Planning Tips

Tips on how to structure your time and tackle the challenging process of applying to business school.

Published: August 27, 2024

The benefits of studying an MBA abroad are plenty. New job opportunities, new experiences, new people – and the chance to expand your educational horizons. The only downside appears to be the challenge of jumping through the bureaucratic hoops required to set up residence in your new country and apply for that all-important visa. To clarify the process, we’ve put together this guide to help you. Read on to get a breakdown of the visa situation across six different countries! USA If you’re an incoming international student to a U.S.-based MBA program, you’re Read more

Published: August 6, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Should I Apply in Round 1 or Round 2 to My Top Choice School?

In terms of application strategy, one of the biggest questions prospective MBA applicants wrestle with is whether to apply in Round 1 or Round 2 to their top choice school. Overall, if you are an outstanding candidate and have had adequate time to prepare your candidacy, then you should apply as part of the first round. If you are a strong candidate, but perhaps are not in the top echelon or would benefit from a little more time and experience in the application process, consider delaying your application to your top choice school until Round 2. In the meantime, apply Read more

Published: July 30, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Making the Most of Your Campus Visit

While traveling to visit MBA programs in person can be an expensive proposition, the campus trips are well worth it. Your b-school campus visit provides a chance to experience the MBA student culture, evaluate the facilities, and gather valuable information for your application process. To help you make the most of your MBA campus visit, keep these five tips in mind: 1. Make yourself known Putting forth the effort to travel to a school is a signal of interest in the program that the adcom loves to see; however, you need to let them know that you’ve made the trip. Read more

Published: July 16, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Applying to Business School as a Younger Applicant

It has become increasingly common for younger individuals to apply to MBA programs. Whereas the average age and years of work experience at the leading business schools has traditionally hovered at around 28 and five respectively, many programs are now carefully considering the more youthful end of the applicant pool. Of course, the fact that admissions officers are taking a closer look at younger applicants does not mean that getting accepted to a top program is easy for this group. In fact, it may be difficult for younger applicants to present themselves as fully prepared to Read more

Published: July 2, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Selecting & Preparing Recommendation Writers

If you’re applying to business school in the 2024-2025 admissions season, you can start thinking about who should write your MBA recommendation letters. Your letters of recommendation are a critical variable in the MBA admissions equation. They allow the admissions committee to get an outside perspective on your skills and strength, and to learn about your work experience beyond that’s covered in your essays and resume. Who Should Write My MBA Letters of Recommendation? First, your recommenders should hold a position that is senior to yours – unless the school specifically asks for a peer recommendation. The adcom gives greater Read more

Published: June 25, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: 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 Read more

Published: June 18, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Addressing Unemployment or Gaps in Employment

Given the emphasis that MBA programs place on a candidate’s work experience, it is important to be proactive in addressing unemployment or gaps in employment. When applying to business school, many candidates worry about how the adcom might perceive gaps in employment. Gaps in Employment It’s not unheard of for an MBA candidate to have a gap in employment, and this will not necessarily make a negative impact on someone’s candidacy. Gaps might be due to anything from lay-offs to periods of travel. As a rule of thumb, MBA applicants should explain gaps in employment that are three months or Read more

Published: June 11, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Considering the Campus

There are many factors that go into deciding whether to apply to a specific school, one of which is the physical place where you’ll be spending 1-2 years, which is why we’ve rounded up some campus visit tips. Whether speaking with current students or touring the campus for yourself, it’s helpful to approach these information-gathering experiences with as clear a sense of what matters to you as possible. Campus Visit Tips: Factors to Consider 1. Facilities Are state-of-the-art classrooms and impressive new architecture a priority for you? Would you prefer a school that is headquartered in a single building to Read more

Published: June 4, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Making Your List of Business Schools

You’ve decided the MBA is the next stop on your career path. What now? The smartest applicants are those who take the time to create an informed MBA application strategy—a well thought-out game plan that can help you obtain your goals as effectively as possible. This includes making a list of your target business schools. One of the first tasks you’ll need to tackle is school selection: strategically choosing which schools to apply to, while considering how your experience and stats compare to those of current students (or, how “competitive” your application will be at each program). How many MBA Read more

Published: May 21, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Volunteer Experience

While there are many elements to the MBA application, there is one that candidates often underestimate: volunteer experience. We’re sharing this MBA Admissions Tip now so you can consider volunteer opportunities in time for your applications–and to ensure you have experience to enrich the b-school community. 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 Read more

Published: May 9, 2024

Calling All MBA Hopefuls: Post Your Profile to ApplyWire

Get ready for the 2024-2025 admissions season by verifying your b-school plans in MBA ApplyWire. This social tool was designed to help applicants develop their MBA application strategy by drawing on the collective wisdom and input of the active Clear Admit applicant community. ApplyWire allows applicants to share the schools they are considering applying to along with some details about their credentials and goals. The community can then chime in with feedback on how the applicant might refine his or her list of target schools. For example, you may receive constructive commentary Read more

Published: May 7, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Consider Pre-MBA Courses Before Applying

