Experts say that candidates for business schools admission often make a big mistake in treating their test results and the choice of prospective schools unrealistically. To avoid such a blunder, it’s better to base your admissions targets on your scores obtained from GMAT and similar tests. If you send applications only to the top business schools, you might be disappointed by rejection and stop trying.
Of course, it’s difficult to avoid mistakes when applying to b-schools, especially if just a small bad move may lead to destroying all your options. Most often, these mistakes are what you would call ‘silly’: many prospective students forget to reread their application before sending it to the admissions committee, or they just put down the name of a different school than the one they are addressing. There are, however, more complex blunders, including recommendation letters from big names without contacting your immediate supervisors or mentors, or submitting hollow essays that say nothing about you as a person and professional.
A very widespread mistake happens when you fail to assess your admissions goals correctly and, consequently, try to apply to a school with very high demands. It’s quite understandable: who doesn’t dream of becoming a student at Harvard? But dreams and reality rarely coincide, and it’s much wiser to take into account the fact that just not everyone will be admitted to Stanford or other top universities.
Some simple facts: in 2015, top schools have enrolled no more than 8% (Stanford) or 12% (Harvard) of prospective candidates. Other top programs have a similar level of competition, namely the MIT Sloan School of Management which admitted only 15% of the applicants, and Berkeley Haas, accepting only 14%.
Sure, it’s disappointing, and it drastically decreases your chances at being a student at a top business school. It doesn’t mean, though, that you shouldn’t even try. People who get admitted to the best universities did so by trying hard and being persistent. By all means, send your application package to Harvard – but don’t forget there are other schools out there, your second option, the ‘plan B’, if you like.
That said, the major point here is to choose your prospective schools very carefully. Combine your optimism and dreams of getting admitted to the world’s best university with some down-to-earth realism based on your test results and your self-assessment.
Much was said above about how your test scores influence your chances at getting admitted to the school of your choice. That’s why you should organize the application process in such a way that you get the best result possible on your GMAT, GRE or any other test. It’s crucial that you take your tests long before the application starts, because it’s virtually impossible to combine the essay-writing or recommendation-hunting with the exhausting GMAT preparation.
A great test result is simply the best way to ensure your getting admitted to a top school. Of course, there are always stories about people who got into a top MBA program with an incredibly low score, but you mustn’t rely on such possibilities: we don’t know what extraordinary job experience or personal qualities such people have that make the admissions staff forget about their abysmally low test results.
Before starting to write essays and draw up application packages, check out the web sites of your prospective schools and make sure that your GMAT/GRE results are not below their median (the average score of people who got admitted to the school’s master programs). Your own score will be a starting point to make a pool of schools that suit you.
There’s one more thing: before you even consider starting the application process, make sure MBA is what you really need right now. You’d be surprised how many people try to enter a business school just because it seemed like the thing to do, and lose lots of time and fruitless effort simply because they weren’t ready.
A master’s program admits people with experience and perspective, not just everybody who has a college degree. Of course, the pool of business school students seems to grow younger every year, and the amount of working experience in the required profession is becoming smaller. It doesn’t mean that admissions requirements have relaxed – just that the average candidate has more to show than in the past years.
If you have even a smallest hint of doubt about whether you need to become a student right now – drop it and resume in a year or two, when your life and work experience expands and you become a real asset for a business school.
But if you are quite sure that you are ready to start the incredibly difficult but highly rewarding process of getting an MBA degree, then you should fear nothing and focus on your goal. With perseverance and hard work, your dream of entering the world’s best program will come true.
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