In a recent Forbes article, “50 Shades of MBA Admissions Grey,” Matt Symonds discusses the use of falsehoods in MBA applications. He also consults admissions experts for advice about when to reveal unsavory details from your past in an MBA application.
Since competition is fierce for places in MBA programs, MBA applicants may be tempted to “improve” their resumes with mistruths, overexaggerations, or hyperboles. Some applicants, like Mathew Martoma, the SAC Capital Advisors portfolio manager who was found guilty of insider training last week, may omit parts of their background they aren’t proud of from their MBA application. When he applied to Stanford Business School, Martoma did not tell the school that Harvard Law School had expelled him for altering his transcript.
Martoma’s case is a pretty clear example of admissions fraud. The Forbes article asks about “shades of grey” cases. Should you mention that you started a business if the business fell apart? Can you claim minority status if your father was born in Africa, even if you’re Caucasian? Should you admit to convictions for minor crimes like underage drinking?
The Forbes article provides advice for applicants with three common concerns about what information should be revealed. First, the author recommends that students explain poor grades or gaps in their career to the admissions committee, so that admissions officers can understand the extenuating circumstances. Students should also disclose if they were laid off or fired, or if they had a startup company that failed, before applying to business school. It is important for the applicant to address anything that may raise questions for admissions committee members. Finally, the article advises students to reveal any transgressions that are on their permanent academic or criminal records.
Judith Silverman Hodara, an MBA admissions consultant and the former Acting Director of Admissions at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, told Forbes that students should be forthcoming about any problems. “I generally advise students to address any issues that they think the admissions committees will want to know about – because if they somehow find out and you have NOT told them, the ‘sin’ of omission is much greater than than the initial trangression. As an applicant, if you are asking yourself ‘Should I or should I not share this?’, then you most likely should.”
