The QS World MBA Tour Is Coming To These Select Cities
There are few better opportunities to learn about the exemplary business school opportunities than at an MBA fair. And luckily, for many prospective MBA students, that opportunity will soon be arriving in their city with the QS World MBA Tour.
Admissions Tip: Clearing Up the Background Check
With a slew of schools releasing their R1 notifications, we know that many of our readers will be asking about the background checks conducted by leading programs. Here are some quick facts to help explain the process:
1. What are background checks?
Background checks involve the verification of information that a candidate has provided in his or her MBA applications. Although the process varies from school to school, it usually includes checking that an applicant attended the undergraduate (or graduate) school(s) that he or she claims to have attended, received the grades indicated and earned the GMAT score reported. It also involves the verification of the candidate’s employment history, job titles, starting and ending dates and salary/bonus information. Finally, some background checks involve contacting recommenders to verify their support and confirming applicant involvement in community activities.
2. Do all schools conduct background checks?
When do they do this? How do they have time? Many of the leading MBA programs like to verify the information that has been provided by applicants. This is typically done only for those applicants who are admitted, since there is no sense in expending resources to verify information for applicants who do not make the cut. Most background checks occur in the spring – after decisions for most rounds have been released and students begin sending in their deposits. In many cases, the schools outsource this function to a professional risk consulting firm like Kroll.
3. Why bother with background checks? Don’t the schools trust me?
The purpose of background checks is to protect all stakeholders of the MBA program (students, faculty, staff, alumni) from those who would falsify their backgrounds to gain an unfair advantage in the admissions process. Some schools opt to investigate the backgrounds of a relatively small sample of randomly selected admits, hoping that the mere possibility of a check will give applicants incentive to be as honest as possible. In a way, this measure therefore serves to increase the adcom’s trust in its applicants.
4. What about very minor discrepancies?
It’s natural for admitted applicants to get anxious at this point in the process, wondering whether their offer of admission might be rescinded if, for instance, the “start date” for an old job is one week earlier than the start date that HR reports during the background check. The good news is that most schools report any discrepancies back to the applicant and give them a chance to explain a plausible mistake. Having said that, it of course makes sense to do your best to verify all of your information before applying to school, so that you can be certain that the data you report is accurate. Should any potential issues come to mind after submitting, you might consider preemptively contacting the adcom if the error is serious enough.
5. Won’t the background checking process alert my employer to the fact that I am applying to b-school?
Since the process typically takes place long after you’ve been admitted, this ideally won’t be an issue, as most applicants give their employers ample notice and take some time off before school. Having said that, the schools still try to conduct the checks in a discrete fashion, consulting with your HR department to verify your dates of employment and salary – but not necessarily revealing that you are heading to business school.
6. How can I ensure a smooth background check?
While the obvious answer is to be honest in your applications, it’s also important that you don’t fudge anything out of laziness (a common occurrence). Dig up those old W-2 forms or check with former employers in order to present the committee with the most accurate information you can.
Stay up to date with all of our latest MBA admissions tips here.
This article has been edited and republished with permissions from our sister site, Clear Admit.
What You Don’t Know About MBA Admissions Data Forms
As we approach the new year and many of our readers begin to work in earnest on their round two applications for the January deadlines, we would like to turn our attention to an oft overlooked element of the MBA application process: the application data forms. These forms—typically referred to as ‘data forms’ for short—are the online forms that one fills out when applying to a business school. While the forms used to be straightforward and brief (essentially amounting to contact information, academic information, and work history), they have been expanding in some areas and have become an increasingly important part of the mix of application materials. In the wake of an industry-wide reduction in the number of essays required by each school, many programs have actually shifted questions away from the essays and into these forms (as ‘short answer’ questions). As such, it is important to pay close attention and address the data forms early—and to avoid leaving them for completion on application deadline day. In fact, it can be rather dangerous to not give data forms the same amount of time and care you would afford any other component of your application.
In this tip we will address the commonly asked questions across all school’s data forms. For our next admissions tip, we will examine some of the more unusual questions asked by a few schools.
