Click here to read the intro to this blog series! Send your admissions questions to timeout[at]veritasprep[dot]com.
–
Dear Trav,

First, may I offer my congratulations!  I know you may not feel like being congratulated for landing on a waitlist rather than being accepted to your dream school. But you weren’t denied, so the school is clearly interested.  In fact, every person on the waitlist is qualified to be a member of the class. An MBA Admissions Committee will never waitlist a candidate who they think is unqualified, so this certainly deserves congratulations.

Why do schools have a waitlist?

In knowing what you should do to get off the waitlist and onto the “Admitted” list, it’s important to understand why schools have a waitlist at all.  It’s not complicated, and you probably already understand.  Even the highest-ranked schools tell us that 75-80% of applicants are qualified to be a part of their class.  Their statistics fall within the typical range for admitted students, including GPA, GMAT score, years of work experience, and so forth.  However, they only admit 5-20% of applicants.  This means that they must select a small group of candidates from the large pool of applicants to admit, primarily based on subjective factors such as employ-ability,  clarity of the candidate’s vision, how they fit with the program offerings, and what they can uniquely contribute to the program compared to other admitted candidates.

A certain group of these qualified candidates are offered admission. However, every school knows that less than 100% of candidates offered admission will accept the offer.  This is the school’s admission yield.  The yield at Harvard Business School is about 90%.  At many other top programs, it’s somewhere around 60%.  Because this number changes a bit from year to year, the school also adds candidates to its waitlist.  Please note: these candidates are typically just as qualified to attend the school as those who were admitted. There simply isn’t enough room in the class to admit every qualified candidate.

For Round 1, schools will extend a certain number of offers and put several candidates on the waitlist.  At most MBA programs, the waitlisted candidates are considered along with the applicants from Round 2. Some members of the waitlist will be interviewed and accepted, some will be denied, and others will stay on the waitlist until consideration in Round 3.  This is a very frustrating process for the applicant.

Don’t transform into a crazy person!

There’s a careful balance that you need to achieve as a member of the waitlist between staying top-of-mind and becoming annoying.  With the confidence of knowing that the admissions committee has already designated you as someone who they would admit to the current class, don’t be overbearing! It’s a nerve-wracking experience, so some people start to do crazy things like calling the admissions office every day and sending multiple emails to as many email addresses as they can get their hands on.  Take a step back and try to see this from the admissions officer’s perspective. If you go to such lengths, you might only confirm in their minds that you are a certifiable nutcase.  Not ideal for gaining admission to one of the world’s highest respected educational institutions!

Schools with strict waitlist rules:

There are some schools, including Wharton, that specifically ask you NOT to reach out to the committee except to provide very specific updates.  For example, Wharton only will accept updates to your GMAT score, a new job, or additional coursework.  If a school has specifically told you NOT to provide other updates, you should follow their instructions.  There’s nothing more frustrating than giving someone some instructions and then having them disregard them because they think they know better. On the flip side, you certainly want to signal your continuing interest in the program and update the committee on the things you are doing to prepare to hit the ground running as an MBA.

If you really want to get into a school like this with very strict guidelines for the waitlist, then I would recommend that you do everything in your power to get in.  If that means studying three hours a day for the next four weeks to improve your GMAT score, then do it!  If that means enrolling in a Statistics, Micro/Macroeconomics, Calculus or Finance course to freshen up your quantitative skills and be able to hit the ground running on Day 1, then do it! (Although I would not go out and get a new job just to report it to the committee! If you get a promotion in your current job, be sure to let them know.) These programs are looking for driven individuals who are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve their goals.  Once you have something new to tell them, then be sure to communicate these updates to the admissions committee!

A few more tips for most schools’ waitlists:

Most programs are very willing to receive updates from waitlisted applicants and may even assign you to a Waitlist Advisor who will give you specific things that you can do to improve your chances.  For most programs, you may write an email reiterating your ongoing interest in the program.  If the program is truly your #1 dream school, you could mention that it remains your top choice and that you would be willing to accept an offer the same day it was extended and pay the tuition deposit immediately. If you’ve taken on additional responsibilities or projects at work, you could provide a quick update to your professional experience.  And if there is an area of your application that you know may need some additional support, you may often have an additional recommender write a letter of support to be included in your file.  For example, if you didn’t have an opportunity in your application to discuss extracurricular leadership opportunities outside of work, you could have a supervisor in one of these activities write a letter on your behalf.  Or if your work history jumps all over the place, you could have another professional reference write a letter explaining the strong contributions you’ve made and the clear vision you have for your post-MBA career.

The key is to clearly signal to the admissions committee that you’re still interested in gaining admission to the program, are willing to do what it takes to be admitted, and are willing to abide by the rules and guidelines that have been expressed.  Numerous emails with no substantive updates will not help your cause, and may even hurt it.

