EssaySnark

($) What do consulting firms look for in their candidates?

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It may be hard to comprehend how the different components of an application to business school would ever be relevant for assessing your proficiency or potential for success in the business world.

But you’d be surprised!

There are a lot of hard and soft skills that can be assessed from the pages of the application itself.

Many adcoms are actually looking for evidence that you’ll be successful in the career you’re pitching to them in your career goals answers in the app. They’re not just using GMAT or GRE score against their class average to see if you come in at a certain level on a standardized test. Yes that does end up being important, but the test score itself doesn’t actually say that much about you, except whether or not you’re good at standardized test-taking.

The other elements, though. The other elements can give true insight into possibilities for you as a candidate for future career paths.

Take consulting, for example.


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Consulting is one of the most popular post-MBA career paths.
 
 

 
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($) You can have 2 of these 3.

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In the world of business, especially software development and other such projects, you may have heard of the relationship between these things:

– Time
– Quality
– Cost

You can get two of these three, but you cannot have all of them.

Meaning: If you want it faster, you have to sacrifice quality or pay more.

Or if you want the quality to be higher, then it’ll cost more or take longer.

There’s similarly a relationship that starts to fundamentally kick in with admissions chances at this time of the season.


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Looking at reality through the factors that influence your chances
 
 

 
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Be clear on what your priorities are.

That’s always the best way to make big decisions with significant possible outcomes.

($) “When should I start practicing for my interview, and how?”

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We got a Plea for Help! from a distressed BSer in December, asking for some guidance on what may have gone wrong in their Round 1 applications, and they ended up going for the Post-Mortem Review (rejected app analysis) — and through that process, it was determined that they didn’t really do anything wrong in the execution of the application itself.

“But,” they wondered, “was it maybe my interview?”


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Now that your apps are in… Is it time for the next stress-event?
 
 

 
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Building interviewing skills is obviously another part of the process to worry about attend to. It may be a tad too early to get cranking on the actual interview prep, but constructing a plan for what needs to be done and how you will do it is totally worth doing even now!

EssaySnark's MBA Interview Prep Guide

Making meaning out of a great leader

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Regardless of your nationality and where you grew up, we’re assuming that most of you have heard of The Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr.


Photo source: Smithsonian

In the U.S., today is the day that we have designated as a national holiday to honor his legacy.

Some states don’t recognize the holiday at all; some even celebrate Robert E. Lee on the same day. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a national holiday, but that does not mean it translates to any local observations.

For those areas that do recognize this leader by giving employees the day off and closing business, it’s still not necessarily celebrated in light of the message of this man. In many communities, this holiday has been — at best — translated into an exhortation of a day of service, where people may go out to build community gardens together, or perhaps volunteer at a shelter. Those are all good deeds that are worth doing, but they’re not quite in line with the work of Dr. King.

Here is a quote directly from the source:

“Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., 1959

Dr. King was a civil rights leader, and his message was social change through non-violence.

Did you know that Dr. King was only 39 years old when he was assassinated?

That’s probably not that much older than you are today.

He first became known as a leader when he was 26 and led the year-long bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama. Another name you are probably familiar with that is associated with that event is Rosa Parks, the Black woman who refused to give up her seat.

The 1950s and 1960s probably seem like so far in the past that you can’t even relate to those times or imagine having any connection to them. We’re in 2022, after all. Why are we mentioning these historical figures, from a time when all we have are black-and-white photos? It’s so far back in history that that time is probably not at all relatable for you.

Mostly we want to bring attention to the legacy of someone who fought for change in this society. Who did so from a young age. Who acted on his beliefs, and believed in action.

Action is where leadership comes from.

Since you’re here on this lil ol’ blahg reading about MBA stuff, then presumably you’re interested in leadership of some kind, of that whole “making a difference” thing.

Spending some time today thinking about the ways that a significant leader of the past took action, the things that he stood for, the way he influenced people, is surely worthwhile.

There are plenty of other examples of leaders that you could similarly study, both contemporary and historical, though in the society of the U.S., very few of them are leaders of color. We figured it was a worthwhile opportunity to invite you to stop, and explore, and learn something or re-learn it about a man who lived his values (and died for them) and what his message was about.

Stanford has the King Papers Project in case you want to go on a deep dive to learn more.

Watch Dr. King speak to a group of high schoolers asking them what is their life blueprint:

“Each of you is in the process of building the structure of your lives. The question is whether you have a proper, a solid, and a sound blueprint.” His language and speaking style may sound old-fashioned to our 21st century ears, yet his message is still meaningful today.

