The MBA Admissions Studio

It’s Super Bowl time. For me this mostly means Augusta (and Spring!) is just around the corner. But the football is always watchable and, as everyone knows, it’s as much all about the half-time show and of course the ads - which I believe for Super Bowl XLIV cost more that $2.5m for a 30-second slot.

Anyway, all this reminds me to share one of the profiling tools that I use with MBA admissions clients when required. The issue is always the same: to get an applicant to identify their core message, focus it sharply, and tell it in a compelling way.

So I tell applicants: ‘craft your own Super Bowl ad.’ If you were given the opportunity to advertise yourself in a 30-second slot on TV, what would you do and say? Let’s say Adcom members from HBS or Wharton or whichever is your dream b-school are watching. How would your ad go? What would it say? Remember it is appearing in ultra-competitive company, with other ads that are funny and wicked and purposeful and memorable in various ways. So how would yours stand out?

The time limit forces a focus on what’s essential, and the advertisement format demands an ‘angle,’ a point of unique interest. You wouldn’t just go ‘my name is Sam and I was born in Reno, and blah, blah, blah.’

I ask MBA applicants to ‘storyboard’ it as if it were a real advertisement (it doesn’t take long, it’s only a 30-second slot after all.) Start with the first image, then the next. What is happening onscreen? What music is playing (why?), is there a voiceover and what is it saying, what text is on the screen? And so on, moving through the ad to its close.

You have seconds to pitch yourself. It’s costing you a fortune to be there so you can’t waste a word. You don’t need to (you could never) capture everything important about yourself. But you must capture and entice the viewers, and leave them with some unforgettable images and a message sandblasted on their brain.

Then if you can transfer the essence of your Super Bowl ad to your MBA essays and interviews (elaborating stories, and adding proof) your communication will pack the punch it needs.

Tags: b-school, HBS, profile development, profiling, Wharton

One of the biggest problems I have as an MBA admissions adviser – friend, coach, confidant, drill sergeant, etc., to applicants trying to crack top-tier schools – is explaining to clients that “good is nice, great is nicer,” but neither will get you into a top-tier MBA program. Only “good + special” will get you in.

Everyone knows that there are far fewer places than excellent candidates, but not everyone understands the implication of this, which is that the standard “good profile” application is more likely to fail than succeed. I do ding analyses: often there is something clear to point to, but often there is not. I’m left saying “there was no juice,” and I don’t mean this as a carry-all cop-out. What I mean is – putting it another way – the applicant has provided reasons for Adcom not to reject them, covering all bases, saying the right things, but has not given Adcom a compelling reason to say yes.

Easier said than done. What if there is no specialness (distinctiveness) there? “I haven’t done anything that special,” they will say. “I have not won Olympic medals; never hot-air ballooned over the Atlantic; not pulled anyone from a burning car …”

I won’t kid you – it’s great if you’ve done something memorable like this. But there are two types of specialness. Specialness of what you have achieved AND specialness of who you are. Not everyone has the first type in their bag, but everyone can have the second.

Here are examples of the second type:

1. Distinctiveness of insight, self-reflection, and self-understanding. Unfortunately (but fortunately for you, dear applicant) it appears these days that it takes a special person to be willing to reflect on their path, their roles, their identity, their motivations. But this is exactly what Adcom wants of you. That’s why they ask complex, motivational questions. The quality of genuine self-reflection is so unique among 20-something-year-olds (and so highly correlated with real leadership ability) that if you can do it right, you’ll be special just for this.

Note: doing it right means being open and honest, but also circumspect, professional, to-the-point, and focused on the essay question using practical examples and stories. It does not mean wallowing self-indulgently as if your essays were for the Agony Aunt magazine column or your personal diary.

2. Specialness of communication. Writing and (in the interview) speaking is the basis of your interaction with Adcom. Words are your tools. You do not need to be a fancy creative writing major to write a wonderful MBA admissions essay, but there are basic tools of storytelling and essay building that make a piece of text stand out. Be aware how much turgid, timid, repetitive prose your Adcom reader has to wade through. Getting your point across in a bright, clear, and organized way will make you stand out. (More about the how of this to come in future posts, and in my MBA Admissions Strategy book.)