If you’re looking for specific guidance on how to craft your communications with the Admissions Committee or specific steps that would be best for your unique situation, please reach out to Veritas Prep!  Waitlist assistance is a key part of our admissions strategy and we would be happy to work with you on this aspect of your application.

Best of luck to you in the coming weeks!
Travis

If you have MBA admissions questions, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today, or email us a question for this blog to timeout@veritasprep.com. As always, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

Travis Morgan is the Director of Admissions Consulting for Veritas Prep and earned his MBA with distinction from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He served in the Kellogg Student Admissions Office, Alumni Admissions Organization and Diversity & Inclusion Council, among several other posts. Travis joined Veritas Prep as an admissions consultant and GMAT instructor, and he was named Worldwide Instructor of the Year in 2011.

Click here to read the intro to this blog series! Send your admissions questions to timeout[at]veritasprep[dot]com.
–
Dear Trav,
I want to change careers so my employer can’t know I’m applying to b-school. How should I navigate letters of recommendation if I can’t ask my direct supervisor for help?
–

As you probably already know based on your question, pretty much every MBA program asks for a recommendation from your current supervisor.  In fact, if your current supervisor does not provide a recommendation, the school will usually ask you to explain the circumstances in your optional essay. Because of this very strong language on their website, most candidates believe that if they can’t provide a recommendation from their current supervisor, they are put at a huge disadvantage.  They think of it like a homework assignment that doesn’t fulfill all the requirements, so you’re automatically deducted a full letter grade.  Please don’t think like that!  The admissions process is much more holistic and flexible than you might think!

There are many circumstances when an applicant cannot get a recommendation from their current supervisor.  In many cases, they are not comfortable telling their current employer that they may be leaving the company to go to business school.  In others, they may have worked with their current supervisor for a very short time, and the person does not know them well.  In other cases, the applicant may be concerned that if they tell their current supervisor that they will be leaving the company, their projects or bonuses may be affected. Or let’s be honest, sometimes you can’t get a recommendation from your current supervisor because you absolutely HATE them, and the feeling is likely mutual, so you don’t think they will offer you a strong recommendation.

It’s okay!  Admissions officers know that there are many circumstances where obtaining a recommendation from your current supervisor is not possible. In most cases, you may simply explain the situation in a straightforward and candid way in your optional essay.  For example, I worked with an applicant in investment banking who simply said, “I have not informed my direct supervisor of my intentions to apply to business school because I am concerned that it may impact the projects to which I am assigned and my quarterly bonuses.”  He was admitted to his first-choice school.

The key is to select another recommender who can offer a similar perspective on your strengths and weaknesses.  Think about what your current supervisor knows about you: they know your day-to-day job responsibilities and working habits, they have firsthand knowledge of projects where you’ve shown initiative, they understand your interpersonal skills, they can compare your performance to peers, and so on. You need to find someone who can replicate this intimate level of understanding as closely as possible. A peer is usually NOT the best answer, as it’s pretty easy to just find our best friend at work and have them write a glowing review. Do you have a former supervisor from the fairly recent past (past 2-3 years)?  Do you work in a matrix-style organization where you’ve reported to other supervisors on different projects? Do you have a mentor within your organization with whom you feel comfortable discussing your future career goals—including business school? You need someone who has served in a supervisory role to you and who can speak very personally about your performance, strengths and weaknesses.

Once you have selected the proper replacement, be sure to mention why you selected them in your optional essay.  So after explaining why you have not asked your current supervisor for a recommendation, you need to add a sentence stating something like, “Therefore, I have asked Travis Morgan to write a recommendation on my behalf, as he is my most recent former supervisor and can speak directly to my professional experience, performance relative to my peers, and personal strengths and weaknesses.”

The MBA admissions committee places the greatest value on recommendations from your current supervisor, as they can speak to your current circumstances and achievements. Besides, if you show the courage to speak with them about your future plans, this shows the level of trust that you have with them. So obtaining a recommendation from your current supervisor is always the best option.  However, admissions officers will understand your circumstances and recognize that this is not always possible. You will not be automatically “demoted” in consideration for this one omission. Instead, just find your best alternative recommender and prepare them properly so that their recommendation is strong, personal and specific.

I hope that comes as a relief to you as you prepare to apply!

Trav

If you’re thinking about applying to business school, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today. And, as always, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter! If you have any admissions questions for the blog, please send them to timeout[at]veritasprep[dot]com.

Travis Morgan is the Director of Admissions Consulting for Veritas Prep and earned his MBA with distinction from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He served in the Kellogg Student Admissions Office, Alumni Admissions Organization and Diversity & Inclusion Council, among several other posts. Travis joined Veritas Prep as an admissions consultant and GMAT instructor, and he was named Worldwide Instructor of the Year in 2011.

Click here to read the intro to this blog series! Send your admissions questions to timeout[at]veritasprep[dot]com!

