getting in « Master Admissions

October 11, 2011

Do You Need an MBA to Understand Business School Rankings?

Filed under: Application ideas,Inspiration — Tags: business school, business school rankings, Dartmouth, getting in, Harvard Business School, HBS, MBA, Tuck MBA — admin @ 4:30 pm

Harvard is only ranked #4 by the Economist

A lot of clients ask: How much do business school rankings matter? Are they accurate? How should I use them to help me figure out what schools to apply to? If you’ve had any of these questions, you are in very good company. Figuring out how to interpret the rankings can be confusing.

Enter Tuck’s Assistant Dean Penny Paquette, herself a Tuck graduate. Her recent blog post provides a much-needed but often-absent context for understanding rankings. She explains that the major difference between rankings is the data they use (statistical data or survey opinions), and she outlines which rankings use which kind of data. Some rankings, like those of US News and the Economist, use a combination of “hard” data and opinion. Paquette also highlights additional factors in understanding rankings. For hard data, it’s important to consider how rigorously the ranking publication verifies and analyzes the data. For opinions, be mindful of whose opinion was asked, and when and how surveys are administered.

The bottom line: rankings provide certain information about schools, but they tell only a small part of the story. Take them into consideration, but don’t give them too much weight. Rankings can never fully reflect the rich complexity of business schools’ offerings, and they are no substitute for what matters most: finding schools that best fit you. And this advice comes from a school that has been ranked #2, #6, #7, #14, #18, depending on who you talk to.

Here’s a slightly condensed version of Paquette’s original post (to read the full text, go to her blog):

“There are five major rankings…BusinessWeek, The Economist, US News & World Report, Forbes, and the Financial Times…The most important distinction among … [the rankings] … is their sources of information: statistical data or survey-based ‘opinions.’ Forbes and the Financial Times use hard data collected from the schools themselves and MBA alumni. BusinessWeek bases its rankings almost exclusively on survey-based opinions of students and corporate recruiters. US News and the Economist use a balance of hard data and opinion.

The usefulness to individual applicants of rankings based on hard data depends heavily on which data the ranking chooses to include (e.g., the FT includes lots of data designed to measure how “global” a program is while US News puts an emphasis on student quality and selectivity) and how rigorously the ranking publication checks the data and analyzes it (e.g., US News sends us back an analysis of this year’s data versus last year’s highlighting big differences and the FT visits schools periodically to do an audit).

The value of opinion-based rankings varies based on the selection of the group asked to give opinions (HR directors of companies that recruit MBAs in general versus managers who actually recruit at the various school), the way survey questions are crafted (asking the respondent to answer questions relative to expectations or relative to other programs that they have no knowledge of), and when the opinions are gathered (students as they are just graduating versus alumni 3-5 years out).”

So remember your first statistics lesson before you even go off to your MBA program -- almost anything can be done with numbers, so be honest with yourself!

--Alice Woodman-Russell

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April 7, 2011

Advice from a Recently-Admitted Wharton MBA

Filed under: Application ideas,Essays,Inspiration,Interviews,Wharton — Tags: business school, business school admissions, getting in, Kellogg MBA, waitlist, Wharton — admin @ 6:56 pm

A student I worked with, let's call her Jennifer, was recently admitted to Wharton (really) and waitlisted at her first-choice school, let's call it Kellogg. While waiting, she agreed to offer advice from the trenches, of one who succeeded in the process. She discusses four issues: staying committed to the goal, receiving feedback, waiting (lists), and financial matters. This is very useful stuff!

STAYING COMMITTED
I am so glad that I reapplied. I was rejected from the four top business school programs I applied to three years ago (all without an interview). While it stung to get so little traction in the business school process, I did not take it as a sign that I wasn't "meant" for business school. Instead I tried to understand the weaknesses in my application and knew that I would try again and do it better. I have learned so much in the application process and am very happy I have even more experience that I can bring to business school when I attend.

RECEIVING FEEDBACK
Get feedback! Make sure the people you are asking have something valuable to add to the process and take the time to listen -- better to find two people who will give you great feedback than send your materials to 10 people and listen to no one.

Also, be strategic in your decisions about who you want to use for help in the application process, and seek out those people early on. Make sure you really WANT someone's feedback before asking for it; I have been on both sides of the equation. Recently, a friend asked for feedback on his essays. I spent a lot of time on his essays and when I returned them it seemed that he hardly looked at my suggestions. He was giving me the essays because he thought that was what you were supposed to do, but had little interest in following up on the suggestions or incorporating feedback.

