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January 19, 2012

What is the Best Business School for a Career in Finance?

Filed under: Application ideas,Berkeley Haas,Chicago Booth,Harvard Business School,Stanford GSB,Wharton — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 12:07 pm

Because I worked for Goldman Sachs right out of business school, later worked in investment management, and now consult with companies like BlackRock, lots of people ask what MBA program they should attend if they want a career in finance.  And they also wonder if they should go to graduate school at all. For the purpose of this article, let's assume you want to pursue an MBA.

Riches can be yours!

Here’s what it does not depend on: rankings.  Rankings have something to do with what business school or finance degree you might want to research, but they won’t tell you whether it’s the right program for you.   And rankings are all over the place.  A few months ago, I wrote a blog post on this subject with lots of quotes from the Assistant Dean at Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business. Tuck has been ranked overall #1, #6, #7, #14, #18, depending on who you talk to, and encourages students to look beyond the actual listing.

Figuring out the Right Path

So which of the top schools might be better in corporate finance, or M&A, or hedge funds, or private equity? Is Wharton better in finance than Harvard, or is Stanford the best way to get a job in venture capital?  There are a lot of opinions all over the internet – and many of them are simply wrong.  So what should you believe?  You’ve got several ways to figure this out.

1.  See who is recruiting at your target school.  Not everyone gets a job on campus, but take a look at the recruiting list for any school. You can usually find it through their employment report. Here is Columbia Business School’s  employment report, for example. The list of recruiters starts on page 10. Or here’s UC Berkeley Haas’ list of companies that have come on campus.  Examine it carefully. You might not find some of the big New York PE shops, but you’ll find Cambridge Associates, which for you, might be an even more likely stepping stone into venture capital, private equity, or hedge funds.

2.  Visit the schools and/or talk to students about their experiences. With LinkedIn and Facebook, you must know someone who knows someone.  Many schools put student contact information right on their website, for example, see this list of student ambassadors from Michigan Ross or NYU Stern. Others, like Harvard Business School, present interviews of students—who are all easy enough to find if you look hard enough.

3.  Investigate clubs at your target business school. Columbia’s Private Equity and Venture Capital Club has its own website, and don’t be fooled by the log-in.  Just jump to club officers, and you’ll have plenty to work with.  More interested in Chicago? Booth doesn’t just have a finance club, it has a  corporate finance club, an investment banking club, a PE club, and and even a distressed investing and restructuring club.

4. Talk to actual people in your target industry and find out what paths they took. While the big guys in the PE industry look like a straight shot from Morgan Stanley M&A, venture capital, hedge funds, and other investment firms might have a more circuitous route. Hey, Mitt Romney came to the private equity business by way of management consulting, so why can’t you?

5. Network.  This is essentially the same as item #4, but it’s so important that I am mentioning it again.  Because you want to hit the ground running once you get to business school, it makes sense to start building your contacts now. Brian DeChesare, an expert on breaking into Wall Street, encourages prospective financiers to “network like a ninja” because, “even if you’re at Harvard you can’t rely on on-campus recruiting.”  And even if you get an interview through on-campus recruiting, you want to have friends who can help you actually land the job and do well there.

And in the meantime, have fun with the process. You’ll learn a lot and meet lots of people. And it’s definitely more enjoyable than signing up on e-Harmony.

--Betsy Massar

Don't forget to check out our new book Admitted: An Interactive Workbook for Getting Into a Top MBA Program

December 10, 2011

Authenticity, the Real You, and the MBA Application

Filed under: Application ideas,Berkeley Haas,Essays,Harvard Business School,Stanford GSB — Tags: , , , , , , , , — admin @ 4:32 pm

self-exploration or self-excavation?

Here's how to get into your top-choice business school: be yourself. If you are struggling with MBA essays, the last thing you want to hear are those two words, but that's the secret. I know it seems like a cliché, but admissions officers say over and over that they want to get to know YOU in the essays. Allison Davis, Associate Director of Admissions at Stanford Graduate School of Business wrote those very words in a blog post, even calling them “corny, but true.”

Get Real
The only way for you to do that is to show your authentic self. Not the person you think the committee wants to read about. I guarantee this one fact: YOU are more interesting than that mythical person. They want to read about your successes and foibles. I recall an admissions officer from Berkeley’s Haas School of Business remark that he loved reading the stories where people learn from mistakes or failure. Those stories show a lot about a person’s true character. Remember, every business school class is made up of human beings, and the more you show who you really are, the more you will stand out from the crowd of generic applicants. No kidding.