If I may take some liberties in translating this question, I suspect you’re probably asking one of two questions:

1. “I’m uncomfortable bragging about myself, but I know that I need to stand out from the crowd of amazing applicants to be accepted. How I am supposed to do that?” or…
2. “Let’s be honest: I’m pretty dang awesome and I love bragging about myself. However, I don’t want to seem like a complete a****le to the admissions committee, so how can I showcase my strengths without seeming like I’m completely full of myself.”

Honestly, it doesn’t really matter to me which question you’re really asking. Either question is completely legitimate. Whether it’s applying for a job, seeking for a promotion or a raise from your boss, or applying to b-school, praising yourself is always an awkward balance of presenting facts favorable to yourself and showcasing some true humility.

While everyone’s essays will be different—and we specifically tell our clients NOT to force their essays into a specific cookie-cutter template—I can offer a few quick tips and principles that are generally applicable:

Show, Don’t Tell

This is a common piece of advice that certainly isn’t exclusive to Veritas Prep, but it’s still very powerful, nonetheless. Do not simply make claims about yourself in your essays, such as, “I have a strong work ethic.” Even the laziest of candidates can “tell” an admissions officer that they have a strong work ethic, so this does nothing to differentiate your candidacy.  Instead, if you think one of the key strengths of your candidacy is your strong work ethic, think of stories or examples to showcase this.  For example, “In 2011, I was awarded our companywide Employee of the Year award, and my supervisor specifically mentioned my unwavering work ethic as the primary reason she nominated me. I am relentless in pursuing my personal and team goals, and look forward to working with equally dedicated classmates on team projects at Wharton.” Tying the award to your personality trait enables you to “show” the admissions committee some evidence of that trait rather than just trying to “tell” them about it.

Use “Mini-stories”

Using “mini-stories” is a perfect way to “show” rather than “tell.”  As a former journalist, I highly encourage my consulting clients to tell stories from their past to make their points. However, when people think of telling a story, they often think about crafting a beginning, middle and end.  In fact, many of your essays will be structured this way (we call it the SAR method for Situation-Action-Result, but we’ll discuss that in another post).  However, crafting a multi-paragraph story that really only makes one point or showcases one of your strengths may not be the best use of your word count.  Instead, I encourage my clients to think of “mini stories” — quick, one or two line examples from their life that will make their point without the need for lots of context.

For example, a common type of admissions essay will ask you to write about your unique background, skills, experiences, etc. that you will bring to the MBA program. I have a very charismatic and enthusiastic personality, and I thought this would be something important to mention in my essay.  In my first draft, I started writing, “I bring enthusiasm to every organization.”  Then I realized that this was not particularly effective, since anyone can say they bring enthusiasm to an organization. I starting thinking about stories I could tell that would show this particular character trait. However, I wanted to include many other things in the essay, so I didn’t want to take up much space. I remembered a conversation that I had with a friend that worked perfectly.  I started my essay with the line: “I have a friend, Cheryl, who has posted a goal on her bathroom mirror that states, ‘Be the most enthusiastic person you know.’ Cheryl came to me and said, ‘Travis, I can’t accomplish my goal because you are the most enthusiastic person I know!’”

In just two and a half lines, I was able to show a completely unquantifiable trait like “enthusiasm” in a way that any admissions officer would understand and appreciate. After making this statement, I followed it up by saying that I bring a sense of optimism and enthusiasm to every project I undertake.  My personal philosophy is that pessimism harms team morale even more than failure. In a tiny “mini-story,” I was able to offer the admissions officer a little glimpse into how I think, my unique perspective and philosophy in life, and how I’m perceived by others in a genuine, honest and fairly humble way. Take a look at the stories you want to tell and determine whether they deserve a “full treatment” with a beginning, middle and end, or whether you can find a “mini-story” to say pretty much the same thing.

Don’t Try to Oversell Yourself

Since Job #1 in your application is to show the admissions officer that you’re a worthy candidate for their program, there’s always a temptation to write as if you’re some kind of unconquerable superhero without a single chink in your armor. To be perfectly honest, the most successful candidates I’ve seen at top-tier B-schools, especially at the highest ranked schools of Stanford GSB and Harvard Business School, have been those who were ridiculously down-to-earth, not afraid to talk about huge failures, and were 100% genuine in their applications. Admissions officers are not looking for over-wrought, over-crafted works of art in your application. They want to find out about the real you and what makes you tick.

The real key to writing about yourself is selecting the right stories. You need to find those stories that say a TON about who you are, how you think, how you react to less-than-ideal situations or solve problems in the fewest words possible. Don’t try to be a hero—just be your best self.

I hope those bits of advice are helpful in crafting your ideal applications. Of course, our Veritas Prep Admissions Consultants are the experts in helping you dive deep within yourself, see what’s there, and determine how to express the depths of your soul in just 300-500 words!

Trav 

If you’re thinking about applying to business school, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today. And, as always, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter! If you have any admissions questions for the blog, please send them to timeout[at]veritasprep[dot]com.

