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Standing Out Among the Outstanding: Recession, Competition, and Business School Admissions

One of the strongest messages to emerge from the distinguished panel on the Microsoft campus in June is the importance of networking.  Another powerful message is to highlight your passions in your MBA school applications – you want your individuality to shine. 

You can hear the wisdom of the 2nd Annual MBA Panel – on many topics -- at www.MBAPodcaster.com in just a few days when the show is released.  The program is Standing Out Among the Outstanding: Recession, Competition, and Business School Admissions, assembled by "Africans at Microsoft."

The panel includes Scott Shrum, the Director of MBA Admissions Research at Veritas Prep, Barbara Thomas, President and CEO of the National Black MBA Association, and Cassandra Pittman, Assistant Director of Marketing at INSEAD. There are also two “experts-in-our-midst” whom Moderator Chika Ekeji called on frequently to round out the conversation.  They are Bryan Tomlinson and first-year MBA student Edward Gali, both representing the University of Washington, home to the Michael G. Foster School of Business.

While Scott Shrum opened with the trouble many students, especially international, have been having financing their MBA education, the panel discussion focused mostly on the positives.  For example, Bryan Tomlinson says students in the class of 2009 are great networkers, which will serve them well.

Cassandra Pittman frequently jumped in with excited comments, usually underscoring her persuasive remarks that the MBA is, maybe, two years out of your life, so if you have a few years leading up to B-School, live a passionate life, not one that will simply look good on a resume.  Coming from the vantage point of a first year MBA student, Edward Gali suggested those in the auditorium to seek out people different from them.

And, Barbara Thomas urges students to focus on the three P’s – passion, purpose, and power. 

The event wrapped with each giving personal tips for how to network -- worth the price of admission.   And, they reminded the audience that networking is really about creating true friendships.  Good advice for anyone, at any stage of a career.

Stay tuned to hear this show coming in a few days!

USE MBAPODCASTER DISCOUNT CODES AND GET Business School Resource Books for FREE!

You probably know by now that we love to reward our fans. A lot. From our First Friday Freebie drawings to our test prep discount codes, you can't go wrong by us! Now we're taking the freebies to the next level...

Each time you use one of MBA Podcaster's discount codes when signing up with one of our partners (Kaplan, Veritas Prep, Accepted.com, etc.), we will send you a free business book!

For example, let's say you sign up for a GMAT test prep class with Kaplan. Simply remember to use the code MBAPOD10 for a 10% discount on the course. Then, send an email to vanessa@mbapodcaster.com telling me which one of the following books you want. I'll verify your registration with Kaplan, then I'll put your book in the mail! So you are getting both a discount on your course, as well as a free gift from us!

The business titles we have are new releases and the list of available books will change each month. Big shout out to www.crownbusiness.com for supplying these great reads!

STEP ONE: USE MBA PODCASTER'S DISCOUNT CODE WHEN SIGNING UP WITH ANY OF OUR PARTNERS

Test Prep

•Kaplan: 10% off every one of Kaplan's GMAT comprehensive options, use the code MBAPOD10

•ManhattanGMAT: $100 off sitewide & any class, use the discount code PODCASTER

•Veritas Prep: $150 off sitewide & any class or admission consulting package, use the discount code POD150

Admission Consulting

•Accepted.com: $25 off MBA essay editing, application advising or interview preparation, use code MBAPODCASTER

•Free Initial Evaluation from: Expartus, Master Admissions, mbaMission, The MBA Admissions Studio, The MBA Exchange, Admit Advantage

Others

•MBA Math: $10 off online pre-MBA quantitative math course, use code MBAPOD3G

•Zoom Interviews: 10% off any interview assistance video package, use the code MBAPODCASTER

STEP TWO: CHOOSE ONE FREE BOOK FROM THE FOLLOWING LIST

Getting Organized in the Google Era by Douglas C Merrill:
http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780385528177

The 10 Laws of Enduring Success by Maria Bartiromo:
http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780307452528

Ubuntu!: An Inspiring Story About an African Tradition of Teamwork and Collaboration by Stephen Lundin and Bob Nelson
http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780307587886

Rework by Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson
http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780307463746

STEP THREE: EMAIL VANESSA@MBAPODCASTER.COM AND TELL ME WHAT CODE YOU USED, WHICH BOOK YOU'D LIKE, AND YOUR MAILING ADDRESS (will not be shared or used for any other purposes).