Dawna Clarke, Director of Admissions at Tuck, blogs about the importance of showing the “real you.”  She reminds applicants that the admissions process is designed to facilitate self-reflection and should help you to genuinely understand yourself—something you take with you regardless of where you get in.  Clarke writes:

Perhaps the most important thing to keep in mind is to be yourself. It goes without saying that the best thing you can do is walk away from your business school application experience knowing you put your best in front of the admissions committee for consideration. Regardless of the decision outcome, you'll have no regrets and, hopefully, you have learned a little about yourself along the way.

When your authentic voice comes through, it makes your application credible and demonstrates confidence.  Says the Stanford Graduate School of Business admissions website (look under the heading “Personal Qualities and Contributions”):

In a world that often rewards conformity, the Stanford community thrives only when you share your individual experiences and perspectives.  As a result, the strongest applications we see are those in which your thoughts and voice remain intact.

To understand how you will contribute to and benefit from the Business School community, we want to know about you: your experiences, beliefs, your passions, your dreams, your goals…most Stanford MBA students have excelled by doing ordinary things extraordinarily well. It is what you make of an experience that matters to us, not simply the experience itself.

You may be thinking, oh, I am just another cookie-cutter engineer/investment analyst/consultant/IT specialist.  But you aren’t. You are you, the real you. The more authentic “you” that shows in your application, the better your chances. Promise.

November 14, 2011

Finding the Right Fit in a Business School

Filed under: Application ideas,Berkeley Haas,Chicago Booth,Essays,Inspiration — Tags: , , , , , , , , — admin @ 5:25 pm

Lots of angles (and curves) to measure

There's a lot of talk about finding the "right fit" when it comes to selecting a business school.  But as is the case with many words du jour, "fit" is often thrown around without much explanation of what it means.  What exactly is a "right fit," and how is this relevant to applying to b-school?

Self-knowledge is the secret

Fit is so popular that I've written about it myself , but more importantly so have some of the top business schools. Some schools are more specific than others, but the general message is more or less the same: Know yourself.  Understand the cultures of the schools to which you are applying.  Be able to explain exactly how you would strengthen these cultures.

Before you can even think about what schools fit you best, you have to really look at yourself.  You need to know yourself very, very well.  Your level of self-reflection will absolutely show through in your application, and helps admissions officers understand you and how you could fit into the life of their school.  Soojin Kwon Koh, Director of Admissions at Michigan’s Ross School of Business, writes in her blog, "Our ability to evaluate your fit with Ross depends on how well you know and tell us about yourself.”  So know thyself!

Common culture with the school

Rose Martinelli, then Associate Dean of Admissions at Chicago Booth, stressed the importance of fit in an admissions chat, “… it all boils down to fit. The ability of the applicant to communicate path and plan, and why Chicago is a good match for them professionally and personally.”  It’s not just about who you are at work.  It’s also about who you are as a son or daughter, friend, and community member.

Berkeley-Haas, in the “Essays” section of its admissions page, goes so far as to say that it seeks applicants “who demonstrate a strong cultural fit with our program and defining principles.”  This does not mean that everyone at Berkeley shares the same opinions and experiences—quite the opposite.  It does mean, however, that students at Haas share a common culture, as outlined in the school’s Defining Principles; students question the status quo, have confidence without attitude, are lifelong learners, and think beyond themselves.

While Stanford’s Graduate School of Business doesn’t explicitly mention “fit” or “match” on its website, it does outline its “Core Values”: intellectual engagement, respect, integrity, striving for “something great,” and owning your actions.  To be a good fit for Stanford, you need to be able to demonstrate your alignment with these values.

Cornell’s Johnson Graduate School of Management touches on fit in its third essay question, “What legacy would you hope to leave as a Johnson graduate?”  The question explains that “the adcom wants you to really evaluate what ‘fit’ means to you for Johnson.  ‘Fit’ is different for everyone, so we want to see how authentic and purposeful you are about applying.”

-- Researched and written with help from the great Alice Woodman-Russell

September 25, 2011

Go Global with an MBA Exchange Program

Filed under: Application ideas,Berkeley Haas,Chicago Booth,Inspiration,Stanford GSB — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 1:02 pm

The World is Your Oyster

Many MBA programs allow for, if not encourage or require,  study abroad, and students who leave, as well as those who host, are amazed at how much they learn.

