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S E V E N A D M I S S I O N S C R I T E R I A

v SEVEN ADMISSIONS CRITERIA: For a number of years I conducted admissions seminars designed to help applicants get into topMBA programs. This Web site is a condensed version of those seminars. In it I address the qualities admissions officers are looking for in

candidates and include anecdotes from my former GMAT students, many of whom are now in or have already graduated from the country's top

business schools.

Those top schools will evaluate seven main elements of your candidacy. There is significant variation in the emphasis placed on those elements,

but as a GMAT instructor who has worked with hundreds of applicants, I have also noticed distinct similarities among the top programs.

I've arranged the seven elements in what I feel is their order of importance. Like the magazines that rank business schools, I can't resist ranking the

application elements. My rankings are based on my own experience, and I will be the first to admit that they are regularly contradicted. I have

plenty of former students at Harvard, Wharton, Stanford and every other top school who were admitted because an admissions officer liked

something in their applications and threw out the rule book to accept them.

So don't be discouraged if you feel a little weak in some of the categories I place high in my ranking. As I write this, I can think of former students at

all three of the schools I just mentioned who had glaring weaknesses in important categories but managed to convince the admissions officers that

they had something valuable to offer.

Keep in mind as you read through the seven items that their ranking applies only to top MBA programs. Less competitive programs have entirely

different motivations behind their admissions decisions.

After running through the seven items, be sure to look at the GMAT tutorial and the tutorial on writing the essays. And if you're interested inworking with an editor on your application essays, feel free to contact us.

Good luck.

John Evans

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G M A T S C O R E

v Number 1 - YOUR GMAT SCORE:

It's sad, but it's true: your GMAT score is probably the most important factor in determining whethtop business school. I want to clarify that statement, though, so you won't misunderstand me.

Most applicants believe there is a significant difference between a 680 and a 720 on the GMAT. points won't help your chances of being admitted. That's why I'm frustrated when I hear from peoinsist on retaking the exam. They would be better served by burning their GMAT-prep books andapplication essays (the next step in the process).

If you hope to have a reasonable chance of being admitted to a top program, though, your GMAT

ballpark." If it isn't you'll have a hard time winning a spot at A-list schools no matter how good youndergraduate GPA might be. That's why I believe GMAT score is the most important factor in bprogram. If your score isn't in the ballpark, you won't be in the game.

So What's Considered "In the Ballpark?"

At virtually all of the top programs, the ballpark starts in the mid 600s. That doesn't mean there isBut if you look closely at a school's numbers you'll see that below about 620, your chances of beidramatically.

Take a look at the graph below. It shows the "middle 80 percent range" of GMAT scores for studMBA program.

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You can see that the median score is about 680; but the median can be deceiving. You don't neIt should be obvious that half of all accepted applicants score below the median, but for some reastudents feel they need to beat a school's median to have a reasonable shot at getting in. I've hainto applying to MBA programs they are now attending (or have already finished) because they wwhen their GMAT scores fell slightly below their target schools' medians.

What Score Will I Need If I Hope to Attend a Top Program?

If your GMAT score is within a school's median 80 percent range, even if it's 60 points below the

reasonable chance of being admitted. If it's below that 80 percent range you still have a shot, buhow applicants with GMAT scores below the median 80 percent range get admitted to top prograapplication essays.)

Most MBA programs now print their median 80 percent ranges in their brochures. For those thatestimate by assuming the range starts about 60 points below the median and ends about 60 poinare within that range, you have a reasonable chance of being admitted.

Are the Separate Scores for Math and Verbal Important?

Yes, especially the math score. The admissions people put a lot of emphasis on math skills whe(See the discussion on GPA for more on this.) So it's important that you do well on the math po

The math and verbal scores range from 0 to about 52. (I know that ETS claims the scale can go


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v Number 2 - YOUR APPLICATION ESSAYS:

Once you've gotten your GMAT score into the proper range, the most important thing you can do is write good essays, not try to push your score

up a few more points by retaking the exam. An extra 30 points will not be worth nearly as much as a well thought out set of essays that convince

an admissions officer that you have something valuable to contribute to his school.

