3 Tips (& 3 Crucial Questions to ask Yourself) for MBA Applications

It’s application/new student recruitment season, which means that I’ve had a wealth of opportunities to interact with prospective students- which I have to admit, has been pretty fantastic.  It’s a little crazy to see people where I was only a year ago, and very rewarding to be able to share as much knowledge as I possibly can with them to help them on their own journey- besides; NYU Stern is an amazing place, and whatever I can do to attract even more fantastic applicants/prospective classmates?  Well, I’m there!

Talking about my experiences during the application process forced me to reflect on my own application strategies and some helpful tips I learned along the way from trial & error, readings, and conversations with friends who have started/graduated from MBA programs.  The most important tips – and the 3 crucial questions to ask yourself when applying to an MBA program- are below:

Tip 1: Read Between the Essay Lines

Why Business School?

Why Our School?

Tell Us About a Time…

All of these questions are basically asking the same thing-

who are you and how do you fit into the community that we have carefully crafted?

These schools pride themselves on having not only students who are intelligent and accomplished, but students whose personalities and characteristics fit into and add to the overall culture and brand of the school.  This is where research is very important- not only to show the school how you do (or can) fit in, but to show YOURSELF why you’re applying to this school- because let’s face it, it would be terrible to enroll in a two year program at a school that didn’t vibe with the core of who you are.

How can you make sure that this is a fit?

• Surf Their Site.  School websites are not just places to throw course information, directions and application instructions, but they are the vehicle through which these institutions communicate (and celebrate) their unique accomplishments and new developments.  Pay special attention to any letters from the Dean, mission statements, or pages about culture.  All of these places will have tidbits of info (along with great buzz words) that will help you craft your message.
• Stern’sValues Page features the 4 core values of the Leonard N. Stern School ofBusiness.  These values are not just cute words or page fillers- they really do shape almost everything that we do here!
• Have Conversations.  Use any and all networking events to speak with current students about how the school’s culture and core values have shaped their experiences.  Yes, it seems like an incredibly corny question to ask, but it will really help you frame your opinion of the school as well as your essays- and it may get them to open up about their own application process, as well!

Tip 2: Manage Your Recommenders

You’ve gotten someone to agree to write a recommendation for you- amazing!  First of all be sure to be incredibly thankful  because it’s a big deal for someone to put their own equity on the line to hold you up to an institution- each recommender is literally putting themselves on the line for you- how devoted can you be, right?

These people have agreed to promote you to your top choice schools which means that they are already dedicated to enabling your success- but you have got to remember that they are just as (if not more) busy as you are, and you really need to make the recommendation process as easy as you possibly can.

How did I do this?  I had a conversation with each recommender (the time for each convo depended on the context, length and strength of the relationship) where I relayed my excitement about possibly joining an MBA program, what I wanted in the next few years, and the logistics (dates, websites, etc.) of what I needed from them.  Immediately (or within a few business days) following this conversation I sent them a thorough document to help them in writing the recommendation.  Before you go there, no- I did not tell them what to write, but I shared:

• My story
• Why business school & why now
• Key themes from my essay

It does help to have your essays written (at least in rough draft format) before you recruit recommenders, but don’t feel intimidated by the detail I’ve suggested that you provide.  I actually hadn’t written my essays at this point, I only had a few bullet points in notebooks and ideas from conversations, but it was all enough to send this along.

The result:  I had a pretty great foundation for my application essays, and my recommenders had a very clear vision of what to pull from their knowledge of & experience with me to help complete the picture that I was painting of myself for admissions officers.  All in all a nice complete package!

Tip 3: Ask Yourself 3 Questions

My entire application process centered on identifying key aspects of who I am, why school is a part of my life plan, and why each particular school was a great fit for me.  These topics are the core of most MBA applications and stem from three major questions that you’ll have to ask yourself and (concisely & passionately) articulate to admissions officers:

• Who Am I?  This is a whopper of a question- how can you possibly communicate everything there is to know about you- or at least all the important stuff?  If you’re feeling a little overwhelmed, don’t worry- I did, too.  Here I focused on what key characteristics I had that I wanted to feature in my application- and those happened to be leadership, creativity and passion.  Your characteristics will be different, but make sure that they are true to you and not just what you think that schools will want to hear.
• Helpful Tip: Take one piece of paper for each characteristic and write that word in big, capital letters at the top of the page.  Right underneath it write down what that word means to you, and take the rest of the page to jot down experiences or instances where you’ve exercised or really embodied that trait.  You may not need these examples in your essay, but it doesn’t hurt to have them fresh in your mind!
•  What Do I want to do?  The age-old “why b-school” question.  Ok, so let’s be really REALLY real here- not everybody does exactly what they say they’ll do in their essay.  This is a time for re-calibration, so if you detour a bit from your essay’s vision that’s completely OK.  This question is more to get a sense of what is important to you, what you’d like to accomplish big-picture in your career, and what kind of impact you want to have.  It’s OK not to know exactly- but you should have a generally good idea.
• Helpful Tip: DO NOT say that you don’t know- even if you don’t.  I hate to say this outright, but sometimes you have to fake the funk!
• What Makes Me Employable Right Now & How Will an MBA Enhance Me?  This is an opportunity for you to convey to the admissions team (and yourself) how fantastic you are.  Review your resume, speak with old colleagues and classmates, talk to your friends- identify the skill sets that you have right now and think about how they will aid in your success while pursuing your MBA, and as a professional in general.  Once you’ve identified all of this, consider your areas of opportunity and look for ways to specifically link those opportunities with initiatives, news, curricula, faculty and other aspects of your target schools’ MBA programs.

Convey all of that and you’ll be good.  Find a way to tie these key questions into the school’s values/culture and programs and you’ll be GREAT.

Remember, this entire process is SO individual- nobody can tell you what school is best for you or why, and you shouldn’t rely completely on rankings or what people think to help you make up your mind.  You’ll be spending two years of your life (two un-salaried years, might I add) with the people in your program in the city where it resides, so it’s important to make sure that it’s the right fit.  Corny as it may be, and as I’ve mentioned before- you’ve gotta stay true to YOUR heart!