Contact Information
Schools need to communicate with applicants at various stages of the admissions process. It is important that they are able to do so, so the contact information questions address this issue. Most communication these days will occur online, so obviously the e-mail address is important. It is probably best to use a personal e-mail address, rather than a work e-mail address, so schools can continue to communicate with you once you have left your work. You should also make sure the e-mail address is appropriate, mrhunk@aol.com might not send the right signals. For those students who are admitted, a regular mailing address will be used to send out more detailed information in the form of an “admissions packet.” Often times, schools will ask for a current address, and a permanent address. These can be the same, but the difference will occur, for example, when a candidate is working on a temporary assignment.
Background Information
Schools will ask a set of questions to better understand your background. They will generally ask about your parents, specifically their employment status and their highest level of educational attainment. This can be meaningful for the admissions committees who might be seeking out those candidates who have achieved careers that are very different from the achievements of their parents. It also signals those who are first generation in terms of attending college. This may signal a candidate’s grit and determination. On the other hand, a candidate who has parents who are highly successful and went to elite schools may benefit from a bit of an “apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” bias. Some schools will also ask about siblings, partners and children.
The majority of schools also seek to learn if your relatives have connections with their program, or the wider institution.
Academics
The key to addressing the academics questions is to follow the specific directions of each school. They may want a PDF of a transcript to be uploaded of your undergraduate school record, or they may want all transcripts from all schools you have attended, whether for additional coursework, transfer credits and so forth. Most schools will ask for your overall GPA, and also will be explicit on whether to convert a GPA that is not on a 4.0 scale; the common rule in this regard is to not convert, and to identify what the scale is. Some schools ask specifically if you have covered course work in accounting, statistics, calculus and economics. These are not pre-requisites, but help schools identify your analytic skills. The majority of schools will ask for self-reported transcripts upon application and only require official transcripts after they have made an admissions decision, but some might ask you to bring those documents if you are invited to interview.
Work History
All schools will ask you to upload a resume. While some programs will be specific about the length of the resume, keep in mind that they generally prefer one page. Beyond uploading a resume, you will also be able to complete a work history section in the online application, where you enter each of your work positions. Most schools do allow a new entry for each new position, regardless of whether it is for the same company, a few require just one entry per employer. Each school will tell you specifically how it wants you to enter this data. For most schools you are asked a variety of questions, including beginning and ending salary, bonuses, and so forth. You should also have an option to complete your job function and role. This is a very important text box to complete with considerable thought. You will have a limited number of characters, usually, to establish your growth and impact. One or two schools do not have this option, which places more weight on your resume and essays. Schools will generally ask you how many years work experience you will have, at the time of matriculation, rather than the time of application. Some will also ask how many years of management experience you have.
Test Scores
All the schools we cover accept both the GMAT and the GRE tests. It is important to read the instructions for each school in terms of how to report your test scores. A few schools want to know all your scores, and may look at the individual breakdowns of components of the scores. A few schools also ask whether you plan to retake the test, after you submit your application, at least one school asks if you would retake the test if asked. Schools will also require a test for English communications for those who are not native English speakers (unless the language of instruction for undergraduate was English, in which case most schools will offer a waiver). While the TOEFL is the most commonly used test, there are also other tests that schools will use like the IELTS, so it is important to review the requirements of each school you are interested in.
Other Activities
Most, but not all schools will ask you about your activities outside of work, and your extra-curricular activities while you were an undergraduate student. They want to see if you are well-rounded, and seek to identify other passions you might have, that will make for a richer MBA learning environment for all. It is also a good place to show case additional opportunities for your leadership and ability to make an impact. Each school asks these questions slightly differently. Some schools ask about hobbies, some do not. Some schools ask you to list the most important activities in which you have been involved, forcing you to prioritize with a limited number, some schools have free-flowing text boxes for you to answer the questions. One school does not ask about these activities at all, but their instructions for the resume clearly state to include them in that document. Regardless, it is important to read directions carefully, and consider your application in a holistic manner.
Goals
Probably the biggest shift in the use of data forms in the last few years is the increasing use of this medium to examine your career goals. You may be asked about your short-term goal (e.g. your career path directly out of the MBA program) and some schools also ask about your long-term goal (the position you would like to hold 5+ years after earning the MBA). A few schools will also ask for an alternative short-term goal if your preferred goal does not work out. Addressing these questions with considerable thought will be crucial. Schools really want candidates that have thought thoroughly regarding why they are applying. Some school have stopped asking these questions in the essays, so they rely on the data form answers.
