EssaySnark

  • about
  • contact
  • help
  • sign up
  • login
CLICK FOR MORE!
  • Essay Questions
    • Harvard
    • Stanford
    • Wharton
    • Chicago Booth
    • Kellogg
    • MIT Sloan
    • Tuck
    • NYU Stern
    • Columbia
    • Yale SOM
    • Berkeley Haas
    • UVA Darden
    • Duke Fuqua
    • Michigan Ross
    • UCLA Anderson
    • Cornell
  • Strategy Guides
    • MBA Interviewing Guide
    • Getting Off the Waitlist
    • Applying in Round 3 mini-guide
    • Applying to European Business Schools
    • School-Specific MBA Application Guides
      • Columbia 2020 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Harvard 2020 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Kellogg 2020 MBA Strategy Guide
      • MIT Sloan 2020 MBA Strategy Guide
      • Chicago Booth 2020 MBA Strategy Guide
      • *MORE SCHOOL-SPECIFIC GUIDES HERE*
  • MBA Consulting
    • Free essay reviews
    • What stage are you in?
    • Military MBA
    • BIPOC Program
    • Testimonials & Reviews
    • Guest Posts
  • My SnarkCenter
    • My Strategy Guides
    • My Favorite Posts
    • Discounts & Offers

More “wow the world in 2020 omg” and also bschools are changing and that gives us hope

September 21, 2020 by EssaySnark - Discusses Harvard, Wharton, MIT Sloan Leave a Comment

It’s safe to say that we are in the midst of massive change in our world.

The death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg on Friday only reinforces that reality — the reality that EVERYTHING is being reshaped and reformed.

That’s why everyone is so stressed out right now — that, and the massive uncertainty, where we just don’t know what’s going to happen next.

Historians are going to be unlikely to capture what this moment really is like. Yes there has been tremendous upheaval in the past. Yes there have been major wars and other pandemics and economic depressions that affected everyone. Yet when you read about those in the history books when you were in gradeschool, you probably came away with literally zero understanding of what the experience was like for the people who lived through it. Even talking to your grandparents about their lives in a war likely didn’t really impart upon you what it felt like.

Anyway, this is a getting-into-bschool blahg so let’s bring it back around to focus on that:

The schools are doing admissions differently now too.

We told you last week that MIT Sloan is not requiring a test for applying to their MBA program now. We’ve updated our MIT Sloan SnarkStrategies Guide to offer a full discussion of the implications of this for you, because there are a lot of moving parts to it. We mentioned in that post about how MIT is “changing the game” that standardized admissions tests reinforce an unfair system of privilege, and we don’t have direct confirmation that that’s what’s underlying the change at Sloan. It’s not that they are seeking to fix the system of racial and socioeconomic inequity with this change. It may be a byproduct, rather than a driver. And, how it actually plays out in their admissions decisions is a total unknown (though again, our MIT Strategy Guide goes into the possibilities and how your own decisions should be made on what to share with the adcom in your application).

That’s not all that’s changing.

With the arrival of Dean James at Wharton, things were already going to change there just by nature of the extreme difference in leadership that she represents compared to their status-quo dean who’s now left — and then all these other events of the world have made schools take stock and re-examine. We already know that next year’s application requirements at Wharton will be different. The current Class of 2023 requirements including essay questions had already been announced and they apparently opted not to tinker with things, and instead take a measured approach to looking at things like essay prompts next season.

For this season, we are betting that their previous priorities in how they evaluated candidates based on their measures of quality are changing behind the scenes even if they’re not going to advertise that publicly. For this reason, we are encouraging more candidates to try for Wharton because there is a high likelihood that Wharton admissions will be looking at app data with fresh eyes this year. In the past, GMAT and GPA were given a massive precedence there. It’s still likely they will end up with high GMAT and GPA averages when the Class of 2023 is announced, but we also suspect that there will be a different sort of class makeup overall.

It all remains to be seen.

