Clear Admit co-founder Graham Richmond weighed in recently as part of a Forbes article on the importance of humility in the MBA admissions process. “While many applicants take the ‘Look at me, I’m great!’ approach – and think they are doing themselves a favor – the truth is that striking this sort of tone rarely pays dividends,” Richmond cautioned. “There is not a single top MBA program where the admissions team responds favorably to a candidate who aggressively self-promotes,” he continued, adding that there is a fine line between confidence and cockiness and applicants want to avoid crossing it.
Admissions directors at top programs concur, stressing that applicants should strive to be honest, clear and self-reflective without becoming too self-promotional. “Humility is the magic word, and it is a quality that is not diametrically opposed to confidence,” Dee Leopold, director of admissions at Harvard Business School, told Forbes. Applicants should certainly share their achievements, she continues, but in a way that is honest and clear.
At Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB), Assistant Dean of MBA Admissions Derrick Bolton advises prospective applicants to write their applications as though they were writing for themselves and not going to turn them in. “You don’t need to lie to yourself. Self-reflection allows you to think about the things that bring meaning to you, and the knowledge and experience you need to aspire to be the person you want to become,” he said. Acknowledging that it can be easy for applicants to slip into boastfulness when worrying about setting themselves apart from others, he encourages them to concentrate instead on telling who they are. “The GSB will be able to discern and judge merit based on the accurate telling of your story,” he told Forbes.
While some think that schools like Harvard and Stanford are actually seeing aggressive, hyper-confident students, that’s not actually true, Richmond cautions. “While a certain amount of self-confidence, charisma and character are clearly assets to any MBA applicant,” he explains, “it’s never a good idea to go overboard, as this will not translate to admissions success.”
For the complete Forbes article, click here.
Read the full article: Clear Admit’s Graham Richmond Featured in Forbes Article on Humility and the MBA Application