As you prepare for the MBA admissions process, you might want to consider whether you should undertake additional undergraduate-level course work before you apply. Who Should Take Additional Pre-MBA Coursework? There are two reasons that it might benefit a candidate to complete additional coursework as part of their MBA application strategy. If your undergraduate transcript is devoid of quantitative coursework, the admissions committee might be concerned about the lack of data points as they assess whether you’re prepared for an MBA curriculum. Taking additional college-level coursework to demonstrate proficiency in this area can alleviate this concern. Of course, if your Read more

Published: April 30, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Reapplying to Business School

Thinking about reapplying to business school? It hurts to get a “no” from all the MBA programs you applied to, but it happens to a lot of applicants – especially those who apply to the very best business schools in the world. The good news is that it’s quite common for unsuccessful applicants to apply a second time. While it’s important to take some time to deal with the disappointment, it’s never too early to begin thinking about the next admissions season. And the goods news is that there are a number of concrete steps you can take to improve Read more

Published: February 13, 2024

Sweethearts & Success: Applying for an MBA as a Couple

For career-minded couples, it sometimes happens that applying for an MBA makes sense for both partners, often at the same time. And because attending the best business school in one’s field can often mean relocating, it’s natural to want to attend the same program as your love. But how do you navigate this in the admissions process? Applying for an MBA as a couple may come with its challenges – including compromising if you aren’t both admitted to your shared first choice school – but it’s definitely a realistic possibility. In fact, we previously featured a Read more

Published: January 17, 2024

Top Deferred Enrollment MBA Programs

In the past several years, we've seen more and more leading business schools offering deferred enrollment MBA programs. Traditionally, full-time work experience has been a requirement for acceptance into a leading MBA program, with students averaging five years of professional experience at the time they begin their graduate studies. Most deferred enrollment MBA programs still require work experience—the difference is that students can gain this experience after they earn admission. Deferred enrollment MBA programs guarantee college seniors (and sometimes graduate students) a spot in their MBA programs, allowing them to enroll two to five years after they graduate from college. This allows students to focus on their work experience with their MBA plans already in place. Read on for information about deferred enrollment MBA programs at: Berkeley Haas Carnegie Mellon Tepper Chicago Booth Columbia Business School Harvard Business School MIT / Sloan Northwestern Kellogg Stanford GSB UVA / Darden The Wharton School Yale School of Management Read more

Published: December 5, 2023

MBA Admissions Tip: Round 1 B-School Rejection Reflections

While we always hope reports of success will dominate MBA LiveWire, the reality is there are only so many seats in a class and leading business schools need to dole out more rejection notices than admits. This MBA Admissions Tip is here to help you move forward in the admissions process if you did not receive good news in Round 1. Reconfiguring Following Rejection If there is any good news when it comes to being rejected in the first round, it’s that it’s still early in the application season, and not too late to readjust your Read more

Published: November 14, 2023

MBA Admissions Tip: Know Your Audience for Your Applications

Know your audience as you complete your MBA applications. As anyone who’s going through the process knows, applying to business school is an incredibly demanding process. In addition to taking the GMAT/GRE, 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 Read more

Published: October 10, 2023

MBA Admissions Tip: Selecting & Preparing Recommendation Writers for your MBA Application

Your letters of recommendation are a critical variable in the MBA admissions equation. They allow the admissions committee to get an outside perspective on your skills and strength, and to learn about your work experience beyond that’s covered in your essays and resume. Who Should Write My MBA Letters of Recommendation? First, your recommenders should hold a position that is senior to yours – unless the school specifically asks for a peer recommendation. The adcom gives greater weight to statements made by your superiors rather than by a peer because a peer is assumed to be essentially a friend and Read more

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 Read more

Published: August 15, 2023

MBA Admissions Tip: Should I Apply in Round 1 or Round 2 to My Top Choice School?

In terms of application strategy, one of the biggest questions prospective MBA applicants wrestle with is whether to apply in Round 1 or Round 2 to the school they most want to attend. Overall, if you are an outstanding candidate and have had adequate time to prepare your candidacy, then you should apply as part of the first round to your top choice school. If you are a strong candidate, but perhaps are not in the top echelon or would benefit from a little more time and experience in the application process, consider delaying your application to your top choice Read more

Published: July 19, 2023

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 Read more

Published: July 3, 2023

MBA Admissions Tip: Addressing Unemployment or Gaps in Employment

Given the emphasis that schools place on a candidate’s work experience, it is important to be proactive in addressing unemployment or gaps in employment. When applying to business school, many candidates worry about how the adcom might perceive gaps in employment. Read our ‘MBA Admissions Tip: Addressing Unemployment Gaps in Employment’ to learn strategies for effectively managing unemployment and employment gaps during your MBA application process. Gaps in Employment It’s not unheard of for an MBA candidate to have a gap in employment, and this will not necessarily make a negative impact on someone’s candidacy. Gaps might be due to Read more