Marketing questions
Finally, a few schools use the data forms to understand how you first learned about the program, and what other marketing events you may have attended. They might also asked who you met and know, from the school, during the process of putting your application together. If you have developed a network of alumni at the school and these questions are being asked, make sure you highlight who they are. Much like the questions for background information, any time you can highlight your connections to the school can only be an advantage.
For our next admissions tip, we will explore more of the unusual questions that a few schools ask in their data forms, which cover issues like the feared “To which other schools are you applying?” as well a move to ask more internationally focused questions.
This article on MBA Admissions Data Forms has been edited and republished from our sister site, Clear Admit.
Check out more MBA admissions advice you cannot miss here.
What Is The Worst MBA Advice You Have Ever Heard?
The path to business school is paved with experts and know-nothing-know-it-alls alike—it’s just hard to tell the difference sometimes.
This is especially true when it comes to “dos” and “don’ts” of the trade. You’re bound to encounter confusing, conflicting, or just plain bad advice in any field but there’s something about business school that seems to attract meaningless jargon like flies to honey.
I spoke to Accepted’s Linda Abraham and North Star Admissions’ Karen Marks, two leading admissions counselors and bonafide MBA experts, about the eight worst pieces of advice most commonly doled out to MBAs-to-be.
“Tell them what they want to hear.”
“The admissions committee will see through it, the applicant will blend into the gray mass of applicants who are making the same mistake, and at competitive schools, will get dinged,” Abraham writes. “Telling schools what you think they want to hear means telling them what you don’t know, and it also means you’re not telling them what you want them to know.”
“If you are waitlisted, ignore the school’s directions and make a dramatic gesture to demonstrate your interest.”
According to Marks, “People … have been known to do everything from emailing the admissions office once a day (relatively benign, but inappropriate) to sending homemade gifts (creepy) to showing up in the admissions office and refusing to leave until they have spoken with the Dean. All of this backfires, it’s really important to listen to the school’s directions and express your interest in ways that underscore your ability to follow directions, and your understanding of the culture.”
“Change your career goals and personal story for each school.”
Marks explains, “Your goals and core narrative should remain constant, no matter what school you are applying to. Don’t tell Stanford that you want to work in micro-finance and Kellogg that you dream of marketing, just because you think it’s what they want to hear.”
Abraham recalls an interaction she had with “an applicant who came to us initially for Rejection Review.” This applicant was told by his consultant, a former Yale SOM adcom director, “she would have rejected him also because the applicant’s goal made no sense given his work experience, education and extra-curricular activities. He explained that his friends had told him to use the “hot” goal that year, so he used it in his application. Next year he applied with an authentic goal (and app) and was accepted to an M7 school.”
“You have no chance of getting into a top MBA program because you didn’t go to a top undergrad.”
Abraham couldn’t disagree more with this statement.
“If an applicant excelled at their local college, shows leadership, and has had an impactful career, and has a competitive test score, they have a chance at elite MBA programs,” she says.
“You have a 750-plus GMAT and a 3.9 GPA, you’re in anywhere.”
Both counselors call hogwash on this one.
“You can’t rest on academic laurels. Yes, those numbers are very attractive to top b-schools, but if they are combined with arrogance—forget it. Schools also want to see leadership and impact in their accepted students. So, if Super Student wasn’t a super employee or entrepreneur or campus community member, those stats do not guarantee acceptance at top MBA programs.”
“Your goals don’t really matter, because you’re likely to change them once at b-school.”
Abraham writes, “Yes, your goals are likely to change and schools know that, but they at least want you to start their program with direction and a goal they know they can help you achieve. Goals are a major component in fit at most top MBA programs. And if yours are vague or don’t match the strengths of your target schools, then you simply aren’t showing fit.”
“If you have a blind interview, you can wing it.”
“You can wing it. BUT you are unlikely to be as effective as the other applicants who prepare,” Abraham notes.
“They will have researched the school, know exactly why they want to attend this program, and mined their own experiences and achievements so they are ready to show they belong at the interviewing school and will contribute to the school’s student body and alumni network.”
“Oh, and they also have thoughtful questions to ask the interviewer.”
