What I learned from conversations with MBA candidates like you
I’d worked in MBA admissions for more than a decade before I launched My MBA Path several years ago. I launched My MBA Path because advising candidates through the admissions process is what I know best and love most. Since the launch, I have been speaking with candidates to top MBA programs every single day.
And I travel the world to meet you! I just returned from MBA fairs with the top schools and hundreds of candidates in the US and Latin America.
The themes that emerge from these conversations point to an intersection where hope and aspiration meet anxiety and confusion. Here are the five takeaways – and some suggestions about how to deal with them as an MBA candidate.
1. What's obvious to some is obscure to many
Those of us who who are former MBA admissions officers know this feeling. You are on a panel at an MBA recruiting event and a question is asked. “What do I do if I cannot ask my current supervisor for a recommendation?” You have answered this question hundreds of times and you fear you sound like a broken record – a stale one, too. But you answer, the way you always have, “We understand that it’s not always possible to ask your current supervisor for a recommendation. There are other options.” You see the candidates’ eyes light up and they are taking notes. You remember once again that the learning curve of pursuing an MBA is steep and every year, there is a new sea of candidates that need to climb it. For them, that’s the first time they have faced this question.
The challenge for MBA candidates is that there is so much MBA application advice out there.
It’s helpful that all the answers to business school application questions are all online. They certainly weren’t when I was an easily intimidated MBA candidate many years ago. But this has also made it nearly impossible for a lay person to separate the signal from the noise and work it into an MBA application strategy. Which brings me to the second learning.
2. Not all MBA information sources are created equal
During my time as Dean of MBA Admissions and later when I was running GMAC Tours, I always observed how much candidates wanted to speak with each other. Invariably, when an MBA admissions event ended, there would be a group of candidates deeply immersed in a chat with peers. (Partaking in these chats is something I missed so much during the pandemic).
There are so many benefits to connecting with fellow MBA candidates along the way. No wonder the online chats for MBA candidates have hundreds of thousands of members. But when it comes to validating information that is critical to the strength of your application, the first place you should look for is the official source.
How to format your MBA application resume? Check the school’s web site first.
Who should be your MBA recommenders? Talk to the MBA admissions team at the program you are applying to.
Where do you start your test preparation? The official web sites for the GMAT and the GRE and their guides should always be your first source of truth.
But there are some sensitive questions those applying to business school don’t feel they can ask without a bit of a safety net. This is often one of the main things I help with – questions about overcoming low or spotty undergraduate GPA, gaps on resume, or weaker career progression. These are areas that require the right strategy and execution and that calls for true admissions expertise.
Your peers are certainly important and can be a great source of support and encouragement in the process. I am not suggesting you don’t rely on them throughout your MBA application. I am just encouraging you to consider where their input is useful and valuable - and where it might have limitations.
3. Knowing the rules doesn’t mean that you know how to apply the rules
Lately, I’ve learning how to play tennis. It has been a humbling experience. Seeing how what I think is an elegantly executed forehand slice looks more like I am unsuccessfully flipping a pancake has been a lesson in humility. I think about it often when I read a candidate essay or when I do mock MBA interviews. The way to MBA dings is paved with attempts to sound the way you think an MBA AdCom expects you to and say the things you think they want to hear. I don’t mean this mockingly.
I was recently speaking with an MBA candidate who was on the lighter side of years of work experience but because he worked full-time in the family business, he had a management position already. I asked the question, “Can you give me an example of when you have had to influence someone much more senior?”. It is a fairly standard question, some variation of which will likely be asked of anyone who has less than an MBA program’s average years of work experience. The MBA admissions committee needs to know you can hold your own and contribute to an MBA class with many already very accomplished individuals.
In his response, the candidate talked about having to convince a senior executive to back up a proposal and how he “coaxed him in small steps the way you do a child”. He thought that he was demonstrating an ability to lead. What he was actually doing was demonstrating lack of thoughtfulness and tact as well as inferior communication skills.
The good thing is that with feedback and coaching, this candidate quickly learned how to better frame his answers. He was admitted to a top 15 MBA program. (I, on the other hand, am still working on my forehand slice.)
4. The “What are my MBA admissions odds?” struggle is real
Candidates to top tier schools are desperate to know what their chances are. And they have a painfully hard time estimating them.
The typical route is to go on GMAT Club or Reddit, share some stats, often including a “target GMAT”, which may or may not materialize, and ask for your odds at the schools you are applying to. It is completely understandable to want to know how you stack against the competition. But the result is often a distorted sense of strengths and weaknesses that don’t account for – simply because of the limited information the reader sees and their limited knowledge of the subject – how complex an MBA candidacy is.
Behind the choice to seek MBA profile evaluations anonymously is also a fear of being judged. That concern was something I often observed as Dean of Graduate Admissions at Babson and later as Managing Director of GMAC Tours. MBA candidates are often afraid their candidacy will be evaluated and found lacking if they get in front of the admissions team before they have fully packaged themselves.
There is definitely value in being part of the online MBA communities. But when it comes to important topics such as profile evaluation or application guidance, the best sources are the people who have actual experience evaluating MBA candidates.
If you want to speak with a former Dean of MBA Admissions and get a comprehensive MBA profile evaluations and strategy outline, consider my Get Unstuck service. It’s a true power-hour that can fuel you up with MBA insights.
5. Candidates are looking for tools – or even shortcuts
I regret to be the bearer of bad news but there are simply no shortcuts. Hiring an MBA admissions consultant is definitely not a shortcut. Candidates who end up working with a good MBA consultant consistently put in more hours than average into their application.
However, useful tools and frameworks for building your MBA candidacy do exist. That’s one of my goals with the My MBA Path Insights that get published every week. I try to put myself in your shoes and provide bite-sized advice they can use in their application.
This time of year, some of the most read ones are The Ultimate Guide to the GPA, How an MBA Adcom Works, and You have to start with the why. You can also follow the latest MBA admission trends on YouTube.
Onwards and upwards,
Petia
P.S. Did you know that in MBA APPLICATION BOOST CAMP, you can work with me in a group setting at a fraction of the cost? Come join the driven community I am building to confidently walk the road to submitting your application.
Onwards and upwards,
Petia