Your work background will determine who you compete against for admission spots. But what you say about your background and how well you

say it will determine whether you beat those competitors. That's why the essays are so important.

The Admissions Process

To understand the admissions process, you have to look at it from an admissions officer's point of view. Each year the staff tries to assemble a

well-rounded class consisting of people from a broad range of work backgrounds. It's important that they assemble a diverse group because many

assignments in B-school are collaborative and interdisciplinary. Consequently, projects will be more successful and students will learn more if their

teammates can contribute their own unique perspectives.

The admissions staff faces a tough challenge, though, in assembling a diverse class because the vast majority of applicants to top programs come

from only two broad work categories: finance and consulting. Many of these people have worked at the most prestigious firms. They got good

grades as undergraduates (or they wouldn't have been hired by top firms), and almost all of them take GMAT prep courses because that's part of

the culture at their firms. In other words, they have a lot going for themselves.

I've coached a lot of applicants with this type of background. They've come from large asset management companies, top investment banks, and

well known consulting firms. They are very competitive and tend to do well on the GMAT. (I've had whole classes of them that averaged over

700.) And they make the competition in their categories pretty tough.

If admissions officers were to select candidates strictly on the basis of GMAT scores and undergraduate GPAs, their student bodies would be

comprised almost entirely of people from finance and consulting backgrounds, which would make for pretty bad class dynamics.

The admissions people know about this disparity, of course, and they compensate for it by starting with a general idea of the class profile they

hope to end up with.

A Typical Class Profile


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Given all the differences among the top schools, I'm always surprised at the consistency they show when selecting their classes. At most of them,

approximately 60 to 65 percent of admitted students will come from finance and consulting backgrounds. Below is a typical admit profile.

The chart seems to show that finance and consulting are the best backgrounds from which to apply (they offer the most spots), but as I've already

mentioned, a disproportionate number of people apply from those backgrounds, making them very competitive categories.

The consistency in class composition should tell you something about how admissions officers choose their classes. Namely, if you come from a

finance background, you will, for the most part, compete only with other finance people for the limited number of finance spots available. If you are

a consultant, you will compete with other consultants. It's more a practice dictated by circumstances than an explicit policy acknowledged by

admissions officers (though some acknowledge it).

Although there are no strict quotas for each category, the final numbers are amazingly consistent from year to year regardless of the number of

finance or consulting people who actually apply. So the overwhelming number of applicants from a few categories, coupled with the need to

assemble a diverse group, in effect, forces admissions people to pit consultant against consultant and investment banker against investment

banker, even without a policy to do so.

And it makes sense to me to compare apples to apples. Afte r all, what criteria would you use if you had to choose between an asset manager and

a software engineer?

What Categories are the Most Competitive?

Investment banking and management consulting are probably the most competitive categories. Virtually everyone who works in those fields needsto go to B-school in order to move up in the industry. (That's why my GMAT classes are full of people from those two backgrounds.)

To my knowledge, no school has ever released the median GMAT scores of its students grouped by occupation, so I have to rely on my personal

experience. But it's clear to me that, ON AVERAGE, accepted candidates from the very competitive finance and consulting backgrounds have

higher GMAT scores than do accepted candidates from less competitive categories. I've coached too many students not to see the pattern.

Don't be discouraged if you fall into one of these categories. Later we' ll talk about how to differentiate yourself in the application essays so you

won't look like all the other consultants or investment bankers in the pile.

What are the Less Competitive Categories?

I'm sure you're wondering about this one. After, "What do you score on the GMAT?" it's the question I hear most frequently: "What's the easiest


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work background from which to apply?"

Think about it from the admissions officer's point of view. Say you have 300 seats to fill. About 100 will go to applicants from finance

backgrounds, and about another 100 will go to people from consulting backgrounds. You will use the final 100 spots to broaden your class and

add some depth of experience to the group.