International exchange programs were brought home to me at a Forté Foundation event last week in San Francisco when I met Katie Cannon,  a London Business School student currently on exchange at UCLA Anderson. Katie’s infectious enthusiasm for LBS and international study—and her passion for the arts and her interest in media management— make a semester in LA perfect for her.  There’s no question that the Anderson students will be learning from Katie as much as she will be learning from them.

Katie is hardly the only one studying abroad during business school.   More than half of the top MBA programs offer full-term international exchange programs. London Business School is a good example. It’s a particularly international school; about 35% of its students spend a semester in a foreign country, and a typical class may have people from over 60 different countries.  To facilitate exchange, LBS partners with over 30 schools worldwide, and students at those schools can also study in London.

UCLA Anderson, located in southern California, is an ideal exchange choice for students like Katie who want to pursue careers in film, television, or talent management—or even financial services and venture capital.  It’s also a great home-base business school for students who want to study abroad— 20% participate in an international exchange.   UCLA—along with Cornell Johnson, Duke Fuqua, NYU Stern, Chicago Booth, and Michigan Ross—is a member of the Partnership in International Management network , an international consortium of business schools, and it also has exchange agreements with schools outside that network.

UC Berkeley Haas offers exchange programs established with several leading b-schools, “if,” says the website, “you can bear to be away from Berkeley.” (Click on the Haas link for useful descriptions of each of the exchange schools.)  In addition to international offerings, Haas also has an exchange with Columbia Business School, giving students the chance to spend a semester in New York City.

Most other top schools require some form of international experience during their MBA years. For example, Yale School of Management mandates that students take a short-term trip abroad in the second semester of the first year.  Professors lead the trips in countries they specialize in, from Brazil to Estonia to Israel to Japan.  Yale also offers a more traditional fall term international exchange for second year students.  Stanford GSB  also mandates a “Global Experience Requirement” which can be fulfilled by study trips or a summer immersion program.

Another resource for current or prospective b-school students interested in international study are the Centers for International Business Education and Research (CIBERs), created by Congress in 1988.  To date, there are 33 CIBERs, located at universities around the country, including UNC Kenan-Flager, University of Texas McCombs, and George Washington University.

It’s all there for the asking – so make sure your passport is up-to-date and push yourself out of your comfort zone.


July 12, 2011

Choosing a Business School: Finding the Right Fit

Filed under: Application ideas,Berkeley Haas,Inspiration,Northwestern Kellogg — Tags: , , , , , , , , — admin @ 10:19 am

Lots of angles (and curves) to measure

Believe it or not, all business schools are not alike. They each have their own personalities, including their own strengths and weaknesses.

Even assuming you could get into every program (why not?) not every place will be just right for  you. Just like in job-hunting, the decisionmaker is going to evaluate how you fit. The best way to get that right is to do your own research.

As I’ve mentioned before, (see blog posts: Use Your Summer Wisely, Start Your App Now, and      The First Tip: Start Early), it makes sense to start early in this process, so you can refine your  choices and also learn a bit more about yourself on the way.

You can use this time to research,  network, pick up valuable work experience, visit campuses, and, believe it or not, have a good time.

RESEARCHING SCHOOLS

Here are some things you can do to learn about where you might want to go to business school:

  • Go to MBA fairs and school-sponsored outreach events–in person (preferable) or online (easier to schedule and are increasingly available)
  • Talk to current students
  • Talk to alumni
  • Visit schools
  • Sign up for outreach programs. Examples include UCLA’s Riordan Fellows Program, the Kellogg Women's Leadership Workshop , the  Duke’s Women’s Weekend and Stanford GSB’s Many Voices and XX programs. (Plus, too many more to list here.)
  • Read school websites
  • Read student blogs
  • Watch YouTube videos on schools – official and non-official
  • Follow/like school pages on Twitter or Facebook
  • Talk to your career mentor
  • Talk to friends and relatives you respect
  • Check out the list of chats and events at the MBA.com website (the GMAT people), Bloomberg Businessweek, admission consultant websites, and reputable MBA portals.
  • Take notes!

Keep an open mind when you are researching. You never know what you will find, as schools, programs and career trends are changing all the time.