In our fast-paced TwitterTok culture, find time to reflect on what matters to you, find space to honor those who have come before, find energy to nurture yourself, and find courage to do the next right thing on your own personal journey towards the person you are becoming.

We’re in a tough time right now.

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Wow, this coronavirus thing… It’s just not going away.

Probably every single person reading this post in January of 2022 is experiencing the virus as being very much within their circle of family, work, and friends. It’s likely that all of you are being affected by it directly in ways that you have not been before.

Today’s post is only an attempt to say, yeah, things might be hard for you — or, if you don’t feel like you’re being personally affected right now (which is GREAT if that’s the case!) then this is a meant as a comment for compassion, that others in your life may be having a rough time.

After two full years of this pandemic and now the exacerbation of all of the same stuff we lived through before, with school closures in some places and mask mandates in others, then you may be feeling utterly exhausted, or just sick of it all, or your nervous system might be in a state of low-grade activation at all times.

If you’ve found yourself being snappy or sensitive, or maybe not wanting to get out of bed, or maybe indulging a little too much in substances or activities that numb you (can be anything from alcohol or weed or gaming or sex or potato chips or donuts or reddit or a wide array of other things that are fine in moderation but not so great when they’re done to excess) — that’s OK. This statement of “that’s OK” isn’t meant as a free pass, but we’re calling out the reality that things are incredibly stressful again.

If you can, try taking a break from the computer completely. A walk in nature can do wonders. Sunshine on the face and body. Vitamin D in wintertime is particularly important.

If you can, try reconnecting with some people (in ways that are safe), or take a step back towards a healthy habit you may have let slide or not made time for.

The stress impacts of coronavirus and this long-term experience we are now in of what seems to be a never-ending pandemic are cumulative and real. It’s essentially a trauma that we are collectively going through. If you have had mental health issues, it’s understandable, and please find ways to seek support.

This might be talking it through and being real with a close friend or two.

Maybe it’s time to seek out professional support through therapy.

If it’s gotten extreme, there is help with the peer support service of Crisis Text Line — text HOME to 741741 to connect with a live human being who is there to text with you or talk, no matter what is going on.

If you’re feeling that this isn’t that big of a deal, then that’s awesome too; we’re not trying to suggest that you should be feeling awful or that there’s something wrong with you if you’re not depressed. If you’re doing fine, then this is only a mention that others are not, and to be kind. If you have greater reservoirs of capacity for navigating this particular phase, then yay! and how awesome.

Or, if you’re feeling snippy or sulky or touchy or any type of negative thing, there is nothing wrong with you. We’re simply not done with this thing yet, and it’s hard to make sense of.

If you haven’t seen this series yet, then maybe this is good for a laugh.

(It might also be interesting to go through those again, even if you had seen them before; you may find it useful to remember and track the events of the past few years, captured that way.)

No matter what, the truth of it is: This too shall pass.

That may not sound true in the moment, but at some point we’ll look back from a new point in time, having survived this and gone on to (hopefully!) better days again.

($) How schools make decisions off the waitlist (and how much hope should you have?)

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We’re getting a lot of questions about the waitlist and though we don’t like to do the blatant upsell, we do have services in the Waitlist Assist which really is your best opportunity for letting us dig into your profile directly and figuring out what may have gone wrong for you. There’s unfortunately no way…

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($) If you were waitlisted in Round 1 2021…

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First: We’re sorry. 🙁 It was probably somewhere between massively disappointing to totally devastating to have been waitlisted instead of admitted when you got the news in December.

Next: The waitlist is actually a good place to be! It means you’re still in the game!

Presumably a Round 1 waitlist also means that you put some apps in the hopper for Round 2. Your Round 1 schools are an actual opportunity though and there are potentially some steps that could be taken NOW that affect your chances in the end.

But first, before we get too far into that, let’s describe how schools treat Round 1 waitlisters in the context of their admissions processes and evaluation for Round 2 applicants.

Most schools handle the Round 1 waitlist like this:


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Waitlist schmaitlist… it’s a sucky place to be but it often turns into happiness later on!
 
 

 
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($) MIT and NYU are not safety schools

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But they do happen to be schools with Round 2 deadlines in the future.

Does that mean you should apply?


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You’re on a roll — should you keep applying to more schools?
 