The other change is greater transparency — there are new standards for what data schools will publish in their class profiles — though the schools could still be doing more, specifically around reporting how many applications they got from a) women, and b) underrepresented minorities. Now, schools like Harvard and hopefully all others are reporting race/ethnicity at a greater granularity than they have done before, including this data from Harvard’s Class of 2022 :

HBS Class of 2022-Profile: race/ethnicity of US students

Still, it’s progress.

Bureaucracies are hard to change.

Systems are hard to change.

And yet: When everything changes… that means there’s an opening. We’re currently in a moment of re-examination, of HAVING to adapt, of questioning how things have been done.

Are you going to double down on what has been in the past?

Or are you someone who’s finding ways to be open to the changes and let life take us to a new place entirely?

Are you SEEKING OUT ways to do it differently now?

It’s hard to have that type of bravery, when it seems everything is unstable and anxiety levels keep rising with no outlet.

This post is to recognize that things are scary, and change is hard, and most of us don’t like this level of upheaval at all.

We’re going to be watching schools like Harvard who will be soon announcing their plans to invite Round 1 applicants to interview. We expect them to be issuing higher numbers of invitations this year though most schools have not actually shared numbers like that publicly. Maybe this year Harvard will choose to do so they provide the date(s) that invites will go out.

Side note in case you want to understand how Harvard does interviews, here’s how it’s worked in the recent past; it’s impossible to say yet if they’re going to do it exactly that way this year, though we do expect them to try to make it a one-and-done, where on one single day, EVERYONE who applied in Round 1 will either be invited, or released, or put in the limbo state of “Further Consideration” which is tough but also positive.

Since Harvard’s admissions team is not having to travel the world this year, that frees up many extra days within the calendar that perhaps they’ll devote to interviewing instead. Which means that they would have the resources to interview more folks. EssaySnark is holding out hope that they, and all of their elite-school admissions peers, are looking for ways to be more inclusive and open in their admissions processes. So far we have seen that happening.

We will be watching and waiting for how it plays out in actual admit decisions and what the classes of future MBA students shape up to be.

The world is changing. Please, admissions teams, please lead the change that you profess all your schools stand for.

 

Filed Under: school reviews & insights, the world Bschools: Harvard, Wharton, MIT Sloan

« Previous: ($) Storytime
Next: ($) Timing of interview invitations »

So who the heck is EssaySnark, anyway?!

We're the snarky experts in MBA admissions!

Sometimes amused and often appalled by what candidates write in their MBA applications to top bschools, EssaySnark created this little blahg to share common mistakes. Learn from them and avoid making admissions directors laugh (or want to hurl) when they read your essays. If you are hoping to have your essay reviewed anonymously on the blahg for free, submit it for consideration.

Want EssaySnark's personal assistance with your MBA applications? Start with our menu of consulting services and please read the Help FAQ to learn how we operate. Still have questions after doing all that? Email Team EssaySnark at gethelpnow at essaysnark dot com.

Good luck on your apps, Brave Supplicant!

Tell us what you think. Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sign up for the 'Snark via email

Enter your address to get weekday blahg posts by email.

UPCOMING MBA APP DEADLINES

  • INSEAD Jan '22 Intake Rd 2
    in 0 weeks, 4 days, 16 hours
  • (expected) HBS Class of 2024 app requirements released
    in 2 weeks, 3 days, 17 hours
  • Columbia Class of 2023 final deadline - EXTENDED!!!!
    in 1 month, 1 week, 5 days, 21 hours
  • INSEAD Jan '22 Intake Rd 3
    in 1 month, 4 weeks, 1 day, 16 hours
  • (expected) Columbia J-Term/ED app to open
    in 1 month, 4 weeks, 1 day, 17 hours
   
From a BSer January 2020:
"love the guide books!"


CLASS OF 2023 MBA APPLICATION STRATEGY GUIDES

     
    The 2020 Berkeley-Haas MBA Application Guide - updated for the Class of 2023 application!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Berkeley Haas - refreshed and updated, with brainstorming exercises and structured maps to help you focus your stories!
   