WAITING FOR DECISIONS AND THE WAITLIST
In terms of my advice for people who have been waitlisted or general feedback for students after they have applied: the most valuable thing I've done in my application process is turn every moment I have been frustrated into an opportunity to do something. When I found myself going crazy waiting for one program to get back to me while another waited on my decision, I brainstormed a list of all the things I had accomplished since I applied and wrote a letter to the school where I was waitlisted explaining those accomplishments. I created a campaign fueled by waiting and (sometimes) panic and created something productive. I am so glad I did this, because the time you spend sitting anxiously waiting and checking MBA chat forums is, in the end, not useful (though I did that too).

FINANCIAL ISSUES
Given the calculus course I am taking and other requirements, I have completely neglected to begin financial planning and thinking about the costs and consequences of my decision. I wish I had done this in a systematic way earlier, not only so that I would be better prepared and informed about my choices and responsibilities, but also because finances are an important part of my final decision (for instance, I am trying to make a decision about two programs that cost vastly different amounts of money). Now I am finding myself overwhelmed at the process of tackling everything right now. If I had to do it again, I would start planning and filling out financial aid information earlier and getting the advice of students, faculty, family and others about their tips on going through the process.

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March 21, 2011

You Can Help Make the MBA Admissions Process Better

Filed under: Application ideas — Tags: AIGAC, getting in, MBA admissions process, survey — admin @ 3:21 pm

Take the MBA Admissions Survey.

Applicants turn to Master Admissions as a source of reliable information and valuable advice on the MBA admissions process. As a board member of the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC), I hope you will fill out this very brief survey. We’d like to invite all of our readers to share their school selection priorities and views on the MBA application process.

Yes, there's a Give-Away
And to prove this is not just a one-way relationship, the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants will be giving away an iPod Touch and two iPod Shuffles as a token of our gratitude! We’ll also be sharing the results of the survey this spring to help candidates better understand today’s applicant pool.

Simply click here to begin: MBA Admissions Survey

Please let me know if you have any questions on this survey or the admissions process. I can be reached at
betsy@masteradmissions.com

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July 7, 2010

10 Tips for Getting into Business School — Tip 9: Work Only on What You Can Control

Filed under: 10 Tips,Application ideas,Wharton — Tags: 10 Tips, Admissions, Applications, business school, getting in, MBA, recommendations, Wharton — admin @ 5:12 pm

Welcome back to the 10-Tips series. We're down to the wire -- here on Tip 9, Work Only on the Part You Can Control.

I was anxious about mentioning the element of chance involved in the business school application process. I didn’t want the excellent applicants, along with the hard-working, underappreciated admissions committee professionals, to think that I am calling it crap shoot. It’s not. But you cannot control the entire process, particularly the outcome.

It’s Your Strategy
You cannot control the ultimate outcome, but you have some power to influence the inputs. Let’s take undergraduate grades. Think your GPA is a done deal? How about an alternative transcript? Take courses you overlooked, or even flubbed, when you were an undergraduate, then get A’s, and you have put your GPA in context. How about the GMAT? Test prep resources are readily available -- I can recommend several programs and methodologies to help you improve your score and stay sane. And as we’ve discussed, your career path is in your control as well. (See Tip 2 on career progression).

Practical Tactics
Here are some tactical things you can absolutely control: the schools you visit and choose to apply to, when you are going to apply (what year? what round?), and very importantly, whom you ask to be your recommenders. You can take them out for coffee and share your aspirations. See if they are on board with doing the thoughtful and time-consuming work of writing the best recommendation.

You can also control the application timetable. Applying to business school is a huge undertaking with lots moving parts. You absolutely need to get all the bits and pieces together by the deadline… in the right time zone. Believe me, I know someone who did miss the deadline because of a time-zone issue; it happens.

Still, you cannot control the entire process. You cannot control who else is applying, or what the economy will look like when you hit “send.” You cannot control the mood of your application’s reader, or when your application is read within a cycle (some schools are more flexible about that, but trying to game it will make you crazy). You cannot control what the universe decides is the outcome. You just can’t.

