There are many important elements needed to secure a coveted admission letter at a top MBA program. Clearly, a strong college GPA and GMAT/GRE score are crucial for success. Beyond hard numbers, the other elements that have the power to propel an applicant to be admitted are impressive career progress, well-written essays that demonstrate a clear awareness of how an MBA can impact their future career, understanding why the school is a match, and communicating their potential to contribute to the learning community. This is essentially what London Business School MBA and MiF admissions director David Simpson said he expects from MBA applicants in this article. In his own words:
“Their main job is to help us understand what they do, why they want to do an MBA, why they want to do an MBA at our school and what value they’ll add. That is their main task to do, and if they leave any confusion or gaps, then that’s going to go against them.”
Let’s dissect this statement into its four key parts:
Professional Progress
Simpson says he wants to understand “what they do,” or in other words, information about the applicant’s career. For starters, admissions officers want to have a clear sense of your job responsibilities and KPIs. Much more importantly, they seek to assess your accomplishments and level of progress compared to your peers. Be cognizant that they are not looking to turn average people into high achievers; rather, they want to gather the highest achievers and move them to light speed. Essentially, MBA programs are looking to take BMWs and turn them into Roles Royces. Applicants that fail to articulate their job duties, stand-out moments, and impact in the essays, recommendations, and interviews, will be at a major disadvantage in this competitive process.
Why They Want An MBA
There isn’t only one sound reason for wanting an MBA, but there are some unsound reasons (i.e. running away from a bad job/boss, reacting to family pressure, etc.). It is surprising how many people who have committed extensive time to GMAT/GRE and TOEFL studies and are in the early stages of their application preparation, struggle to explain their purpose for seeking this degree. Many acceptable reasons may apply to you, such as gaining specialized knowledge needed for a career switch, getting a general management perspective, developing a network of new industry contacts, broadening your global mindset, or developing entrepreneurial skills like how to build a business plan, secure funding and sell yourself. The key is the applicant’s ability to articulate which of these apply to them and why they are essential in the context of their future career objectives.
Why They Want to Attend Our Program
Once applicants go beyond the rankings by surveying programs via online research and talks with students, admissions officers, and alumni, they invariably discover that there are far more than seven excellent MBA programs in the world. In the end, most people find several programs that they wish to apply for. This is normal and totally acceptable, and schools will assume as much. While schools are aware that you will apply to other programs, they will seek to gauge your seriousness in them by posing essay questions such as “What are your post-MBA goals and how will your prior experience and the London Business School programme contribute towards these? (500 words)” and then follow that up with similar questions in the admissions interview. But why is this necessary? The first reason is to improve their yield rates, which are based on the number of applicants that matriculate divided by the total number of admissions. Even more importantly, the admissions teams wish to find students that will be incredibly dedicated community members that get involved inside and outside the classroom.
The Value They Will Add
As referenced in the previous item, MBA admissions committees are assessing who can make the biggest impact at their schools. There are a number of different ways to add value, such as contributing to class discussions, gathering teams to enter competitions, acting as career guides for first-year MBA or undergraduate students, leading teams and clubs, writing blog posts, and more. Moreover, the schools envision that students will continue supporting the community after graduation. In short, an MBA education will be more fruitful if students are fully committed and enthusiastic about the learning community. From an admissions committee perspective, students and alumni are the school’s most important ambassadors, so they are assessing your potential to be such an asset.
Conclusion
As Simpson mentioned in the statement above, “…if they leave any confusion or gaps, then that’s going to go against them,” meaning that the chance of being rejected increases if applicants fail to clearly address any of these four key points. Thus, we advise all applicants to work hard to cover these important elements of the application and to tell cohesive and persuasive stories throughout their documents and interviews. Consider signing up for a free consultation today to understand how we can help make your profile shine by prioritizing key elements of your applications.