of e-mail exchanges I've been having with an applicant.

If you have questions, please let me know.

bryan@elite-essays.com

3. Looking at my profile what do you think my chances are getting into top 5 colleges assuming i get 700+ in GMAT? I understand every college looks for some special characteristic in their prospective students. Do you think i can satisfy the criterias of the top notch colleges? I think you are the most appropriate person to answer this questions as you have so much experience in admission process.

This is a very common question, but unfortunately no one can answer it accurately based on so little information. At a minimum, I would need to discuss your career goals with you, review your resume in-depth, or scan essays you've already written.  Even then, the best I could give you is an impression. I had clients who I thought fit a certain school's "profile" perfectly who weren't accepted and others who I thought did not fit at all who were accepted. I've also had clients who were accepted by a top-5 school but rejected by a lower-ranked school. Some years many of my clients were accepted at a particular top-5 school and the next year no one was even invited to an interview. How do you explain these things? There are simply too many variables to predict an outcome with any accuracy. In some ways, the admissions process is a black box and you should run far and fast from anyone claiming they can predict an outcome or that they know how to get you accepted at a certain school. 

As long as my clients are "diversifying their portfolio" of potential schools to maximize their chances, I encourage everyone to apply to their top-choice programs because I consistently help people even with low GMAT scores get interview invitations and acceptances to these programs. The only reason I would not encourage someone to apply is 1) if I honestly felt they had little chance based on several factors and 2) applying to that school would hurt their chances of applying in time to a program they had a better chance at, i.e., the opportunity cost of applying to the dream school was too high.

You are right that every school looks for "special characteristics" in their applicants. However, those special characteristics are different for every individual applicant. Your job is to make sure adcoms know your special characteristics. My job is to make sure you know your special characteristics. 


Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Good Questions #2

The second of three good questions I recently received and my answer.

bryan@elite-essays.com

2. Almost all the colleges have essays asking how can i contribute to their college culture and what all i have done to know about the program. Looking at the question, it seems like they are looking for some specific answers. Can you give me some data points on this?

It's true. Many programs want to know what unique things you can offer. For example, Kellogg this year asks:

"Describe how your background, values, academics, activities and/or leadership skills will enhance the experience of other Kellogg students."

And Tuck asks:

"Tuck seeks candidates of various backgrounds who can bring new perspectives to our community. How will your unique personal history, values, and/or life experiences contribute to the culture at Tuck?"

In my opinion it is very difficult to distinguish yourself in this manner solely based on your career since there are really no unique jobs. There are unique accomplishments within career fields, of course, but those can be addressed in other essays like the goals essay or a leadership/accomplishment essay. In addition, it is assumed that everyone can and will contribute their work experience so that means you need to base your answer on more personal qualities and experiences. Examples can include time spent living or working abroad, a hobby or interest, volunteer work, athletic accomplishments, life experiences, etc. A lot of people think this means they have to have led a team safely up Mt. Everest and back in a terrible snowstorm. This is a great story, but even so it is not a guaranteed winner if the writer doesn't explain it well or reflect on the lessons s/he learned or how those lessons might be applicable in an MBA program.

Some of the best personal essays I've read were about simple things - how swimming served as a metaphor for someone to balance relaxation and tension, or how a book given to a client by his grandfather led to his lifetime commitment to peace and a career in government service, or how living with a mentally handicapped sibling led to incredible personal growth. To me, these kinds of answers draw out truly unique personal qualities that only the writer can contribute. There are many people with outstanding work experience, but far fewer who have thought deeply about their values and interests and who have taken action successfully to pursue them.