Monique, and 85 Broads member who lives in a city in Africa that will not be visited by any business schools this year, has combed through her target school sites for African graduates and students, has connected with people from her undergraduate alma mater who went to business school, and is asking through Facebook for names of current students or recent graduates, who might be in her country over the summer. She's also emailed students who are listed as "student ambassadors" on business school websites or the student club pages.

Some schools, such as UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, ask you what you have done to learn about their program in the application. The answer will not make or break your application. However, if you live across the bridge in San Francisco, and have never set foot on the campus, then it could be an issue. With so many channels available – fairs, tours, outreach programs, student ambassadors, clubs, blogs, Facebook, Skype, Twitter, you name it – it’s hard to find an excuse not to have talked directly to students, alumni, or school reps.

So the burden is on YOU to learn about fit. But it doesn’t have to be a burden at all – you’ll be learning more about yourself and your future.  How cool is that?

B

March 26, 2011

A Treasury of MBA WaitList Strategies and Resources

Filed under: Application ideas,Berkeley Haas,Inspiration,Northwestern Kellogg — Tags: , , , , , , — admin @ 6:27 pm

Quite a few of you are trying now to figure out what to do while hanging out on the waitlist for your top-choice MBA program. It’s a tough position, and I prefer the Wharton model, which doesn’t allow you to add anything. It is so much easier to let the universe do its business. But for those who have to act, I’ve got a few resources for you.  Some are from admissions officers themselves, such as in this YouTube video put together by Vault.com not too long ago.

Another link that I like very much is a podcast from a student who lobbied his way off the waiting list into MIT Sloan. It’s a fun story, and you get really excited for the student, Galen Li, and his enthusiasm.

You can also get some ideas from schools who have been willing to do online chats about waitlist strategies, including UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business or Michigan’s Ross School of Business, and Cornell’s Johnson School.

Accepted.com does a very good job of managing chat transcripts for a variety of schools. I encourage you to look at Linda Abraham’s recommendations for your actions while on the waitlist, advice which is straightforward and to the point. I know Linda from our work on the Association of International Graduate Admissions (AIGAC.org) board, and she really knows what she is talking about.  I love her #1 recommendation – FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS.  If the school doesn’t want to hear from you, don’t violate it, and if they do, be judicious.  Stay focused – and don’t overwhelm them with lots of data points. Keep it crisp.

My favorite piece of advice comes from the great Jeremy Wilson, who is a student member of the Northwestern Kellogg JD/MBA admissions committee. His article, "Playing the Waiting List Game," is both thoughtful and action-oriented. Please do remember, however, that his experience is from Kellogg only. But it’s really very cool.

Generally, the waitlisted applicants are considered solid candidates, even star candidates. Now is the time to showcase more subtle aspects of your profile. Be ready to articulate your story again, but this time better. Give them a few golden nuggets you may have forgotten to dig out from your past and put in your essays. Also, distinguish how you stand out from the other number-crunching bankers, consultants, or whatever professional you are and how you can add perspective to the classroom.

And be more introspective the next few weeks, so that you’re better prepared to talk about your leadership or entrepreneurial goals. Instead of using industry buzz words, overused resume verbs, and clichéd MBA language, think more deeply about your leadership style and talk more about stuff that motivates you, what you did, how you felt, and what you learned. And if you’re really up to it, try really spilling your guts a bit more and really putting the details out there—always remembering to stay professional of course—because this might just be your last chance.

March 17, 2011

Business Schools that Accept the GRE or GMAT

Filed under: Application ideas,Berkeley Haas,Chicago Booth,Harvard Business School,Stanford GSB,Wharton — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , — admin @ 11:00 am

More and more business schools are accepting the GRE in lieu of the GMAT these days. In response to a query I received from the academic adviser to students at one of the world's top undergraduate schools, I thought I would put together a handy table for you to identify which schools accept either the GRE or GMAT. Below you can see that many do, but not all.

SCHOOL

GRE?

LINK
Columbia YES Columbia Business School
Darden YES UVA Darden
Fuqua YES Duke Fuqua
HBS YES Harvard Business School
INSEAD YES INSEAD
Mich Ross YES University of Michigan Ross School
MIT YES MIT Sloan
NYU YES NYU Stern
Tuck YES Dartmouth Tuck
Stanford YES Stanford GSB
Wharton YES Wharton MBA
Yale YES Yale School of Management
Chicago NO Chicago Booth
Cornell NO Cornell Johnson
Haas NO UC Berkeley Haas
Kellogg NO Kellogg
UCLA NO UCLA Anderson

If you have any questions about updates to this information, please email me at betsy@masteradmissions.com

A few notes: Cornell does not indicate it accepts the GRE, but they haven't said they *don't* accept it, as Haas and Chicago Booth have. UCLA Anderson's MBA program doesn't accept it, but their Executive Program does.