From a Wharton Student Expert
I’m not the only one who believes there is some chance involved – in fact, I got the courage to write about this point from a forum post on Wharton’s Engage website (a great resource!):

Says Victor M. Lee, Wharton, class of 2011,
To some extent, yes, there is an element of luck. As applicants, we cannot control who else applies. But I would contend that the vast majority of the application process is under your control (how you choose to put your application together, where and how you choose to interview, how much you do in research into Wharton, how much introspection you perform, how well you do on standardized tests and previous academic coursework, how effective and accomplished you are in your career and extra-curricular activities, etc).

Besides, would the reward be so sweet if you knew the answer in advance?

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June 1, 2010

10 Tips for Getting into Business School — Tip 7: Daydream

Filed under: Essays — Tags: 10 Tips, Admissions, business school, Columbia Business School, getting in, Malia Mason, MBA, Rock Your Application — admin @ 12:41 pm

Welcome again to the 10 Tips series. Thanks to 85 Broads the networking group for amazing women, the series has been turned into a webinar. If you are a member of that august group, you can find them on the 85 Broads website, look for videos, and then Click on Jam Sessions. The PowerPoint will be up on SlideShare and I will have a transcript of the Q&A available.

Now down to the business of daydreaming.

Daydreaming is also good for you. Really. I know, you wished you could have told that to Mrs. Palmer, your third-grade teacher, who was always bringing you back down to earth during long division. But it is an effective source of inspiration for your essays and your story. (And it’s a great excuse for procrastination, um, err, processing, but please don’t let it get out of hand.

Daydreaming Inspires Insight
Daydreaming serves a purpose. It helps you generate ideas, conceptualize stuff that may just be a feeling, and helps you find new and unusual ways to solve complex problems. Research shows that daydreaming allows the brain to make new associations and connections. Neuro-psycholgist Dr. Malia F. Mason, daydreaming expert argues,

“By allowing your mind the freedom to roam, the chances that you’re going to have an insight are much higher…Daydreaming builds on this fundamental capacity people have for being able to project themselves into imaginary situations, like the future. Without that skill, we'd be pretty limited creatures."

No wonder she is an expert on decision making and teaching “Managerial Negotiations” and the core leadership course at Columbia Business School!

Daydreaming helps you imagine possible worlds. This is why I recommend that potential MBA candidates look over the application essay questions well in advance to let your mind explore the possible answers you may not even know about. As Dr. Mason might advise: project yourself into the future! Application questions are deliberately open-ended, with the hope that you do some creative exploration before writing. And what better way to do that exploration but daydreaming?

See Yourself in the Future
How about those daydreams when you were little? Some of them may not feel so farfetched now, and they may have led you to where you are today. Every application has a short- and long-term goals essay. I encourage you to reverse the order the question – switch it around to your long and short term goals. When you daydream about your long term goals, do you see yourself as head of the World Health Organization announcing that AIDS has been eliminated? Are you the head of the Senate Banking Committee? Or are you running your own private equity firm?

Daydreaming allows you to think big without having to fill in all the pieces yet. This part is about your destiny. You don’t have to have every little detail right – how can you? But you do want to be able to show that you are able to come up with creative solutions. Because after all, tomorrow’s business leaders need to have creativity to solve some really really big problems.

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May 18, 2010

10 Tips for Getting Into B-School — Tip 6: Stay Sane

Filed under: Recommendations — Tags: 10 Tips, Admissions, business school, getting in, graduate school, MBA — admin @ 4:45 pm

Of the 10 Tips in this series, this one – stay sane, is my favorite. I’ve subtitled it “Get a Life” because it’s really, really easy to fall into the habit of spending 200% of your life focusing on the application process. You see, the whole thing can make even the most grounded person a bit crazy, so staying sane needs to be a top priority. Furthermore, the process requires a lot of energy: to do it right requires supreme project management skills. It also requires other traits like diplomacy (asking your boss who doesn’t want you to leave to fill out 10 recommendations can be a bit touchy) and discipline (resisting the vortex of the GMAT Club message boards). You need to eat right, get enough sleep and stay balanced.