You will need some marketing people and some people from technical backgrounds. And every class has a few disenchanted lawyers and

doctors along with some real odd balls -- people with tremendously unique experience that will be valuable to their classmates. But none of theseis the easiest category.

In my experience, the easiest background from which to apply is nonprofit, in part because very few people from nonprofit firms apply to top

business schools. B-school has the reputation of being a very competitive place, and competition isn't part of the culture of your average nonprofit

corporation. So I regularly see people with very modest GMAT scores get accepted at top B-schools because those schools are trying to broaden

the perspective of their classes and, at the same time, promote what is becoming an increasingly important business sector. A number of schools

have even developed substantial nonprofit curricula to address the needs of managers in that sector.

So, for what it's worth, that's what I've seen with nonprofit app licants. But I've also seen a fair number of people from government and military

backgrounds who get into top programs even though their GMAT scores are pretty modest (below their schools' median 80 percent range). Again,

I think these people add depth to a class, and admitting them allows business schools to reach into important public sector organizations to influence

the ways in which they are run.

Your Essay Strategy

All of this plays into your strategy. In writing the application essays, your strategy should be to highlight the unique experiences you've had -- both

on the job and in your personal life -- that you believe will be valuable to your classmates. If you were assigned to an economic development

project in Vietnam, for instance, that's unique. So is working in a refugee camp in Afghanistan. Very few people can bring that kind of experience

to the table, and schools are looking for applicants who can share that background in the classroom. They will gladly discount GPA and GMAT

scores to get those people into their programs.

But you don't need experience in a Third World country to have something unique and valuable to offer. A lot of my GMAT students are consultants

with big firms such as Andersen Consulting, BCG, and Deloitte. In large part, they all have the same generic work experience, and most of them

make the mistake of discussing that experience in their essays.

Think about how that looks to an admissions officer. She's got a pile of applications on her desk from consultants in every Andersen, D&T, Bain,

and McKinsey office around the world. And every applicant is talking about the same thing. How does she decide who to choose?

Be Unique

When I work with applicants who are consultants, I ask them not to write about the mundane tasks that everyone does at the analyst level but

instead to focus on one or two of their assignments that were unique and interesting. I ask them to go into detail about that work. Tell me exactly

what you did and why you think it was important work. Convince me, as an admissions officer, that your experience will be valuable to my

students and I'll let you in.

That's the key to getting into top business schools. Convince me in your essays that you have something unique to share with your potential

classmates, and I'll ignore your not-so-hot GMAT score and undergraduate GPA. I see it all the time. People with modest GMAT scores but valuable

experiences are regularly admitted to top programs.


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The problem, of course, is writing about yourself. That's tremendously hard to do. You may think that a certain experience is pretty mundane, but

others may find it interesting. I'm amazed by the experience that some people will leave out of their essays. I remember one applicant who, after

we had already worked through a couple schools, told me she had been a world class figure skater as a teenager and was still active in skating.

When I asked her why she hadn't told me that at the beginning she said she didn't think it was important.

Essay Tutorial

Most people I meet have experience that is good enough to get them into top programs, but they don't know what admissions people are looking for

so they stumble through some mind-numbing babble in their essays and end up being rejected.

Most of our consulting work with applicants involves talking through their work experiences, determining what in their background is unique and

valuable, and then making sure that they get that valuable experience down on paper in a clear and concise manner. We want a reader who

knows nothing about the applicant to be able to understand his story in one read through and to find something in that applicant's background that is

unique and valuable to his potential classmates. Remember, the evaluation process is mostly about what you can do for the school, not what the

school can do for you.

I have included a brief tutorial at this site that addresses some do's and don'ts that apply to all application essays. We give the applicants we work

with specific pointers on specific essays, but the general comments found in the tutorial should be enough to get you on the right track.

Start with the tutorial (after finishing the seven application items), and if you feel you need more help than it provides, feel free to contact us.

Next >(3)Timing Your Application



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v Number 3 - TIMING YOUR APPLICATION :

If you don't apply early, you probably won't be going to a top school. There is so much competition among schools for the best candidates that

admissions officers can't afford to pass on good applicants in the early rounds. Consequently, there are very few open spots remaining after the

January deadlines.

