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Welcome to MBA Podcaster, the only broadcast source for cutting edge information and advice on the MBA application process. I’m Janet Nakano.

You can blame it on the economy but there has been an uptick of MBA applications. What does that mean for you? “That means that the competition is going to be increased.” If more candidates are vying for the same number of seats at business schools it also means more applicants are unfortunately getting rejected. Some schools encourage you to reapply while others don’t. This time we’ll learn from admissions officers about the re-application process. Where you can find feedback and where you can recover from rejection and reenergize your application to get accepted the next time around.

According to GMAC, the number of GMAT test takers in the first two months of the year have increased by more than 7%. Outside the US, the numbers rose nearly 22%. That means more MBA applications. Beth Flye is Assistant Dean and Director of Admissions and Financial Aid for the full-time MBA program at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She says, this is something to consider when applying to business schools, “I’m just a big believer in being aware of as much pertinent information as possible so that a person is in the know, they’re aware of what is going on in the environment. There are no real surprises. And looking at this year, applications across the industry are up and generally speaking in a macro level that means that the competition on average is going to be increased.”

A rejection letter could be the result of a number of possible weaknesses says Flye, “In some cases it may be a matter of their numbers meaning their grades, their GMAT scores, work not up to the bar that we were looking for. Another reason could be that a person did not make a strong case for his or her reason about why the purpose of a MBA and a lack of career direction. Probably the big word that drives what we do at Kellogg and it starts in our office and that is quality. And one of the things for example, sometimes that may not meet the standard that we’re looking for could be quality of an applicant’s work experience. We’re not anchored on the tenure or the length or duration, but how long an applicant has worked or has been working. We’re most interested in what the quality of that person’s career progression has been. Quality meaning have they been promoted, what have they learned, how does their prior experience link up to what their current intended post MBA goals may be. So there are some cases where we have concerns around the quality of ones work experience. And you know that also can link up with another thing that we look for is overall would this person be a strong contributor to his or her classmates in study groups, in the classroom, in presentations.”

Some schools offer feedback to those denied admissions and Flye says Kellogg used to be one of those schools however, since last summer they have eliminated their feedback policy due to time constraints. But that hasn’t affected how they see re-applicants, “We certainly welcome re-applicants if anything what that tells me is someone is willing to go through the blood, sweat and tears of the process of reapplying again, to me that is a strong measure of conveying they really are interested in being a part of Kellogg and that is something that none of us here take for granted.”

Every school has a different reapplication procedure. At Kellogg, re-applicants must complete the same application along with an additional essay. There is one essay question that re-applicants are required. And that question would be since your previous application what are the steps that you have taken to strengthen your candidacy. The content and the response from re-applications to that question for me is a way to say what is different but ultimately what we’d like to see is hopefully what is stronger. By law we have to keep applications on file for two years. So let’s say for this year, someone applied for 2007 admission or 2006 admission we would have that information on-hand and it would be visible. Our emphasis would be on the new application for 2008 but we would have that information on us mainly just to do a comparison to see what is different and also what is more competitive.”

While many re-applicants are successful the second time around, Flye says there is no guarantee, “Let’s say someone who was admitted last year, I will take sort of a different angle, if someone was admitted last year and perhaps it was personal reasons that they were not able to join us or chose not to go to business school altogether and they re-apply this year does that automatically guarantee admissions this year? Absolutely not. We would have that one record of course but it all depends on the competition with the school.”

Insead has a different perspective on re-applicants. Caroline Diarte Edwards is Director of Admissions for MBA programs. She says second chances aren’t freely given out. “In most cases we don’t encourage reapplication because we find that when candidates do reapply in most cases the decision of the admission’s committee the second time around is consistent with the first decision. But we would encourage reapplication in some cases for example where we believe perhaps it is the wrong time for the candidate to be picking a MBA. To come back to us with more professional experience or international experience, etc. We don’t tell anyone that they can’t re-apply. We don’t refuse application so if someone does re-apply even though we advised them not to and that does happen, they will re-apply and we will consider their application again. We certainly advise people to not to reapply if their basically reapplying with the same profile, just sort of repackaged application. Then it almost certain that they would be rejected. If someone is re-applying and for example their experiences are substantially different from perhaps the experience they had when they applied the first time around then they could be evaluated differently.”

Edwards said most students denied admission are not offered feedback due to the volume of applications they receive however those that are encouraged to reapply are given specific instructions on what areas they need to improve and what parts of the application they will need to complete. “If someone wants to reapply then they will get in touch with us and they will give us the guidelines regarding the information that we need from them. So if it is within one to two years, it is not the full application all over again. We’ll tell them specifically what parts of the application that they would need to update.”

Edwards says candidates should review Insead’s admissions criteria when applying as this will be the most telling whether someone is a right fit with the school. “Our evaluation criteria for fall, so we’re looking at academic track record, we’re looking at professional experience and leadership potential. We’re looking at what we call international motivation, Insead is a very international school and we are preparing people for careers on an international stage. So we’re looking for people who through their experience to date or at least through their ambitions can demonstrate of being in this kind of environment is appropriate for them. Then we’re looking for what are they going to contribute to the program. Are they someone who is going to engage in vigorous debate in the classroom for example? So those are the four things that we’re looking at. Normally when someone is rejected it is on a combination of elements relating to those criteria rather than just one specific thing because we really are looking at the whole picture.