Regarding the second part of your question, you do need to demonstrate strong knowledge of the programs you apply to. Schools will be insulted or think you are foolish if they feel you haven't done this basic homework. Your findings can be demonstrated again in the goals essay but also in a personal essay by showing how your values and interests match up with the values and interests of the program. For instance, all programs are interested in team players, so any kind of teamwork experience (especially outside of work) can provide a strong essay topic. Similarly, volunteer experience with an NPO can also be applied to the volunteer programs that most schools offer. Connecting your personal and professional experience with the specific programs offered at various MBA programs is one sure way of demonstrating your knowledge of the program.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Good questions #1

I've been exchanging e-mails with an applicant and I thought his questions were good in that a lot of people ask them. Over the next few days I'll be posting his e-mail questions and my answers. If you have questions, do shoot me an e-mail.

bryan@elite-essays.com

1. How much difference it makes when an international student applies in the second round? Is it absolutely imperative to apply in the 1st round? I don't want to reduce my chances. But in case i am not able to complete the essays properly in time, how much it will hurt if i apply in the second round? Also i will be promoted later this year. Does it makes sense to wait for the promotion and apply in round 2?

It is not absolutely imperative to apply in the first round as an international student. It is certainly helpful to apply early because schools want to fill their rosters with the best people as early as possible. However, your highest priority should be applying with the strongest application package possible, including both test scores and essays. In other words, you should not apply in the first round if you feel that you can apply later with significantly stronger materials. Every school will tell you the same thing. Another way to think about it is that applying early does not provide enough of an advantage to offset weak essays. 

It is sometimes difficult to judge by yourself if your materials can be significantly improved or not, but that is something you should be able to ask your counselor about. In the case of my clients last year, most applied to the majority of their schools in the second round and their results were very good, which you can see by visiting my testimonials page. (Please note that I only worked with a handful of clients last year as I was finishing up a masters program at UC Berkeley.) Lastly, you should remember that just because you don't apply in the first round, you don't have to wait until the second round deadline to submit your applications. For example, if you cannot apply by the October 9th deadline for Wharton, you can still apply in November and have an advantage over the people that apply at the last minute for round two in January. Schools are reviewing essays constantly, especially with so many people applying last year and this year. Consider the possible outcomes also: if you have bad materials in the first round you will most certainly be denied. However, with outstanding materials in a later round, you at least have given yourself the chance at an interview and hopefully an admit letter or a spot on the waiting list.

I think you may also be asking, "How long does it take to develop an essay set?" As you might expect, the answer to that is, "It depends." And it largely depends on how well you know yourself and your reasons for wanting an MBA. As a general rule, though, I would say it takes between 1 to 2 months to produce the first application, but if that application is strong, it should provide an excellent foundation to apply to your other schools. Your second school might only require 1 to 2 weeks depending on how similar the questions are to your first school. These numbers are broad guidelines though. Every individual is different.

As for the promotion, that is not enough of a reason to wait. If you know you are going to be promoted, then you can explain that in your essays - either in the career review section of a standard goals essay or by connecting that great result to a concrete accomplishment. You could even include it in an optional essay. If one of your recommenders is involved in your promotion then s/he can and should mention that in a letter. One thing to be cautious of, though, if your promotion puts you closer to your career goals an admissions committee might question the timing of or your need for an MBA. In that case, you should explain why, despite your promotion, attending an MBA is still the best choice for your career goals.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Latest Questions

We've been steadily adding to our list of available essay questions as well. Whenever possible, we've included links back to the original sources. Latest addition: UCLA.

All the questions are here.

Deadlines

We've been compiling application deadlines in a PDF format with links back to the original sources. I've always found it helpful to have these all in one place. The latest list will be available tomorrow. If you'd like a copy, please send me an e-mail. (For my clients, I'll send you the latest version periodically.)

We're also adding them as they are announced to our online deadline calendar here. Latest entries: UCLA and Cornell. The months are starting to fill up!

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Gangsters, Drag Queens & Hookers

A story: a few years ago I had a client. He was a good client, as almost all of my clients are. Nice guy. Strong test scores. Not an outstanding career history, but he showed solid advancement at his company and, more importantly, he showed a willingness to go beyond his basic job duties and the necessary skills to succeed in those endeavors.
 