Although there are opinions to the contrary, I still believe it's best to apply in the first round, especially if you feel you're a strong candidate. Most

schools have three application periods, but some have as many as five. (And some schools work on a pure "rolling" basis.)

The problem with the first round is the quality of its applicants. There are a lot of "sharks" in that round. They aced the GMAT, got good grades in

college and have great work experience. (Those Bastards!) To top it all off, they managed to get their acts together and finish their applications in

time for the first-round deadlines.

You don't necessarily want to be compared with those freaks, so it's tempting to skip the first round in hopes of finding more slobs like you (and

me) in round two. It sounds good, but there's a problem with that strategy. There will be more than twice as many applicants in round two as there

were in round one; and they will be competing for fewer open spots.

How Many People Apply in the First Round?

A typical top program might have 600 to 800 applicants in the first round. Stanford has only about 230 spots to fill while Anderson has about 320,

Kellogg has about 500 (fall admission only), and Harvard has a massive 850 (also fall admission).

Although Stanford has 230 spots, it will typically make about 290 offers. That 's because not everyone offered a spot accepts it (even at Stanford!).

You may already know about "yield," the percentage of applicants who actua lly accept offers made by their schools. Harvard has the highest yield

at about 87 percent. After that comes Stanford at about 80 percent. Then the numbers drop pretty significantly. Kellogg, for instance, has a yield

of only about 60 percent, which means it must make 830 offers to fill a class of 500 students.

So if I know that Kellogg will make 830 offers for the fall term and that only about 600 people will apply in the first round, I might be willing to swim

with the sharks and t ry my chances early. The second round at top schools may have more than 2,000 applicants, all competing for the leftovers. I

don't like those odds. It's too easy to get lost in the shuffle. If I apply early, I know I'm going to face some stiff competition, but at least I know there

are a reasonable number of spots still available.


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So apply whenever you like, but try to get your application in before the January deadlines. And remember that it will take two months to collect

your undergraduate transcripts, complete all the application forms, write your application essays, and get your boss to finish your letters of

recommendation. I know that sounds surprising, but I encourage all the people I work with to apply to at least six schools; and even with my

hounding, it usually takes them two months to get through that many applications.

Exceptions to the First Deadline Rule

There are a number of exceptions to the first deadline rule. I'll list just a few of them here:

Columbia: CBS has an early application period (usually mid-August to mid-October) that you should take advantage of if possible. If you apply

during this period, you will be notified of the school's decision in about eight weeks, which means you could know that you've been accepted at

Columbia before having to apply to any other school. (Just over half of the applicants I encouraged to apply during the early round last year were

admitted.) The Bad News: Accepted applicants have to put down a non-refundable deposit of $2,500 to hold their spots.

Whartonand any Other School that Operates on a Pure Rolling Schedule: If your school processes applications on a pure "rolling" basis (no

cut-off dates), it's probably best not to apply immediately after the school begins accepting applications. I guarantee you the sharks will have their

applications in on the first day. If you wait about four weeks, the admissions people should have read through the sharks' applications. You'll be

able to avoid the toughest competitors but still be early.

Anderson: Because the Anderson School has four application rounds -- not three as most schools have -- I think it's best to apply in the second

round, which is typically in December. You will still be early, but you will manage to avoid the first-round sharks. (Also, over the last few years

Anderson has accepted a higher percentage of applicants from the second round than from the first!)

What if I Want to Retake the GMAT But My Deadline is Coming Up?

I run into this problem all the time. "If I apply now I won't be able to retake the GMAT, but if I wait until I can take the test again I'll miss the

upcoming application deadline."

It's a judgment call that depends on both your GMAT score and the deadline you're considering skipping. If your GMAT score is already in the mid

600s, apply at the upcoming deadline. A few more points won't help as much as making an early deadline.

