A few weeks ago, we got this very helpful note from a current MBA student at a very good school. We’re posting it with permission here.
Hi there essaysnark,
Just a note from a first-year MBA student that you might want to pass along to readers: please SHOW UP for events that you register for!Last night several of my classmates and I made time in our busy schedules for an informal coffee chat with prospective students. We were happy to make time for it, given that we love talking about our school and MBA students and applicants tend to be a fun and social bunch. However, we were really disappointed that only about half of the people who were registered to attend actually showed up. This was especially disappointing given that the event had a long wait list of applicants who we had to turn away.
I’m not on the admissions committee, and don’t know how they make their decisions, but they do get a list of those that registered and those that show up to these events. Being a no-show can’t be a good thing when the admissions committee is deciding who makes the cut. As an MBA student, I can tell you that showing up to things you signed up for is SUPER important. If I were to sign up for an employer presentation or company trek and not show up, it not only makes the school look bad but I personally could be banned from attending future events.
[comment about their school redacted for anonymity]Thanks, and Happy Holidays!!
[name redacted] MBA Candidate 2014
[school redacted]
As you can see from the “Happy Holidays!” sign-off, we’ve been sitting on this one for awhile. And we had it all queued up to post this week when, lo and behold, we came across this from one of our very favorite admissions directors, Sara Neher at The Darden School:
Basically people, we’re talking about good manners.
And while we’re on the topic, something else in this category that personally irks the ‘Snark? People who don’t say ‘thank you.’ We often offer freebie one-on-one advice in a variety of forums and formats and it’s annoying how often the person receiving the help never even acknowledges that it was received. Just a simple two-word reply back would suffice: “Got it!” That works whether you agree with whatever we offered or not. We’re not looking for compliments. You don’t have to fawn over us. But frequently our emails go into the Black Hole of the BSer and we wonder if the person dropped off the face of the planet in between the time they sent their question and the time it took us to reply to them. (Granted, sometimes it does take us longer than it should to send those replies… mea culpa on us.)
Gosh. Now we’re sounding like old fogeys in a rocking chair: “Kids these days.” [creak creak] “They got no manners.” [creak creak creak]
Tell us what you think.