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

JonFrank

Hi Jon~I'm new here. Thanks for your help in advance.
I submitted my online application days ago, however, unfortunately I just found out a mistake in there. I named out an alumni in the Why XX School question, and stated that she is now working in X company. Actually, she worked in that company, and now she is working for the school, more exactly for the adcom! How can I make a huge misunderstanding like this? Shame on me...What do you think I can do to fix this problem? I'm really worried about the committee's decision when they see my misstatement.
Thank you again!

-- by 会员 dreamdreamy (2010/11/3 10:02:21)

Hello there!  Wow, this is an unusual situation indeed.  It is clear that the adcom will look at this situation, and probably have a good laugh.  You NEED to write SOMETHING.  In fact, you will want to turn this situation into a strength.  You have to write something.  I would recommend a short letter explaining the situation.  You cant hide from this—you should likely work in some kind of short, classy joke.  Sometimes, self-effacing humor can go a long way. Allude to the fact that you realize how foolish the error was, and that you hope this doesn’t keep them from taking your candidacy seriously.  You do need to address it though.  It is to silly not to!


Jon Frank

gxben

Hi, Jon
May I ask u a question?
I also asked it at Cheasedream Forum.
I have good GPA
good work experience (if it can be!)
But, I am a special applicant for MBA and need somebody's advice!
I was very poor and had to enrolled as  a military medical university student when I was young.  (in ShangHai)
At that university, I studied hard and got a doctoral degree through 9 years.
I want to get a MBA and engaged in business all alone,
but I must served as a researcher in army at least for 16 years.
Now I worked in Beijing for 6 years, and has been a PI (Principle Investigator) in our academy
next year, I may have the chance to quit army and chease a MBA dream.(16 years)
but time changed everything:
 I am not as young as other applicant;
 I have no business backgroud;
 
so I want your advice or opinion on:
 what will you (or MBA schools) look at me ?  or
 am I the right man they want?

Thanks

gxben

下面写点中国字，看看国内的朋友怎么看？
简单点说，小时候太穷上不起学上了军校，一直读到博士
毕业后做研究，用3年的时间做到了课题组长，有自己的研究团队，但没出国
一直想做商业，也一直想读个MBA完成这个转换职业方向的重要一步
但部队不放我，只能继续干

明年可能可以走了
那么要不要去追逐原来的梦想呢？
放弃的很多：
    事业上已有平台，很多研究者近40了也混不成PI
    再干5年，就可以拿在职人员70%的工资退休，专业点说叫自主择业
    已是团职，转业可以当工务员，如果考国外的MBA可能要到时退出公务员
最要我命的是：
    考GMAT要护照，当兵的没护照，有也是公派假身份，拿那个考了也没用!
    一旦决定了，就不允许回头了，不管将来考的怎样，必须放弃现在的一切才能参加那个重要的考试!
身边都是军人朋友，找不到人问，先看看这里的大家怎么说吧。

非常非常希望有读过
或正在读国外MBA的朋友给点意见!

谢谢!

dreamdreamy

Thanks Jon! I'm quite worried about my situation, and have no idea how to write a short and humor email to adcom to explain this mistake. Could you please specify your advice with some examples? Thanks a lot!

JonFrank

Hi, Jon
May I ask u a question?
I also asked it at Cheasedream Forum.
I have good GPA
good work experience (if it can be!)
But, I am a special applicant for MBA and need somebody's advice!
I was very poor and had to enrolled as  a military medical university student when I was young.  (in ShangHai)
At that university, I studied hard and got a doctoral degree through 9 years.
I want to get a MBA and engaged in business all alone,
but I must served as a researcher in army at least for 16 years.
Now I worked in Beijing for 6 years, and has been a PI (Principle Investigator) in our academy
next year, I may have the chance to quit army and chease a MBA dream.(16 years)
but time changed everything:
 I am not as young as other applicant;
 I have no business backgroud;
 
so I want your advice or opinion on:
 what will you (or MBA schools) look at me ?  or
 am I the right man they want?

Thanks

-- by 会员 gxben (2010/11/4 15:38:28)

Hey there!  Thanks so much for the note.  Unfortunately, this will be very difficult for you.  It will however be possible—in my class at HBS we had a student who was 39 years old.  How old will you be?  You should also look at Executive MBA programs.  If you do programs like that, you can even keep your job, and you will be working with people who are older—more your age.  It will be very difficult for you, if you are in your 40’s for example to get into a full time MBA program in the US.  You should look into European programs as well—the average ages there tend to be older.   So do some research—European programs, and Executive MBA programs.  Those will be your best bet…Good luck!


Jon Frank

dreamdreamy

Thanks Jon! I'm quite worried about my situation, and have no idea how to write a short and humor email to adcom to explain this mistake. Could you please specify your advice with some examples? Thanks a lot!