If, on the other hand, you scored 600 or below and you are fairly certain that you will go up on the next test (and you will accept only a top school),

you might want to skip the deadline. But waiting until February or later to apply is usually a bad idea. There are few spots available after the

January deadlines, so think hard before blowing them off.

A Possible Strategy for Handling This Situation

A few of my students have come up with a good way to handle this situation. (I learn all my tricks from my students.) They wanted to retake the

test, but didn't want to skip a deadline to do so. They solved the problem by submitting their application on time and then retaking the test before the

application could be processed (which typically takes eight weeks).

If their scores went up on the new test, they would call the school and ask that the application be held until the new scores arrived (which takes

only two weeks). If, on the other hand, their scores went down, they simply didn't send the new scores and tried their luck with their original

scores (which had been sent with the application).

This worked incredibly well two years ago, when the computerized GMAT was first introduced. The schools made accommodations for everything


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v Number 4 - YOUR GPA :

Surprising, isn't it? You would think that your undergraduate GPA would be weighted more heavily, but at most schools it isn't (and for good

reasons).

First, most B-school applicants were not planning to apply to graduate programs, so they might not have focused on playing the grade game the

way most premed or pre-law students did. Why hold mediocre grades against an applicant who had no intention of applying to grad school five

years down the line?

Second, that was then and this is now. I've heard from a number of admissions people that they discount undergraduate GPAs because they are

old measures of performance. Admissions people are more interested in how you perform now (thus the emphasis on GMAT scores).

I remember one director, however, pointing out how the emphasis on GPA can vary from candidate to candidate. He said that he has to rely more

heavily on GPA when evaluating the candidacy of a relatively young applicant who has been in the workforce only a short time.

For another applicant with five years of work experience, however, he puts more emphasis on that experience and on the applicant's GMAT score

and less emphasis on his (more distant) undergraduate GPA.

While I list GPA as number 4 in order of importance, you shouldn't think that its value is set in stone. The evaluation process is fairly holistic, so if

you performed well in college, emphasize that performance and the admissions staff may buy into it. If you didn't perform well, talk about your

terrific GMAT score and ignore your undergrad years.

Whatever you do, don't whine about your mediocre grades; take responsibility for them. There is one excuse, however, that you can get away

with. If you worked and paid your own way through undergrad, be sure to mention that in your essays. Working is the one universal justification

for bad grades. (A comment I've heard from many admissions officers.)

A Caveat to Your Undergraduate GPA

While you might be able to explain away your less-than-stellar GPA by informing the admissions people of the Twinkies-and-beer lifestyle of your

college years, you won't be able to slide bad math grades by them quite so easily. Admissions people will look very closely at your undergraduate

math performance.

As I mentioned in the GMAT section of this Web site, admissions officers are very concerned about math skills. If you believe that your math grades


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are not up to par and that your performance on the math portion of the GMAT isn't good enough to make up for those grades, do everything possible

to take a math course through a local university before applying to B-school. You have to allay the admissions committee's fears about your ability

to cut it in math-intensive classes. While you can be accepted into a great MBA program with only better-than-average verbal skills, you won't be

accepted if you are suspected of having anything but strong math skills. So fix your math profile. (See how in the section on improving your

chances.)

The Bottom Line On GPA

You can't really change your GPA, so there isn't much sense in worrying about it. People with bad GPAs get into great schools all the time, though,

because they have strong GMAT scores and good work experience.

Don't let your GPA keep you from applying to top business schools. The median GPAs reported by some top programs can be intimidating, but the

GPAs of accepted students vary a great dealeven more than do their GMAT scores. (The middle 80 percent range at Columbia, for instance, is

3.0 to 3.8.)

One thing you can do, however, to address your GPA is take some classes through a local university extension program. School is a lot easier the

second time around, and you might be surprised to find that you can now get good grades in classes you used to hate. Performing well in school

now should convince admissions officers that you can do well in their program regardless of your undergraduate GPA.

For more on this topic, see the section on improving your chances of being admitted.