Travis Morgan is the Director of Admissions Consulting for Veritas Prep and earned his MBA with distinction from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He served in the Kellogg Student Admissions Office, Alumni Admissions Organization and Diversity & Inclusion Council, among several other posts. Travis joined Veritas Prep as an admissions consultant and GMAT instructor, and he was named Worldwide Instructor of the Year in 2011.

Click here to read the intro to this blog series! Send your admissions questions to timeout[at]veritasprep[dot]com!
–
Dear Trav,

I have a couple of thoughts here, so the first part of my response will be relevant to ALL B-school applicants and the second is directed specifically to those seeking to return to family-owned businesses.

“Good” Goals and “Bad” Goals

We are constantly asked by applicants, “Is xxx a good story for my future goals?”  What this ultimately is asking is, “What do admissions committees want to hear? That way I can be sure to tell it to them.” This is one of the worst approaches you can take to an MBA application. Admissions officers don’t want you to try to transform yourself into something that you’re not, mysteriously developing passions just months before you apply. They want you to be yourself!

There is not a “good” goal and a “bad” goal for your post-MBA ambitions. Rather, there are realistic, achievable and thoughtful goals, and then there are unrealistic goals that seem entirely disconnected from an applicant’s current experience, with no due diligence or planning on how to bridge the gap to achieve their goal other than the magic of an MBA degree on their resume.

Expressing Your Goals in an MBA Application

Although there are not “good” or “bad” goals, there are certainly better and worse ways to express your goals in your application. I will use direct quotes from MBA admissions officers and websites to outline how you should approach your MBA application, and by extension, your short-term and long-term goals:

1. B-schools are not looking for just one type of candidate: “Genuine business talent cannot be narrowly defined. Instead of looking for an ‘ideal’ candidate, HBS invites applicants who bring a variety of skills, accomplishments, and aspirations to form a very special community.” (HBS Admissions Website)
2. Admissions officers hate it when you try to write things you think they want to hear: “This is not an undertaking in which you look at an audience/customer (i.e., the Committee on Admissions) and then write what you believe we want to hear. It is quite the opposite. This is a process in which you look inside yourself and try to express most clearly what is there.” (Derrick Bolton, Assistant Dean for MBA Admissions, Stanford GSB)
3. If you feel your genuine career path and goals are “too traditional,” DO NOT try to come up with novel or “more interesting” goals to differentiate yourself: “The point of the essays is to tell your story, not someone else’s. Your best bet for differentiating yourself is to do just that — tell your story.” (Soojin Kwon, Director of Admissions, Ross School of Business)
4. Take some significant time to really reflect on yourself, your passions and your REAL goals: “You’ve heard us say it a million times — self-reflection is the absolute best investment for strong essays.  Take the next couple of weeks to do some deeper thinking before sitting down to your keyboard.” (Kurt Alhm, Assistant Dean of Student Recruitment & Admissions, Chicago Booth)
5. If your goals seem bland, be sure to show how they connect to your passions and vision and how you plan on shaping the world around you: “One of the things we want to know from you in the application is, ‘Are you ready to make an impact? Do you have an idea of the world outside yourself and what you’d like to make an impact on?’” (Sara Neher, Assistant Dean for MBA Admissions, Darden School of Business)
6. Draw a personal connection between your goals and the offerings of your target school: “The strongest essays will be those that reflect a deeper level of knowledge about a particular program beyond simple course titles or generalities. So when writing your application, think about those things that excite you about our Berkeley program and be sure to discuss them.” (Stephanie Fujii, Executive Director of Admissions, Berkeley-Haas)

In short, admissions officers are much more interested in getting to know you, your real passions, and how you plan to use your career to make an impact.  Your immediate goals may seem really boring, such as moving up the ranks in Management Consulting or Investment Banking, but that doesn’t mean you can’t differentiate yourself by showing how those paths uniquely fit with your broader passions and interests.

Okay, So What About My Family Business?

Alright, it’s time for me to get off my soap box and talk specifically about family businesses.  The reason I went into this long, seemingly tangential speech about goals is to show that going into your family business is a perfectly fine goal, assuming that’s REALLY what you want to do!  I had many MBA colleagues at Kellogg whose goals were to return to their family businesses.  In fact, several MBA programs such as Kellogg, Columbia, LBS and many others offer specific resources around family businesses.  As I mentioned above, you’ll certainly want to connect your goals to the academic and extracurricular offerings of the school.

How Can I Differentiate Myself From Other Candidates With Family Business Aspirations?

One of the key ways to differentiate yourself regarding your family business is to say what you plan to do with the business upon graduating from your target MBA program.  What is your vision for the business and your role in it?  If it’s not likely that you’ll immediately take over as CEO, how will you make an impact on the business in your first role out of school?  What, specifically, do you need to learn in your MBA program to be able to grow the family business and achieve your goals?  Do you plan to eventually run the business?  What kinds of market factors will impact the business between now and then?  What are your competitors doing?