If you have any questions, please write them in the comments section or email me. As you can see, the discount codes are not just for GMAT test prep. We have discount codes for current MBA students and professionals too!

Please share this great news with your friends or anyone who is in need of a little business inspiration! :)

Take the MBA Applicant Survey!

Here at MBA Podcaster, we pride ourselves in offering you the most relevant and useful news for MBA applicants today. As a member of the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC), we would love to gather input from YOU, our loyal fans, to help us better understand current trends in the applicant pool.

The survey will be open until April 8. It should only take about 10 minutes of your time. The more information we get, the better we will be able to answer your most pressing concerns and questions through our podcasts and videos. So it's in your best interest! :)

Click here to begin the survey.

Thank you!

Forté Foundation Launches “Forté Career Gal Road Trip” Interactive Online Game

Forté Foundation Launches “Forté Career Gal Road Trip” Interactive Online Game

New Game Allows Young Women to Explore Different Majors, Career Paths, and to Hear Women Business Leaders’ Stories about their Road to Success

Austin, TX (March 23, 2010) – The Forté Foundation, a consortium of major corporations, business schools and non-profit organizations that directs talented women towards leadership roles in business, today announced the launch of the Forté Career Gal Road Trip. This innovative and interactive online game is designed for college women and recent college graduates who may be undecided in their career goals as well as those already considering a business major in college.

The Forté Career Gal Road Trip, available at http://virtualcampus.fortefoundation.org/roadtrip, will allow users to test drive and explore different careers and experience the many, varied paths to success taken by others. Road Trippers will have the opportunity to make virtual work/life decisions including: leaving the workforce to pursue an MBA, starting a family, entering various fields of business based on different college majors, and much more. Each decision will ultimately lead to a video segment of a successful woman in business that has made a similar life choice at the same stage in her career. The outcomes will make it clear that a business major is a helpful but not required element for a successful career. Additional profiles and career paths will be added in the coming weeks.

“Our research of Forté members found that an overwhelming majority would have been interested in pursuing a career in business if they were aware of the options during college,” says Elissa Ellis Sangster, executive director of the Forté Foundation. “We created this site to help increase the odds that young women will be exposed to career opportunities in business, educated about the many paths to a successful career, and provided with access to role models to help them visualize their future.”

"When Forté approached us with their idea of creating a virtual "game of life" for young college women, we were very excited about the opportunity to help bring their vision to life,” says Elisha Moore, Director of Strategic Planning, Sibley/Peteet Design Austin. “Together we came up with the idea of a road trip as a fun metaphor for the many, varied paths to success available to women today -- a fun way to see where the road of life may lead."

The introduction of the Forté Career Gal Road Trip comes at a time when it’s especially important to ensure young women have early exposure to information and resources about career opportunities in business. New research of 37 Forté member schools has shown that women make up an average of just 31.7% of business school enrollment for the 2009-2010 class, a slight dip from last year, but an increase from when Forté first began tracking this in 2005.

The Forté Career Gal Road Trip, which is available for free to all Forté members, will be useful for students, undergraduate career services counselors and advisors, high school guidance counselors and parents. It builds on the Forté Career Lab Virtual Campus microsite, launched in October 2008, which is a hub for insights into various companies and industries as well overall career choices. The site delivers customizable, interactive content including videos and podcasts featuring women currently working in industries such as consulting, marketing and human resources among many others. It also covers topics such as considerations for pursuing an MBA, choosing (or even switching) a career path and positioning yourself for success. In addition, the site includes a discussion forum for undergraduate women to ask questions and share viewpoints on career search topics, step-by-step guides on resume writing and interviewing, and links to helpful articles, blogs and a job database.

