Figuring out your short-list of schools can be challenging. We have been giving different angles and insights into various schools over the past few weeks, including our discussion of MBA programs through the lens of their responsiveness to coronavirus in Spring 2020.
Hmmm. Lots of questions, aren’t there. Yet these questions can be helpful in your process of triangulating onto some answers of “which schools should I apply to?!?”
As with many things in this process, one very helpful guide is to understand your own core values.
You’re choosing not just a place to earn three letters that go after your name.
You’re choosing the place where you will transform into a very different person.
Yes you’ll gain skills. Loads of them.
Yes you’ll make connections. Maybe even the new best friends who you care for going forward to the rest of your life.
Yes you’ll come out with a new job, or maybe starting a new company. Huzzah!!
But the most important benefit of going back to school as an adult is that it’s an opportunity for transformation.
In order to maximize that opportunity, it’s so important to know which school matches the things that you value.
Figuring out the side of YOU first is key. Since you’re reading the EssaySnark blahg, then that tells us you’re interested in becoming a better person. Because otherwise, you woulda clicked offa this site a long time ago, given how much we talk about these bigger themes and priorities.
Obviously the more we talk up a school, the more applications that school will get, and the more difficult it will be to get an acceptance there. However, it will not be more difficult for those candidates who express themselves effectively in their essays for WHY they belong in that place.
Therefore, understanding how these schools operate is can be helpful. What the school does publicly is a window into the way the school is run, and the people running it. It tells you about their values.
But knowing YOUR OWN criteria is really the first step. And for many people, they need to dig to discover the things that they themselves care about, before those values are known. You may find that someone needs to mention, “I care about XYZ in a school” before you realize that you also think that’s important.
Do you want to see what one Brave Supplicant’s research notes ended up looking like?
Premium content starts here…
———–
If this seems overwhelming — or our values-based approach seems a bit abstract or hard to grasp — no worries, Brave Supplicant: We have plenty (plenty!) of very concrete services to assist you in every stage of your process of applying.
The Essay Decimator Essay Review service is one of the best — you’ll get actionable feedback on the drafts that you write, with your profile top of mind, targeted towards exactly what that specific business school cares about.
Or if you’re still figuring out your short list, and you want our take on the “which schools?!?” question — and everything else about your opportunity! — where we can leverage our many years of experience in understanding candidates just like you based on fit to particular programs, considering the full spectrum of your specific situation, priorities, preferences, strengths and weaknesses in mind – our Comprehensive Profile Review delivers.
Tell us what you think.