Get Your Life On
So, you’ve got to get a life. Sure, you’ve got your work life – don’t we all – but then there’s the rest of it. You need to do things you enjoy that have nothing to do with work or school. Like I mentioned in Tip 5, you do want to perform some service… but you also want to do something that clears out your head. I encourage you to do something as far from your regular routine as possible. For example, business school, and probably your work life is really in your head. I suggest getting out of your head by going out of doors, exercise, get back in shape, or do something that is not competitive (for some of you it may be the first time evah!). Do something really different, like take apart a motorcycle engine and try and put it back together, take up the accordion, or fencing, or horseback riding. Use your right brain to get out of your left brain – art comes to mind, but what about creating mashups, or getting lost in ikebana, parkour or rooftop gardening?

Alternatively, you just can make a list of things you like to do when not worrying about work or school. Sure, video games, shopping, going to raves, beach volleyball all count. Why not? You are going to need this handy list once you’ve got the application in and you are going through the interminable and maddening waiting phase. Otherwise, you’ll just end up on the chat boards and drive yourself even crazier.

Ikebana, Anyone?
The funny thing about doing other things is that by going outside of the norm, you actually find creative solutions to those problems you are not supposed to be thinking about. If you are stuck on an essay, leave it alone, go camping, and you may have new insights. It’s an organic process – getting outside of the routine may help reveal some things about yourself that you didn’t even know. (Who knew that you had a talent for making dugout canoes? And what does that say about you?)

Furthermore, having a life may bring more experiences to bear on your application, and may give you some insight into “what is most important to you and why.” You never know who you may meet, and what you will learn at your next beekeepers’ convention.

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May 10, 2010

10 Tips for Getting Into Business School — Tip 5: Perform Service

Filed under: 10 Tips,Application ideas — Tags: Admissions, Applications, business school, getting in, MBA, volunteer — admin @ 8:42 pm

We’ve finally made it to the fifth of the 10 tips for MBA admissions. The first advised you to start early, the second, to take inventory, the third to connect with your inner rock star, and the fourth to explore career paths. In the next tip, I suggest that you perform service.

Helping Out
I prefer using the word “service” rather than “extra-curricular” or even”volunteer.” The first definition that comes up on Dictionary.com is, “An act of helpful activity; help; aid. To do someone a service.” Doing service means that you are helping someone or something; it’s broader than volunteering, although you could perform service through volunteer activities. If you are already involved in those activities, then my only recommendation is to stay involved, keep an open mind and an open heart as to how you can be even more effective.

But not all of us are joiners. Some of us would rather not get involved in large organizations, perhaps because we feel we can better make a difference one-on-one. And that’s service. Or what about those of us who have not done much in the way of outside activities since our undergraduate days, but may have shown the ropes to every new employee who came across your path? Or have you helped make your neighborhood a better place to live? That’s performing service too.
Sometimes we forget what performing service might mean. I knew an applicant who worked for a sporting goods manufacturer, and hadn’t done any “official” volunteer activities in years. He was a generous person all the way around, and it showed in the way he lived his life. As we were talking about one of his career essays, we discovered that his previous job, which required that he do sports demos and run workshops for urban kids, was a great example of the way he made his own difference. Instead of doing volunteering after work, he was performing service on the job: he was showing off the sports equipment, but also giving the kids attention and support for a healthy activity, which in some cases, lead to new interests.

Getting Out of Ourselves
As he remembered those days, a big smile broke out across his face. He was reveling in it. What had gone from a fairly lugubrious discussion about career trajectory had turned into a fun reminiscence. That’s because giving back makes us feel connected to our communities and to our world. Performing service bring an additional dimension to our ambitious lives. It shows us something about the world and about ourselves that we may not have figured out when formulating macros for spreadsheets or putting together the latest PowerPoint presentation.

Even if you haven’t had a strong pattern of service, there’s no reason why you cannot start now. I’ve heard people ask if starting now is too obviously a ploy to round out their business school application. To that I say, “So what?” You can’t go back and change what you’ve done, so you might as well get started now. At worst, the experience will be neutral, and at least you’ll be helping out. At best, who knows what could happen?

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May 4, 2010

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

Filed under: 10 Tips,Application ideas,Berkeley Haas — Tags: Admissions, Applications, business school, Duke Fuqua, getting in, Haas, Harvard MBA — 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.

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April 11, 2010

To Dare Greatly

Filed under: Recommendations — Tags: Admissions, Applications, Betsy Massar, business school, getting in, GMAT, Inspirational stories, MBA, success — admin @ 8:50 pm

Many of the results are in. Most aspiring MBA students who submitted applications this season know where, and if, they are going to business school. Some students will not get their wish – they will have applied to one or many schools, and were not admitted anywhere.