The Forté Career Gal Road Trip and the Forté Career Lab Virtual Campus are online companions to Forté’s successful on-campus Career Lab events, which introduce college women to the full range of business careers, female role models and the benefits of an MBA. Students interested in attending a live Career Lab networking event should visit www.fortefoundation.org/careerlab for dates and locations across the U.S.

The Forté Career Gal Road Trip is sponsored by Forté sponsor companies and business schools, with special underwriting support provided by Eli Lilly and Company, Ernst & Young LLP, and the Graduate Management Admission Council. The Forté Career Gal Road Trip was created in conjunction with Sibley/Peteet Design Austin, a design consultancy with expertise in brand strategy and identity development that helps organizations, big and small, envision, enable and engage their greatest brand potential.

About Forté Foundation

Forté Foundation is a consortium of leading multinational corporations, top business schools in the U.S. and abroad, and the Graduate Management Admission Council. Forté is the leading organization that provides a national infrastructure for women at all stages of the career continuum to access the information, scholarship support and networking connections they need to succeed in business careers. Additional information about the Forté Foundation is available online at www.fortefoundation.org.

The INSEAD MBA: A Top Ranked 10-Month MBA Program

This past week MBA Podcaster attended INSEAD’s MBA Admission Information Session at the swanky SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills. Among champagne and brunch, INSEAD delivered a thorough overview of their MBA program, a session with alumni and time for Q&A. INSEAD did a fantastic job of covering all aspects of their program. Their info sessions are must-attend events for applicants potentially interested in an INSEAD MBA.

Cassandra Pittman, Assistant Director of Marketing for INSEAD’s North American Office, kicked off the morning with an introduction to INSEAD's admission criteria and how each criteria weighs in your application. According to Cassandra there are 4 admission criteria and each counts approximately 25%.

1. Academic Capacity

§         GMAT Score and a balance percentile between Verbal and Quant section

§         Bachelor's degree and the competitiveness of the academic institution you attended

2. Leadership Potential and Professional Experience

§         Promotions at work and management experience are important attributes. You don’t want to hold a position for 6 years with no promotion, although this could vary from country to country.

§         Ability to demonstrate your potential as a leader

§         Quality of your accomplishments

3. International Outlook

§         Cross-cultural sensitivity and an international outlook

4. Ability to Contribute to the INSEAD Experience

§         You need to be clear about your passions and how they have influenced your work and life.

§         INSEAD is looking for people with diversity; unique people with different backgrounds and interests 

Cassandra also explained how the INSEAD 10-month MBA program works. The program is divided into 5 periods of roughly 2 months each. For the first 2 periods you will be divided to groups of approx 5 students, from 5 completely different professional backgrounds, and 5 completely different parts of the world. According Cassandra they will never have more than one person of the same nationality, and never more than 2 people with the same native language in any study group. The groups work together throughout the core curriculum to produce work as a group, which is graded as a group.

Cassandra went on to discuss student life on campus and living in Fontainebleau. A group of alumni then took over and moderated a panel and Q&A session. What stood out to me among the various dialogues was the description of student life in Fontainebleau. In your 10 months on campus you are involved in all kinds of team activities, projects and social events. It is period of intense work and intense socialization/networking. You should expect to put 70 to 80 hrs of work for your course work and maybe more if your quantitative skills are rusty but at the same time you are socializing with your classmates and building relationships that will last you a lifetime.

Our take-away: INSEAD is a great choice for applicants looking for a top-ranked MBA program, a 1 year curriculum and an active student body.

PS: Take a look at these videos to get a taste for life at INSEAD: http://mba.insead.edu/video_vault/

Last Minute Applicants: One Successful Applicant's Story

Maybe you’ve been busy at work.  Maybe you’ve been busy at home. Or maybe you had an epiphany and decided to go to business school the day before the Round 3 application deadline. I’ve been working on an upcoming MBA Podcaster show titled “Last Minute Applicants: How to Submit a Successful Late Round Three Application.”  In the podcast, we’ll explore some of the different attitudes schools have toward round three as well as give advice on how to navigate the waters and complete your application on time. And we hear from Jedd Gold, the late applicant who after an epiphany at work was successfully admitted to (and graduated) UCLA’s Anderson School of Business.

