finance

($) Applying where the scholarships are (wherein we talk up Ross, Cornell, Darden, and others)

April 22, 2019 by EssaySnark - Discusses Cornell Johnson, Darden, Michigan Ross

We’re not exactly advocating this as an actual strategy for selecting your MBA programs to target. But it’s something to consider! It’s certainly more practical and intelligent (yes we said it) than using rankings as the priority tool to choose where to apply. If a top MBA program has a special scholarship fund earmarked only...

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($) How does venture capital actually work? (Or, how much do you know?)

June 15, 2018 by EssaySnark

If you’re trying to break into VC, mostly we would discourage you. There’s just not that many post-MBA jobs available, and most people who claim that that’s what they want to do after bschool have stars in their eyes and unrealistic expectations. Many of them don’t even know what’s involved. We’ve tried to shed some...

($) How to break out of the pack

June 23, 2017 by EssaySnark

We get the lament all the time: “There’s too many guys like me applying.” Here was our first reaction to this stated quite some awhile ago (worth reading still). We’ll offer some more today. The best advice we can give you is, don’t worry about it. What we mean by that is, don’t worry about...

($) What if you never took the GMAT? Are you at a disadvantage if you go to bschool with a GRE score instead?

May 15, 2017 by EssaySnark

This is a follow-on to some previous GRE vs GMAT posts. In case you missed those: GMAT vs GRE strategy questions: Which to take for an MBA? “I took the GMAT. If I take the GRE now, do I still have to submit the GMAT score in my MBA app?” This question isn’t about admissions...

($) “bonkers” Part 2 (can an Engineer really switch over to Finance?)

March 20, 2017 by EssaySnark

This is the second chunk of our recent plea for help and EssaySnark’s reaction to a Brave Supplicant’s worries about trying to transition from engineering to finance: My question is: I really have to get this MBA to enhance my career growth now. With my [specialty deleted] background, what is the most advisable path for...

Guest Post! What Kind of Life Do You Want?

June 5, 2015 by EssaySnark Leave a Comment

Continuing the awesomeness that is our series from the trenches – Advice From Those Who’ve Gone Before – we now have a second post from the 6-month-out MBA grad who started us off with Making the Most Out of Business School. What Kind of Life Do You Want? “Relax and rest up before school starts,” […]

($) essay critique: Columbia essay 1 (background and goals) for finance candidate

November 20, 2014 by EssaySnark - Discusses Columbia

This BSer asked for a freebie review of this essay last year – and we didn’t do it for him then. One reason was that he emailed it in to the team, when we have explicit instructions on the site for how to submit requests for review. An inability to follow directions does not endear...

The problem with being a yes-man.

June 23, 2014 by EssaySnark - Discusses Berkeley Haas Leave a Comment

Bschools’ admissions essays are designed to solicit information about you, the candidate. They’re also strong signaling devices about the school. When a school like UC-Berkeley Haas asks you to keep in mind their four Defining Principles when you craft your answers, that gives you a clear indication of what’s important to them and what they’ll […]

($) So you want to be a venture capitalist

November 22, 2013 by EssaySnark

That phrase always makes us stop; we can’t help but read it as “vulture capitalist.” Just a weird trick our mind plays on us. The VCs we know are not like that (generally speaking). Maybe we should’ve titled this post, “So you wanna be a VC?” But we couldn’t do that. Because that tone of...

($) The CFA and the MBA: The one caveat (and the most common mistake for finance candidates)

June 19, 2013 by EssaySnark - Discusses Columbia, Chicago Booth, Wharton

We talked recently about how, and whether, the CFA affects your chances of getting into a good MBA program. There’s one small concern that we sometimes have when we see the CFA on the resume. For a school that gets a gazillion application from finance dudes (and a smattering from chicks – let’s face it,...