As Kurt Alhm recommends above, make sure that you spend some significant time reflecting about your goals and do your homework about what will impact the success of your family’s business in the future.  This will show that you’re really serious about making an impact and you’ve spent the time to understand the factors for success.

At Veritas Prep, we’ve worked with a number of candidates who are coming from or going to family businesses and there’s certainly an art to demonstrating that you truly have the skills to succeed and have not been coddled by nepotism. Feel free to reach out if you’re interested in learning more about working with our experienced Admissions Consultants in our unique team-based approach to MBA admissions.

Good luck in your applications!
Trav

If you’re thinking about applying to business school, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today. And, as always, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

Travis Morgan is the Director of Admissions Consulting for Veritas Prep and earned his MBA with distinction from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He served in the Kellogg Student Admissions Office, Alumni Admissions Organization and Diversity & Inclusion Council, among several other posts. Travis joined Veritas Prep as an admissions consultant and GMAT instructor, and he was named Worldwide Instructor of the Year in 2011.

This online survey should take just a few minutes to complete. We would love to receive as many responses as possible before the closing date of Monday, May 20 — and we would like to see you win one of three $100 gift certificates!

Simply click here to begin the survey: http://j.mp/AIGAC.

More about the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants: AIGAC promotes high ethical standards and professional development amongst graduate admissions consultants, increases public understanding of graduate admissions consulting, and enhances channels of communication with complementary organizations and entities.

Thanks in advance for your participation, and good luck with the drawing!

Click here to read the intro to this blog series! Send your admissions questions to timeout[at]veritasprep.com!

As top-tier business schools seek to diversify themselves and avoid becoming simply a two-year vacation for hard charging Management Consultants and Investment Bankers, it means that applying with a “traditional” background can be more challenging than it was 5 or 10 years ago. Every year, candidates from bulge bracket banks with Ivy League educations are denied admission to top schools. I say it over and over in my blog, but the admissions committee’s task is not merely to evaluate applicants and offer admission to the qualified ones, it is to select who they think will best contribute to a diverse class from among the sea of qualified applicants. Ankur Kumar, Director of MBA Admissions at Wharton, estimates that 75 to 80 percent of Wharton applicants are qualified to attend. Based on admission rates, this means that Wharton denies more than two-thirds of qualified applicants.

The HBS Admissions website states, “To create a dynamic environment that mirrors the breadth and depth of our world economy, we seek diversity. Our promise to our faculty and to every student here is to create a class of 900 students who come from as many different backgrounds and perspectives as possible.” This sounds fantastic, unless of course you’re from a background that’s overrepresented! “Diversity” can be seen as a distinct disadvantage to those who don’t believe they offer it.

Don’t worry, there’s good news in admissions numbers for you as well: 27% of HBS’ admitted class of 2014 came from the finance sector, the highest of any industry. Consulting was the second highest at 20%. So nearly half the class is comprised of consultants and bankers. At some schools, the percentage is even higher. But as you rightly assert, you will need to stand out from the crowd of similar candidates.

Please don’t do this by trying to be someone else in your applications. Don’t dream up ridiculous career goals to try to “differentiate” yourself, when you really just want to ascend the ladder in investment banking or make a transition into Private Equity. The schools want to see that you have realistic career goals given your previous experience, so be honest!

Your credentials are going to need to be strong. Good undergraduate performance, strong GMAT score, solid professional performance. Those are givens. But your grades and your job are not the only things that define you. B-schools are looking for candidates who are introspective and interesting. They look for what we call the Four Dimensions of a Perfect Candidate: Leadership, Innovation, Teamwork and Maturity.

What are some ways that you’ve shown leadership—in or outside of work? Do peers tend to see you as a leader, whether or not you have a fancy title? Other than huge quarterly bonuses, what intrigues you about the finance industry? How can you show an intellectual curiosity and innovative problem-solving mindset? Candidates from the financial sector may be stereotyped as only looking out for themselves—the global economy be damned. What experiences from your life show that you’re a true team player and that you care about things beyond yourself and your paycheck? How have you contributed to the community around you, whether at work, in community organizations or at school?

Many finance candidates spend a couple of years as an Analyst and then apply to B-school to ascend the ladder, and this is perfectly fine. However, there may be few opportunities to showcase your Personal and Professional Maturity, such as making difficult decisions, navigating ethical dilemmas, dealing with complex issues, managing challenging employees, advocating your position while understanding and incorporating opposing viewpoints, etc. Most analysts simply do their jobs and do them well. Think of specific experiences that you’ve had in your professional life, in undergrad, and in other organizations that can show that you are a mature candidate who will bring a unique set of experiences and perspectives to your MBA class.

