Ask Jon Frank- P69-Q&A:WHY MBA? 7 OVERLOOKED REASONS TO GET AN MBA

JonFrank

Dear Jon,

Thanks a lot for your dedication for helping the Chinese applicants. May I ask a question about how school values applicants' background?

Do you think that the applicant's company brand helps with the profile? How about the job function? I'm curious how the schools value the non-mainstream jobs in a blue chip company. For example, HR person from McKinsey， IT person from Morgan Stanley or Operation person from UBS. I understand that it's the whole package that counts, but I'd like to learn if these company name helps even if you are in a non mainstream division.

By observing the admits on chasedream, I found that HBS tends to admit student from IB/PE background. Do you agree they have that preference?

BTW, Jon, do you think the undergraduate school reputation makes a difference? Top 2 local schools are well known. What about top 5, top 10? Does it make a difference in the application? Or Adcom only cares about famous undergraduate schools in US & UK?

Thanks in adavance.

-- by 会员 CDJJMM (2010/12/20 19:11:37)

Hey there!  All good questions.  To answer your first question, yes brand can help.  But not if it means that you didn’t have any good job responsibilities.  As we have mentioned—BOTH are positive for applications.  Either working at a brand name company, or doing a lot of cool stuff.  That is why the folks with BOTH of these experiences get into bschool.  It is great to have both great responsibilities, AND experience with a great firm.  It is also rare.  So yes, the name can help—but so can job responsibilities.  And if you are doing a LOT (even if for the IT group at Goldman, etc.) you’re in business.
In terms of HBS, they have been surprising a lot of people this year.  A few more PhDs this year than previously, and a few LESS big name PE and IB guys.  With their new dean, they appear to be shooting for less traditional candidates.  And yes, schools DO know great schools from less great ones—even in China.  We in the US know some top undergrad schools in China—great undergrad programs are especially meaningful in making up for weak gmat scores…


Jon Frank

JonFrank

Dear John thanks for your contribution here.

I would sinerely seek your advice on below essay question

"Comment on the barriers you encountered that impacted your team's ability to realize its full potential"

I think this essay should focus on "comment on the barrier" , so I am going to write the underlining incentives for this barriar, the negative consequency and also I will introduce the The possible solutions, all the general things.

Should I involve the details about how I address this barrier? since there are 250 word limit for this essay.  
Hope get your advice. Thanks in advance!

-- by 会员 greekhero (2010/12/21 18:27:48)

Hey there.  Yes, you absolutely SHOULD talk about what you did.  After all, you are applying to bschool, not the barrier.  J So what does this mean?  Id shoot for half and half.  Half laying out the barriers, and half talking about what YOU DID about em.  After all, ALL of your essays need to be about what you did.  You need to prove that YOU are good enough for bschool, not the barriers…


Jon Frank

JonFrank

Dear Jon, Thank you so much for giving valuable advice here.
I want to seek your help on how to improve the possiblity of admission since I am WL by the school I want to be admited most.
Hope you can give me some suggestions. Thanks

-- by 会员 mmfruit (2010/12/22 0:25:39)

Hey there , thanks for the note
It would be our pleasure to help, feel free to reach out to me in person.. Hope to hear from you soon!


Jon Frank

JonFrank

Hi, Jon,

I wonder how important the online application form is. There are places we need to describe job duties, activities, community services etc.  Do we need to fill out these as well as we did on  essays? Or the forms actually only are used to generate general information?  Lots of places I put very concise description there, and some of them not even reach half of their words limitation.   I just don't have idea how much efforts we put on these online form, do we need to put same effort to describe an activity, job duties as we do on essays, or we just need to put correct info there is enough. Can you give me some insight? Thank you very much.

-- by 会员 chengya (2010/12/28 12:50:31)

Hey there—these forms aren’t as important as the essays of course—but it is critical that you don’t make any errors.  Don’t write too much, and don’t get into too much trouble. Just find a comfortable format, be consistent, and don’t write too many words!  Get in, get out, and don’t make any mistakes.  That’s the key here…good luck!


Jon Frank

JonFrank

Dear Jon,

Could you please advise how to structure an optional essay? I need to address the following two issues but don't know how to connect them smoothly.

-- Low GPA in an exchange program
-- Not choosing my current supervisor as recommender

Is there anything else that I should include in the optional essay?

Thanks as always.

-- by 会员 HaoBinfen (2011/1/2 22:33:32)

Always happy to help of course.  J  You should structure the thing juuust as you’ve laid out above.  Two paragraphs.  The first would be your addressing your GPA.  “I would like to address my low GPA in the YYY program.  I believe that it doesn’t reflect my academic abilities, because….”  Then, same thing in your next paragraph.  “I have not selected my current supervisor to write my recommendation because blablabla.”  iece of cake—250 words max.  Good luck!


