[申请总结] 给第一轮申请的同学的九条建议－2

Many candidates stress about thelong-term and short-term goals they need to write about in many business schoolapplications. It is true, the vast majority of MBA applications ask you aboutyour long-term and short-term career goals. The business schools want to know where you anticipateyour education will lead you. They want to know that you have a reasonablesense of career direction.

But it is also true that manycandidates either want to use their MBA education to change careers or to starta career in a facet of business in which they find a niche. Admissionscommittees understand this also. But, regardless of whether or not you already have a well-definedcareer vision, you need to have a solid, compelling answer regarding yourshort-term and long-term goals. If you have a strong career vision, begin toarticulate it in writing and develop your ideas. Read and revise to makesure that you are communicating your vision in a compelling way. This can helpyou enter the essay-writing phase of the MBA admissions process in a much less anxious state.

When trying to strengthen your recordof formal leadership at your company, there are many ways to demonstrateleadership. One common way is to actively take steps to lead teams, of course.But even if you are not formally a team leader, you can make sure to lead adefinable chunk of a project on your team. There are other value-added steps,like trying to make sure you spend more time in front of the client so you cantout your client management skills. You can also take steps to get included oninternational aspects of your work, potentially adding a whole new layer toyour work experience. These sorts of experiences can add wonderful dimensionsto your profile.

When applying to multiple schools, one great step is to identify whichschools would be the best fit – both in terms of your interest in those schoolsand in terms of your likelihood of achieving admission, given your credentialsand profile. Identify your list of priorityschools and then take a look at their deadlines from this past year to makesome educated guesses about the potential timing you will need to stick to inorder to get multiple applications in on time.

It is important for most candidatesthat they observe one rule if they want to secure admission with several oftheir top-choice schools: don’t put all of your eggs in one – or a couple – ofbaskets in Round 1. You don’t want to find you did not gain admission to your dream schools and thenfind yourself rushing in Round 2 to identify other desirable schools andgenerate last-minute applications. Be much more thorough in strategizing whereand when to apply. By having a solid application plan, you can do excellentwork in mitigating any undesirable outcomes.  

In what order will you apply to theschools? You should make this timeline strategically. Remember these sorts offactors:

•                Youmay also be an ideal candidate for Early Decision. If you are certain you wanta particular school that has ED, why not apply early? If you have a weaknessthat you need to overcome, ED may also offer you the best odds of admissionbecause you are expressing to the school that you are highly interested in theschool.  

•                Someschools are very sensitive to rounds, and so you will have much better odds inRound 1 than in Round 2 with them.  

•                Givenyour profile, some schools may be more receptive to your application in Round 1than in Round 2.  

•                Forsome schools, you may need to build up your credentials, so you may be betteroff with all Round 2 applications. (For instance, say you have a 660 GMATscore. That may be sufficient to get you into School A in Round 1, but if youknow you are better off with a 720 for School B, then it may be better to testagain (hopefully getting a higher score) and submit a Round 2 application forSchool B)

9. Revise Your Resume and Do So Strategically!
There is a differencebetween an MBA application resume and a job resume. Even if your businessschool application will only be a page long, in most cases it is ideal toinclude a blend of experiences and credentials that would not necessarily bepresent on a job resume. Do your research about the differences between thesetwo types of resumes, and outline the range of credentials and experiences youwant to present. Remember, you only have a limited amount of essayspace, and on the application form you may only have about 3-5 spaces to writeabout extracurricular activities and 3-4 spaces to write about awards. Theresume becomes the only other space you have to highlight key credentials. Evenif you have referred to some of those credentials in the essays, the resume canserve as a wonderful, concise tool that summarizes your many strengths.