 

 
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If you’ve already been writing essays for other schools since December and you’ve gotten feedback that your essays are in line with what the adcoms need to see, then sure, you can potentially pull off another app in the next few days. Just go into it with eyes wide open and with a clear view of your own presentation skills and profile. If those things are lined up, then there’s no reason you can’t add another app to the Round 2 mix.

Either way: Good luck with all that you’ve got in the hopper and we hope that at least one of these schools turns into a winner for you this year!

($) Just In Time MBA App Prep: What if you JUST decided to apply to bschool? Like, NOW?

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Many of you are putting finishing touches on Round 2 apps – huzzah!

With the turn of the calendar, we’re also getting many new folks who set a resolution to try for an MBA, who were maybe unaware of the admissions calendar, but showed up here looking for how to get in right away. They’re the Round 3ers.

And whenever we talk about a Round 3 application around here, most of the time we warn people: “DON’T DO IT!!”

A last-round app to bschool is very very challenging and has much less probability of success than it does in the first two rounds of the admissions season. There are many factors and reasons for this and we discuss them all over the place. If you’re seriously thinking about a late-season application then please read up on all the pitfalls first.

You’re probably going to do it anyway though 🙂 so this post is for you.

More specifically, this post is for anyone who has never even considered applying for bschool until like two weeks ago, who hasn’t even taken the GMAT yet or just raced to do so for the first time in the last month.

We’re calling you a Just In Time applicant — meaning, the kind of person who’s gonna maximize efficiency and take care of each step of the process just in time when it’s due. GMAT or GRE, essays, recs, whatever, you’re not gonna leave yourself any spare moment, you’ll be cranking this stuff out lickety split!

In all seriousness, there are a couple unique issues to think about for you as a Just In Time applicant. The compressed timetable is the reason for most of them.


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If the scramble is on… Here’s some straight-shooting advice!
 
 

 
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The best thing you can do right now if you’re interested in going back to school.

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Visitors to the EssaySnark blahg tend to be go-getters. You want to make something of your life. Go big. Improve yourself.

Well check it out: We just turned the page on a new year, and a new month – and a new semester at school.

If you’re currently submitting applications because you want to go back to school… Why not go back to school? Like, now?

January is an EXCELLENT time to sign up for a course.

We’re not saying, “Take a class to help your chances of getting in.”

We do say that a lot. Like, for low GPA peeps and such.

That’s not what this is about.

This is about, what are you going to do with your life?

What will 2022 become for you?

This is about, you’re into this go-back-to-school thing… at least, you’re telling all these bschools that you want to go back to school. You’re claiming that education is important to you. That is, it’s implicit in the fact that you, uh, applied to go get an education. You’ve been focusing on school for like probably at least more than a year, with GMAT and then ugh the essays and finally it’s done. You’ve been broadcasting to the Universe through this series of actions that school is a priority for you, so much so that you’ve wrecked your health and neglected your boy/girlfriend/dog and haven’t seen sleep in a a week.

You want to CHANGE and TRANSFORM and BECOME A BETTER PERSON through the experience of education.

So then, go do it!

Find a local university offering extension courses. Grab one of those flyers you see on the street corner advertising acting classes, or improv. Sign up to learn singing. Or sign language. Or calligraphy.

Or, go for something challenging like Ancient Civilizations. Or Shakespeare. Or Oceanography. Stanford, UCLA, UC Berkeley, NYU, Wharton, MIT and Harvard all have online offerings. Lots more of them too.

Do a Coursera class, or three. Why not?

What else are you going to do with your life?

Once the mad rush of getting those apps in is over, you are going to feel a little bit dazed and confused. You’ll come up for air and not know what to do with yourself. You need a project.

Especially since you’re about to enter the absolute WORST PHASE of the entire MBA admissions experience: THE WAITING.

Ask anyone who’s gone through it: The time from app-submit to interview invites is EXCRUCIATING. Perhaps even worse from there to decisions. You have a whole bunch of weeks stretching out in front of you – a whole semester’s worth, in fact.

Why not make the most of it and apply some of this rambunctious go-get-’em energy into some self-improvement?

Or just something you’ve always been interested in, and toyed with the idea of, but never executed on?

There’s so much fun stuff out in the world.

And guess what? For all of you analytical will-this-help-me-get-in types: What a cool way to impress your interviewer when you’re having a conversation about you and your goals and your interests, and she says, “What do you do for fun?”

And you tell her, “Well, in January I started this class…”