Specify a Learning Agenda in Your MBA Application
“So,
you want to go to business school. What exactly do you want to learn?”
It sounds like a simple question, but MBA applicants often struggle with
it. College interviewers might have asked about your intended major,
but you could craft broad answers; in b-school everyone is a business
major, so the messaging needs to be more defined.
Generic
responses, such as, “I like the diverse student body” and “I want to
get a general management education,” leave interviewers with the
impression that you’re not seriously interested in their school, Soojin
Kwon, the director of admissions at the Ross School of Business at University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, recently blogged.
Offering
interviewers the opposite impression-that you are a serious
candidate-comes down to clearly articulating your learning agenda in
both your essays and interviews. It’s insufficient to say that you want
to learn more about accounting, finance, or marketing. Every MBA student
learns about those; they’re called required courses.
To
demonstrate how serious you are about your future studies, be specific
about why business school is the logical next step in your career
progression, rather than painting with a broad brush. B-school staff
spend literally thousands of hours developing course materials on
virtually every business-related subject under the sun, so you must
reflect on your ambition beyond viewing an MBA merely as a rite of
passage or a brand name to add to your résumé.
If
you have a particular strength in your candidacy, you may choose to
develop that element further. You may have worked in marketing for the
last four years, for example, but you want to further your knowledge of
brand building among young people and unconventional sales channel
development to help you launch a certain entrepreneurial idea you have.
Or,
you may have identified gaps in your professional skillset, such as
navigating business law or analyzing industrial operations, despite your
experience as an investment banker and deep understanding of valuation
and debt finance.
Consider
the kinds of online articles you are attracted to, and draw upon those
topics as you develop sections of your essays and answers to your
interview questions. Addressing topics that you’re passionate about will
make your answers more compelling and better researched.
You
may want to introduce your interests in an essay like this: “I’m
fascinated by the ways brands like Apple have been rolled out in new
cultures.” Or, “I’ve seen the power of internal incentives on
organizational behavior, and I want to understand them as a management
tool.” Or, “I’m impressed by the way top-flight organizations, such as
Starbucks, are able to maintain their high levels of customer service.”
Coming
up with a short list of subjects that fascinate you can also help you
research course offerings, initiatives, and clubs at prospective
schools.
As
you think about your learning agenda, be as concrete as possible. When
you’re considering subject areas, don’t just think marketing; instead,
think brand management, channel creation, or pricing.
Technology,
healthcare, and consumer product industries aren’t enough; get more
specific with market segments, such as security technologies, new
healthcare service models, and branded luxury products. These are still
mega-billion dollar industries with plenty of opportunities for
innovation.
It’s
also important to stretch beyond your comfort zone. If you’re
well-versed in organizational behavior as applied to U.S. companies,
maybe you want to learn about the differences in India, the Middle East,
or Latin America. Or you may want to learn about investing in China or
Canada. You will have plenty of classmates and case materials to help
you learn about these different economies.
The more you’re able to clearly articulate what you plan to do, and how an MBA will help you reach those goals, the better your chances of gaining admission at your target school.
Stacy Sukov Blackman launched her MBA consulting company specializing in business school branding
in 2001 and has since helped thousands of clients gain admission to the
most selective business schools in the world, many with merit
scholarships. Blackman has degrees from both the Wharton School and the
Kellogg Graduate School of Management, and is the author of The MBA Application
Roadmap: The Essential Guide to Getting Into a Business School. She has
also published a series of online guides which contain in depth
guidance on how to develop essays for top business schools.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Stacy_Blackman/1371737
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