As the 2016-17 MBA application season draws to a close, we now turn our attention towards admissions advice for those targeting 2018 entrance to business school. To celebrate this move, we are hosting a series of 10 chats that will be hosted on alternating Wednesdays at 10 a.m., beginning this Wednesday, May 10th. In the meantime, for today’s admissions tip, we focus on how to reach out to the b-schools in which you are interested beyond just visiting the school websites.
Communicating with b-school insiders can be beneficial for a number of reasons: In addition to researching a business school and your potential fit, you’ll also generate material for your essays, demonstrate your interest in the program, and perhaps even make an ally or two. In your efforts to go beyond the schools’ websites and promotional materials, we recommend reaching out to individuals in a few key groups:
Current Students
People who are currently enrolled in a given program can obviously provide the clearest picture of the present state of the school community. They are often more capable of evoking their school’s overall culture than brochures put out by the admissions offices and can describe to prospective students the ins and outs of academic and extracurricular options. In addition to reaching out to friends and acquaintances who are studying at a given school, it’s also wise to get in touch with the leaders of clubs and programs in which you are interested (their contact information is generally available through the website). This will help you to understand the impact you could make while on campus and provide a sounding board for the ideas you plan to share with a certain student group or organization.
Alumni
While students offer a great view of the program itself, a school’s alumni can often provide the best perspective on just how far an MBA from a given program can get you in a certain field. Meeting with alumni working in your target post-MBA industry (tracking them down either through your own network or school-sponsored events) may help you anticipate the program’s strengths and weaknesses in setting you on the right professional course. You might also gain some valuable insight that will help you to refine your career goals and better understand what short-term position would best prepare you for your long-term plan.
Faculty
The professors at business school tend to be a bit less accessible than students and alumni, but if you’ve identified someone whose research interests match yours or sat in on a class that you found particularly intriguing, there’s no harm in sending a note to let the faculty member know that you find his or her work appealing and would like to speak if possible. The individuals responsible for designing and teaching the curriculum can offer great insight into the specific skills and lessons you would learn from one class to the next and help you to refine your understanding of the ways that an MBA would bridge the gap between your current skills and those you will need to achieve your goals.
Aspirants to the Class of 2020 should consider each of these options in the months ahead. Not only are many individuals quite pleased to discuss their experiences with prospective students, admissions committees also like thoroughly informed applicants (of course in all cases, patience and manners are of great importance).
For more tailored guidance on what sort of programs you might consider, please fill out this form for a free initial consultation with our partners over at Veritas Prep. As experts in the field for more than a decade, Veritas Prep is uniquely equipped to help you become a ‘Clear Admit’ at your dream school. Also, consider reading the Clear Admit School Guides. If you’re just getting started, save time navigating schools’ websites by downloading our free School Snapshots for objective overviews of top programs.
This article has been edited and republished with permissions from Clear Admit.