Thursday, September 27, 2007

Applications, applications, applications...!

I wasn’t really planning on writing my next post on the application process, but since this is the application-frenzy season, I decided to pitch my take on the things that make an application successful. Being a member of the McCombs School of Business Admissions Committee (the MAC), I had the privilege (and sometimes the “privilege”), to read MANY applications of the class of 2009 candidates and see, firsthand, how significant is the difference between a well thought-out application and an application that would survive the first round of the screening process.

Most important of all is realizing that you are who you are. Sounds trivial but many applications come-across as less believable because the candidates went out of their way in order to try and impress their readers. This oftentimes results in a non-credible application that doesn’t survive the reviewing process. Creating endless lists of achievements and awards you have received ever since you were the first toddler who stayed dry for three straight hours doesn’t make you more impressive! Being honest, creative and authentic will go a longer way in making you appealing to any school. Think about it almost as if you were writing to a good friend who lives abroad about your desires and plans regarding your MBA experience. Don’t make an extreme effort to adjust your essays to what you think the school’s representatives will be looking for. Realize that in the top MBA programs the staff itself is diversified so doing that will not necessarily improve your chances; it may have the opposite effect.

Be in a good mood when you write your essays! Your mood affects your level of openness and creativity, and that will surely be reflected in your writing. If there’s a place that positively affects your mood, go there! Writing an essay doesn’t require a wireless connection, so writing on top of a hill outside of the city is perfectly possible and may add that necessary “edge” to your essays. To me, that helped a lot, together with a good playlist of “Ambience” and “Lounge” music, enabling me to “disconnect” and focus on writing.

Choose your advisers carefully. I strongly suggest that you let someone with relevant experience read your essays. It can be an MBA graduate, preferably from recent classes, or anyone else that you believe can provide some relevant insight. I am not a great believer in paying large amounts of money to all the available advising services. A lot of times, you end-up with a standardized essay that complies with all kinds of rules but neglects the emphasis on yourself. I prefer essays that are a little “ragged” to over-polished essays that smell of the dollars they were “bought” with. Where more “polishing” is relevant is your resume. This item needs to convey professionalism and effectiveness, while maximizing the “real estate” that one letter-size page provides. It is amazing how many times I thought that my resume was “done” and then found myself changing it again. A good practice is to give your resume to someone who hasn’t read it (and preferably isn’t familiar with your professional background), and then ask them to summarize their impression. You’d be amazed how that impression may be different from what you had intended to portray.

I hope I managed to add some insight to the Gazillion of application tips you have already read and heard. And remember….. you’re special..! It’s just a matter of articulating it, which is not always an easy task.

Good luck!

6 comments:

esty moiber said...

hi
i would like to know if there is scholarship for Israely students.

thank you
Esty
stestyst@gmail.com

ניר said...

Gidi,

Old times.
It's so funny to suddenly arriving into your blog, just by chance, and seeing your name.

Apart from it being interesting and informative I understand you are back in Austin after xx years in the army, doing you MBA, and it seems that you enjoy it.

I would love to hear from you. I am now in Amsterdam, writing my PhD and working as a researcher at the University of Amsterdam and enjoying life very much.

Drop me a line. It'd be great. My Mail is [myfirstname]dot[mylastname]@gmail.com.


Yours,
Nir Nussbaum

Gidi Bibliowicz said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Gidi Bibliowicz said...

Hi Esty,

The McCombs School of Business does offer some scholarships, but they are limited, regardless ig you're from Israeli or not. The relatively low cost at McCombs (it's part of a public university), leads them to an approach of basing their financial aid more on student loans than on scholarships. The notion is that MBA graduates from a top-20 school should not have a problem to pay their loans in the future. Please let me know in case you have more questions.

Gidi

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