3. Specialness of direction and goals. You can’t change your past. You should present it in the best light, but for better or worse, it’s set. Your future is ahead of you. It can be anything — you can make any claim, within reason. It is a “free hit ” in the sense that you are pretty much invited to distinguish yourself from the crowd through the extent of your ambition, and the relevance, interest, and worthiness of your career path.

Tags: ambition, b-school, career plan, communications, ding analysis, distinctiveness, essay structure, essay writing, interviews, MBA Adcom, profile development, self-insight, top-tier MBA

Stanford’s essays are notoriously “introspective” and give many applicants trouble. Stanford Adcom do really want to get to know the real you through your writing. This year the flavor is the same, but (and possibly to avoid waffle) some important tweaks have been made in the optional essays to shift the focus squarely towards communicating successful results.

Why results? Because successful outcomes are hard to achieve. Anyone can tell a good story, particularly about what great things they may do in the future. That’s important. But if you can twin it with proof of past success, then it sounds like you are likely to hit your targets in life.

Stanford GSB Application Essays

1. What matters most to you, and why? (750 words recommended)
   
2. What are your career aspirations? How will your education at Stanford help you achieve them? (450 words recommended)
   
3. Answer two of the four questions below. Tell us not only what you did but also how you did it. What was the outcome? How did people respond? Only describe experiences that have occurred during the last three years. (300 words recommended).
   Option A: Tell us about a time when you built or developed a team whose performance exceeded expectations.
   Option B: Tell us about a time when you made a lasting impact on your organization.
   Option C: Tell us about a time when you motivated others to support your vision or initiative.
   Option D: Tell us about a time when you went beyond what was defined, established, or expected

Here is where successful outcomes results-orientation has been upgraded. In Option A they have added “whose performance exceeded expectations.” Option B used to be “Tell us about a time when you felt most effective as a leader.” Now “the lasting impact” demands a results-oriented perspective. Option D remains from last year: this is a directly results-oriented question.

Stanford GSB Application Deadlines are:
Round 1: October 7, 2009
Round 2: January 6, 2010
Round 3: April 7, 2010

Tags: b-school, communications, essay writing, MBA Adcom, profile development, Stanford GSB, success record, top-10 MBA, writing style

Harvard has released their new essay questions, and deadlines for 2009-10, adding a cover letter essay (optional) which MIT Sloan’s has as a standard request for years. Still only four essays are required for HBS, and the first two compulsory questions remain the same:

1. What are your three most substantial accomplishments and why do you view them as such? (600)
2. What have you learned from a mistake? (400)

For essays essays 3 and 4, applicants now have five topics to choose from (up from four) two of which are new. One , a cover letter “introducing yourself to the Admissions Board,” is equivalent to the MIT Sloan signature essay.

This is no surprise. Cover letters are deeply difficult to get right because they require acute balance between brevity and detail. They test your ability to extract and communicate what is really important - demonstrating a key management skill.

The other new question: “Tell us about a time when you made a difficult decision,” is familiar ground in admissions, and something well covered in MBA Studio’s profiling process that focuses on your key life transitions (why?) and prepares you for questions like this in your essays and interview.

The full set of options for HBS essays 3 & 4 are:

Please respond to two of the following (400-word limit each):
1. What would you like the MBA Admissions Board to know about your undergraduate academic experience?
2. Discuss how you have engaged with a community or organization.
3. Tell us about a time when you made a difficult decision.
4. Write a cover letter to your application introducing yourself to the Admissions Board.
5. What is your career vision and why is this choice meaningful to you?

The deadlines are (all 5pm EST) R1: October 1, 2009; R2: January 19, 2010; R3: April 8, 2010

Tags: accomplishments, admissions red flags, application timeline, career plan, communications, Community Service, cover letter, difficult decision, essay writing, HBS, interviews, MBA Adcom, mistake, MIT Sloan, profile development, profiling, undergraduate experience

Entrepreneurship plays well in admissions. This is because business schools want to put their effort into and brand on the person who will build great new companies or institutions, rather than someone who will become a salaryman, no matter how big the salary.

Problem is, it’s easy to say “I want to start a company,” but if you haven’t done it, it is hard to sound like you know what’s involved. Anyone can be vague. Specificity grounds your essays and makes you sound more mature and more likely to succeed.

