We’ve been getting lots of updates about interview invitations (yay!) and so we’re bummed to have to make this announcement, but unfortunately our service provider that runs our fancy schmancy automated interview prep service is pulling the plug on their architecture. We are not in a position to port the functionality to some other provider, and so we’re choosing to shut the puppy down completely. 🙁 The Automated Interview Prep will be available through the end of this month (October 2018) and then it’s going away.

This affects only this one service — Automated Interview Prep — which is a service where you call in and go through your interview via personalized teleprompts, you know, the voice-activated kind. The interview is recorded and then you get an assessment from EssaySnark on how you did. We’ll continue to offer the also-popular Customized MBA Interview Prep Questions which gives you a full list of questions specific to your actual profile and app with which to prepare. Those customized questions are usually best for those doing an open interview with HBS, MIT, NYU or LBS but BSers interviewing at other schools who interview blind might also find it useful.

We’ve always been proud of this little techie thingamajig interview prep service that we offered and it’s too bad that it’s going away. If you want to get a personalized review of how you perform with both content of interview answers and delivery, then grab this service while you can AW SNAP TOO LATE 🙁

Way back a looooooong time ago, in January….

What, that doesn’t seem like a long time ago? IT DOES TO US! The way things are happening in this world with the adrenaline news cycle and everything hitting all at the same time puts EssaySnark into a whirl. So much going on!

Anyway, back in January, we posted this: CLASS OF 2021 CANDIDATES: EVERYBODY GETS IN

That post was a teaser about a new program we’ve had in the works, a do whatever it takes type initiative to pull out all of the stops and make sure that you Brave Supplicants are fully empowered to tackle this big project of getting accepted to a great MBA program. As we said in that announcement, the mantra for 2018 is EVERYBODY GETS IN. MBA admissions has gotten even more competitive than it ever was before and this new program will give you the tools that you need.

And then we proceeded to post…. nothing.

We got several inquiries about the program (thank you to those who are interested!) and we got all of our ideas mapped out for what this program will be about.

But we kept facing pushback.

These are the issues:

1. Anyone applying to business school this year will be RIDICULOUSLY BUSY with the project of applying to business school — and our new program actually sits outside of that. This program is about mindset and tools for success, ways to be more effective when you’re tackling your dreams, how to prioritize, ways to dig into your psyche and learn about the internal obstacles holding you back from ever greater success…

Well guess what? Ain’t nobody got time for that! You folks are gonna be WRITING ESSAYS! This type of empowerment talk might be totally fascinating and fun, and yes, practical when you get down to it, but there’s also a lot of explaining and philosophizing that would need to be done, to lay the appropriate groundwork for all of these ideals to be manifest. The more we discuss these ideas here in Snarkville the more we’re convinced that the timing and the forum are not right for it.

2. We already offer hints and whiffs of this type of thinking, sprinkled around the blahg like cherries on ice cream (or sometimes it’s the pits, depends on your perspective). We know that many of you are attracted to the ‘Snark in the first place because of a) the real-world / no-nonsense advice on MBA admissions, and just as much b) the life advice and overall philosophy that we insert along the way. Stuff like our discussions of ethics and values and all that.

Having a dedicated program that goes deeper on these topics of Life with a capital L is of interest to many of you, we know. BUT!!! Again, it seems like it’s straying a bit far from the focus of the blahg.

3. We don’t want to make things more complicated! We’ve already got a gazillion products available and have recently started to simplify the offerings. Adding one more does not seem right at this time.

So what we’re going to do is distill down for you what those tentpole topics are that we feel are utterly important in GETTING STUFF DONE, both on a micro scale around this phase of life where you’re embarking on CHANGE in career and big transitions and going after major goals, and also on a macro scale in terms of “Aaargh life is difficult please how do I do it successfully?!?” which we know that many people face on the daily — especially at a time of big transition!

There are many major Life questions that come up around the interest in getting an MBA, including all that jazz around “What do I do with my life” and “Is this the right step?”

Sometimes people flock to bschool because they just don’t know what else to do. It’s not like we’re born with an instruction manual!

It can take years to figure out how to navigate this world successfully for yourself — not based on what others claim is the “right” thing to do. And definitely we’re not interested in dictating paths to anyone.

If you recall back to the beginning of this post, it is titled Everybody gets in!

The whole inspiration originally was to create a success network for motivated BSers to embrace these principles, to support them to find their purpose and to vanquish the evil of procrastination through the MBA application cycle.

We are still toying with this idea! And we have much to say on these topics, both related to the MBA app and outside of it, on the grander scale around your impetus to change and why you’re seeking out higher education and the transformation that bschool promises in the first place. But we’re also nervous about adding to your workload and, err, giving you earnest BSers more tools to procrastinate with! So, thinking is still underway on what form this would take and how it would work. We’ve got the content, we are just figuring out the right way to offer it and truly support you.

 
If you’re eager to simply GET STARTED on your MBA apps, well, we’ve got oodles of tools already available for that! Very down-to-earth and practical ones. You can check those out in our MBA Consulting Services menu!!