“You won’t get in if your numbers are below an arbitrary number, so don’t even bother applying.”
Abraham has worked with “multiple clients who had extremely low GMATs and GPAs, below 2.5 and below 600, who have been admitted to Wharton, Booth, HBS, etc. I also admitted applicants with weak numeric profiles to Tuck when I was the Associate Director of Admissions. (They had other stellar qualities).”
Abraham believes that “essays, personality, perspective and life experience are more important than numbers.” She adds, “Application reviews are comprehensive. One element is extremely unlikely to keep you out or carry you across the threshold of a dream MBA program.”
Admissions Tip: The Waitlist
Last week was marked by Round 1 decision releases from a couple of the schools covered on MetroMBA and Clear Admit, and in the coming weeks, many of the remaining schools are scheduled to release R1 decisions. Clear Admit’s MBA LiveWire has captured a lot of this news, including quite a few candidates recently reporting that they’ve been waitlisted at places like London Business School and INSEAD.
For better or for worse, waitlisting is rather popular with top schools in the first round of admissions. As such, we’re devoting this week’s admissions tip to guidance for candidates who find themselves placed on a waitlist. Before we get to that, let’s look first at why schools use a waitlist.
Why Schools Use the Waitlist
First and foremost, while schools now know the quality of their Round 1 pool, they don’t yet know how strong the remainder of their applicants for this admissions season will prove, nor can they predict how many of the candidates admitted as part of Round 1 will ultimately enroll. Simply put, the waitlist helps schools manage these unknowns to arrive at the strongest possible class come fall. Some schools will “under admit” Round 1 candidates in case there is a flood of quality applicants in Round 2 or a higher yield of Round 1 candidates than predicted. The goal of the school is, after all, to admit the best overall class, regardless of when someone applies. They also do not want to over admit during an early round, which will limit their opportunities to admit strong candidates later, thus the push to “under admit,” and place significant quantities of candidates on the waitlist who may very well gain admission in later rounds. Chicago Booth explains this well on their web-site:
“The waitlist at Chicago Booth is used to gauge the pool of candidates in a subsequent round before offering a final decision to those candidates placed on the waitlist.”
Schools also can learn, by placing a candidate on the waitlist, how committed he or she is to attending the school. There is signal value in how a candidate responds to the waitlist decision. Some candidates placed on a waitlist receive offers at other schools they would prefer to attend, in which case they will opt out. Others remain convinced that the school that has waitlisted them is their best choice and will hold out to see if they can ultimately gain admission.
As well, if you are waitlisted, we’ve outlined some more advice we feel will help you on the way to earning an MBA.
Five Tips for Making the Best of the Waitlist
If you find yourself on the waitlist, don’t lose hope. Top programs admit a fair number of individuals from the waitlist in Round 2 and even later. That said, we know that cautious optimism does not make the wait for an answer any easier. To help those in this situation make sure that they’re doing all they can, we do have a few strategic waitlist tips:
Know—and follow—the rules.
Schools vary in their stances when it comes to interaction with those on the waitlist; some shun communication from applicants and even go so far as to discourage on-the-record campus visits, whereas others welcome correspondence and assign an admissions office liaison to serve the needs of waitlisted candidates.
We know that the natural impulse is to update the adcom that recent promotion or the final grade from that accounting class you took to bolster your academic profile. At first blush, a short letter or quick call to communicate this kind of update might seem harmless. But no matter how exciting the piece of news you want to share may be, ignoring the adcom’s instructions is ultimately going to reflect badly on you. Though policies discouraging communication from waitlisted candidates may seem frustrating or unfair, it’s important to respect and abide by the preferences of each school.
Communicate if you can.
For those programs that do permit or encourage contact from waitlisters—Booth, for example, has traditionally invited waitlisted candidates to submit an additional 300-word essay—it is important to provide an update. In addition to the obvious news items mentioned above, it’s beneficial to read over your essays and reflect on whether there is some piece of your background or interests that you haven’t gotten across yet. Taking the time to write about your relevant recent experiences, positive developments in your candidacy and ways that you’ve enhanced your understanding of the program is a nice sign of your interest in the school and a good strategy for telegraphing your commitment to attending. It is, of course, also in your interest to make sure that the adcom has the most up-to-date information so that it can make an informed decision the next time your file comes up for evaluation.