Jedd says honest is the best policy when first approaching about being late, whether in Round 3 or just plain late.

“When I called the admissions office that afternoon knowing that the applications were due the next morning and I hadn’t started it, I took a really sort of candid, humorous approach to it, figuring there was going to be no way to really justify the fact that I was applying so late and hadn’t even started the admissions process.  So I introduced myself and said that I was probably going to make one of the more stranger requests they’d heard in a while, but that I was interested in attended UCLA, I recognized that the applications were due the next day, but there was no way that I would be able to get my application in because I had just decided that afternoon to actually apply.  I sort of waited for the pause-slash-laugh on the other end.”

 And you have to convince them that you are serious about attending the program.  

“There was sort of a befuddled silence on the other end actually until I commented on the fact that this is not coming off as the most responsible candidate in the world.  Then all of a sudden I got a very sympathetic approach from them which was ‘Don’t worry about it. We understand.’ They inquired immediately what I was doing for work and what I was hoping to get out of the program.... Clearly they wanted to get a sense how serious I was and if I was going to actually bring something to the program because at the end of the day these schools are very much looking to put together a diverse group of  people who bring different things to their programs.”

 Learn more of what Jedd did to get into UCLA and what the other guests have to say about round three applications in our upcoming show. Other guests on the show include:

• Kofi Kankam, Co-founder & Director, Admit Advantage;
• Soojin Kwon Koh, Director of Admissions for the Ross School at the University of Michigan;
• Graham Richmond, Co-founder and Director, Clear Admit;
• Alex Sevilla  Assistant Dean & Director,  Hough Graduate School of Busienss and Warrington College of Business Administration at the University of Florida; and
• Robert Wagner, Interim Director Graduate Admissions Babson College, F.W. Olin School of Business

Making Your Online Job Search Efficient

We recently received another question from a listener about finding internships in the US. It can be hard for international students to do so, especially because networking in-person is part of the job search strategy for those in the US.

Luckily, there are several online job boards that many top companies in the US use to post internship opportunities. As a first-year MBA student, I've explored many of these sites and can tell you what's worked for me.

Indeed.com: This site allows you to search for internships by location and keyword. You can also set up email alerts so you'll be the first to know when a new job is posted that meets your search criteria.

Simplyhired.com: This site is just like Indeed.com. I usually got alerts about jobs first from Indeed - Simply Hired seemed to be a bit slower to alert me. However, Simply Hired does send a nice e-newsletter every once in a while with some good job search tips, trends and articles.

Vault.com: Vault has a lot of good job search tools on it. Not only can you browse open positions, but it also has good company profiles, salary trends and interview tips.

Lastly, I also wanted to mention Doostang.com as another place to look. There is a monthly fee to use the site, but visit mbapodcaster.doostang.com for a great discount. It starts at only $9.95/month. Not bad!

My other piece of advice would not be to solely rely on these job boards. Some companies choose not to post their openings on external job boards and will only announce them on their company's career page. So if you have some dream companies you'd like to work for, visit their web site and look for the careers page.

Good luck!

Last Minute Applicants: To Be or Not To Be?

Round one and two deadlines have past and round three deadlines are creeping up fast. You’re trying to decide whether you should apply in round three or wait until next year. I’ve been working on an upcoming MBA Podcaster show titled “Last Minute Applicants: How to Submit a Successful Late Round Three Application.” In the podcast, we’ll explore some of the different attitudes schools have toward round three as well as give advice on how to navigate the waters and complete your application on time. I’ll be keeping you posted along the way with blog updates.

Should you or shouldn’t you? Should you apply or should you wait? Graham Richmond is the Co-founder and Director of Clear Admit. He is somewhat of a traditionalist when it comes to giving advice about applying in round three.