The solution: there are good entrepreneurship success stories around all the time. As an MBA applicant considering playing the “I’m an entrepreneur” card in you application, it’s worth imbibing some of these, particularly learning of the hardships and uncertainties of this career lifestyle as well as the freedom and rewards.

Here’s a short sample, an article on Reid Hoffman, founder of LinkedIn: ‘How I Did It.’

Tags: ambition, MBA Adcom, profile development

These are the reasons to choose us for your MBA applications support and admissions coaching:

Verified past successes: Our admission rate for all applicants to all schools is close to perfect (over 96%). On average our clients tell us we improved their prospects by 3x. But don’t just take our word for it – where they’ve given permission we’re happy to let you talk to them.

Leaders in the field since 2002: We are not beginners. We’re experts in MBA admissions, have authored published books, and/or contribute regularly to print and Web media in this field. We understand Adcoms, how the admission system words, know the terrain, and can lead you through it.

Undiluted focus on the MBA: We’re specialists in MBA admissions and we stick to our knitting. Compare this with the jack-of-all-trades admissions shops: a bit of Med School here, a bit of PhD there… With us, there’s no chance your application will be touched by anyone who’s not an MBA specialist. It’s all we do.

Value guarantee: Our prices are the lowest among credible players in the industry, and our unique pick-and-choose service structure means you can take what you need when you need it and not pay more: no extras, no hidden costs. We will beat any quote.

Flexibility: Our modular system means there is no system that locks you in, and no minimum spend. It’s designed to be totally flexible and client-friendly. We think it’s the perfect system for the empowered, savvy, business buyer. We don’t ask you for thousands upfront. Be suspicious of any company that does.

A rigorous, comprehensive process: Our candidate profile development system (see services) has worked for applicants to top-20 schools year after year. We never just rush to put a pretty face on a weak proposal. First we build up your value proposition, then we make sure it comes across in your essays, interviews, and references.

Superior communications: Avi Gordon and anyone else who touches your copy is a qualified, proven English editor with a strong writing background. These are people whose professional job it is to construct persuasive messages, create unique, memorable stories, and edit copy for grammar and stylistic polish.

Clear, structured, thorough feedback: Some will take a stab at your copy and leave you to pick up the pieces. We give you a structure to write to, and then a line-by-line, easy-to-follow review and clear next-steps as to how to add ideas or address problems. We don’t just say “fix-it,” we lead you through the process.

Real personal attention: Beware of essay supermarkets. The MBA Admissions Studio is not one of them. We believe that to do MBA admission right we have to build relationships where we actually get to know you and think about your case. And, hey, you can call us anytime and actually speak to a live person!

Unlimited access: Some admissions shops limit the number of times or the number of days during which you can access your consultant. What’s with that!? At the MBA Admission Studio you have unlimited e-mail/ phone access to us.

Balance of capacity and clients: We have enough capacity to give each client 100% attention all the way through the process. If we can’t, we’ll turn work away. Beware of providers who you suddenly find “impossible to reach” when you need them the most – as deadline day draws near.

Genuine SOS service: We’ve done this before so we know (sigh) that some applicants write their essays days before the deadline. No problem. We’ll flip your text back to you over the weekend or inside one working day, if you are up against it. Sometimes this costs more, but it’s there: dawn patrol, midnight fixes, whatever it takes…

Genuine quality assurance: All admissions strategy and all editing passes through quality assurance supervision you can rely on. If we mess up (it can happen, we’re human!) we make it right or your money back.

Real international applications experience: We don’t just claim to be able to help international applicants. We have also lived in cross-cultural situations and experienced every key issue international candidates face. Some of our most memorable successes have involved Americans going abroad, or foreigners to the US.

Verified integrity and standing: We’re an accountable, minority-friendly, foreigner-friendly company with seniority you can rely on. We’ve been independently verified by media and industry partners and have been the official admissions partner to the World MBA Tour. We’re not a bunch of Internet jocks out for a joyride.

Confidentiality and security: We will never disclose your name, email, or anything you say or write, to any person, company, school, or institution. We never sell essays on. Payments are handled by a third party and we never see your card number.

Tags: b-school, international MBA, mba, profile development, profiling, top-10 MBA