Getting admitted to a top business school can be like trying to pull a rabbit out of the hat. In this post I continue my rant on what the trick to it might be... ©
It looks like the applicants applying in Fall '09 are already sniffing around, doing research. Following my previous rant, here are 5 more things that I think prospective applicants should think about.
(1) The schools will say that you should apply when you are ready. In reality, some points in time are better than others. The schools want to fill the class with a certain number of students from each age group. I would suggest thinking about how to optimize your profile. HBS published a distribution for graduation years for the class of 2010 here (search for the "Class of 2010 Graduation Years" post here).
(2) Think about your profile.The schools make money on every application they get. It is in their interests to let you think that you'll be admitted. The profiles on the schools website do not really reflect the makeup of the students admitted. On the website they are more diverse than they really are. Get advice from someone who has lots of experiences in seeing applicants admitted and rejected by each of the schools, e.g. an admissions consultant with lots of experience or an ex-student who reviewed applications for the school. They should be able to give a good view of your chances.
(3) Your background. As well as filling the class with a certain number of people from each age group, certain numbers from each career background and various other characteristics will also be sought. If you have an opportunity to work in an area from where there are lots of people going into MBA (e.g. your company's strategy department), I suggest they are being recruited from that department for a reason and that it would be worth doing a stint there. It might even be better to work at a company from where there are many people going into MBAs, e.g. McKinsey.
(4) What do you eat, breathe and shit? I know a guy who was admitted to all the top US schools. He described himself as someone who "eats, breathes and shits biotech". If he made as distinct an impression in his essays, I'm sure he would have come across as someone who is both convincing and could also become a world class biotech person of the future. Once the school has read your application, will you leave as such a distinct impression? Montauk refers to this as positioning (in the marketing sense), but I doubt many people market themselves well. (I don't think I did). Your positioning should be so blatant and distinct that your recommenders will shout about it in unison: e.g. "this guy is one of our foremost biotech evangelists".
(5) Do something amazing in the year leading to you applying. Make it real, easy for a layman to understand and something that the school can shout about. Remember, as soon as you are admitted, the schools do shout extracts back at the class describing the impressive feats of their admits. I mentioned some in my DAK debrief and Tieny mentioned some his Columbia open house debrief. Some of the things I've heard shouted about are "x person won x athletic award", "y person won the national stand up comedy awards" and "z person started a charity". I suspect the trick is to not come across as bragging.
These are just my opinions. Please complement them with the views of others who have gone through the experience or who help applicants through the process.
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