When MBA programs say they are looking for a “diverse” class, this can certainly include traditional measures of diversity such as gender, race, ethnicity and so forth, but perhaps more importantly it means diversity of thought. (Of course, the traditional dimensions of diversity are valuable to organizations precisely because people of different backgrounds and experiences provide diversity of thought and perspective!) Imagine an HBS classroom where every student had exactly the same perspective and opinion about the case that you had. Would that provide any value to you whatsoever? Of course not. Think about your background and experiences compared to your peers in the financial industry. What experiences do you have that have affected the way you view the world? What has provided you a different perspective than some of your peers?

What are you passionate about (or what were you passionate about before you started working 100-hour weeks)? What really makes you tick? All of these introspective questions will enable you to differentiate yourself far more than so-called “international experience” that consisted of a 2-week trip to Europe and a vacation to Shanghai. It will also be far more genuine than a “newfound passion” for microfinance and a short-term career goal of working for Grameen Bank, if none of your past endeavors would lead the admissions committee to see a pattern of interest in such pursuits.

Successful MBA applicants with traditional backgrounds tend to be very introspective about their experiences and tell them in admissions essays with a very personal touch. At Veritas Prep, every GMAT student and Admissions Consulting client can receive our Personalized MBA Game Plan™ Powered by the Myers-Briggs Assessment. It helps you see your unique strengths based on the Four Dimensions of a Perfect Applicant and write stories in your essays with a more personal perspective. Instead of simply writing about a $500 million deal that you worked on, you’ll be able to analyze how your unique strengths enabled the team to succeed and how your innovative mindset helped solve a seemingly insurmountable problem. This kind of perspective will differentiate you from the hundreds of other applicants who are simply hoping to get in based on the size of the transactions they worked on and the prestige of their bulge bracket bank.

I hope this answers some of your questions, spawns ideas from your own life and will help you differentiate yourself from all those other finance candidates!

Very Best,
Trav

If you’re thinking about applying to business school, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today. And, as always, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

Travis Morgan is the Director of Admissions Consulting for Veritas Prep and earned his MBA with distinction from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He served in the Kellogg Student Admissions Office, Alumni Admissions Organization and Diversity & Inclusion Council, among several other posts. Travis joined Veritas Prep as an admissions consultant and GMAT instructor, and he was named Worldwide Instructor of the Year in 2011.

Click here to read the intro to this blog series! Send your admissions questions to timeout@veritasprep.com!
–
Dear Trav,

Haas is likely the top-10 MBA program that most often flies beneath many candidates’ radars. Ranked #7 by U.S. News, #12 by Financial Times, and #13 by Bloomberg Businessweek, it is a powerful program with a number of strengths. Its admission rate hovers around 12% per year, usually putting it in the top 2 or 3 most selective MBA programs, along with Stanford GSB and Harvard Business School.  I must admit that I smile when I hear people say, “I’m applying to Harvard, Stanford and Wharton, with Haas as my safety school.”  Haas’ admission rate is a little more than half that of Wharton—it shouldn’t be anyone’s “safety school”!

One of the reasons that Haas has maintained such a selective standard in admissions is its small class size of less than 250 people. In the U.S., only Yale has a smaller class among top-tier MBA programs, and Yale has announced that it will be expanding its program as it moves into a new facility. Small size can have both advantages and disadvantages. Every student in the class will know one another through their two years, which creates a very tight-knit bond. In larger MBA programs, you may certainly feel like a cog in a giant machine and potentially get lost in all the commotion. Haas is also known for its incredibly friendly atmosphere.  In fact, one of its four Defining Principles is “Confidence Without Attitude,” an accurate description of nearly all of its students.  On the downside, a small class also means a smaller network of alums to help you get your dream job upon graduation. A huge percentage of Haas graduates remain in California and the West Coast of the U.S.

With such a small class and low admissions rate, the Berkeley-Haas admissions committee has the luxury of selecting only candidates who it feels confident will be a perfect fit with the school’s unique culture. The program is known for asking interesting and unusual questions in its application.  This past year, the first essay question was not about a candidates goals or why they want an MBA, but asked, “If you could choose one song that expresses who you are, what is it and why?” This is a great example of what the admissions committee looks for in candidates—a little panache to go along with the standard B-school qualifications.

Utilizing its location in the San Francisco Bay Area, Haas maintains strong connections with Silicon Valley. It places a large number of graduates into the Tech industry every year, although it’s trying hard to avoid being stereotyped as just a “tech school.” Leveraging the strengths of its parent institution, UC Berkeley (often referred to as “Cal”), Haas offers opportunities in Cleantech, Nanotechnology and Biotech that are unmatched at any other MBA program. It also has a strong emphasis in ethical leadership and social responsibility, especially social entrepreneurship. Digital media is also a strong suit.