Keep in touch.
Don’t disappear after an initial note to the adcom or phone call to your waitlist manager (if applicable). If you have plans to be on or near campus, for instance, send a quick email to alert your waitlist manager (or whoever you may have interacted with on the adcom) to this fact. In many cases, you’ll find that the adcom will even invite you to stop by for a friendly chat about your candidacy—something that can go a long way towards helping your case. Beyond a visit, sending a brief update every few weeks or so is another way to reaffirm your interest in the school and keep you fresh in the minds of the adcom—something that could work to your advantage in a discussion of which candidates to admit from the waitlist. In all cases, it is important to remember that there is a fine line between persistence and pestering, so use good judgment!
Letters of support.
If, during the admissions process, you have interacted with students or alumni of the program, it may be worth reaching back out to these individuals and updating them on your status. Assuming you have made a positive impression during the admissions cycle, they may be willing to provide an additional letter of support for your candidacy at this stage of the process.
Have a contingency plan.
While it’s important to be consistent and enthusiastic when waitlisted and communicate with staff at your target program, it’s also wise to have a backup plan. With the Round 2 deadlines for several top programs a little over a month away, there’s still time to put together a solid application to another school. Even if you’re waitlisted at the school of your dreams and intend to reapply if not admitted, it’s also never too early to start thinking about the coming year and what steps you might take to enhance your candidacy before next fall.
Good luck to everyone waiting to receive decisions over the next few weeks!
This article has been edited and republished with permissions from Clear Admit.
Admissions Tip: Round 1 Rejection Reflections
Last week a number of programs, including Wharton, Michigan Ross, and MIT Sloan, sent out interview invites to their Round 1 candidates. These invitations came on the heels of similar updates from the likes of Harvard Business School and Chicago Booth. As a result, many candidates are now diligently preparing for interviews, having made it to the next phase of a competitive admissions process.
Rejected Without Interview
Of course, we recognize that not all applicants are so fortunate. And since we’ve published a great deal of content on interview prep of late, we’re turning the tables and dedicating this week’s admissions tip to those of you who haven’t moved forward.
The interview invite stage for Round 1 is the first signal as to your potential for attending a leading business school, and for a few, it can be a rude awakening.
If you have not yet received any good news, despite submitting applications in Round 1, you’ll want to read this post very carefully.
Reconfiguring Following Rejection
If there is any good news when it comes to being rejected in the first round, it’s that it’s still early in the application season, and not too late to readjust your strategy and target appropriate programs for Round 2. Round 2 application deadlines generally fall in the first couple of weeks of January, which leaves a little more than two months to prepare a new set of applications. It is also often the case, that your first applications are not the strongest. You learn through this process, and could potentially submit stronger applications for Round 2. Or it might be the case that you need to re-evaluate your goals, and then target a new set of programs that are appropriate for those goals. You could also adjust the competitiveness of the programs you target. So if you struck at all of your R1 targets, you may need to shift your target to slightly lower ranked programs.
Rejection Reflection
You also might want to take a hard look at what the schools which chose not to interview you, might have found lacking. If it’s your GMAT score, you have two months to try to remedy it. If you failed to make a compelling case for the degree or to properly showcase your experience in your essays, it might be a good time to get a fresh perspective from a third party on your materials. If your recommendations may have been lacking, speak with your writers or seek out new colleagues who might be able to better support your candidacy.
Of course, if there isn’t something as tangible as a poor test score, shoddy essays, or subpar letters of recommendation, you may need to take a longer view. For instance, if you lack professional experience, leadership accomplishments, or outside activities, it might make sense to delay your MBA ambitions, and reapply in a following year. Reapplicants are generally looked upon favourably in the admissions process.
MBA Motivations
Finally, you might want to reassess whether the MBA is the right next step for you. Perhaps the admissions committees are doing you a favor, and nudging you in a different direction.
Chin Up!
There’s no doubt that receiving negative results can be painful, but it’s how you handle the situation that will determine your future. Don’t lose site of the fact that news of rejection(s) is actually useful feedback in a process that can be quite opaque. Take the feedback to heart, regroup, reassess, and devise a plan to help you reach your goals.
