大家有没有开始准备明年MBA的第一轮申请啦？！（1）

JHUGMBA

Tip 1:Take the pressure off: Get your ideal GMAT score

I sometimes get candidates writing to ask me to assess how competitivethey are based on key elements of their profile, like their undergraduate GPA,work experience, industry, age and extracurricular activities. While thatcertainly can give me a strong sense of things, for the vast majority ofcandidates, one thing is true: you can’t know where you are competitive withoutthe GMAT score. You can have a fantastic profile in all other ways, but if youbomb the GMAT, you may not be competitive for any of the Top-20 MBAprograms.

A key step topreparing winning applications is to assess excellently where you will becompetitive, and so you must get your GMAT score so that you know you areseeing the full picture. There are several best practices to observe.

Many people here on the chat today havealready spent months researching the MBA admissions process, and so they haveprobably read about how important the GMAT score can be in MBA admissions,particularly in the United States (European schools still tend to be a littlemore lenient). Some candidates, while they have read about this, still don’tbelieve it. Unfortunately, around April and May of each year, I get emails fromcandidates who applied on their own and thought they could ignore a low GMATscore. They say things like, “I thought my great work experience would enticethe school.” Like it or not, for most candidates, the GMAT score can be one ofa handful of first-cut metrics.

你的工作经历， GPA，文书写了再好，如果GMAT分数不够格，确实会造成录取危险的结果。

Wed May 1, 2013 1:12 pm

Tip 2:Make your short-list of schools – and do so strategically!

One great step for gaining admissions to multiple business schools is toidentify which schools would make you happy and have a solid plan for when youwill apply to them, taking steps to maximize the timing of your application.Start by making some key decisions like these:

• Do you want toapply to Top-10 programs only? Regional schools only? Schools in Europe only?

• Do you want a school with a specialty, like a focus onentrepreneurship, marketing or finance?  

• What are the reputation and culture you most want in your school? Wherewill you be most happy based on “culture”?  

• Do you want a big-school experience or smaller-schoolexperience?

• Do you want a big-city experience or a small-city experience?

• How great of an alumni network will you inherit from the given school(remember, you will inherit not just the alumni of the business school, but ofall other schools in the university. So, for instance, if attending Columbia BusinessSchool, you will get some great alumni contacts in the medical school, lawschool, undergraduate school, etc.)?

• Will you apply to only full-time programs?  

• Are one-year or January-intake programs attractive options?

• Are executive MBA programs an option for you?

Knowing what you are looking for is one important part of the process ofcomposing a short-list of schools, but there are other important parts of thatprocess also.

You need to demonstrate a “fit” between yourinterests/needs and your target business school. So, research yourtarget schools excellently. Do this early, so that you are not cramming at thelast minute. Acquaint yourself with the range of programs, their specialofferings and the nuances of their programs. You will need to draw on thosefactors to demonstrate a fit as you write your essays.

But beyond knowingwhat you want and showing that a target MBA program fits your needs, you haveto try to assess if the school will perceive you as a fit with their program.

How do you assess if the school willperceive you as a fit with their program?

Once you have a short list of schools,you should take a hard look at the average age, GPA and GMAT scores formatriculating students (among other indicators). Are you in the ballpark? Ifnot, consider adjusting your selection of schools to include some safetyschools. Or, if you are able, address an area of “misfit” – for example, seekto increase your GMAT score if it is too low.  

For most candidates, you will want to apply to some reach schools, somesafety (sure-shot) schools, and a couple of schools where you think you willcomfortably gain admission.

如果要申请14年的MBA，尤其是好的学校的MBA申请者，可以现在考虑起来你的“Target School”是哪些，他们的特点在哪里。

Tip 3:Make a timeline for applying, noting which schools you will apply to in EarlyDecision, Round 1 and Round 2…  

It is important for most candidates that they observe one rule if theywant to secure multiple admissions with which they are happy: Don’t put all ofyour eggs in one or a couple of baskets in Round 1. You don’t want to find you did not gain admissionto your dream schools and then find yourself rushing in Round 2 to identifyother desirable schools and generate last-minute applications. Be much morethorough in strategizing where and when to apply. One of the mostimportant things you can do at this stage of the process is to make sure you have a solid plan for your application process.  

In what order will you apply to the schools? You should make thistimeline strategically. Remember these sorts of factors:

Some schools arevery sensitive to rounds, and so you will have much better odds in Round 1 thanin Round 2 with them.

Given your profile, some schools may be more receptive to yourapplication in Round 1 than in Round 2.

For some schools, you may need to build up your credentials, so you maybe better off with all Round 2 applications. (For instance, say you have a 680GMAT score. That may be sufficient to get you into School A in Round 1, but ifyou know you are better off with a 720 for School B, then it may be better totest again and submit a Round 2 application for School B).

You may be an ideal candidate for Early Decision.

The number of applications you intend to submit can also affect how youshould plan out your applications. You need time to prepare the essays and towork with recommendation writers. If you want to submit 7 applications, startpreparing the applications sooner rather than later, because you don’t want tofall behind and run out of time in applying to schools that might have turnedout favorably for you.
Finally, once you know which schools you want to apply to by Round, youcan prioritize your work with the associated submission deadlines in mind.

对于什么时间段申请学校，基本的准则肯定是越早越好，越早录取的可能性会更大。建议需要做14年MBA申请的同学，可以关注起你感兴趣的学校了现在，尽量放在第一轮，更好使Early decision提交完所有申请材料。

*JHU Carey 2014的招生Timeline 现在还没有具体出来

但可以过一段时间看这个连接： http://carey.jhu.edu/admissions/application_dates.html

JHUGMBA

顶起来。