I believe that the act of applying is worth applauding. It’s a complex project, practically requiring a Gantt chart for project scheduling: take GMAT course, take GMAT test, visit schools, write essays, request transcripts, get recommendations and follow up, follow up, follow up. For those who really put their all into it, you know who you are, and you deserve congratulations. Despite the official outcome, you learned something from the process. Irrespective of the admit/deny decision, you are a stronger, more self-aware person for having gone through it all.

Making it through an ordeal is a worthy outcome. I learned this by spending time with my friend Rich this weekend. He is an amazing guy – a master sailor who, last year, raced a 60-foot sailboat around the world, unassisted. Thirty boats started the race and only 11 finished. It took him 121 days (4 months!), napping at 15-minute intervals, in the midst of gale force winds, ice gates, and autopilot failure. He was 58 years old at the time. He has had severe asthma since he was a baby. He’s one tough guy, and also the most humble guy I know.

He is an inspiration to me, when I think of my own challenges, and an inspiration to schoolkids world over who learned from Rich’s adventure on his website.

Curiously, Rich found camaraderie with the other skippers in the race – whom he was supposed to be competing against. After one sailor, who was forced to drop out of the race because of a severely damaged mainsail, told Rich he was devastated and disappointed with himself, Rich sent him quote from Theodore Roosevelt, about failing while “daring greatly.” It’s an important quote that I would like to pass along to all those who might have tried, but did not succeed, to gain admission to business school, or who might not have landed that perfect job.

"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; … who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” T Roosevelt

What a great quote! Rich really believes it, and that’s why he’s such an inspiring guy. As he has said over and over, less eloquently, but equally powerfully, “The important thing is to participate.” I agree.

And if you’ve got the fortitude to try it all over again, there’s always next year.

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April 5, 2010

The First MBA Tip: Start Early

Filed under: Application ideas — Tags: Admissions, Applications, business school, essays, getting in, GMAT, MBA, round 2 — admin @ 4:58 pm

This is “acceptance” week – by now most people who applied to school by Round 2 have a pretty good idea where they are going to go. It’s been a long haul for some folks, longer and more complicated than most people realize. So if you are thinking of applying in the coming year, now is the time to start planning.

There’s really no downside to starting your research now. This part is actually quite fun. You get to surf the Internet and read websites, blogs, tweets, watch YouTube channels, figure out what mailing lists to get on… the list is endless. The business school admissions process is getting increasingly transparent. Admissions committee members blog, tweet, and get out on the road to tell potential students about the benefits of the MBA and the benefits of their own school. As a potential student, you are the beneficiary of all this social and traditional networking.

So why not start early? I would recommend that you visit a campus while it is in session. You want to sit in on a class, have lunch with students, and get the feel of a program. The only cost is time – but I like to think of it as an investment. It’s such a personal decision, that you owe it to yourself to visit as many campuses as you can. Your application will be so much richer for having met each school “in person.” Those visits will inform your thinking about business school, your career, and your overall future.

Then there is the GMAT, no small undertaking. No matter how good a test taker you are, I would guess that you need to study twice as long as you think you should. My friend Doug Barg, a master GMAT teacher at Kaplan, recommends that you study at least three months – and if you want to break into the 700s, he recommends about 114 hours. How does he compute it? Check out his classic blogpost here. The more you study, the more confident you will feel. And the more genuinely confident you are, the better you’ll score.

It’s also good to think about courses to fill in any academic gaps. You don’t want to find yourself looking at your transcript mid-summer and realizing that you should have signed up for a statistics/calculus/accounting course last spring. And if your undergraduate record has been spotty, its especially important that you prove to yourself that you can work full time, study for the GMAT, and take an undergraduate course to prove that you know how to excel in a classroom.

Start With Your Brain
Now is a good time to start thinking about the essays. Even if the schools change the specific questions, they are looking for ways you have demonstrated leadership. Start thinking of the stories you will be telling about yourself. Get your brain working on it. Last July, I wrote a blog post called “Start With Your Brain.”. You will open yourself up to creativity, you may bump into some new ideas you hadn’t thought you were capable of, or you might refine something that you’ve been mulling over for months. Your brain is smarter than you even know. Give it the material to make you shine.

Remember, all you have to do is start exploring. This is the fun part. Enjoy yourself!

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