Application Tips
Strategic advice on executing your MBA application, including tips on your résumé, data forms, and essays.
Published: September 12, 2023
MBA Admissions Tip: Avoid the Comparison Trap
In their desire to make their case to their target MBA programs, many applicants devote sentences and even paragraphs to explaining why the school in question is their “first choice” and arguing its superiority over other schools. Though certainly understandable, this is actually not a very productive exercise. Let’s consider a few reasons why from the schools’ point of view: Tell me something I don’t know. A popular strategy – and not always bad one – for applicants seeking to demonstrate their fit with one school above any other is to study its website to understand the program’s self-determined selling
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Published: September 5, 2023
MBA Admissions Tip: Five Questions to Ask Yourself Before Submitting an Optional Essay
We realize that the questions of whether or not to answer an optional essay—and, if so, what to say—are ones that loom large for many MBA applicants. In addition to our school-specific Essay Topic Analysis, we wanted to suggest a few questions that applicants might want to consider when making this call. Is my MBA optional essay relevant? Perhaps this goes without saying, but the only information worth sharing in an optional essay is that which will make a material difference in your candidacy. Whether you wish to comment on an exciting leadership role you’ve just
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Published: August 31, 2023
MBA Admissions Tip: Essay Polishing
The deadline is looming and you’re making one final pass through your application before hitting submit. This isn’t the time for drastic changes – but there might still be an opportunity for small improvements. Read on for three big picture, “crunch time” tips! Keep It Professional It’s true that many schools ask “fun” questions and most urge applicants to be themselves rather than submitting “overly polished” material. But it’s important to remember that this is a graduate school application, and you should approach your essays with a degree of formality. You do want your unique narrative voice to come through,
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Published: August 29, 2023
MBA Admissions Tip: Word Limits and Character Counts
MBA candidates naturally have a good deal of information they want – and need – to convey in their materials, and getting the important ideas down under restrictive word counts is a difficult task. While it might be tempting to run a bit beyond the guidelines to slip in that one extra thought, it’s important to keep the reasons for these limits in mind. In addition to being a forum for explaining your goals and sharing your story, the essays and short answers also serve as a test of the applicant’s ability to communicate clearly and concisely, not to mention
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Published: August 22, 2023
Digging Deep with Your MBA Program Research: Anecdotes & Advocates
Communicating with insiders (current students, alumni, and faculty members) can be beneficial to your MBA applications for a number of reasons. In addition to learning about a given school and your potential fit, you’ll also generate material for your essays, demonstrate your interest in the program, and perhaps even make an ally or two. As you aim to go beyond the schools’ websites and promotional materials, we specifically recommend reaching out to individuals in a few key groups: Current Students People who are currently enrolled in a given program can obviously provide the clearest picture of the present state of
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Published: August 8, 2023
MBA Admissions Tip: Know Your Audience
As anyone who’s undergone the MBA Application Process knows, applying to business school is an incredibly demanding journey. In addition to taking the GMAT, assembling academic transcripts and providing recommendation letters, candidates are required to draft multiple essays, job descriptions, lists of activities and more. With the obvious incentive to save time wherever possible, it’s understandable that many applicants simply cut and paste content from an existing résumé and write about their work in the manner that comes most naturally. However, in doing so, countless candidates each year assemble their materials without ever asking a fundamental question: Who will
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Published: August 1, 2023
MBA Admissions Tip: Crafting the MBA Essay
For many applicants, the essays (or personal statements) are the most daunting aspect of the MBA application process. But really, MBA application essays present a true opportunity to tell your story and showcase your strengths. Below are a few key tips for presenting yourself and your experiences as advantageously as possible. Take time to reflect. Before diving in and beginning work on a draft of any one essay, it’s often fruitful to think carefully about all of the stories and accomplishments at one’s disposal. These can include experiences from the professional realm, formal outside activities, college clubs and even more
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The Cost of the MBA Application Process
When thinking about the cost of getting an MBA, what immediately comes to mind is tuition, moving to a new city, books, supplies, and possibly some new attire. But often overlooked are the numerous fees and associated costs of the MBA application process. Individually, the numbers appear small, but as you complete your application(s), your choices each have a cost, and those can add up. MBA application costs can vary depending on the school you’re applying to, application requirements, and whether you’re a domestic or international applicant. Although fee waiver opportunities are growing, most business schools charge an application fee