    The 2020-2021 NYU Stern MBA Application Guide that covers the main essay, the EQ Endorsement and Pick Six!
SnarkStrategies Guide for NYU - discusses your requirements for the Class of 2023 essays!
   
    The 2020-2021 Columbia MBA Application Guide
SnarkStrategies Guide for Columbia Business School for 2020-2021 applications
   
    The 2020 Harvard MBA Application Guide - completely overhauled and updated for the coronavirus era!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Harvard Business School!
   
    The 2020-2021 Duke Essay Guide - covers the 25 Random Things essay and all the rest too!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Duke Fuqua - up to date for the current season!
   
    The 2020-2021 MIT Essay Guide covers the org chart, the contacts for two references, and additional tips for the cover letter and 'introduce yourself' video -- and everything else you need to know!
SnarkStrategies Guide for MIT Sloan MBA - totally revised for the Class of 2023!
   
    The 2020-2021 Tuck Essay Guide has been refreshed with latest insights and advice for your essays about "investing generously" and "why Tuck"!
SnarkStrategies Guide for the Dartmouth Tuck MBA - completely overhauled for 2020, to help you demonstrate how you are nice, aware, etc stuff!
   
    The Yale SOM MBA Application Guide for Class of 2023 candidates!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Yale SOM - updated for 2020-2021
   
    The 2020-2021 Chicago Booth MBA Application Guide - ready to go to support your Class of 2023 essay strategy!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Chicago Booth for this year's MBA app!
   
    The 2020 Wharton MBA Application Guide - even more advice on how to get to a win with those essays!
SnarkStrategies Guide for The Wharton School - with new tips for 2020!
   
    The 2020 Kellogg Essay Guide - with a full methodology to identify your 'lasting impact' and your 'values' -- plus tips on 2020 world events and applicability to your essays!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Kellogg MBA - updated and revised for the new realities of 2020!    
      The 2020 Stanford MBA Application Guide - for "what matters most" in your MBA application!
SnarkStrategies Guide for Stanford GSB for the Class of 2023
   
    The 2020-2021 UCLA Anderson MBA Application Guide - updated for Class of 2023 on "impact"!
SnarkStrategies Guide for 
UCLA
   
   

Brave Supplicants' latest reviews on The 'Snark


Feb 11, 2021
by hopeful on MBA Interview Prep: Custom Practice Questions
Helpful

Just wanted to say thank you for these questions! A lot of them were really tailored to my profile, ... Read more

Apr 10, 2020
by George on EssaySnark
Great Starting Point

I thought getting over the GRE/GMAT hurdle was fairly straightforward--disciplined study then test execution... Read more

Apr 10, 2020
by George on Single Shot Express MBA Essay Review
Worth Every Penny

I used the Single Shot Express to decimate essay #1 at my first-choice school. Paired with the school... Read more






Not sure where to begin with EssaySnark?
Our Snark Selector
will tell you!



What were we snarking about at this time in past years?

  • 2020: This is why tuition at top schools shouldn't be reduced
  • 2019: The secret to how to get into HBS
  • 2019: ($) Canceling your GMAT score is a bad idea (plus, how many schools should you apply to?)
  • 2018: ($) Deciding between the U.S. and a good school at home
  • 2018: Our quasi-annual predictions on the coming MBA application season
  • 2017: International student headed to the US for school? DO NOT BREAK THE LAW.
  • 2017: ($) The reality of GMAT scores and top schools. Featuring Darden.
  • 2016: The other likely driver of increased MBA app volumes
  • 2016: Really, Columbia?
  • 2014: Apparently we’re giving free services to assholes.
My Tweets

See the Top U.S. Business Schools on a Map!


EssaySnark is currently available! We're accepting new clients! Standard turnarounds apply. If you're in a hurry, Speedy Review is available!

EssaySnark® is a registered trademark. All content copyright © 2010–2021 Snarkolicious Press · Privacy Policy

Where should you start with EssaySnark?

Which EssaySnark service is right for you? Answer a few questions to find out!

This field must be set to Everyone - then in the Settings -> HTML -> After Fields screen there's JavaScript to hide it.
Sending