At USC Marshall School of Business applicants rejected will have an opportunity to get feedback. Monica Farrell is USC Marshall’s Assistant Director of MBA Admissions. “We offer what we call deny counseling every September and the instructions arranged for this are outlined in the deny letter and it is essential to call our office and make an appointment. In that conversation we really encourage them to look at the class profile, we have that in front of them, we point that out and then have them make the self assessment with their file as to what areas could use further development and what areas maybe they can’t change but to really identify the areas that can change. Sometimes that is retesting, sometimes that is taking more quantitative coursework, maybe it is more work experience, full-time, post collegiate, salaried work experience.”

Farrell says re-applicants to USC Marshall will have to submit a shorter version of the application. “It consists of one letter of recommendation, one essay, an updated resume and then the application form. We definitely don’t hold anything against a re-applicant in fact we’re glad to see their dedication in coming to USC Marshall. However, it is not easier to get in the second time around and the same kind of thinking applies. Re-applicants should gauge what USC Marshall is looking for them assess fit and then build their case accordingly.”

The McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin also offers candidates feedback. Tina Mabley is McCombs Director of MBA Admissions. “If they’ve been denied they can request feedback from us but they need to proactively request it. And what we do is offer a feedback letter over the summer. During the admissions season it is quite busy so we don’t have time sort of open and review files at that time. But what we will do for students who request feedback is take their file over the summer and provide a very detailed feedback letter to them about where the weaknesses in their application were. We do have a policy with our feedback letter that we don’t comment on letters of recommendations or the interview. That is to protect the privacy of recommenders and interviewers.”

Mabley says they give strong consideration to re-applicants however it is not necessarily easier, “We like to see re-applicants, that said we have expectations of re-applicants and because we have this feedback process students who take the initiative to ask about their application and seek to understand where the weaknesses might have been and to address those are applicants that we absolutely love to see. We specifically do these feedback letters because often times there are students who we like the applications but there is just something that is not coming together in the correct way. And we want that opportunity to direct those students in a way that helps them put their application better. It may be that they take quantitative classes to better represent their quantitative ability because they find out that it wasn’t well represented in their application. It may be that they take some more time during the year to gain some perspective and take some time to do some introspection on what they want to do to construct their essays better and draw better conclusions in their essays that help us determine the fit with the program and the fit with their goals and what they are trying to accomplish.”

Re-applicants to McCombs must fill out another application however Mabley says they do accept previous letters of recommendation. In my experience I recommend that students go ahead and at least get one new letter of recommendation, if works in their favor, you know sometimes they don’t want to bother the same person for a letter of recommendation but it is always good to get a current one to sort of keep a fresh perspective and to reflect what they have been able to do in the past year.”

One of the benefits of re-applying is that in the second time around you’ll be more knowledgeable, have gained more experience and will have the opportunity to improve your application. Kellogg’s Beth Flye says the worst thing a re-applicant can do is not to make any changes. “Actually, unfortunately we’ve had a few people in the past that will submit the same essay content and to me that is a judgment issue. Because it is wait a minute, that is almost looking at this as cutting and pasting as opposed to going inward and being reflective and talking about who you are now. I’d say I’ve seen that before. In the days when we used to give feedback, sometimes we would say hey your career direction was not very well articulated going forward when you apply you just want to make sure that you are more transparent to us as far as making your case. And for whatever reason that person would apply again and we see the same problem.”

Tina Mabley also says re-applicants should not submit the same application but on the opposite end re-applicants shouldn’t be changing much either. “If they completely change their argument for why they want a MBA in such a way that it is clear that they don’t really have a sense of what they want to do. Last year it was investment banking and this year it is marketing strategy. Now that could actually happen to someone that they’ve changed their goals that much in a year but they would need a lot of supporting evidence and a lot of convincing to make that argument. So that dramatic of a shift looking from one year to the next would also impact where they are. So applicants should really think about the second application as a continuation or improvement. It’s almost like a second draft. They get feedback from an English teacher on how to write their paper better and now they are resubmitting it. So you’re not writing a completely different paper you’re just tweaking the things that were flagged as areas for improvement.”

Understanding why you were rejected isn’t easy. And if you can’t get feedback directly from the admissions office, getting perspective may be even harder but Beth Flye says one place that you could find feedback is someone who has gone through the application process before. “I think it’s fine if an applicant wants to talk with let’s say someone who is a current student. I think that is fine to do that. What we don’t want to see is someone give absolute descriptive advice because for admission to Kellogg there is no prescription for admission. One of the best things that they can do for themselves is to do their due diligence about schools, not just knowing schools as organizations but from the admissions process, okay what information is available, what is the profile for the class that is about to graduate look like, or the class that entered last fall look like. I do think it is good to do due diligence, to do bench marking and to talk to people who have gone down this path and get their opinions and get their feedback.”

Re-applying isn’t reinventing who you are says Mabley, it’s about making a stronger application, “I think the hardest thing for all applicants is being on the other side of the process and not knowing what goes on on the admissions side. And the most important thing that an applicant can do, any applicant and especially a re-applicant is really have a well researched decision about business school, a well thought out plan for themselves, taking that time to get to know themselves and in a reapplication year if they have figured out a target area that they want to get a MBA for, going and interviewing people in that industry to get a sense of this is an industry that I may know or not know particularly well so using that time to educate themselves to make an even stronger case for why they are such a fit, not only with where they are trying to go, what their experience has been. An application is really making a case for why they think they are a good fit for a school and anything that they can do in the second year to make that case stronger, can they take classes that demonstrate to the admissions office that they are serious. Can they interview people in their area of interest to better draw conclusions about here’s the experience that I have, here’s how it’s strongly a fit with this area that I am looking to get into. Anything that helps them make a better case for themselves would be my recommendation.

For more information, advice and to register for your weekly MBA podcast, visit MBAPodcaster.com. I’m Janet Nakano for MBA Podcaster. Join us next time on another topic to help you in your application process and life beyond.