If you’re looking to break into Venture Capital or Private Equity in Silicon Valley, you won’t have quite as many recruiters busting down your door as you would at Haas’ cross-town rival, Stanford.  However, as one of our Veritas Prep Haas Specialists put it, “if you get off of campus and knock on a few doors, you can definitely pick up some offers in Silicon Valley VC firms.” Haas graduates are proud of the fact that Berkeley is a public school that may require a little more elbow grease to accomplish your goals.

It’s easy to dismiss Haas as the “other Bay Area MBA program” living in Stanford’s shadow, but don’t do it!  It stands as one of the preeminent MBA programs worldwide. I would highly recommend you visit the campus to see for yourself if this small MBA program with a strong reputation is the right fit for you.

Kind Regards,
Trav

If you’re thinking about applying to business school, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today. And, as always, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

Travis Morgan is the Director of Admissions Consulting for Veritas Prep and earned his MBA with distinction from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He served in the Kellogg Student Admissions Office, Alumni Admissions Organization and Diversity & Inclusion Council, among several other posts. Travis joined Veritas Prep as an admissions consultant and GMAT instructor, and he was named Worldwide Instructor of the Year in 2011.

Then there are the coaches with amazing win/loss percentages and tons of experience, but again none of these coaches have 100% success.  They provide valuable coaching to the star players and sometimes critical and honest feedback (yes MVPs still have room for improvement).

The Veritas Prep Admissions Consulting team members are here to be your coaches.  

We’re here to assess your candidacy and help you create a game plan for tackling your MBA journey, and specifically the application process.  This often entails some hard work on your part, and could require an additional recruiting cycle for you to get all of your ducks in a row.   While Veritas Prep admissions consultants are the best in the industry, it’s still a game in the end, and the game-time conditions change frequently.  Essay questions can change year to year, admissions statistics will change year to year, and through all of this you have to be ready to give your applications your best. We’re here to give you the best advice possible and help you through this life-changing journey.

We wish there was a magic formula – X GMAT score + Y GPA + essays + recs = admittance.  Unfortunately it doesn’t quite work that way, but we’re going to work with you to put your best foot forward and make sure you have on your A Game when you jump into the race.   We’re here to help you tell your story through written words and shine the spotlight on your strengths.  Now with our Personalized MBA Game Plan, you can really highlight your strengths and find the absolute best program fit for you. If you’re ready to get started, contact Veritas Prep Admissions Consulting and we’ll get you paired up with a consultant and on your way.

If you are interested in receiving more information on our Admissions Consulting services, please call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today. And, as always, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

Nita Losoponkul, a Veritas Prep head consultant for UCLA, received her undergraduate degree in Engineering from Caltech and went from engineering to operations to global marketing to education management/non-profit. Her non-traditional background allows her to advise students from many areas of study. She has successfully helped low GPA students get admitted into UCLA. 

Click here to read the intro to this blog series! Send your admissions questions to timeout@veritasprep.com!
–
Dear Trav,

A little word to the wise—everyone thinks they bombed their HBS interview.  HBS interviewers are notorious for giving little or no verbal or nonverbal feedback during interviews.  They’ll sit stone-faced while you try to expound on the passions that drive your life, the incredible achievements in your professional career and the countless extracurricular activities you’ve been involved in.

One of the Best Interviews of the Season

When I visited the HBS campus and sat in on an info session, the 2^nd Year student was telling us about her interview experience. She said that she barely made it through the interview, sat down on the steps outside the building, and just cried. This was a tough woman from the financial sector who had put up with all sorts of stresses in her 80+ hour work weeks.  And yet she thought she had absolutely doomed her chances of attending her dream school. Much to her surprise, she received notification that she had been admitted to Harvard Business School!  Once on campus, she bumped into the member of the admissions committee who had interviewed her.  The woman remembered her interview and specifically commented that it was one of the best interviews she had conducted in the entire application cycle! Please remember that particularly at HBS, but with other schools as well, you cannot judge your interview performance by the visual or verbal cues offered by your interviewer.

A Holistic Approach

Secondly, remember that the interview is simply one element of your entire application. When applying for a job, your resume and job application are often just tools to get you through the initial screening process. It’s the interview that really counts. This is NOT how the MBA admissions process works. The interview is just one element among many data points that the admissions committee considers. While inappropriate interview conduct or a blatant lack of knowledge about the program may weigh heavily against your acceptance, the interview is rarely a make-or-break event. Most schools will use the interview to evaluate fit with the program. Since they have far more qualified applicants than available spots in the class, an admissions officer’s task is to select a diverse group of applicants from a large pool of qualified candidates.  It is not to simply evaluate candidates using a checklist of qualifications and select the ones who receive the most points. The interview allows the admissions officer to get a quick sense of what the candidate may offer to the class, but it is taken into consideration with numerous other factors.

