Stage 2 – Applications (College Selection, Resume, Essays, SOP et al.)
So done with GMAT. A very important question. Did you get the score that you were hoping to get?
If you got less that what you expected, then you should try to analyze why that happened and give GMAT a second try. No matter what some business schools says about GMAT not being the only thing considered; In reality it is the very first thing that is considered. Some schools like Purdue in particular are very GMAT centric and do not even need a interview. A high GMAT score increases substantially your probability of getting a interview call and in case of acceptance the probability of getting GA or merit funding from the school. One more thing, for those who are interesting in a career in consulting after MBA. A GMAT score of above 700 proves to consultancy firms that you are a serious job candidate with good intellectual ability. So GMAT matters even in job search post MBA in some functional business areas.
If you got more that what you expected to get, then there are two certain things, one that you are in the minority(many people undershoot that overshoot) and that your aim was low(a mistake not to be repeated during the application process… MBA are typically arrogant about that abilities, like to brag about there achievement and very human… I will elaborate on the human part later in the post).
Prospective College Selection :
Enough about GMAT. So you have a score. Now comes the next the task of preparing a list of colleges that you want to apply to. I guess most people already have the list of colleges that they want to apply to even before GMAT and some of them are real close matches to your GMAT score. But your real GMAT score may be higher or lower that what you anticipated and so the list must be revised. The best resources for finding information about the schools are usnews , business week, college journal(wsj) and my personal favorite princeton review . You will come across many multiple ranking but i believe the US News rankings to be the best followed by Business Week. You must choose your school ideally based on your post MBA goals, the school teaching methodology and atmosphere; but in reality there is another important factor too – financial constraints
While preparing a list of colleges to apply to choose three categories of college viz. optimistic, realistic and safe. Apply in two of each category. I think of optimistic as ones for which my profile(GMAT + Work Exp + Extra Curr.) is at the lower end of applicant pool. I think of realistic as ones in which I have a 50% chance of getting admission but a not so great chance of getting a huge scholarship. I think of safe as ones in which you have a 80% chance of acceptance and a good chance of getting a huge scholarship. Once you get admits then you may have the problem of plenty, but that is a nice problem to have. A more detailed discussion on college selection here.
Resume :
This resume that you will submit to the b-school will be significantly different that any technical resume that you have written till now. I will list some basic things and for more specific information you may search on the web.
1) It should not be more than one page long.
2)The points in the resume should NOT be task oriented. Each point should highlight a transferable quality(Qualities which will be equally useful in any job function in any industry) that you have. Each should have the following format : WHAT YOU DID + SITUATION BACKGROUND + EFFECT OF ACTION.
3)Do not be afraid of showing off your achievements.
4)Stress more on achievements in professional life as against school life.
5)If your extra curricular activities are expectational then mention them , but of they are not… don’t worry… really doesn’t matter to some schools.
6) If you are a engineer, make sure that you highlight the management aspects of your job and have your resume reviewed by a non-engineer to ensure that this person is able to understand the things mentioned in your resume. The person who will be reading your resume will 90% of the times will not be a engineer.
ESSAYS :
There is not much that I add say about writing essays than that take time to write essays, essays should tell a consistent story, they should be reviewed by a trusted friend, guide or relative, should have no grammatical or spelling mistakes, should adhere to the word limit specified in the essay and should paint before the admission commission a human picture of you; a picture of a future alumni of the school..
Last but not the least, remember to send all the school your GMAT scores.
Grass is greener on the other side
My MBA class of 2009 is a varied bunch with poets, teachers, engineers, lawyers, doctors, economists, soldiers and psychologists;varying in age, gender, marital status, social and cultural backgrounds, yet we all seem to have a few things in common. A commonality of goals. But another commonality exists; each one of us thinks that the other is better off than him due to there undergraduate backgrounds, work experience or citizen(US citizens).
A engineer from India thinks that a fellow economist from Japan with 12 years experience, who is sponsored by his company is better off than him due to his finance industry background, no expenses(as fee are taken care by the sponsor) and off-course his assured job. He also envies a fellow teammate from US because he has citizenship and does not have to worry about getting a H1B visa. A economist from Japan envies the Indians because he thinks young India engineer who can speak fluent English has the world of opportunities open to him. A sales specialist from US envies the quantitative abilities of the engineer and the accounting knowledge of the economist. And so it goes on and on.
It is intimidating to be in a class that consists of such a varied groups of accomplished individuals(this is by no means a overstatement or an attempt at brown nosing but a sincere veneration for my peers) that we could establish a company which would be fortune 500 in 20 years and we would not need to hire a new key executive person outside our class. We have experts in all aspects of business. I guess it is this hotchpotch of feelings that leads to a strange environment, a mixture of jealousy and admiration of our peers. But the trick to get over this would be identify ones own niche in the class, to strengthen once existing core competencies and add new competencies to his arsenal by learning from our colleagues. This feeling of ‘grass is greener on the other side’ is good; it will force each one of us to come out of there comfort zone and venture into new areas of expertise(the green pastures) to increase our competitive advantage vis-a-vis our peers. During all this time it is easy to get overwhelmed by the enormity of the challenge(not really of excelling at studying but succeeding in getting an internship and finally, that all important 6 figure salary), the scale of investment(not really $$$ but 2 yrs of your life) and the competition(not really your class at the b-school but the 100K MBAs who will enter the jpb market with you).
Success will come to those who will have a quiet confidence in there ability to rise to any challenge that life may throw at them. A saying that I remember always is that ~ A diamond is just a piece of coal that did well under pressure~ . Let jealousy,fear or admiration(whatever you choose) fuel the engine that would generate the pressure that would crystallize a coal to a diamond.
