Winning the MBA Admissions Game – eBook
A must have book for every Top 10 B-School candidate
European B-Schools your target? Click here for our exclusive European B-School Essay Service
So now you have tamed the GMAT and are ready for the next step, the admission process, what do you do?
Here is what will really excite the Admissions Committee at the Top 10 B-Schools:
You have Great Grades. It is better if these are in an extremely complex subject which you have chosen our of real interest. Of course, you have very good reasons to dump that subject, because of your ‘Calling’ for management, that has nothing to do with more money!
On the other end, if you do not have Great Grades, you have had such an amazing student life that you can explain your low grades with ease, maybe you have studied through an Olympics scholarship, or you have supported a family of four through college, or any such ‘plausible’ reasons.
You are an extremely accomplished person. A third of your achievements are professional, a third extracurricular and the balance personal. Mediocrity in any of these can put you in the ‘One Dimensional’ or ‘Two dimensional’ bucket. In short, you have a ‘well-rounded’ personality.
You are unique. You have fought for your country, experienced significant amount of hardships that have moulded your character, or you belong to a Royal family or have famous parents.
You have had at least one phenomenal failure. This failure has changed your life and given you new insights that have taken you to higher levels of success.
You have planned the next 15 years of your life. Your goals are simply unachievable without parting with $100K and getting an MBA from this particular school. And of course, you have very valid personal reasons for selecting this particular school, these reasons cannot easily be found on the Schools’s website.
You have a single minded approach in life and you can attribute your actions, reactions, mistakes, and pretty much everything else to this.
You are an ethical person. Your ethics have been challenged at least once, but you have successfully overcome temptation to uphold your values.
These are things that will really get the Adcom (Admissions Committee) excited.
But what do you do if you are a mere mortal?
You should be reading ‘Winning the MBA Admissions Game’!!
Why do you really want an MBA?
It’s the dreaded question that you will have to answer several times if you want to go to b-school.
Do you want to make more money, want to get a promotion, you’re tired of your current job and want to make a change, or you just don’t feel like struggling through the rat race and need a little time off.
These are all valid reasons, but of course these are reasons that you can never mention in your “Why MBA essay”.
This book will help you look deeper within yourself and enable you to answer the ‘Why MBA’ question with conviction.
Do you struggle with the following?
So how do you verbalize your reasons for doing an MBA, that the adcom will fall in love with?
How do you write stellar essays? How do you generate ideas? Who is the best person to get a recommendation from.
How personal do you need to get in your Essays?
Is Active Voice better than Passive Voice?
How do you explain/comuflage your less than stellar academic performance?
How to portray your lack of experience in a positive light?
The answers to all these questions require deep introspection.
Despite all the hype of Admission Consultants, the best person to answer these questions is You.
The core stories, the incidents and the examples have to come from you. No one else can do these for you.
And then, you have to use a bit of creative writing and pronto, you are done!!
Well, almost done!!
From idea generation to the final draft of your essays, there are many pitfalls and many ways of presenting yourself.
So what is the best way to navigate the admissions quagmire? How do you make sure you don’t make any ‘schoolboy’ errors? How do you make your application ‘shine’?
And this is where the ‘Winning the MBA Admissions game’ comes in.
Why you should be reading this book?
This comprehensive 150+ Page book will guide you throughout the admissions process, right from generating Ideas for your Essays to which school’s offer to accept.
This book will teach you how to:
Generate Insightful content for your applications
Avoid the Wrong Answers for the all important ‘Why MBA’ question
Make sure there are no ‘Holes’ in your story
Underplay weaknesses in your profile
Combat ‘IT’ stereotypes
And much, much more…
Here is a quick look at the Table of content:
So how do you start the process? The critical First Step
Why would YOU want to do an MBA? Some WRONG Answers
Why MBA? How did this Columbia student work out her reasons?
The value of an MBA
Choosing where to apply
Short listing Business Schools
The Four Key Criteria
After the short list. How you can decide which MBA is for you?
Timing the Market
Do you need a Safety School?
What are the Top Schools looking for?
Some helpful do’s when filling in the application form
The Key Success Factors
What do the recruiters look for?- An IBank perspective
The Big Picture View of the Application Process
How to generate insightful content for your Application
Prewriting Strategies
Brainstorming
Clustering
Freewriting
Looping
Your Fact File
Weaving an integrated story
How did Kate get into Stanford, with an 80 percentile Quant Score?