-- by 会员 dreamdreamy (2010/11/5 11:07:01)

Help!~~Jon~~~Please don't ignore my question. I drafted an email yesterday, but seems not the kind you suggested. Could you please give me some examples about the classy jokes or humorous explaination? Many thanks!

gengxiaoxiao

Hey Jon

great thanks for your help~ it made me believe good stuff could come for free

i recently received interview invite for CBS, wondering if you know how easy/difficult for CBS to send out interview invites, and the acceptance rate among candidate interviewed?

another thing i want to find out is how much info my interviewer has about me? do they only have my CV, or they've reviewed the whole package already?

would appreciated it if you can give me some tips on interviews, this is my first interview & CBS is my dream school, hence the the last thing i want is blow it because of lack of preparation

thanks very much again

Amy

JonFrank

Thanks Jon! I'm quite worried about my situation, and have no idea how to write a short and humor email to adcom to explain this mistake. Could you please specify your advice with some examples? Thanks a lot!

-- by 会员 dreamdreamy (2010/11/5 11:07:01)

Help!~~Jon~~~Please don't ignore my question. I drafted an email yesterday, but seems not the kind you suggested. Could you please give me some examples about the classy jokes or humorous explaination? Many thanks!

-- by 会员 dreamdreamy (2010/11/6 14:04:23)

Hey there,sorry for my late reply..
Well this is very challenging indeed.  It might sound something like this,
“To whom it may concern,
I am writing with what is likely an unusual update.  Sadly, it isn’t the kind that I would like to write about, perhaps about a promotion, better GMAT score, etc.  I am writing because I appear to have made an error on my application.  [State error here.]  Needless to say, since Ms. Soandso is a member of the admissions committee, it is clear (to everyone but me, apparently) that she doesn’t still work at name company.  lease accept my apologies—my information clearly was YY months old.  I assure you that while even I am not above making the occasional careless mistake, I am also not above admitting it when I have done so.  Again I am sorry for my error, and I appreciate your consideration.”
J  Something perhaps like this?  Good luck…


Jon Frank

JonFrank

Hey Jon

great thanks for your help~ it made me believe good stuff could come for free

i recently received interview invite for CBS, wondering if you know how easy/difficult for CBS to send out interview invites, and the acceptance rate among candidate interviewed?

another thing i want to find out is how much info my interviewer has about me? do they only have my CV, or they've reviewed the whole package already?

would appreciated it if you can give me some tips on interviews, this is my first interview & CBS is my dream school, hence the the last thing i want is blow it because of lack of preparation

thanks very much again

Amy

-- by 会员 gengxiaoxiao (2010/11/6 15:43:31)

Amy, it would be our pleasure to offer up some guidance.  While there are no exact numbers, CBS will admit between 30-40% or so of the people they interview. And you should always assume that they have not read your application.  They will likely have a copy of your resume in front of them.

At the end of the day, our pointers for phone interviews can be boiled down to three main concepts:

1.  Go in with YOUR stories--no matter what they ask, you will have the 3-4 stories that YOU need to tell.  No matter what strange, or unusual questions are thrown at you, you will always have an answer ready.  After all, with juuust a little bit of tweaking, any story can answer ANY question.  In this way, you will NEVER be stuck on any question--you will have answers ready to go.

2.  Make sure you know all the basic questions and answers--bschool interviews are notoriously simple.  All of the typical questions are listed here:http://www.accepted.com/mba/questions.aspx and you should absolutely be 100% bulletproof on these.  These will guaranteed be 80% OR MORE of what is asked of you at the

interview.  Also, be ready to address the idea of a BACKUP PLAN.  That is, what happens if you dont get in?  What if you dont get the consulting job after college?  Or if you cant raise the start up funds?  The market is BAD these days--be ready to speak to a backup plan...

3.  eople like to talk--let them.  MBA folks are notoriously self-centered.  Ask questions, and INTERACT.  This shouldnt be a simple Q and A--it should be a conversation.  Check in with your interviewer as you go, go back and forth, and get him talking about HIMSELF!  The best interview I ever gave was the one where I had laryngitis--I hardly said a word!  And at the end of the interview, the interviewer felt like a million bucks...

Congrats on the interview!  And let me know if there is anything more we can do to help!

Jon Frank

Jameswynne

To Amy:

祝贺你拿到ＣＢＳ的面试邀请,这是个好兆头！回答你的问题：


1. Percentage of all applicants (admitted and denied) to the class of newest full-time entrants who were interviewed: 49%
2. Percent of the admitted applicants to the newest full-time class who were interviewed: 84%
3. Your interviewer does not have your whole application but only your resume. Relax! You will be asked to upload your resume before you schedule a time with her/him.


我们有几个客户在过去的２周也拿到了CBS面试邀请，祝你好运！如果有什么问题，欢迎再来问我们！

James @Admit Engine