Further, things do change! so please check the links and make sure the information you have is current.

Meanwhile, if you need any advice on studying for standardized tests, please see last week's blog post on test anxiety and your brain.

August 9, 2010

10 Tips for Getting Into Business School — Tip 10: Be Yourself

Filed under: 10 Tips,Berkeley Haas,Stanford GSB — Tags: , , , , , , — admin @ 9:14 pm

Happy August! Believe it or not, the summer is almost over -- but not yet, so no need to be needlessly stressed. I’m finally going to discuss the 10th, and final tip of the 10 Tips to Make Your MBA Application Rock. It have been trying to stretch it out by interspersing with other blog posts, but now it’s time to wrap it up. (All 10 Tips can be found in the PowerPoint of the presentation I gave to 85 Broads. You'll also find links to the first nine of the 10 Tips at the bottom of this post. )

The last of the 10 Tips is the most obvious: Be Yourself. I know it seems like a cliché, but I have heard admissions officers say over and over that they want to get to know YOU in the essays. Allison Davis, Associate Director of Admissions at Stanford GSB wrote those very words most recently in her July 7 blog post, even calling them "corny, but true."

Get Real
The only way for you to do that is to show your authentic self. Not the person you think the committee wants to read about. I guarantee this one fact: YOU are more interesting than that mythical person. They want to read about your successes and foibles. I recall Peter Johnson, of Berkeley’s Haas Business School, remarking that he loves reading the stories where people learn from mistakes or failure. Those stories show a lot about a person's true character. Remember, every business school class is made up of human beings, and the more you show who you really are, the more you will stand out from the crowd of generic applicants. No kidding.

If anything, this is the most important of all the 10 Tips. You can Start Early, Take Inventory, Connect with Your Inner Rock Star, Explore Career Paths, and Perform Service.  You’d be well-advised to Stay Sane , Daydream, Talk Around, and please, Work Only on what You Can Control.

But none of these 10 Tips will get you what you where you want to go unless you are the real you. So speak from your heart, be authentic, genuine, and just plain you.

The floor is yours.

May 4, 2010

10 Tips for Getting Into Business School – Tip 4: Explore Career Paths

Filed under: 10 Tips,Application ideas,Berkeley Haas — Tags: , , , , , , — admin @ 3:54 pm

Welcome to the fourth installment of the Master Admissions 10-Tip Series on Getting into Business School. Now that you’ve started connecting with your inner rock star (and identified how that shows leadership), it’s time to start exploring.

Specifically, you want to start exploring different career paths. Clear career goals are the crux of a strong business school application. Gone are the days when you can tell an admissions professional that you want to keep your options open. You need to have a career goal, aspiration, target, or, as or as Harvard Business School’s application calls it, a “career vision.”

You want to explore internally and with others what’s out there. You don’t want to say “I want to be in private equity,” (like everyone else applying to business school) if you haven’t figured out what that means and why it fits your vision.

How’re You Gonna Get There?
Vision is a big word, but it’s a good one in this case. It inspires you to look far into the future and come up with the big dream. You can use the career essay to throw it out there and work backward. Say you want to change the way health care is delivered worldwide? (I’ve seen that one successfully used, so don’t steal it!) What’s the progression to get you there? Many different roads can take you there, and admissions officers will be looking for more than “check the box.” They will be looking at your own sense of you in the future. They will be looking at your own authenticity – are you following the herd? Or are you hoping to do what you know is right for you?

The funny part is that more than half the students at business schools end up changing their minds. Many times in fact. The economy can change, the world can change, and the student’s circumstances can change.

It’s an open secret that students’ pre-business school and post-business school plans change. Admissions officers agree; they don’t go back and audit students’ career decisions after graduation. I’ve seen one student swear he wanted to go into investment management, but end up in a cool new startup in the luxury travel business. I know a number of people who wanted to go entrepreneurial but then decided to take a job in consulting to get more experience and pay back their bills.