A close look at her strategy
Are you good enough to get in a Top B-School? A checklist
The Nuts & Bolts of the application process & how it all fits together
Your GMAT Score: What does Wharton Adcom Say?
Minimum Score Requirements
Some Test Sections Matter More
How do B-Schools treat Multiple Scores?
Academic Record Academic Performance and GMAT Score
Your Undergraduate Degree (First University)
International Students and Academic Records
Recent Academic Work
Work Experience
What Your Work Experience Says about You
Work Experience—Quality Versus Quantity
Full-Time Work Matters Most
If You Lack Full-time Work Experience
Essays
Some Important Things to Remember
Essays are probably the most important part of your application pack.
Letters of Recommendation
Obtaining solid recommendations
Who Should Write Them
Know School Policy
The Ideal Recommendation
Why do you need to know about Behavior-based interviews
Your Interview Invite: What does it indicate?
How to finish on a Strong Note
What are Top B-School Interviews like?
How Arti aced her recent Wharton Interview
Questions from a recent NYU Stern Interview
Organizing Your Response: The PAR Approach
Fine-Tuning Your Delivery
Stick to the Positive
Interview on Campus
Invitation-Only Interview
Mandatory Interview
Optional Interview
No Interview
Extracurricular and Community Activities
Things to Keep in Mind
Understanding Demographics: Whom are you competing with?
MBA and the Indian IT male… or female
When a 700+ Score may not be enough
IT applicants, watch our for these Pitfalls!
ESSAYS : A Close Look
Essay Strategy
Essay Writing
The truth about Word limits
Essay Strategy for multiple schools
The next critical Step
Addressing Specific Problem Areas in your Profile
Low GMAT score
The optional essay
Lopsided GMAT score
Addressing low quant scores
Addressing low verbal scores
Minimal Work Experience?
Are you over the Hill?
Too many Job Changes? You have no focus!
Linguist from Ghana? Too difficult to place
No extracurricular activities? No problem.
Essay Question 1: Why MBA?
Analysis of my response
Essay Question 2: Why Now?
Essay Question 3: Why YOU?
Essay Question 4: Failure/Setback essay
Lessons learnt: Why schools reject a strong candidate
A look at Kellogg Essays
A look at Chicago GSB Essays
A look at Wharton Essays
A look at Stanford Essays
Financial Aid: How does it work?
Funding your MBA
Killer Resumes for MBAs: Does yours’ Pass the test?
What a Resume Should Do
What Recruiters Look For
What do Admissions Officers Look For
What Your Resume Should Say
Writing an International Resume
Resumes: What is the correct size?
Admission Consultants: Are they worth the money?
What to do if you are Waitlisted?
Waitlist Strategy
Effective Writing for MBA Applications
Essay Opening: Getting off to a Strong Start
General principles of good writing you need to keep in mind
Five golden rules
Other General tips
Sentence and paragraph length
Words to avoid
Unnecessary words
Using nouns instead of verbs
Active versus passive style
Personal versus impersonal style
All this for a special Introductory price of just USD 24.95
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Why should you buy this book?
What do these MBA Admissions folks want from me?
Not only do they expect me to take the GMAT test, demonstrate an ability to handle the academic rigors of b-school, write essays that outline my entire life history and goals, but they also want me to describe every club, hobby, volunteer activity, and/or community service in which I’ve been engaged since high school!
What if I don’t measure up? What if I don’t have the right number and mix of activities? What if the adcoms don’t find my interests of value?
Does that sound like you?
If yes, then this eBook is for you. This book will guide you through the complete admissions process and ensure that you come out a ‘Winner’.
Why should you believe me?
I have myself gone through this rigorous process and come out a Winner. (Have a look at this admit from INSEAD).
I did not have the benefit of any external guidance and had to navigate the admissions minefield on my own.
Though I did come out successful in the end, I ended up spending too much time getting things right. Subsequently, I have successfully guided scores of students to a Top 10 MBA.
My personal experience, and my experience of working with other successful students, is the basis of this book.
Till now, this information & strategy was only available to students who took private coaching from my-gmat, and cost upwards of a thousand dollars.
Now it is being made available to anyone who wants to ‘Win’ the MBA admissions game.
European B-Schools your target? Click here for our exclusive European B-School Essay Service