Next >(5) Your Work Experience








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v Number 5 - YOUR WORK EXPERIENCE:

I've already talked about the typeof experience applicants have (see application element number 2 -- the Application Essays). Here I want to talk

about the amountof work experience you bring to the table.

Most of you know that the average number of years of full-time work experience has risen dramatically at the top B-schools. Schools that only

recently averaged two or three years now average five. And that number keeps rising.

You don't want to apply too early. I have many ambitious students in my GMAT classes who insist on taking their shot at the brass ring with only

two years of full-time work experience. (And that's by the time they would enter school, not when they plan to apply.) Although some of them are

exceptionally bright and do well on the GMAT, very few of them make it into top-tier programs. Most end up "trading down" to a backup school or

getting rejected altogether.

I have to admit that I agree with admissions officers who reject inexperienced applicants. The whole objective in assembling a business school

class is to put together people who can share unique experiences from their industries. If you have two years in your industry and another

applicant has five years in the same business, I'm going to take the more experienced candidate over you, even if his GMAT score is a little lower

than yours.

But That Won't Happen to Me!

I know, you're different . You think your 720 GMAT and 3.6 GPA will get you into Wharton. After all, you have almost two years at Salomon. But

look at the numbers. Only two percent of last year's class at Wharton had less than two years of full-time work experience. That means 15 people

out of 8,300 applicants (one of the highest acceptance rates out there). That gives you a 1-in-553 chance.

Be serious. Wait until you have at least three years (by the time you would enter). I have had a few students who have gotten into top programs

(including Wharton) with only two years of experience, but they were the exceptions to the rule. The vast majority of inexperienced applicants get

the ax and have to reapply the following year with a lame story about why they were rejected previously.

And, by the way, you don't get to apply from ground zero the year after you have been rejected. At many schools all you are allowed to submit is

an updated information form and a single essay explaining what has changed in your life since you last applied.

What if I Changed Jobs?


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I hear this question a lot and I've heard a number of admissions officers address itenough that I'm finally starting to discern a pattern among their

answers. The general opinion seems to be that changing jobs isn't a problem, especially if the change involves some kind of promotion. But "job

churning" is frowned upon because the admissions people want you to have more than just a surface understanding of your industry. You need to

bring a certain amount of expertise to the classroom, and changing jobs every six months will make it difficult to develop an in-depth understanding

of a specific industry.

So try to stick with one job (or, at least, one industry) for a year or two. Otherwise you won't have much to offe r a school.

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v Number 6 - YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS:

I'll let you in on a little secret that even most admissions officers don't know (or won't admit to knowing): A significant percentage of applicants to

top B-schools write their own letters of recommendation. I know this because I'm on the "sell side" of the admissions transaction. (I sound like an

investment banker, don't I?) My students regularly ask me what they should write in their recommendations.

It isn't that applicants are trying to cheat the game; the problem is that most recommenders don't want to take the time to write a long letter or fill in

the "grid boxes" found in some recommendation forms. So they ask the applicant to do the dirty work and agree to sign the finished product.

What if I Don't Want My Employer to Know That I'm Leaving?

This is a tough situation, and schools hear this same question from hundreds of applicants every year. They always answer something like, "Well,

just do the best you can."

I've never heard a good answer to this question. My suggestion is that you get a recommendation from one of your customers, but that isn't always

possible. The top schools want two recommendations (except Harvard, which asks for three). If you can't get the full quota, then send what you

can get. That causes a lot of worry, but in the end I don't think it makes much difference. Just include a note stating why you can't get more

recommendations. The schools will understand.

A Few Pointers on the Letters of Recommendation

There's an entire section on writing the recommendations at this Web site, so I won't address it here. Be sure to check that section out, though,

after finishing the Seven Application Elements.

A Final Comment on the Letter of Recommendation

You may hear from some admissions people that they put a great deal of emphasis on letters of recommendation. I hope, for the sake of applicants,

that they are bluffing to justify putting your recommender through an arduous process. The quality of your recommendation is so closely tied to

your recommender's ability to write that it wouldn't be fair to place much emphasis on it. Some recommenders are very good writers, and some

have even gone to top MBA schools and know what to write about. Others are terrible writers and don't know what the admissions people are

looking for.

