The Road to MBA - Selecting Schools, GMAT, Interviews, and more....

Its been quite an interesting year so far - Lots of introspection and retrospection about personal life and career. The heavy-duty work has finally paid off, and I am all set to explore this beautiful world. 

But before that, I wanted to share some of the knowledge that I gained over the last one year. I believe most of the readers are familiar with MBA program, so I will not dwell much on this topic. I would rather focus on the strategy for a successful MBA application. 

'Selecting Schools'
Personally, I believe selecting the school is the most important aspect of your MBA application strategy. The earlier you select, more the opportunity to network and build a solid relationship with the school.  Most students start with GMAT preparation and then select the schools. This strategy may work at times, but it may not give the student sufficient time to interact with the school. This is especially true when you are taking GMAT in October- December period. 

I would suggest that you start think about the schools at least 6-months before applying. Some of the attributes that you want to consider include: Location(post-MBA), 1 Year vs. 2 Years, Alumni, Reputation among recruiters, Ranking, Public Perception. 

Now, that you have selected the school - Don't wait. Join the facebook pages, attend webinars, networking events, visit the school, and meet up with admission committee (Absolutely Important!). The GMAT scores and personal accomplishments will get you an interview, but the interaction with the admission committee will get you the offer. It is important to note that business schools look for people who are TRULY INTERESTED in joining their program. So Network, Network, and Heavily Network.

'GMAT'
For most top business schools, scoring a 700+ is an absolute must for getting an interview. Your focus should be scoring anywhere in the range of 720-760 to give yourself a solid chance for an interview. But the good news is that the schools do not automatically reject you because of a sub 700 score. For instance, I got into Oxford with a 680, but the average score at Oxford is about 700. 

On the other hand, I got dinged at few other schools. In any case, the key to get an interview is to put forth a very good application package - Essays(extremely important), Recommendation, and Resume. All these three items have to be just excellent.

'Application Essays'
There are several admission consultants who can help you with application essays, but they are very expensive. Further, their inputs will be limited to the structure of the essays, grammar, and readability. However, you may want take the free consultation services provided by some of the admission consultants - admissionado, mbaMission, Access Consulting. There wasn't much difference in terms of the services provided, but make sure to discuss with the consultants before you make hole in your pocket.

On the other hand, if you are comfortable spending few weeks, I would suggest reading some of the books available in Amazon. These provide good insights about what the admission committee looks for in an application essay. My approach was to read these books, note the structure for the various types of essays, and then underpin my story/experience based on these structures. You can also try reading these books first and then discuss with the admission consultants. If the consultants are able to provide any value added service, it will be a bonus for your application.

'Recommendation'
Your next step in the MBA application process is to get the recommendation letters. To get a solid recommendation, you need to provide sufficient notice to your boss about your MBA plans. This will allow your boss to plan out the transition. Further, it will enhance your reputation with your boss and amongst your peers. I had a very good relationship with my boss and peer managers, and informed them about my MBA ambitions almost an year back. After I completed GMAT and finalized my target schools, I initiated the application and sent the recommendation links to recommenders. They had full 3-months to provide their recommendation. 

Also note that each school may have a different set of questionnaire, and your recommender may not have sufficient time to provide a good recommendation. If you are applying for more than three schools, you may want to split it across 3-4 recommenders.

'Resume'
An MBA application does not require a skill-based resume. It should be similar to a consulting style resume. An MBA application resume typically has a 3-part structure: Education, Experience, Other Achievements.

Education section should highlight the undergraduate/graduate studies, certifications such as CA/CFA, year of passing, and any achievements such as 'First Class', 'Dean's List' etc. Experience section should highlight the company, designation, location. Each sub-category under experience should highlight three important achievements in that specific role, and each item should be a bullet-point (not a paragraph). Other Achievements section should include volunteer activities, awards at work/college, sport, and other activities. However, make sure to highlight about the impact. A mere membership does not add any value, but an action that resulted in an accomplishment adds tremendous value. 

Check out the following links for building a good MBA Application Style resume: Resume Style, Sample Resumes.

'Interviews'
Congratulations on getting the interview...You have achieved something monumental. In most business schools, almost 40% of the applicants will get interviewed. The selection is based on your GMAT, Essays, Resume, Recommendation (in order of importance). Now that you have been selected for the interview, the next step is to conquer the interviewer. If your interviewer happens to be part of admission committee, you have already half-conquered him/her. I mean - you have met them in the networking events in the past, and they know your face/name, and that you are a good fit!

On the other hand, if your interviewer is an alumni or a professor, you can impress them with your knowledge about the school and your subject areas. You may want to spend a week poring over the university website, blogs, and brochures. On the subject area, you should be able to explain about the latest developments in your industry, regulations, future business models etc. Further, you should also have basic knowledge in finance and economics. Don't be surprised if you get curve ball questions from subjects not related to your work - "Just put on a smile and say that you are not familiar, but I think dah, dah, dah about this". 

You may want to refer my interview questions in the following link: Oxford Interview.

Finally, if you have decided to go for an MBA - you are probably right! Go for it now.

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