Experts Share Tips for the MBA Admission Process

If you are anticipating getting your MBA (Master of Business Administration) and are seeking admission advice, you have just hit the jackpot. This article is filled with MBA admission tips from experts who have gone through the process and experienced success. Applying can require up to 1-2 years of planning and preparation. Make sure you've taken the prerequisite courses, have the right professional experience, and spend adequate time preparing for the admission tests.

Kofi Kankam, co-founder and director of Admit Advantage, has an undergraduate degree from Harvard and an MBA from Wharton. He believes the focus of the MBA application process should be twofold: preparation for the application process and strategies for completing the application. Kankam joins other business professionals in imparting these top ten tips for the MBA application process.

1. Get in touch with your recommenders long before you need them. Kankam advises beginning approximately six months before the applications are due.

2. If your academic record is blemished, take supplemental courses-and get A's. This is called "building an alternative transcript", according to Kankam. Courses in finance, accounting, statistics, and economics are recommended.

3. Prepare for the GMAT (Graduate Management Admissions Test). Dequiana Brooks graduated with an MBA from the Booth School of Business and now runs Inspired Graphics Media. She recommends investing in a good GMAT preparation course. She used a Bell Curves long-distance program and feels she wouldn't have received a competitive score without this preparation course.

4. Take the GMAT as soon as you feel prepared. It can be used for five years from the testing date, according to Kankam. The first time Brooks took the GMAT, she was admittedly very nervous. Because she'd scheduled the test months before the application deadline, she was able to retake it and submit the better score with her MBA application. Russell Schaeffer, senior communications manager for Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions, says in Kaplan's most recent annual survey of business school admissions' officers, a low GMAT score is the biggest application killer. Prospective students should keep in mind that come June, 2012, the GMAT will see its most significant changes in years, with the addition of an integrated reasoning section, allowing MBA admissions' officers to see how applicants respond to the kinds of complex challenges they will encounter in business schools and as managers in today's hyper-competitive business environment.

5. Be succinct, but responsive, to essay questions. Answer all the parts of a multi-faceted question, but stay within the word limit.

6. Get specific during the MBA application process. Use experiences to demonstrate business acumen and character traits. This helps to add vitality to your essays. Kankam recommends thinking of fables which tell a specific story, yet have larger, overarching lessons and themes. Brooks warns that the application and interview are not the time to tell the school what you think it wants to hear. Instead, make sure all touch-points-application essays, interviews, admission meet-and-greets-tell the same story of why you want to go to business school-and that school, in particular.

7. Research and, if possible, visit your target schools; tailor your essays to reflect each school's strengths. Katie Donovan, marketing and sales consultant for KD B2B, thinks meeting with the director of admissions for your #1 program choice is important. Ask the question, "Based on this information, what else do I need to do to ensure admission to your school?" Donovan thinks you'll be surprised at how honest and helpful such a meeting is.

8. Think long and hard. My sources all agree that business school is a huge investment of time and money. Kankam advises sharpening your focus on why obtaining an MBA now is right for you. Reasons may include the following: lack of exposure/viable method to obtain particular skills; desired credibility to enter/progress within your field; global network of people within your intended field of pursuit.

9. Obtain feedback. Healy Jones, head of marketing for the internet company, Office Drop, got his MBA from Wharton. He and his wife were planning to attend school together, so the MBA application process was even more stressful. He believes that, by far, the best thing they did was have people who had attended their target schools read their application essays. They got some very helpful (and sometimes brutal) feedback. Without that advice, they would not have realized that they needed the entire application to tell a coherent story.

10. Alter your plan slightly, if going global. Oliver Ashby, recruitment and admissions manager for the London Business School, offers specific advice for those applying to global business schools, where competition varies from U.S.-focused business schools. Showcase your international exposure. When applying, it is not necessary that you have worked in numerous countries; however, explain why you are interested in doing business internationally and cross-culturally. Think about how you will adapt to working in an extremely diverse study group.

August, 2010, Interview Sources:
Kofi Kankam; Admit Advantage
Dequiana Brooks; Inspired Graphics Media
Russell Schaeffer; Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions
Katie Donovan; KD B2B
Healy Jones; Office Drop
Oliver Ashby;London School of Business