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ChatGPT for MBA admissions essays: the not good, not bad and not ugly

The big question for this year’s MBA admissions is not whether but how to use ChatGPT in writing admissions essays. Or which part of the writing process do you do, and what can AI do better than you. ChatGPT / large language models (LLMs) will spit out credible text. And the more you tell it about you and the question you are answering, the better it will give out. In a flash you’ll have…

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What MBA Adcoms Want is an Authentic Expression of Self

There is an old post from Business Week that I find as current as ever, about how MBA Adcoms set about thinking up MBA admissions essay questions. The context is, increasingly over time, business schools are asking fewer essay questions in total, often swapping text questions for multimedia input. Part of the reason b-school Adcoms are asking for fewer questions is they don’t get what they want…

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How to extract MBA Admissions Value from your experiences: an example

I find myself consistently, always telling MBA applicants to extract the full MBA admissions value from what they have in their bio, and what they have done. Doing this is the only way to present as more valuable than the next applicant to the business school in question. That is, the only way to get admitted in a competitive system. Easier said than done of course. So the question comes back:…

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How to not be 'Excepted' to a Top MBA Program

How to not be ‘Excepted’ to a Top MBA Program

One from the files – but in this regard nothing changes. No matter how the MBA admissions process may iterate slightly with the times, correct English grammar and word usage remains the bedrock of successful MBA Admissions essays. Any slip makes you look at best undereducated, or incompetent or just sloppy. English has famously “low startup costs.” You don’t have to decline nouns or conjugate…

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The myth of the super-700s GMAT

The myth of the super-700s GMAT in MBA admissions

For many MBA applicants, now is GMAT or GRE test-taking season. Below is a piece I wrote years ago on Business Week b-school site, but the issue does not go away. So I hope it gives a new cohort of MBA applicants a strategic reality check in terms of how a GMAT or GRE score helps and hurts in MBA admissions, and therefore what score is needed: I had a MBA admissions client recently who I’ll call…

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#GMAT #GRE #MBA Admissions

Know the 3 types of MBA Admissions 'ding' before you apply

Know the 3 types of MBA Admissions ‘ding’ before you apply

The year turns, and we look ahead to a new MBA admissions cycle. This means the MBA Admissions Studio is now in its 20th year. In the off season I get emails (not from clients, mostly!) of the type “I-was-dinged-last-year, what-did-I do-wrong?” So this seems as good a place as any to start the discussion this year, in the spirit of helping those dinged last year apply better, and those who are…

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Talking To Your Employer About Your MBA

Getting company buy-in and (possibly) even financial support for your MBA, matters. There are some resources out there to help. Here’s one from the Cambridge Judge School, and another from INSEAD. Be aware that for study while on the job, you’ll need to secure your employer’s understanding and support, and demonstrate that to the admissions committee. Judge says: “You’ll need to demonstrate…

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How to Work the Room at an MBA Fair

MBA fairs are events where many business schools are present in one place, each at a school-branded booth, ready to provide information to prospective applicants. During Corona times, these have been held virtually. But it looks like, pending anything unforeseen, we are back to live events. So, how should you, the applicant, navigate these events? Here’s a 10-point guide: 1. Know why you are…

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A Grammar Test. Do You Dare?

If I’m pushed, I’d say that content matters more than expression in MBA admissions essays and short answers. It must. Adcom most wants to know who you are and what you have to say. But grammar, spelling, punctuation still matter a LOT. Its like having the best soccer boots. Yes, that’s important. But you’re not going to score any goals if they are not laced up, Are you laced up? Here’s a grammar…

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Embrace Life's Inflection Points In Your MBA essay

Embrace Life’s Inflection Points In Your MBA essay

In math an inflection (or inflexion) point is the point on a curve where the it changes sign and therefore shape. By analogy, our lives and careers have inflection points too: those events that where suddenly everything is turned around, or moments where everything changes. In the MBA admissions process, inflection points can be “achievements.” But they don’t need to be and often are not. More…

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Using Covid19 in your MBA application

The Covid19 question is of course front and center in this MBA admissions cycle. There will be applicants who have been cut or furloughed, and some who have not, and it’s better if not, but not the end of the world if you are. This is because a lot of things have been beyond the control of a lot of people this year. You won’t be penalized for this. But the question becomes, so what did you…

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A Good MBA Motivation Guide: People, Planet, Profit

Oftentimes the simple and clear strategy is the one that works.

When I was reviewing a client’s essays recently, there were many good themes there, and a lot to like. There was evidence of successful interactions with colleagues and teams that spoke well of leadership potential, and a powerful theme of innovation towards sustainable resources use, with career experience to back it up.

But there…

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7 Ways to a Better MBA Admissions Essay

If you look back through the 10-year archive of posts here on this site, and see my book, you’ll know I’ve written many, many times on how to write a winning MBA admissions essay.

There’s no formula. But as we look ahead to a new admissions season, some particular issues that come to mind as I look at the current crop of essays I’m reviewing and advising on for clients.

What is a good essay?

One…

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Review of MBA Admissions Book and MBA Studio Services

I don’ t talk a lot about myself. I’ve been doing MBA admissions essay advisory and interview support successfully for 18 years. I have many hundreds of client application wins to top business schools.

Occasionally I update client feedback in the sidebar on this page, but do not normally post in full, particularly not the effusive ones. It’s not really my style. Mostly I stay behind the scenes,…

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Covid19 and MBA Admissions: The Deans Are Talking, Are You Listening?

I have been asked, what coronavirus means for MBA Admissions. Will Adcoms be looking for anything different?

I advise looking for answers the way I always do: listen carefully to what schools are saying (and not saying) and interpret it carefully.

For example, a recent post-Corona BusinessBecause interview of six b-school Deans and Associate Deans around the world, sheds some light. I share two…

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'I'm Furloughed, Does That Affect My MBA Admissions Prospects?'

‘I’m Furloughed, Does That Affect My MBA Admissions Prospects?’

In September 2009, in the wake of the financial crisis, I wrote a post on unemployment and MBA admissions.

At the time, a lot of people—particularly in financial services but also more widely—had been bounced out of their jobs due to the credit crunch and associated recession.

Sound familiar? Here we are in the era of Covid19 in a similar place, only more so, with employment implications that are…

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How Strictly Must I Stick to The Word Limit On MBA Admissions Essays?

Here’s a question I get a lot from clients: “How strictly do I have to stick to the essay word limit? How much can I go over? Does it matter if I’m under?”

To answer this, it is essential–as always–to think about it from the MBA AdCom’s point of view. Put yourself in their shoes. Why do they set a word limit? What are they trying to achieve? How does it help them?

So, what is AdCom trying to do…

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