“First piece of advice is apply early. The second piece of advice is if you’re at the point where all that’s left is the last round for the school, I think you should seriously consider about applying early the next cycle. Literally wait a year, wait six months to apply but wait a year to start your education essentially, because again, your odds of getting in are so slim if we’re dealing with top programs that often it makes sense to really reassess that a round three or round four app is what you really want to do.”

Given steep odds and the advice that people give against applying late, Richmond recognizes that there are legitimate reasons for applying late and says that you need to consider the perspective of the admissions directors.

“They’re assembling a class and they probably have people from different backgrounds already in that class and so you need to show them how you’re going to meet some unmet need. What is it about your candidacy that will help them complete the puzzle which is their class.”

Learn more of what Richmond and the other guests have to say about round three applications in our upcoming show that will be in a couple of weeks. Other guests on the show include:

• Jedd Gold, a late applicant who successfully was admitted to (and graduated) UCLA’s Anderson School of Business;
• Kofi Kankam, Co-founder & Director, Admit Advantage;
• Soojin Kwon Koh, Director of Admissions for the Ross School at the University of Michigan;
• Alex Sevilla Assistant Dean & Director, Hough Graduate School of Busienss and Warrington College of Business Administration at the University of Florida; and
• Robert Wagner, Interim Director Graduate Admissions Babson College, F.W. Olin School of Business.

Last Minute Applicants: What the Admissions Directors Say

Maybe you’ve been busy at work. Maybe you’ve been busy at home. For whatever reason, you’ve missed the round one and two deadlines at the business schools that you’ve been considering. You’re trying to decide whether you should apply in round three or wait until next year. I’ve been working on an upcoming MBA Podcaster show titled “Last Minute Applicants: How to Submit a Successful Late Round Three Application.” In the podcast, we’ll explore some of the different attitudes schools have toward round three as well as give advice on how to navigate the waters and complete your application on time. I’ll be keeping you posted along the way with blog updates.

The common element between schools is that they all accept applicants in round three. But every school is different in their approach to round three applications. The spectrum runs the gamut from rolling admissions (no deadline) to very competitive as in very few spaces are available to round three applicants. I recently spoke to three admissions directors and start with the later.

Soojin Kwon Koh is the Director of Admissions for the Ross School at the University of Michigan. She warns that at Ross, round three is very competitive.

"Round three is a really small round and it is for those people who realize at the last minute ‘you know maybe I do want to go to school this fall’ and so it’s a really small percentage of apps that come in that round. We don’t reserve a certain number or percentage of slots for round three applicants, but by the time we’re reviewing round three apps, our class is pretty much, um, substantially full."

At the University of Florida’s full-time MBA programs, it’s always a good time to apply. Alex Sevilla, is the Assistant Dean & Director say they never close out a class as it relates to size.

"What that means for us is that deadlines are important, they are especially important as it relates to scholarship consideration. The earlier somebody applies, it is far more likely they will be considered for some type of scholarship funding, but our philosophy is we’re looking for the absolute best candidates and when those candidates apply, if they meet all of those criteria, then we’re willing to look at them.... If very highly qualified candidates apply late, then it’s in our best interest and it certainly makes sense for the rest of the cohorts to bring in the individuals and we have the space to do that."

Also it worth to note that full-time programs are different from Executive MBA programs or part-time programs. Robert Wagner, the Interim Director Graduate Admissions Babson College, F.W. Olin School of Business, says it is very common for working professionals to apply late.

"It’s certainly a lot different than the full-time application process. We work with candidates almost as close as we can get to the enrollment stage. Sometimes they’re applying late because they have so many things going on in their lives. Again, if they’re a good quality candidate, that’s not going to be an issue. We do want to make sure that the timing is right so they are going to get off on the right foot and hit the ground running when the program starts."