Jon Frank

JonFrank

Hi Jon, happy new year! Wish you and a prosperous 2011! Thanks for your great tips and generous help on CD! They are really useful!

I just submitted an application, but I got a question here:

After I submitted the application, I found that the effective date of my promotion should be July 1 instead of May 1 as I stated in my Resume. HR of my firm said it took some time for my registration to be processed and recognized (I am a licensed person). However, I did start doing tasks that involved more responsibilities since May 1. In this case, does it matter? And if so, should I contact the school to rectify soon?

Many thanks!

Regards, jueasign

-- by 会员 jueasign (2011/1/5 10:04:11)

Hey there!  Thank you so much for the fond wishes--it has truly been SUCH a joy getting to know so many kind, generous, thoughtful people on CD.  So thank YOU for sharing your experience with me.  As for this promotion issue, I wouldnt worry about it.  If an adcom member does call, which is very unlikely, the HR person will simply explain (yes we had thought May, but it turns out to be July--the applicant had no way of knowing.)

Dont worry about this--you are just fine.  No need to reach out to the adcom here.


Good luck to you!


Jon Frank

JonFrank

Hey Jon
Quick question:
How much hope is there for international applicants in R3 ?
Do you think there is still hope in R3 or its better to wait till next year?

-- by 会员 DeeGao (2011/1/14 0:38:16)

Hey there!  Well, there is always hope of course.  J  As you have seen, there will always be cases in which people have the ability to overcome incredible odds—HBS especially has taken a number of applicants this year who wouldn’t have had a shot last year—the standards and “the bar’ is always moving around a bit.  However, Round 3 is VERY tricky.  Especially for international applicants.  I wouldn’t recommend it—I would only apply Round 3 if you are on the older side, and don’t reeeally have much of a choice.  If you can wait a year, if you have a job etc., that’s what I would recommend.  Wait.  Your chances will be better NEXT year.  So apply round 1!!!


Jon Frank

JonFrank

Hi Jon! So glad I found your post on ChaseDream. I'm looking to apply for fall 2011, hence I'm just starting the research. One question I have for now is how important do you think extra curricular activities (i.e. volunteering) are? I saw a lot of applicants emphasized their extra curricular experiences in at least one of their essays and it seems to be a positive reinforcement. What are you thoughts on this matter? Thanks in advance!

Best,
sereinsun

-- by 会员 sereinsun (2011/1/14 2:20:14)

Hey there—yes indeed, extra curricular activities ARE important.  They aren’t as critical as work experience (or leadership experience) of course, but they are important.  And you still have pleeeenty of time to put something together.  And by the way, the combination of extra currics and LEADERSHIP is critical.  That’s what you wanna shoot for, if you can piece those two together.  And good luck!  Glad you find out posts helpful.  Stay tuned, we try to post juuust about every day to answer questions.


Jon Frank
Precision Essay

JonFrank

Questions on Application Strategy

Q:I only want to go to HBS or Stanford. I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and people like me. How many schools should I apply to?

A:We love the number seven. That gives you the ability to mix in some stretches and some safeties. We love options—give yourself some.


Q:Hm. But won’t seven schools cost a fortune working with you?


A:Ha, yes it would! That’s why we don’t recommend that you do so. If you’re not careful, you will spend way too much on a consultant. Between GMAT prep and the application fees themselves, you have plenty of money going out. We get it.
Spend smartly. Take advantage of our bulk discounts—70% of our clients do. Then once most of your bases are covered, mix in selections from our A La Carte menu. You don’t need to sign up for 7 Deluxe packages if you are trying (and you should be) to get the most bang for your buck.

JonFrank

Hi Jon! I have already admitted to 2011 Kelley. I now work in one small startup owned by my relative for 4 months and my function is more administrative-related. I think that maybe I should find one job more related to my post-MBA career path (marketing in pharma) before I enter in the school. However, since there is only 5 month left, it is pretty hard to find a decent position in a MNC. So, I am wondering whether a position like marketing assitant in a pharma company (ex: Merck) a good choice for me now? Thank you for your great help!

-- by 会员 tina4319 (2011/2/13 21:27:28)

Hey there!  Yes, moving onto a company with a big, impressive name (like Merck) would be VERY good for your background.  It would make it much, much easier for you to get a good internship while you are at school.  Honestly, it doesn’t even matter much what the job is.  Given the fact that you work for a start up now, getting that “name brand” experience would be very good for you.  I recommend it for sure—especially given your current background.  I hope this helps, and good luck!



Jon Frank
Precision Essay