The Post-Interview Reflection

At HBS, you have a chance to redeem yourself after your interview with the post-interview reflection. If you honestly bombed your interview and left a terrible impression with the interviewer—whether it was through complete ignorance of the school or the world around you, inappropriate behavior or dress, complete lack of focus in your career goals, or you just slept in and missed it—I don’t think you’re going to be able to completely turn the admissions officer’s opinion of you around by 180 degrees no matter how eloquent your Post-Interview Reflection may be. However, for most of us, there are always a few things that we wish we could have articulated a bit better in our interviews or topics we wish we had covered in greater depth.  At HBS (and perhaps other schools will begin to adopt this model), you have the opportunity to supplement your interview within 24 hours.  I would not recommend that you stock your Post-Interview Reflection full of excuses for this answer or that answer in your interview.  Instead, simply supplement your answers with greater clarity and detail. Use propriety in its length. It should be about as long as a memo you’d receive at work—long enough to provide necessary information but not so long that people stop reading. Showing true introspection and recognizing the strengths and weaknesses of your interview will show a personal and professional maturity that HBS and other B-schools are looking for.

Diversification Decreases Risk

From my personal experience, I am generally a great interviewer, but for some reason I bombed two of my MBA admissions interviews.  Perhaps it was overconfidence on my part that resulted in insufficient preparation, or perhaps I was simply not intended to go to those schools and the universe conspired against me. I was denied admission to one school and waitlisted at another. Luckily, I was interviewed by three other programs and ended up deciding to go to Kellogg—one of the best decisions of my life. This is a telling example of why you should apply to multiple programs. There’s no silver bullet that will guarantee admission any top-tier business school, and there are many factors that are simply out of your control. If you bomb an interview at one school and combined with other factors it ultimately results in being denied, you should ensure that you have other options!  Diversify your portfolio of target schools and make sure you’re applying to many programs that will enable you to achieve your goals.

Let’s hope that you’re one of the many HBS candidates who thinks they bombed their interview when in reality is was one of the best of the season!

Very Best,
Trav

If you’re thinking about applying to business school, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today. And, as always, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

Travis Morgan is the Director of Admissions Consulting for Veritas Prep and earned his MBA with distinction from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. He served in the Kellogg Student Admissions Office, Alumni Admissions Organization and Diversity & Inclusion Council, among several other posts. Travis joined Veritas Prep as an admissions consultant and GMAT instructor, and he was named Worldwide Instructor of the Year in 2011.

1. Systems Check – don’t let your interview be the first time you have used Skype within the last week.  Even if you have used Skype before (but it’s been a few months), hop online and Skype a friend or family member (or your Veritas Prep Admissions Consultant) to make sure your computer, your speakers, your microphone your camera and your internet are still working okay.
2. Dress to Impress – just because you may be sitting in the comfort of your home/condo/flat, doesn’t mean you should interview in your pajamas.  Business attire is still required.
3. Sit up Straight – for the same reasons as #2.
4. Mind you surroundings – while you may have a very strong stance on Proposition 8, President Obama or the NRA, be a Grateful Dead groupie, or a collector of Italian Renaissance Art, your interview may not be, and could potentially be offended by the posters, pictures and décor in your Skype backdrop.   Keep it neutral, keep it simple (and no, I would not recommend running out and buying fan paraphernalia for the school you are interviewing for either).
5. Maintain Good Eye Contact….with the Camera – unless you have a camera built into the middle of your screen, you should maintain good eye contact with the CAMERA.   While you may be tempted to try to look at the image of the interviewer, maintaining eye contact with the image will often result in you appearing to peer down (since most cameras are at the top of the screen or mounted on top of the monitor) anywhere from nine to fourteen inches, which depending on your gender and your interviewer’s gender, may be highly inappropriate.
6. Dispose of the Distractions – definitely turn off your mobile phone (and any other phones in the area), email or IM notifications on your computer, make sure there are no walk-in surprises, dogs barking, babies crying or any other loud distracting noises to best the extent possible.  And if there are anyways, stay focused, apologize if appropriate, and keep moving on.
7. Practice, practice, practice – just because you aren’t meeting the interviewer in person, doesn’t mean you can shirk practicing what you want to say and what ideas you want to convey.  Ideally, practice on Skype with a friend or family member (and of course, your Veritas Prep Consulting Team) to determine how to enunciate and ensure that voice inflections are coming through, and your personality shines.
8. Send a Thank You – the interviewer still took time out of their day to interview you, even if it isn’t in person, so still send an appropriate thank you note.

Good Luck and rock that virtual interview!

If you have questions or if you want more information on our Admissions Consulting services, call us at 1-800-925-7737 and speak with an MBA admissions expert today. And, as always, be sure to find us on Facebook and Google+, and follow us on Twitter!

Nita Losoponkul, a Veritas Prep head consultant for UCLA, received her undergraduate degree in Engineering from Caltech and went from engineering to operations to global marketing to education management/non-profit. Her non-traditional background allows her to advise students from many areas of study. She has successfully helped low GPA students get admitted into UCLA.