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Admissions Tip: Writing Your MBA Application Resume
Your MBA application résumé is a key component of your written submission – and a great place to start when crafting your overall positioning strategy. The exercise of condensing your entire work and educational history forces you to distill your candidacy into a concise document, focusing on key strengths and themes. This document, combined with a summary of your post-MBA career goals, are cornerstone elements of your application that you’ll want to share with your recommendation writers early in your application process. With that in mind, here are a few simple tips to get you started: MBA Résumé
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MBA Admissions Tip: Volunteer Experience
While there are many elements to the MBA application, there is one that candidates often underestimate: volunteer experience. Why volunteer experience is important in your MBA application In order to understand why this category is important, candidates should keep in mind that the adcom is responsible for crafting a dynamic class each year. The aim is to admit individuals who will support a vibrant campus community and step into leadership positions. In other words, as admissions officers consider each applicant, they ask themselves, “What’s in it for our school?” An applicant who has previously demonstrated a talent
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Defining Your Post-MBA Career Goals
Having clear and realistic post-MBA career goals is essential to the business school application process. Though essay prompts tend to vary year to year, the two things that nearly every prospective student can count on being asked are “What are your short-term and long-term post-MBA goals?” and “How will Business School X help you achieve these goals?” Even if this sort of question doesn’t appear in the essay portion of the application, rest assured that you’ll be asked this question in the data forms and/or during your interview. Identifying clear post-MBA career goals will help in everything from
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Published: April 27, 2023
Upcoming Virtual Event Series: MBA Application Overview
You’ve got your grades and (maybe) your test scores. You’ve put in the time and effort at work, and have accomplishments and skills to show for it. You’re also active and involved in your community. You have the raw materials. So how do you put them together into a compelling MBA application? Join us for our MBA Application Overview Event Series to get answers to just that question! We’re hosting four events – on consecutive Wednesdays in May – May 3rd, May 10th, May 17th & May 24th, all @ 12pm ET – each with representatives from up to five
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Published: April 26, 2023
Admissions Tip: Can I Negotiate A Scholarship for Business School?
When decisions are released, excitement among the applicant pool can be palpable. After months of hard work and significant introspection, many candidates are rewarded with offers from their dream programs. Some of those offers come with scholarships; money that helps defray the significant financial burden of taking two years away from work, while also paying considerable tuition costs and living expenses. If Only My Top-Choice Had Come Through with a Scholarship… Of course, many candidates might receive scholarship at one or two programs, but not at their ideal program. This leads to an age-old question: At their dream program,
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Published: January 4, 2023
Admissions Tip: Essay Polishing
The deadline is looming and you’re making one final pass through your application before hitting submit. This isn’t the time for drastic changes – but there might still be an opportunity for small improvements. Read on for three big picture, “crunch time” tips! Keep It Professional It’s true that many schools ask “fun” questions and most urge applicants to be themselves rather than submitting “overly polished” material. But it’s important to remember that this is a graduate school application, and you should approach your essays with a degree of formality. You do want your unique narrative voice to come through,
Read more
Published: January 2, 2023
MBA Admissions Tip: Five Questions to Ask Yourself Before Submitting an Optional Essay
We realize that the questions of whether or not to answer an optional essay—and, if so, what to say—are ones that loom large for many MBA applicants. In addition to our school-specific Essay Topic Analysis, we wanted to suggest a few questions that applicants might want to consider when making this call. Is my MBA optional essay relevant? Perhaps this goes without saying, but the only information worth sharing in an optional essay is that which will make a material difference in your candidacy. Whether you wish to comment on an exciting leadership role you’ve just
Read more
Published: October 2, 2022
Admissions Tip: Letters of Support
While business schools require candidates to submit one or two recommendations as part of the regular admissions process, we’re devoting this admissions tip to a lesser known relative of the formal recommendation: the letter of support. The letter of support is very different from a typical letter of recommendation, in ways that we will detail below. In fact, we’ll use this admissions tip to share the following information: What is a letter of support? Who can author and submit such letters? When should a letter of support be submitted? What should a letter of support cover in terms of content?
