Top MBA Essay Analysis from Jon Frank---P11: THE MOST IMPORTANT THING MBA APPLIC

JonFrank

Prove your success by quantifying your achievement with numbers

You KNOW that you’re a smart, hard working person who’ll do your future school proud, but how do you showcase that in your application? Anyone can SAY that they’re a hot prospect (and everyone will) but to make your application stand out, you’ll have to PROVE it.

The first thing you’ll need to do is line up some achievements: anyone can say that they’re smart, hard working or a demigod on paper but that doesn’t mean a thing. You need QUANTIFIABLE achievements  – i.e. stuff you can prove.  That alone won’t be enough, though. Say you were “employee of the month” at your previous job; that’s a quantifiable achievement but there’s still a lot you can do to make it shine.

Take a look at these three tips and soon you’ll be knocking them dead with your outstanding accomplishments.

Mention your achievements as often as possible! Now is not the time for false-modesty – if you can insert an impressive accomplishment in your essay, do so! That way, “I worked at a bank” becomes “I was the fastest rising junior employee at Bank of X” and “I was sales manager” becomes “As manager, I tripled our sales for the year leading to record company profits.”
Numbers are your FRIEND! Whatever your achievement, make sure to use numbers and statistics to back it up. “I got a bonus” says very little, “I earned three consecutive bonuses worth over $50K for increasing company earnings 15.5% over the past five years, ultimately saving our parent company $1.3M” says TONS.
Use the RIGHT numbers! Which of these sentences sounds more impressive? A) I finished 38th in my class. B) I finished in the top 5% of my undergrad program. Both of those sentences mean the EXACT SAME THING but the second one is MUCH more impressive! You should NEVER lie or fudge the truth, but there’s no reason not to present the facts in the best light possible.
Let’s put this all together. From “I was employee of the month, earning a promotion” to…

“As employee of the month, I increased sales 300% leading to the best quarterly earnings in five years, earning a promotion and becoming the youngest sales manager  in company history.”

Now THAT’s a quantifiable achievement!

So remember:

-          Mention your achievements as much as possible.

-          Use numbers to make your achievements look impressive.

-          Make sure you use the BEST numbers and statistics possible – the most impressive looking ones.

Come back next week to check out how to write about race, gender, and sexual orientation for Western readers!

JonFrank

Prove your success by quantifying your achievement with numbers

You KNOW that you’re a smart, hard working person who’ll do your future school proud, but how do you showcase that in your application? Anyone can SAY that they’re a hot prospect (and everyone will) but to make your application stand out, you’ll have to PROVE it.

The first thing you’ll need to do is line up some achievements: anyone can say that they’re smart, hard working or a demigod on paper but that doesn’t mean a thing. You need QUANTIFIABLE achievements  – i.e. stuff you can prove.  That alone won’t be enough, though. Say you were “employee of the month” at your previous job; that’s a quantifiable achievement but there’s still a lot you can do to make it shine.

Take a look at these three tips and soon you’ll be knocking them dead with your outstanding accomplishments.

Mention your achievements as often as possible! Now is not the time for false-modesty – if you can insert an impressive accomplishment in your essay, do so! That way, “I worked at a bank” becomes “I was the fastest rising junior employee at Bank of X” and “I was sales manager” becomes “As manager, I tripled our sales for the year leading to record company profits.”
Numbers are your FRIEND! Whatever your achievement, make sure to use numbers and statistics to back it up. “I got a bonus” says very little, “I earned three consecutive bonuses worth over $50K for increasing company earnings 15.5% over the past five years, ultimately saving our parent company $1.3M” says TONS.
Use the RIGHT numbers! Which of these sentences sounds more impressive? A) I finished 38th in my class. B) I finished in the top 5% of my undergrad program. Both of those sentences mean the EXACT SAME THING but the second one is MUCH more impressive! You should NEVER lie or fudge the truth, but there’s no reason not to present the facts in the best light possible.
Let’s put this all together. From “I was employee of the month, earning a promotion” to…

“As employee of the month, I increased sales 300% leading to the best quarterly earnings in five years, earning a promotion and becoming the youngest sales manager  in company history.”

Now THAT’s a quantifiable achievement!