Getting from Point A to Point B
So why does every business school take your career plans so seriously during the application process? Because they want to know that you have thought it through. They want to make sure you are grounded in reality. That if you want to change careers, you’ve figured out how to get from Point A to Point B and maybe even to Point C and D.

This essay is about how you write about your future and how you connect it with your past. Admissions officers want to know that you are clearly in touch with what brings you to these decisions. For example, the Berkeley Haas application asks you to discuss your short- and long-term career goals, and then wants you to relate your professional experiences to these goals. Others, such as Duke’s Fuqua School ask you for your inspiration for pursuing this career path.

So go out and explore – talk to people – especially current students or recent grads on their career experience. (More on this in Tip 7). Do some self-exploration as well. And make sure you take notes,  like I recommended in Tip 3. There’s no model answer, but the closer you get to your own truth, the better your application.


April 19, 2010

10 Tips for Getting into Business School — Tip 2 Take Inventory

Filed under: 10 Tips,Application ideas,Berkeley Haas,Stanford GSB — Tags: , , , , , , , , — admin @ 7:34 pm

Welcome to the second of my 10-Tip series to help you in your campaign to get into business school. The first tip encouraged you to start early – because indeed, it is a campaign, and the earlier you start thinking about the whole process, the easier it will be to put this massive project together.  I cannot recall anyone I have ever met in my life who has said, after all is said and done, “That was a lot easier and took a lot less time than I thought!”

Tip 2 encourages you to take inventory. Business school admissions committees look for self-awareness, and what better way to figure out what you’ve already got and what you need, but an inventory list.  It’s ok to be lacking in certain areas, by the way.  No candidate is absolutely perfect.  Believe it.

Fill in Your Weak Spot: Career Progression

Let’s start with your work experience.  What kind of a track record of success have you demonstrated in your career so far?  You don’t have to have invented the iPad, but you should have made a difference in your work environment.  Were you put on the fast-track? Promoted faster than expected? Were you responsible for changing the way your group does business?  The varieties of ways you can have made a positive difference on your workplace are endless.  The important thing is to identify a pattern of excellence in your nascent career.

Often admissions officers talk about career progression – being able to explain how you went from point A to point B. Does it make logical sense?  If there’s something missing from that progression – say you work for a government entity that doesn’t accelerate promotions – can you gain more responsibility in another way, even if it requires taking on extra work?  Maybe you need to round out your leadership experience by leading a team, inside or outside the office.  If there’s no easy opportunity in the workplace, you can look to your community or entrepreneurial activities to round things out.  Remember to push your own limits – show that you know how to do something that goes beyond what is required.

Fill in Your Weak Spot: Academics

If your grades are good, but not great, you might want to take some business courses to show the admissions committee you know how to sit in a classroom and excel. I’m a big fan of the alternative transcript; I had a terrible undergraduate GPA myself.  Once I focused on what I wanted to do with my life, I took night classes in math, statistics, accounting, finance, marketing, and received all A’s. This not only showed the admissions committee that I had the discipline and smarts to take all these classes and juggle a workload, but that I was interested and committed to a business education.

Even if you have a great quantitative/business background, you might want to round out your education with a course that’s unexpected, like in interpersonal communications, oral presentation skills, or theater.  It turns out that these skills are core skills required of business school students.  For example, Stanford GSB Duke Fuqua and MIT Sloan business schools consider improv part of the curriculum. It may sound crazy, but all of these tools help the geek in us so we can be more creative in our problem solving.

Fill in Your Weak Spot: GMAT Scores

Unfortunately, there’s no substitute for strong GMAT scores, and it helps to score over the 80% percentile on the quantitative portion of the test. (That’s the benchmark Berkeley Haas uses to determine which students need to take a math prerequisite.)  If you haven’t taken a prep course, I highly recommend it. It’s worth the investment.  If you are having trouble, find a tutor to help you learn how to take the test. The test-prep companies have a stable of great people, or you can go to a specialized tutor If you are still having trouble, explore other options like a test anxiety expert.

Inventory Yourself

As you go through the inventory of what you bring to the admissions table, you may find yourself  overwhelmed.  Don’t panic.  Slow it down. If you really want it, but aren’t ready yet, this may not be the right year for you. Performing an inventory tells you how compelling your case is right now.  If you want to beef up your profile, let’s get started.  But you’ve got to first figure out what you’ve got, and what you need.  This end of the admissions process is up to you.

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