Advanced Search

MBA Admissions Strategy guides candidates through the four most important aspects of a successful, competitive business school application:

* Competitive Strategy
* Profile Development
* Essay Management and
* Writing Technique

This lively and accessible new book takes you step-by-step through the process of producing a successful MBA application, with primary emphasis on the essays.

The book outlines a system for candidates to identify the competitive value of their past and construct an application profile and compelling message from this. The book then deals with the typical essay questions that applicants face and shows candidates how to fit their profile message to each question: how to know what to write, which essay to write it in, and how to write it well. Along with specific templates and solutions for improving expression, the book shows readers how to avoid common essay pitfalls.

One of the biggest problems I have as an MBA admissions adviser is explaining to clients that “good is nice, great is nicer,” but neither will get you into a top-tier MBA program. Only “good + special” will get you in.

Part of the holy grail of a good application to business school is to show why the particular nature of the b-school you are applying to fits with you and what you want out of your MBA. That is, each program has a slightly different 'signature' in terms of curriculum, type of students, faculty interest, clubs and extramurals, internship-recruitment opportunities, alumni network and so on, and the task is to show that you understand what that signature is and why it fits with you.

You won't get a lot of help from looking at the glossy brochure or the school's glamour Website. That won't make you enough of an 'insider.' The only way to know enough about a program is to get inside it for a while — by interacting with people who are there, or visiting the campus and talking to people who are there.

The ‘criticism-weakness-failure’ essay is common in MBA Admissions essays because it is a test of an applicant’s maturity, self-knowledge, honesty, and ability to learn from mistakes. It is, in other words, the biggest indicator of real leadership ability and potential.