If you don't believe that the recommendation is more reflective of the writer than of the applicant, then have your boss write a letter for you. I'll


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Suite 230


OTHER RESOURCES

Financial Aid

Indian Applicants

make up a recommendation for your officemate (against whom you are competing for a spot at Wharton). You can judge for yourself which

candidate looks better on paper.

Next >(7) Your Interviews








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M B A I N T E R V I E W S

v Number 7 - MBA INTERVIEWS:

Before you get all bent out of shape, let me explain. I agree that the interview can be a critical part of the admissions decision and should not

always rank dead last in order of importance. But its importance varies dramatically from school to school. At some schools, your interview can

make the difference between being accepted and spending another year riding your desk 60 hours a week. At others, though, it's meaningless and

deserves to be listed last.

You may know that some schools are very aggressive about interviewing candidates. Kellogg, for instance, is terrific about it. The school has long

set the standard for interviewing. And not only does UNC - Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler) require an interview of U.S. applicants, but it requires that

the interview be conducted on campus. (Crazy, huh?) So the interview can be important at some schools and, at those schools, I certainly would

not list it last.

Stanford, on the other hand, would just as soon give you the finger as interview you. (Okay, I know that Stanford started interviewing some

applicants this year, but it was a funny line and I had to use it.) So interviewing can be meaningless at some school or it can be significant. It all

depends on the school and your personal situation.

Who Should and Who Shouldn't Interview?

If you think you're a bad interviewer, stay home. Let your application do the talking for you. I've had a lot of people who I thought were bad

interviewers in my GMAT classes. They come in with good work experience and great undergraduate GPAs. I can see from their practice tests

that they will end up with a strong GMAT score, but I'm afraid they will do more harm than good if they meet with their schools. I've never found a

subtle way to break that news to them: "Al, you're a bright guy, but you're also a dork. Don't interview."

So it's up to you. If you feel you're not a good interviewer, stay home. But if you feel comfortable meeting new people, then go for it. A lot of

applicants have to meet new people daily as part of their jobs, so they get very good at interacting with strangers. Those people should always

interview.

Should I Interview with an Admissions Officer or an Alumnus?

It's best to interview with someone on the admissions committee, but that isn't always possible. You shouldn't worry too much, though, if you end

up having to interview with an alumnus or even a current student. That person will write up a report that will go into your file. Just try to get along

with your interviewer.


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Phase 3 - Career Goals & MBA Plans

This is the part of your story that has to hold together. If they ask about career goals and you tell them something that is completely inconsistent

with your experience, you're going to be in trouble.

Be sure to mention a career goal that actually requires (or benefits from) an MBA.

Be able to answer the question, "Why do you need an MBA?"

Be able to answer the question, "Why do you need an MBA from this school?"

Phase 4 - Your Turn to Ask Questions

Be sure to study the school before interviewing so you can ask informed questions about it. Knowing specific details about the program should

convince the interviewer that you are serious about attending his school.

A Final Note of Encouragement on The Interviews

I know it's tough going through all the interviews. After two or three you begin to feel like a piece of meat. Just remember that everyone has to go

through the same process. Below I'll post one of my favorite e-mail messages. I got it from one of my students just hours after he had a particularly

bad interview at a top-10 school. Pardon the language, but I think it will help to put things into perspective.

John,

"F---ed up the interview. Felt like I was being lectured by my mother.

"I can't tell if she was assisting me on the application by giving me pointers or subtly rejecting me and preparing me for it. One thing was clear,

my 2.5 GPA did nothing positive for me.

"Apparently, applications are up 25% on top of 30% last year, and she seems to have an attitude about it. Talked about how they want the 'worldly

class' of some f---ing pyramid she kept demonstrating in the air.

"Felt like Tom Cruise in Risky Business when he blew it with the Princeton guy. Walked out thinking, 'Indiana's not so bad....'"

- Thomas

(He was rejected.)






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