Learn more of what our admissions directors and the other guests have to say about round three applications in our upcoming show that will be in a couple of weeks. Other guests on the show include:

• Jedd Gold, a late applicant who successfully was admitted to (and graduated) UCLA’s Anderson School of Business;
• Kofi Kankam, Co-founder & Director, Admit Advantage; and
• Graham Richmond, Co-founder and Director, Clear Admit.

What's Keeping Women MBAs from Earning Their Value?

Earlier this week, the Wall Street Journal posted an article summarizing the findings from a Catalyst study that female MBAs are still not earning as much as their male counterparts, despite having similar work and education backgrounds. There were 9,000 respondents that participated in this study, all of whom had graduated from business school between 1996 and 2007. On average, women earned $4,600 less in their first job out of business school than men. Plus, men are twice as likely to reach CEO or senior executive level in their current job than the women are.

Why is this happening? Are women still bound by a glass ceiling in the workplace? The WSJ interviewed Ann Bartel, an econ professor from Columbia Business School on the matter. She says that women are less likely to be considered for higher salaries and promotions because employers assume that women will eventually be taking leave to have children and start a family. But the blame doesn't fall entirely on employers. Many women don't strive as hard for the higher up positions for the same reason - the anticipation of starting a family.

Bartel goes on to say that in order for there to be real equality in the workplace, employers need to offer more flex-time or work from home options. That way, women who also want a family life will be able to move up the ladder and fully earn their value as an MBA - just as much as men.

I have hopes that we are moving in the right direction, though. The NYT recently reported that, for the first time in history, women outnumber men in the workplace. Over the last few decades, women have been steadily gaining a greater share of the nation's payroll, but the recent recession finally put women over the 50% mark. The article actually uses the term "man-cession" because men have been losing their jobs faster than women during this economic downturn. Even if men take the lead again after the recession is over, it's still gives me hope that women are quickly earning their fair share in the workplace. Women MBAs may not be lagging in pay and promotions for much longer.

Bay Area Entrepreneurs Tell the Value of an MBA

If you are going to be in the San Francisco Bay Area on Thursday, March 4, you won't want to miss this opportunity to network with Bay Area entrepreneurs as they tell you how an MBA has helped them succeed in their careers. Hosted by Kaplan. Check out the event flier below for details. To REGISTER click: http://www.kaptest.com/sfgrandopening

Panelists:

Sandeep Ganesh: Manager, Engineering & Operations, PG&E

(MBA University of Chicago, Booth)

Marc Lefkowitz: Sr. Product Manager, NortonLive, Symantec

(MBA UCB, Haas)

Sarah Moore: Owner, Napa Ranch Restaurant (MBA Stanford)

Todd Seligman: Research Association, Dodge & Cox

(Accepted MBA Student at Harvard and Stanford )

Question from a Listener re: Work Experience before B-School

Every once in a while, we get questions from our listeners asking for personal b-school advice. We try our best to answer them all, and sometimes we post the really good questions on our site. We recently received the following question from a listener and we thought it might be relevant for many others too.

Question: I had work experience of 2 years before college. Then I decided to go to undergrad and I''m graduating this year. I''m planning on going straight to MBA. Would my work experience count?

The question of work experience frequently comes up, especially with the younger applicants who want to accelerate their career early. This is becoming more common, especially for women who want to be able to have a successful career and family life while they are still young.

Most business schools generally say they want applicants with at least 3-5 years of work experience before enrolling. Typically, it doesn't matter what type of work experience you have - just that you have experienced the "real world." I remember I asked this question to a recruiter - he told me that an applicant could have been a bus driver for three years and they would still consider that valuable work experience for business school.

Needless to say, this doesn't mean that applicants with fewer (or no) years of experience can't get in. There are ways to make your application stand out to show admissions counselors you are ready for the challenge of business school. We've produced a couple of podcasts about advice for younger applicants. Here are a few key excerpts that I think will help:

Advice for Younger Applicants

Because the main issue for young candidates is lack of professional experience, Laurie Stewart, Executive Director of MBA Admissions, The Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University, says the other components of the application should be emphasized. “As one example, if someone has less experience then their academic profile really needs to be strong. Their essays need to really make sense for why their interested in a MBA degree. And I think a candidate as they have an opportunity for an interview has to also really present themselves in a way that shows us that they can sell themselves and it’s obvious that they’re going to contribute and participate in the learning environment.”

