In case you missed it, there was a great piece in both the print and online versions of the Washington Post this past weekend on MBA admissions. The piece, entitled “Would you climb any mountain to get into MBA program of your dreams?” ran in Sunday’s Post and featured quotes and input from Clear Admit co-founder Graham Richmond on how applicants to top MBA programs can help make themselves stand out among the thousands and thousands of applications the very best schools receive.
One of the most important things is to understand who will be reading your application, Richmond told the Post. “The people reading the file are more like your high school English teacher than the colleague sitting next to you at an investment bank,” he said, adding that they are more interested in getting a good sense of who you are than your business experience.
That’s why Richmond advised a recent applicant to Wharton to write an essay about learning how to shoot guns in order to fit into the male-dominated Southern-based private-equity firm where she worked.
The Post story focused on the intangibles – the things beyond GPA and GMAT score that help demonstrate managerial, entrepreneurial and/or social skills that can distinguish individual applicants. “The intangibles are incredibly important,” George Andrews, associate dean at the University of Chicago’s Booth School, told the Post, adding that it’s these qualities that also help admissions officers build a diverse class.
The Post article also cited some of the strategies students have used to demonstrate these types of qualities, such as showcasing start-ups or nonprofits they’ve helped found or volunteer programs they’ve participated with as part of their applications.
Here, too, Richmond provided some important advice to applicants, namely that you need to make sure that whatever you choose to highlight shows sincerity and commitment. In other words, picking up a last-minute volunteer gig with a soup kitchen just before the application deadline may not carry much weight. “The candidate who starts doing something right before application can look fishy,” he told the Post.
Admissions officials from several top schools, including Wharton, Stanford and Georgetown, also chimed in with useful pointers for prospective applicants. If you are currently applying to business school or considering applying in the near future, you’ll probably want to check out the piece for yourself. To read it in its entirety, click here.
Read the full article: Washington Post Story on MBA Admissions Features Clear Admit