The only problem was that he didn't have much of a personal life. He had few hobbies, but that didn't matter anyways since he had no free time. His career was his life. In fact, he was so focused on his career that when it came time to write a "personal essay" (e.g., Describe how your background, values, academics, activities and/or leadership skills will enhance the experience of other Kellogg students.) he insisted on describing how he had worked nine different part-time jobs in college to prepare himself for his job. For my client, the most important thing for the adcom to know was the number of jobs he worked. From an admissions perspective, such career focus is clearly admirable, but not if it requires sacrificing a well-balanced life. I told him to try it his way first and see what happened.

We went back and forth over a few drafts that he wrote, each one quite boring in my opinion because he was in essence discussing his career, which had been covered already in several other essays. Finally I asked him, "Which of those nine jobs was the most interesting?" He paused. Looked down. Thought quietly for a moment. Then he said brightly, "There was the time I worked at a gay bar."
 
Well. After that, he proceeded to tell me one of the best MBA stories I've ever heard. He worked as a bar back at a pub in a seedy part of town. The clientele consisted of off-duty prostitutes, gangsters, and gamblers. The owner was a drag queen. He became friends with them all and had a great experience. Now, my client went to a very conservative college and worked at a very conservative company, and on the surface, was quite conservative himself. He said his friends and parents thought he was crazy for working there, but the experience opened his eyes to a new world and introduced him to people he would have never met otherwise. He said he had been enriched by the experience.

This was the story he needed for many reasons. It provided balance to his essay set and showed a surprising and positive side to his personality. It showed a willingness to take a risk and do something unexpected that the people around him didn't approve of. It showed he was open to serving and working with people that were very different from him. In some ways it was a small story, but it had big messages. (Most applicants have these stories if you know where to look.)

I used these reasons to convince my client to write about his experience. He agreed to try, and his next draft was almost perfect. This essay became his favorite and he insisted on sending it to every school, either as a main or an optional essay. In the end, he received invitations from almost every school he applied to, and while I cannot say with 100% certainty that his personal essay was the main reason for this success, I can say with great confidence that the essay made a positive and lasting impression on the adcom and that it played an important factor in receiving so many invitations. I worked with this client several years ago, and I can still remember the details of his story. These are the kinds of stories you want to include in your application packages.

This story for me also illustrates several important things that I often tell my clients:

1) Balance among your essays is crucial.
 
2) You can write about almost anything in your essays if you handle it properly. Indeed, some of the most memorable essays I've read came from "small" stories.

3) Taking a chance in your essays by telling an unusual story can pay big dividends, especially if you have nothing to lose.

Monday, July 28, 2008

Building Powerful Applications: Consistency & Integration

We just finished uploading a Flash presentation that provides an overview of the MBA application process. It also explains one of my strongest beliefs: that consistency and integration among your essays and other application materials are key to developing an outstanding application package. It's taken from a talk that I've given many times to potential clients, and I've wanted to develop an electronic version for some time. Well, here it is. 

The presentation is not 100% yet, but the information is really valuable so I wanted to put it out there anyways. If someone is an expert on Keynote/PowerPoint/Flash, please let me know. Otherwise, enjoy the show while I try to work the kinks out. bryan@elite-essays.com 

Monday, July 21, 2008

Focus on the Basics

A client recently expressed his distress about everything he had to do to be competitive in the MBA application process. He was especially worried that he would not have enough time to attend many MBA Fairs or Information Sessions and that would put him at a disadvantage. I don't believe that is necessarily true.

While attending these events can be beneficial in terms of getting first hand information and networking, your attendance will likely only give you a marginal benefit for the simple reason that anyone can attend, which means anyone can write about the experience in their essays or mention it during an interview. From an economic point of view then, the experience is not rare, which means it's value is relatively low, and you should not count on it to distinguish you from the thousands of other people that attend these events.

Also, MBA schools try very hard to evaluate applications fairly. So if you are developing a life-saving drug or leading a billion-dollar oil pipeline financing project or if you're a high-school teacher who doesn't have the time or money to attend or if you're a soldier in a war zone or live in a part of the world where there are no MBA Fairs or Information Sessions, the schools do not want to punish you by favoring the applications of those who could attend.

