Top B-schools panel in Boston

今天参加了Boston的一个MBA panel discussion. 发言人是HBS，MIT Sloan, Stanford, Wharton 和Kellog的admission director 或者assistant admission director.

我当场做了一些笔记。贴上来，希望对在申请中的兄弟姐妹有些帮助。没来得及翻成中文，还请见谅。

Highlights along the application process

Academics:

• What a recruiting committee looks for:

• Analytical and quantitative skills

• Writing skills and verbal communication skills, etc.

• No hard threshold on GPA – if your  GPA is not great, address why, and show your learning capabilities from other ways

• Guide your recommenders on reinforcing skills/capabilities not shown from your academic performance

• Important, but it is only one data point

• No hard threshold of scores

• On average, MBA students have 4-6 years experience prior B-school

• What matters is not the years of work experience, but the depth of experience you have, and how the experience has prepared you well for an MBA program NOW

• Believed to be the most under-utilized aspect in the whole application package

• Avoid two extremes: (1) write recommendation yourself – you and recruiting committee won’t have a chance to get another perspective about you; (2) let recommenders write without any communication before and after – lack of focus and consistency to your remaining application packages

• Guide your recommenders – discuss with him/her in terms of what to focus on, and understand his/her perspectives on you

• An important concept: getting recommendations is a process of further discovering/examining yourself from the eyes of supervisors and peers – an excellent recommendation is a by-product of such process

• An excellent recommendation should be candid, specific, with stories/anecdotes, and broadens/deepens people’s understanding of you

• Ask potential recommenders in advance, and always budget ample time

• Good to have alumni or senior people as recommenders, but again, the most important thing is the content of the letter – have someone who really knows you, and who is comfortable to recommend you candidly

• It is not about superficial leadership titles – it is about what you have really done

• It is not simply filling a hole – it is about how extra-activities actually fits your overall package, and helps answer the questions “Why you? Why B-school now?”

• What recruiting committees want to see is “continuous involvement in something outside career that matters to you”

• A general assumption is that, as a maturing individual and high-potential business leader in the future, one needs to know what matters to him/her and execute on it

• Understand the rigor of certain jobs – e.g. bankers or consultants may not have time for extra-curricular activities and social leadership opportunities, but it will be fantastic if one can show related experiences even under such work pressure/stress

• Understand as someone with only 3-5 years working experience, one might not have opportunity to demonstrate leadership. So it is more about showing your high potential of being a leader, and your understanding of what leadership is

• Think through the themes and frames as early as possible – make a unique, logic and consistent story of yourself

• Frequently step back to think about the overall message – as there are only limited words to write, only highlight most important messages and give people a clear image of you

• Consistency is important, but avoid over-polishing and packaging your story – a recruiting committee wants to understand you as a unique and real individual; if one polishes his/her essays too much, he/she may lose the uniqueness of the application

• Again, tell your own story with sincerity and passion – authenticity is critical, and it is the only way to differentiate yourself from similar stories

• What a recruiting committee looks for: interpersonal skills, maturity, professionalism

• FAQ: career plan, why MBA now, why our program?

• Understand different interview policies of each program: (1) blind interviews, everyone can schedule interviews with the school, however, the interviewer may not know you well; (2) invitation-only interviews, interviewer usu. knows you already and has more specific questions concerning your application materials

• Could be a deal breaker if one doesn’t act professionally during interviews, esp. arrogance

• Two advices: (1) Be yourself; (2) Understand the situation, let the interviewer drive the conversation (avoid spending too much time answering a single question and deviate from the question)

• Overall principle: qualities that hard to be trained through the program, but important to future success

• Sense of ownership (e.g. own your own stores, businesses, and small projects; do extra things for the benefits of the whole team even if it is not your direct responsibility)

• Accountability

• Qualities developed from a sales job – communication, sense of humor, persistence, market your ideas/products

• Problem solving mentality and skills – embrace problems and execute on it

Thanks for sharing!

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