Presenting a strong case in your application means you’ll have to have very clear goals. Paul Bodine, senior editor at Accepted.com and author of “Great Application Essays for Business School”, says this could be one challenge for young applicants. “You won’t have had the work experience that helps you decide what your goals are and why you need the MBA. I mean a lot of people use the MBA to make a career change because they’ve discovered that in the career track they chose in college, it wasn’t for them. So if you’re applying right out of college, you haven’t had the work experience that’s helped you decide that that’s not what you want to do and figure out what you really want to do. So maybe they’re going into the MBA not really knowing why they want that MBA. Maybe their goal choice is not as you know tested yet.”

Leadership potential is a crucial quality for young applicants and it can be a bit more challenging to show when you haven’t had a lot of experiences but it can be done says Laurie Stewart, “There are other ways that students with less experience can show leadership. One obvious place is in their involvement on the campus or within the community. And we see great examples of the aptitude for leadership and the impact that less experienced candidates are making and that’s a really good indicator for those kinds of skills over the long term.”

Joining clubs or community organizations can be a good place to find experiences but Paul Bodine says make sure you do more than just be involved. “There has to be some sort of sense that you are demonstrating unusual leadership and by that I mean you know you’re not just for example involved heavily in extracurricular but you are in leadership roles. You know, you’re the class president or you’re the editor and chief of the school newspaper or you know maybe you started a business of your own during the summer you know painting houses or IT consulting or something, I mean those would be indications that you are not a typical applicant, that you’re getting out of the gate fast as it were. And there are other you know less dramatic ways of demonstrating that a typical lesson, you know one could be for example during a summer internship you were given responsibilities kind of above your pay grade as it were and you can talk about those but I think leadership is really the key word there and you can’t just say you are an officer in a club or something like that, you’ve also kind of got to show that that leadership translated into impact so you’ve got to have some stories showing how you’ve changed things. But you’ve got to have that kind of material there I think to have a chance.”

The Best Time to Go For Your MBA: Is Sooner Better Than Later?

Thomas Caleel, Director of MBA Admissions and Financial Aid at The Wharton School, on the other hand, says the extra-young MBA students can bring a fresh, different perspective. “They are eager to learn. They study very hard, and they do contribute to the discussion. It’s a different contribution than someone who can raise their hand and say, ‘Well, I’ve started three businesses,’ or ‘I ran sales for IBM in Beijing for two years.’ They bring an enthusiasm and a fresh perspective. And some of them also bring some interesting summer experience. So to me, it’s a component of diversity within the classroom. It’s a diversity of opinion; it’s a diversity of perspective. And they are integrated very well into our cohort system. Their opinions are valued. They are valuable members of the community. They actually do quite well. And also, life is changing. If you look at college graduates these days, they’ve done a lot more with their lives than college graduates may have done 10, 15 years ago. They are doing real internships. They’re traveling the world. They’re starting businesses while they’re in school. They’re building and leading organizations on campus. So these are our bright, focused, energetic students. They’re not spending their summer on the beach having fun which is a great way to spend the summer, by the way. But they’re actually doing things; they’re trying to make a difference. So why not bring them up and add that diverse opinion to the class?”

Certainly, these extra-young MBA applicants have to be extraordinary. Even though they may not have your typical work experience, they’ve gained experience nonetheless. Wharton’s Thomas Caleel: “If we have an applicant, for example, that’s maybe written a book and gotten that published. That’s tremendous experience. Could you classify that as work experience? Maybe, maybe not. Or maybe they’ve started an undergraduate women-in-business organization and grown that to 600 people over in their time in undergrad. That’s real leadership. As in with all of our candidates, we’re looking for an ability to take a risk. We’re looking for people who are not afraid to do things they’re passionate about and really make a difference. So that’s why there is no formula. Is two years of investment banking critical? It depends on the person. Is two years in the Peace Corps advantageous? It depends on the person.”