Published: June 20, 2023

Defining Your Post-MBA Career Goals

Published: June 13, 2023

Admissions Tip: Considering the Campus

There are many factors that go into deciding whether to apply to a specific school, one of which is the physical place where you’ll be spending 1-2 years. Whether speaking with current students or touring the campus for yourself, it’s helpful to approach these information-gathering experiences with as clear a sense of what matters to you as possible. Factors to consider about a business school’s campus: 1. Facilities Are state-of-the-art classrooms and impressive new architecture a priority for you? Would you prefer a school that is headquartered in a single building to one spread over a larger campus? What about Read more

Published: June 7, 2023

Admissions Tip: Making Your List of Business Schools

MBA Applywire

November 5, 2024 10:15am ET

Applying: Wisconsin

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Accountant

Post-MBA Target Industry: Other

GPA: 2.5

Years of Work Experience: 4

Location: Illinois

November 5, 2024 4:02am ET

Applying: Columbia, Cornell / Johnson, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, Georgetown / McDonough, HEC Paris, Imperial, INSEAD, Manchester / AMBS, Michigan / Ross, Northwestern / Kellogg, NYU Stern, Oxford / Saïd, Rochester / Simon, U. Chicago Booth, UNC Kenan-Flagler, UPenn / Wharton, USC / Marshall, UT Austin / McCombs, Vanderbilt / Owen, Yale SOM

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Project Management

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology Companies: Accenture , AT Kearney , Bain , BCG , Deloitte , Ernst & Young , KPMG , McKinsey , Amazon , Apple , Facebook , Google , Microsoft , Tesla

GMAT: 695

GPA: 3.4

Years of Work Experience: 9

Location: India

Post MBA Location: USA

Notes:

I want to pivot into traditional Project/program or Product Management role.

November 4, 2024 6:49pm ET

Applying: Harvard Business School, Northwestern / Kellogg, Stanford GSB, U. Chicago Booth, UPenn / Wharton, Yale SOM

Pre-MBA Career: Financial Auditor - Public Accounting

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Non Profit/SI Companies: Accenture , Bain , BCG , Deloitte , McKinsey

GRE: 326

GPA: 4.0

Years of Work Experience: 2

Location: Florida

Notes:

I graduated with dual degrees in accounting and business analytics with minors in economics and writing from a local school. I currently work for a Big 4 firm in financial audit, and I'll have three years of full-time work experience when I apply in 2025. I work on multiple clients throughout the year so I've sat through multiple busy seasons. I'm a high performer at my firm and will have strong recommendations, but I don't plan on getting my CPA license. Post MBA, I would like to work in consulting for a few years and then transition full time to nonprofit and social impact work.

Outside of work, I serve as a program manager or lead in initiatives that provide pro bono services to local nonprofits, work with diverse students from low income areas to encourage them to pursue college and careers in business, and volunteer at an animal shelter. I'm very involved with new hires and students, and frequently facilitate trainings, serve as a coach and advisor, and participate in recruiting events for the school I graduated from. I was also heavily involved during undergrad.

November 4, 2024 6:32am ET

Applying: Columbia, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, Northwestern / Kellogg, U. Chicago Booth, UT Austin / McCombs, UVA / Darden

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: Consulting

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting Companies: AT Kearney , Bain , BCG , Deloitte , Ernst & Young , McKinsey

GMAT: 720

GPA: 3.33

Years of Work Experience: 6

Notes:

Have been working in public sector consulting for four years, with two additional years of experience in public policy.

Looking to transition to commercial management consulting with the big 3.

November 4, 2024 2:27am ET

Applying: Carnegie Mellon / Tepper, Georgetown / McDonough, Georgia / Terry, Georgia Tech / Scheller, Northwestern / Kellogg, U. Chicago Booth, UCI Merage, UCLA Anderson, Vanderbilt / Owen

Intake Year: 2025

Pre-MBA Career: FinTech, Entrepreneurship

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology, Family Business, Entrepreneurship Companies: AT Kearney , Bain , Booz Allen Hamilton , Deloitte , KPMG , PWC , Amazon , Google , Hewlett Packard , Oracle , Tesla

GMAT: 720

GPA: 6.18

Years of Work Experience: 4

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MBA LiveWire

November 5, 2024 5:10pm ET

Interview Invite to U. Chicago Booth

Round: Round 1

Received via portal on October 17, 2024

GPA: 3.9

GRE: 338

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Healthcare

Note:

email received prompting me to check portal, then scheduled interview (selected on campus, 10/31) and got instructions for video essay submission

November 5, 2024 4:35pm ET

Interview Invite to USC / Marshall

Round: Round 1

Received via email on November 03, 2024

GPA: 3.75

GRE: 317

Target Career: Healthcare

Application Location: Los Angeles

Note:

MBA.PM program

November 5, 2024 3:28pm ET

Interview Invite to Emory / Goizueta

Round: Round 1

Received via email

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Healthcare

November 5, 2024 1:34pm ET

Interview Invite to UNC Kenan-Flagler

Round: Round 1

Received via email November 5, 2024

GPA: 3.73

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Finance

Application Location: Raleigh, NC

November 5, 2024 10:22am ET

Interview Invite to NYU Stern

Round: Round 1

Received via email November 5, 2024

GPA: 3.8

GRE: 327

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Marketing

Application Location: Italy

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