Getting graded. It’s been a necessary evil in everyone’s life since we were all old enough to hold a crayon. At every stage, we either cut the mustard or we don’t and then progress to the next level of grading. For those applying to graduate school, you may have thought those college grades were all but forgotten, but now find yourself having to face them once again. And guess what? The grading doesn’t stop with the application process, because very soon you’ll be back in the classroom. This begs the question…do grades really matter?
How to nail your virtual MBA interview. Find all the interview preparation and technical reccomendations here. How to prepare the best lighting, background, sound, camera angle for your virtual MBA interview. How to look and feel your best for the interview. The camera is your friend. Speak clearly, concisely and show excitement!
Getting graded. It’s been a necessary evil in everyone’s life since we were all old enough to hold a crayon. At every stage, we either cut the mustard or we don’t and then progress to the next level of grading. For those applying to graduate school, you may have thought those college grades were all but forgotten, but now find yourself having to face them once again. And guess what? The grading doesn’t stop with the application process, because very soon you’ll be back in the classroom. This begs the question…do grades really matter?
This year the schools are releasing the essays earlier than ever and it's going to be tough to keep up with the onslaught if I write my usual multi-thousand word opus, so we're going to use a little running device of "three key thoughts" for each essay release. If you want to get a deep dive into these essay sets, of course, the answer is probably obvious: sign up for our services and become a client, at which point we can guide you every step of the way. Now, on to some thoughts from the new Columbia essays!
As with last year, CBS is using three essays and for the most part, they follow the same general format: 500 words, 250 words, 250 words; goals, Center of Business, Cluster. But I only have to look at the massive changes I made to our Columbia Strategy Memo to know that these things changed a ton at the center. Let's dive into our 3 Key Thoughts:
1. Do not talk abut wanting to go to Columbia because it's in New York. We have been issuing this warning every year since I have been doing this, but it doesn't seem to be getting out there to the masses, because it seems to clearly be an ongoing problem for CBS, such that they are actually moving the Why Columbia request out of its natural place (Essay 2) and into Essay 1. In the past, it was key to make a subtle distinction, which was to point out what awesome Columbia features, made possible by the New York "very center of business" location, were attractive to you and fueling your interest. My guess is that too many candidates were still flipping that around and saying "I love New York and I love this and that about it" instead of looking at the ways CBS utilizes its location. Now, by asking for Why Columbia content in Essay 1, they can force candidates to laser in on some aspects of the school. And if those applicants fall into the New York Trap on Question 2, it won't completely bury the info the school wants. Of course...
2. Use Question 2 to stand out. Now that Why Columbia is going to get some coverage in Question 1, my guess is that "I Love New York!" essays are going to run wild for Essay 2. What else is there to write about than Columbia's location, right? Wrong. You should be using this essay to talk about the way YOU will engage with a "center of everything" kind of place - talk about why a dynamic location and atmosphere is not only good for you, but the kind of environment where you thrive and dominate. Talk about how it will bring our your best. Site specific areas of interest and site specific past examples of doing this. It's going to bring your leadership and teamwork qualities to the surface and make you seem like the kind of vibrant, "make it happen" candidate that they are looking for.
3. Save the joke answers for the Cluster question. Last year I couldn't definitely prove to clients that a joke/goof answer to Question 3 was a bad idea, but now I probably can. This is because Columbia has linked to its "Columbia Matters" program, which seems to me a lot like reading Stanford Essay 1 responses out lout. I (half) kid, but obviously the video is very serious and earnest and it's about digging deep and being vulnerable with your Cluster members. Now, you don't have to write a deathbed confessional in this 250-essay and you can still have some fun if you want, but don't give them a goofy response when the prompt includes this really earnest content. Take the tonal cue and dig deep enough that you are actually saying something about yourself here. (Remember to also address both "surprise" and "pleasant" in your response. Don't just share something weird or secretive, make sure that others around you will benefit in some way from this aspect of yourself, or there is nothing "pleasant" about the surprise of others.)
Overall, Columbia has made some very clean and beneficial changes that help candidates respond in a way that is on point, and it is our belief that the core DNA of the school - and what they are really looking for - has remained intact. To find out more about that and how we can help you with your app, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com.
This year the schools are releasing the essays earlier than ever and it's going to be tough to keep up with the onslaught if I write my usual multi-thousand word opus, so we're going to use a little running device of "three key thoughts" for each essay release. If you want to get a deep dive into these essay sets, of course, the answer is probably obvious: sign up for our services and become a client, at which point we can guide you every step of the way. Now, on to some thoughts from the new Columbia essays!