Brit Dewey, Managing Director of Admissions at Harvard Business School, says the extra-young candidates will have to meet the same standards as the older ones. “The two things we’re looking for in our process are academic ability, and in that way, someone applying right out of a college is no different from someone applying four years out. We’re going to try to assess your undergraduate transcript, how well you’ve done on the GMAT; kind of the rigor, the analytical, the intellectual, the quantitative rigor of your work. Obviously, with people who’ve been out in the work force, we think about what you’ve been doing on the job in a way that we don’t have that chance with the college senior. But they’ve had several internships and then we’re looking for leadership potential. So for the person who’s been working for a while or for the person who’s applying right out of college, the board starts considering from the time you set foot on an undergraduate campus: What options have you had? What opportunities have you pursued and why? What experiences have you had—either in formal roles or informal roles as a leader? What have you done? What have you learned from these experiences? Frankly, we have to relatively gauge the opportunities that a college senior has had as opposed to what a ten-year-out person has had. But what we’re looking for is potential.”

We hope that helps you understand how to make your application stand out as a younger applicant! As usual, we're always available to chat via Facebook and Twitter! Good luck!

Last Minute Applicants: Step 1 to a Successful Late Round Three Application

Maybe you’ve been busy at work.  Maybe you’ve been busy at home.  For whatever reason, you’ve missed the round one and two deadlines at the business schools that you’ve been considering.  You’re trying to decide whether you should apply in round three or wait until next year.  I’ve been working on an upcoming MBA Podcaster show titled “Last Minute Applicants: How to Submit a Successful Late Round Three Application.”  In the podcast, we’ll explore some of the different attitudes schools have toward round three as well as give advice on how to navigate the waters and complete your application on time. I’ll be keeping you posted along the way with blog updates.

You’ve heard time and again that round three applications are problematic.  The school might wonder why you are going to business school - maybe you’re unemployed, maybe you don’t like your job and you want out, maybe you want to be a part of the lucrative financial industry. The schools are going to wonder if you’ve got your act together. They’re going to wonder why it took you so long to get your application together.  They’re going to wonder if you can multi-task and survive business school with obligations to classes, clubs, recruiting and networking.  Or they might wonder if you’re their number one choice.  None of these questions are good questions for schools to be asking.  So is all hope lost?  Nope.

Kofi Kankam is the Co-founder and Director of Admit Advantage, an admissions consulting firm.  He says the first thing that you should do is a bit counter-intuitive, “Acknowledge your late application and focus on the positive attributes.”

And he gave some great examples.

“Try to focus on highlighting the parts of the school - courses, students, club, etc...-  that might really resonate with you.  You really have to emphasize the fit in this instance.  You can use reasons such as saying ‘you want to take the time to submit your best application because you know the school is selective and that would have included a re-take of the GMAT.’... You wanted to take time to make sure you were ready to apply.  It’s a huge decision and process to go through the applications sequence as it is. Every school is going to ask why you want to get an MBA but also why you want to get it now. A student indicating that her/she took that question seriously... will potentially resonate with admissions officers.  Candidates can also indicate that they needed to focus job project which precluded them to do enough heavy research to submit a strong application.”

Kofi said that round three candidates should use the optional essay to explain some of the things that he mentioned.

Learn more of what Kofi and the other guests have to say about round three applications in our upcoming show that will be in a couple of weeks. Other guests on the show include:

• Jedd Gold, alumni of UCLA’s Anderson School of Business, applied after April 1 deadline;
• Soojin Kwon Koh, Director of Admissions for the Ross School at the University of Michigan;
• Graham Richmond, Co-founder and Director, Clear Admit;
• Alex Sevilla  Assistant Dean & Director,   Hough Graduate School of Business, Warrington College of Business Administration, University of Florida; and
• Robert Wagner, Interim Director Graduate Admissions Babson College, F.W. Olin School of Business.

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