Does that mean there is no reason to attend? Of course not. The events can be fun, inspiring, and informative. You can meet alumni and other applicants who can support you in the process. There is a marginal benefit to attending, just as there is a marginal benefit to visiting schools. But in doing so, you should never sacrifice precious time for the basic things that will have a definite impact on your candidacy - your test scores, essays, interview preparation, even an important work or volunteer project that you can highlight in your application. Remember, if everyone can do it, chances are it's not that valuable. Instead, focus your time and effort on the things that will truly distinguish you. Questions? bryan@elite-essays.com

Friday, July 18, 2008

Essay Questions

We're compiling the MBA essay questions for as many of the top programs as we can as soon as they are released. There are a handful of schools that have already released. Expect a lot more in August.

Click here for the list.

Attending MBA Fairs/Information Sessions

If you have the time and opportunity to attend these events, you should. You can get helpful information and make good contacts, but if you go, go prepared.

How to prepare: At the very least, you should bring lots of business cards to give to admissions committee reps (adcom reps), alumni speakers, and other applicants. In this game, the bigger the network the better. After your business cards, the three most important things you can bring with you are:

Your resume, if it has been developed well and you have confidence in it. You should offer your resume to the adcom reps you meet. “Offer” is the operative word here. Some reps will want it. Some won’t. Remember that a good resume can help you, but a bad resume will hurt you -- and it has your name on it -- so be careful. If you don’t have your resume ready, try to get a card from the adcom rep and offer to e-mail it once it is prepared.

Your goals. If you know your goals, it is easier to have a productive conversation with adcom reps or alumni because you can ask specific questions and get specific responses.

Research about each school. You should explore the websites of each school and utilize any other resources you can in advance to ask better questions, especially related to your goals, and have a better conversation overall.

The atmosphere at these types of events can be intense and intimidating. Many people are aggressive in both good and bad ways. Some people think that if they ask clever questions or “killer” questions of the adcom reps they will distinguish themselves. They might distinguish themselves, but it might be for a bad reason. The best questions are sincere questions about one thing: how the school can help you achieve your goals. The adcom reps are there to convince you that they are the best school for you. This is your chance to find out.

Even if you haven’t prepared your resume thoroughly, or if your goals are still vague, you can still enjoy the event and make good contacts. Of course you should talk to adcom reps if you have the chance. Through talking with them you can get early feedback about your goals and accomplishments, and it’s good practice for interviews later. (At an MBA Fair, if you feel too nervous talking to your dream schools, practice on schools that you don’t care about!) As you will probably discover with all MBA events (fairs, panels, school visits, etc.) there are no “secrets” to the process, only clear thinking, hard work, and the desire to show admissions committees what makes you unique. At the same time, remember that you are a “consumer” and you want to find the best MBA program to help you fulfill your career and personal dreams.

Questions? Talk to me. bryan@bryanshih.net

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Welcome!

The new blog is official. Thank you all for your patience. I'll be using this space regularly to share my thoughts on the application process, particularly the crucial points for developing outstanding MBA applications and managing the strain of the application season. I'm looking forward to keeping in closer and more frequent communication with all of you. Speaking of which, we'll be adding many more features to the website in the next few weeks, including application questions/deadlines and a multi-media application overview, so please check back.

The first topic I'd like to address is, "When Should I Begin?"

This is the question that most people are asking me so I'll take a shot at it. The simple answer is, "As soon as possible, depending on your GMAT score." If you're already in the 660+ range and targeting first-round deadlines, you should feel confident in beginning your application materials now, at least part time. In general, I advise people to begin by mid-late August if they want to apply for first-round deadlines, which this year begin in early October with Columbia, Wharton, Chicago, HBS, et. al. (Click here for deadline calendar.) Depending on their MBA program choices, my clients in this situation can usually apply to 3-5 schools in the first round with high-impact applications. Some have applied to as many as 10.

 Even if you are targeting second-round deadlines and/or still working on your GMAT score, I strongly advise all applicants to begin by late-September/early-October to be in time for the early January deadlines.There are several ways I work with my clients to make sure they are balancing their GMAT test study time with their resumes, essays and applications. If you have questions, please contact me at: bryan@elite-essays.com