So remember:

-          Mention your achievements as much as possible.

-          Use numbers to make your achievements look impressive.

-          Make sure you use the BEST numbers and statistics possible – the most impressive looking ones.

JonFrank

Happy New Year, Eeveryone!

JonFrank

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING MBA APPLICANTS SHOULD KNOW

From application essays to LORs to the infamous MBA interview, there’s a LOT that goes into getting into b-school. And that means there are a lot of application Do’s and Don’ts.

DO write a compelling essay. DO NOT use industry jargon.
DO choose the recommender that knows you best. DO NOT write your own LOR.
DO prepare questions for your interviewer. DO NOT spend 15 minutes summarizing your resume for your interviewer….

Yeah, it can get pretty overwhelming. So what is the most important thing you should know as you approach those MBA applications? We asked our team of rockstar consultants for their best advice/greatest nuggets of b-school wisdom/opinion on the one thing you should keep in mind as you work on your apps.

And here is what they had to say:

MARK:
Don’t tell the adcoms what you THINK they wanna hear; that just triggers their B.S. detectors. Do the opposite: SHOW them what you’re about. And win their hearts.

KYN:
The easiest way to get rejected is to be identified as a “manufactured” applicant who is simply trying too hard to look good. Be authentic and true to who you are within your applications. You’ll naturally put in more passion and enthusiasm into your essays and that WILL help you to stand out from the pack.

LEE:
There are plenty of high-achievers applying for MBAs.  In your app, be clear about what you’ve accomplished, but don’t forget:  it’s often the PERSONAL aspect of your story that makes you stand out, and helps contextualize your goals. Help the Adcom get to know YOU, not just your resume.  This is the time to be introspective about the experiences that have made you who you are, as well as the interpersonal, human angles of the stories you are telling.

DAMON:
Sometimes a person applies to business school not because he or she really wants an MBA, but because of some other reason — to move to another country, to be in the same city as a loved one, or even to stall for time as true motivations are revealed. All these reasons are as VALID as getting the opportunity to join Goldman Sachs or McKinsey, so long as the applicant is truthful to him or herself. So my best piece of advice: know EXACTLY why you applying and you won’t go too wrong.

MANDY:
Spend the time to do your own research on each of the schools – and provide detailed, specific reasons why you want to go there.  What clubs will you be involved in?  Which classes do you want to take?  Which entrepreneurs in residence do you want to meet with?  Prove that you know the school inside and out, and show how you’ll hit the ground running on day 1!

YARON:
Be open-minded about your choices of MBA programs!

Remember that the MBA is not your end-station. I’ve seen candidates often limit their choices of MBA programs by World Rankings, although they haven’t visited the school, done research into the program, and have even arbitrarily chosen a ranking system. Your goals are not to “get an MBA from the highest ranked program,” but rather to go the program that will enrich you the most, teach you the most, and give you the best possible opportunities to reach your goals and dreams.

ALEX:
Don’t be afraid of adding dramatic flare to your essays, folks.  At the end of the day, an AdCom is reading HUNDREDS of essays day in and day out and you need someway to stand out, someway of getting the AdCom to talk about you during their coffee break.  In truth, many of you have super impressive accomplishments so unless you single-handedly developed the marketing plan for the iPhone 5, it’ll be tough to stand out on nothing more than your accomplishments.  What I encourage you to do is to paint a narrative, give the reader some vivid context which puts them in your shoes and thus, truly appreciate the gravity of the situation.  Make the reader bite their nails when you’re talking about how stressful your greatest challenge was; make them cheer for you when you go into your greatest failure.

Not many of us are gifted writers so it might be tough to write such flowing narratives, however, you have an advantage – unlike fiction, you actually lived the moments you are writing about.  You saw, smelled, felt, heard, and in some ways, tasted the moment, so all of the material for this is locked into that awesome brain of yours.  For some help in writing, follow the greats!  Look at some of your favorite novels and go back to the best parts and see what the authors did to convey that feeling.  Even movies with great scripts, V for Vendetta for instance, are wonderful examples of fantastic use of emotive narratives.

Be yourself. Be honest. Be specific. Be bold.
That’s the kind of stuff that will get you into b-school.