Getting into Business School

by Raviraj Jain MBA Candidate, Harvard School of Business

What do Business schools analyze in your application?

Diversity

Intellect

Focus and Passion

B Schools

Work Experience

Self-Awareness

Leadership Potential

How do you rate yourself on all these parameters?

MBA App Process Blue Print

Getting Ready GMAT Selecting which schools to apply Essays Recommendations Interview

1. Getting ready

Find out if doing an MBA will really help your career Clearly set your expectations from your MBA Figure out how you will finance your MBA

2. GMAT
GMAT is not as important for international B-Schools as CAT is to IIMs However of all the aspects B-Schools look at, GMAT is the only one which you can improve in the short term! High GMAT score can also help you get a scholarship

3. B-school selection
1 year/2 year Geography Costs of doing MBA Geography of post-MBA job Realistic potential to get through

4. Essays
Essays are a way for the admission committee to know the person behind the accomplishments and understand your thought process Great essays are: Coherent Written from the Heart Have a wonderful starting and an excellent ending Each essay tries to highlight different quality of yours Uses simple language and employs very few technical terms (if at all) Goals Essay: Goals should be feasible and should display why you are best suited to make that happen

10 Mistakes you should not do in an Essay

1. Fail to answer the question 2. Write essays that lack a point or underlying thesis 3. Sound negative, whining, complaining 4. Use clichs or superficial ideas 5. Write a rsum in prose 6. Write what you think admissions officers want to hear 7. Fail to catch grammatical and spelling errors 8. Leave out the passion 9. Not showing different aspects of yourself 10. Omit the lessons learned or takeaways

5. Recommendations
Used to have an external view about the candidate. Also used to validate candidates claims about accomplishments and performance How to choose the right recommender? Someone who has been your supervisor during the experiences you described in essays Someone who knows you closely and for a long period of time so that s/he can use anecdotes about you which are beyond the normal course of work Seen you grow and is confident of your abilities Choose recommenders from different organizations if possible It is important for the recommendations to be coherent to your essays

6. Interviews
Alumni Interviews: Generally conducted by alumni of the school in the region. Such interviews are mostly blind Ad Com Interviews: Admission Committee members fly down to a city in India. The interviewers would have read your application thoroughly.

About CrackVerbal
Established in 2006 in Bangalore, CrackVerbal has successfully mentored over hundreds of MBA aspirants. CrackVerbal comprises entirely of people who are extremely successful in their fields and who are in this venture purely out of a love for teaching. CrackVerbal is the first institute in India to start a program that focuses on the GMAT Verbal module and has tailored techniques and strategies that are exclusively designed for Indian applicants. With its unique delivery mechanism, CrackVerbal lets YOU take charge of the GMAT. With eight interactive and intensive sessions, spread across four weeks and a personalized focus, CrackVerbal leaves no stone unturned in your quest to be a successful MBA graduate. To complete the circle, CrackVerbal also offers three workshops on the GMAT Quantitative module, wherein all aspects of the module are covered, with a focus on practice rather than on pages of formulae and jargon.