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Admissions Tip: 3 Ways to Show an MBA Program That You Mean Business in Your Essays
During the MBA application process, you’ll need to learn more about your target programs in the process of rounding out your “why are you pursuing an MBA/why [school name here]” essays. Keeping this important component of the MBA admissions process in mind, we wanted to offer some advice on how to polish this element of your file and get the most mileage out of this section. MBA Admissions is Personal Schools look for applicants who seem genuinely excited about their program, and the best way to bring this across in your essays is to come
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MBA Essay Insight Webinar Series Summer 2022
We’re sure you’ve already heard that the application essays are a crucial component of the MBA application. So how can you ace this part of the admissions process without the use of sample essays? Get essay tips straight from admissions representatives at leading business schools during our upcoming MBA Essay Insight Webinar Series! Dates: July 13, July 20, July 27 & August 3. Time: 12 pm-1 pm Panel & 1 pm-1:30 pm Breakout Q&A with Individual Schools (all times Eastern) Each session will start with a 60-minute roundtable panel,
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Published: February 7, 2022
Four Reasons to Apply to MBA Programs in Round 3
As Round 2 interview invitations and decisions roll out, the Round 3 deadlines of leading MBA programs still glimmer on the horizon, holding chances for redemption, acceptance or even just practice. Conventional wisdom in the MBA admissions world suggests it’s best to avoid the final rounds when applying to top business schools, but sometimes circumstances dictate otherwise. One thing to keep in mind is that all indications suggest that this year could actually be a good one in which to apply in R3. The bump to application volume due to the pandemic is showing signs of fading. A strong job
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Published: October 18, 2021
Webinar: CMU Tepper MBA: Designed for the Intelligent Future – Video Recap!
Interested in an MBA degree that will stand the test of time? Check out our video recap of the recent Clear Admit and Carnegie Mellon Tepper webinar, “CMU Tepper MBA: Designed for the Intelligent Future.” In a future defined by vast quantities of data, will you be able to harness this information to make sound, innovative business decisions? The Tepper MBA combines advanced analytics with personalized leadership coaching to give you a formidable advantage over the competition. J.R. McGrath, Director of Admissions and Tepper MBA alumni discussed why the science of management and art of leadership matter in
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Published: October 17, 2021
Spooky Admissions Mistakes: Nightmares for AdCom Members
Let’s pumpkin spice things up! As Halloween approaches, we wanted to take a look at some of the most chilling nightmares that adcom members can face when evaluating MBA applicants. So, what are the scariest mistakes an MBA applicant can make? Clear Admit co-founder Graham Richmond shares his insights below so you can avoid admissions missteps like the houses that hand out raisins for Halloween treats. 1. Don’t Wear an Icarus Costume One of the scariest things for an admissions office is to encounter an applicant with a
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Published: September 29, 2021
Webinar: Pursuing an MBA Without a Business Background – Video Recap
Interested in an MBA degree, but come from a non-traditional background? Watch as Clear Admit and the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School take part in a panel discussion, “Pursuing an MBA Without a Business Background.” Did you know that over half of UNC Kenan-Flagler Full-Time MBA students enter the program without a business background? Watch the video recap and hear from UNC Kenan-Flagler career experts, assistant dean of the Full-Time MBA program, and several current students as they talk about the doors an MBA can open for any driven professional. In this panel discussion moderated by Admissions
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Published: September 12, 2021
U.S. News 2022 College Rankings – What It Means for MBA Applicants
With the announcement of the 2022 U.S. News Best Colleges rankings, MBA applicants may be wondering how their undergraduate records fit into MBA admissions. Within the MBA application itself, candidates supply their GPA, identify their undergraduate institution and provide unofficial transcripts. Clear Admit Co-founder Graham Richmond explains, “It’s really important to remember that MBA admissions officers are not just looking at your undergraduate GPA as a raw number. They are looking at it through a number of different lenses. For instance, how did your GPA evolve over the course of your four years in
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Published: August 4, 2021
MBA Essay Insight Event Series: Sept/Oct Dates!
As you most likely already know, essays are a critical component of the MBA admissions process. That’s why we’re bringing back our popular MBA Essay Insight Event Series for three more events this September into October. Join us on September 22nd, September 29th, and October 6th at 12 noon ET for insider application advice that you won’t want to miss. Each session will start with a 60-minute roundtable panel, hosted by Clear Admit Co-Founder Graham Richmond. Admissions reps will share some insight into their programs, and offer detailed advice on how to tackle their school’s essays.
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MBA Essay Insight Events: Join Us On July 28!
We’re sure you’ve already heard that the application essays are a crucial component of the MBA application. So how can you ace this part of the admissions process? Get essay tips straight from admissions representatives at leading business schools during our upcoming MBA Essay Insight Event Series! We had our first two events on July 14th & July 21st and will be hosting one additional free online event – on July 28th @ 12 pm ET – to provide some insider advice to MBA applicants. Each session will start with a 60-minute roundtable panel, hosted by Clear
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