Resources to Prep for Applying to B-School

A couple of things that come to my mind. And apologies in advance for length - I like this topic and tend to be lengthy as it is.

First is just to start reading everything you can get your hands on. A lot of the websites and blogs tend to be a bit over the top, but they all give you good background information on the process. I truly believe that the more you know about how business school works, how applications work (both successful and not successful), and how profiles are evaluated, the better off you’ll be. GMAT Club, MBA Mission, MBA Exchange, Accepted.com, WSO, and others all have good stuff.

Moreover, read most everything you can about schools. Figure out your sweetspot in the rankings, and work to narrow down your schools to a good list of 4-6 schools that fit you and span a decent range of the rankings. Obviously, you’ll have to determine how badly you want to go to school, and where your cutoff is (e.g. is the worst school you’ll apply to still an M7, is it top 10, or is it top 20). Once you have an idea of these schools, learn the content on their websites and start figuring out what they offer. One of the reasons why I think I had successful interviews is because I genuinely know everything about the schools. It was easy for me to reference specific things and programs, and I found I often had to hold back my knowledge instead of reaching for things. That also came across in my essays.

Next is, figure out your goals, or at least what you’ll say your goals are. This is the most important step, so maybe do this first. Unless you are a 100% A+ candidate (HYP, 4.0 STEM major, 780, McKinsey, etc.), you need to have a good story. It needs to make sense both for you specifically and generally for an MBA applicant, so AdComs understand it and can see it as realistic. As with so many things, you want to be similar but different. A standard path that they know their school produces, with a bit of a unique twist that makes you different from all the other similar profiles applying. For me, that was a desire to get into strategy consulting (based on my previous finance consulting experience), with a long term desire to develop relationships and experience in sports (undergrad and extra curricular involvement in sports). I definitely meant the first part, and have no idea about the second part. All I know is that it made sense for me, was realistic, and made me a bit unique compared to other consultants that have a goal of getting into MBB. Once you’ve determined this, go back to the previous step and start researching how your schools meet those goals. Network and find people that have taken the path you outline. I found a couple people that had gone from MBA to MBB to the sports industry, and talked to them. That was super powerful in my essays and interviews, because it gave my somewhat pipedream goal of sports some legitimacy.

This next one is probably obvious, but do a real look at yourself and figure out where your profile is lacking. No extras? You have time. Not enough leadership? Find something to lead at work. Poor quant scores but decent academics overall? Take calculus at a community college. Need another strong relationship for a recommender? Do something new at work that can get you close to someone. Almost all of us have a weakness or two, so figure it out and address it while you have time.

Finally, think about whether or not you want an admissions consultant. I have written numerous posts advocating the use of one, but that’s totally up to you. In my opinion, all the above steps are significantly easier when you have the guidance, advice, and input of an expert. They are simply more experienced and more knowledgeable than you are about the process, and will (or at least should) be able to provide important guidance throughout. On that note, if you think you are going to go with one, get one ASAP. If you buy a full school package, which usually pays off instead of hourly, you get significantly more bang for your buck if you start tomorrow versus starting in May. Any consultant can be an essay editor, and there is certainly value in that, but that the real value comes in them getting to know you and helping develop your overall story that I mentioned above. They will not only help develop that cohesive pitch, but will also be able to provide better input on your essays and interviews if they know you well.

Those are just a few of the things I would start doing. Feel free to ask specific follow ups.