As with last year, CBS is using three essays and for the most part, they follow the same general format: 500 words, 250 words, 250 words; goals, Center of Business, Cluster. But I only have to look at the massive changes I made to our Columbia Strategy Memo to know that these things changed a ton at the center. Let's dive into our 3 Key Thoughts:
1. Do not talk abut wanting to go to Columbia because it's in New York. We have been issuing this warning every year since I have been doing this, but it doesn't seem to be getting out there to the masses, because it seems to clearly be an ongoing problem for CBS, such that they are actually moving the Why Columbia request out of its natural place (Essay 2) and into Essay 1. In the past, it was key to make a subtle distinction, which was to point out what awesome Columbia features, made possible by the New York "very center of business" location, were attractive to you and fueling your interest. My guess is that too many candidates were still flipping that around and saying "I love New York and I love this and that about it" instead of looking at the ways CBS utilizes its location. Now, by asking for Why Columbia content in Essay 1, they can force candidates to laser in on some aspects of the school. And if those applicants fall into the New York Trap on Question 2, it won't completely bury the info the school wants. Of course...
2. Use Question 2 to stand out. Now that Why Columbia is going to get some coverage in Question 1, my guess is that "I Love New York!" essays are going to run wild for Essay 2. What else is there to write about than Columbia's location, right? Wrong. You should be using this essay to talk about the way YOU will engage with a "center of everything" kind of place - talk about why a dynamic location and atmosphere is not only good for you, but the kind of environment where you thrive and dominate. Talk about how it will bring our your best. Site specific areas of interest and site specific past examples of doing this. It's going to bring your leadership and teamwork qualities to the surface and make you seem like the kind of vibrant, "make it happen" candidate that they are looking for.
3. Save the joke answers for the Cluster question. Last year I couldn't definitely prove to clients that a joke/goof answer to Question 3 was a bad idea, but now I probably can. This is because Columbia has linked to its "Columbia Matters" program, which seems to me a lot like reading Stanford Essay 1 responses out lout. I (half) kid, but obviously the video is very serious and earnest and it's about digging deep and being vulnerable with your Cluster members. Now, you don't have to write a deathbed confessional in this 250-essay and you can still have some fun if you want, but don't give them a goofy response when the prompt includes this really earnest content. Take the tonal cue and dig deep enough that you are actually saying something about yourself here. (Remember to also address both "surprise" and "pleasant" in your response. Don't just share something weird or secretive, make sure that others around you will benefit in some way from this aspect of yourself, or there is nothing "pleasant" about the surprise of others.)
Overall, Columbia has made some very clean and beneficial changes that help candidates respond in a way that is on point, and it is our belief that the core DNA of the school - and what they are really looking for - has remained intact. To find out more about that and how we can help you with your app, email us at mba@amerasiaconsulting.com.
In case you haven’t noticed, Kellogg recently launched a new “motto” that reads: “Think Bravely: we believe that business can be bravely led, passionately collaborative, and world changing.” The introduction of this laboratory-cooked slogan caused much hand-wringing among Round 1 applicants, so now that we have a moment, we wanted to address it and help out those of you applying to Kellogg in Round 2. So, should you focus your applications on “Thinking Bravely”? Let’s break it down.
Yesterday was October 23rd. A relatively uneventful day for many humans, but a big one for a select group of Wharton applicants who received an interview invite. It’s obviously a magical moment to get that letter, err, email that says that mighty Wharton wants to talk to you. However, this year that feeling of excitement is lasting for about two seconds for most applicants as it is quickly replaced by a feeling of uncertainty. That’s because Wharton has partnered with the Wharton Innovation Group to come up with a whole new style of interviewing … the group interview.
MIT Sloan is one of “those” schools – the ones that seem to slip into the nooks and crannies of the admissions process. People don’t talk about Sloan as much as its elite counterparts. Nobody immediately thinks about it in terms of being a top 5 program until you start digging and realize, wow, this program is insanely good. Most importantly, because of its unique end-of-October deadline and equally unique two-round admissions process, we would wager that application quality on Sloan apps is far lower than on other top programs (which is a *massive* problem if you want to be admitted there). Candidates often don’t even start on their Sloan apps until after the October 3-16 gauntlet of deadlines and then they race to finish because they fear waiting until the “last” round.
Today’s blog post concerns the tricky Columbia Regular Decision deadline, which starts the day after Early Decision (which had a deadline of October 3rd this year) and extends all the way into April. While long, rolling deadlines are commonplace in college admissions or law school admissions, they are strangely out of place in the MBA space, which creates a lot of consternation on the part of applicants everywhere. Here’s the weird part though: normally when applicants ring their hands over something ambiguous and unfamiliar we tell them to buck up and have some courage (“Stop worrying so much,” is a common refrain around here), but in this case, there actually is some very real strategy to consider. We take into consideration a few rules of thumb, some common sense, and our own experiences sitting in the admissions officer’s chair to arrive at a recommendation.
Today the MBA-journalism website Poets & Quants published an article that was more or less a summary of a recent blog post from Dee Leopold, the managing director of admissions and financial aid at HBS. In it, she tries to better articulate HBS’ much-discussed new “post-interview” assignment. In a series of emphatic points, she takes great pains to tell applicants the following:
All three of these points are sort of ridiculous and we will take them in the order presented above.
