There’s this unfortunate term that academia and the business world used to use, when a married couple decides to move to a new place so that one of the members of the couple can pursue an opportunity. This term is “the trailing spouse” (or “trailing partner”) and it’s meant to depict the person who has […]
Continue reading...($) How to mention a personal or “convenience factor” reason for choosing a school
There are gobs of reasons why you might have fallen in love with School X. Unfortunately, School X has heard all of them before. Some admissions consultants even spoonfeed their clients on what to say as a reason. That means that there are oodles of applicants citing the same things all the time. So how […]
Continue reading...($) Real-life business school dilemmas: Applying with a differently-qualified partner
Years ago, a favorite essay question among many of the top bschools was to ask you about an ethical dilemma you’ve faced. That type of question still can come up in interviews. What we’ve got today is not so much an ethical dilemma as a relationship dilemma. It’s about applying to bschool with a partner. […]
Continue reading...($) Applying for an MBA with a partner
Are you and your (spouse/boyfriend/girlfriend/fiance/enby partner) applying to business school together? This has become more and more common over the past few years, and it can get infinitely more complicated when there are TWO profiles to consider. Premium content starts here… ———– ———– Premium content ends. Continue reading......
Success Story! Why you’re going through all of this stress and upheaval in your life
Regardless of how far along you are right now and if you’ve felt the suffering involved with the many steps of applying, be it GMAT or GRE, or looking through painful evidence of poor academics in the form of those college transcripts, or thinking through who you’re going to approach for the difficult task of […]
Continue reading...What the adcoms say is not necessarily what the applicant hears (and more about partners).
We were talking about partners applying together recently and figured we’d take the opportunity to issue a reminder: What the schools say, and what you may be hearing, are often very different things. Frequently the admissions directors are asked about this topic in info sessions, and what they will usually do is play to their […]
Continue reading...($) “If you are applying with your partner, each file is assessed independently.”
That is the statement on the Kellogg website . And it’s what the admissions directors at many other schools have told us for years. Yet we often get BSers who believe that if their GMAT score is super high, and they indicate on their application that they’re applying with their spouse or boy/girlfriend whose GMAT […]
Continue reading...($) Is your target bschool partner-friendly?
Apparently this is Partners & Families Week on the EssaySnark blahg! One more post on the topic today and we’ll move on to other topics. Several years ago, an academic book on the state of graduate business education called Disrupt or Be Disrupted quoted a researcher on the impact of a student going to business...
Being a parent while attending business school
We spoke yesterday about applying to bschool with a partner. What if you already have a family, or have plans to start one? Or what if you’re going to bschool as a single mom? (or dad – but we’ve never actually heard of a father who’s the custodial parent and is doing the MBA thing; […]
Continue reading...($) International students and significant others (Part 2) – includes breakdown of U.S. visa options
CONGRATULATIONS! You made it into an American business school! But oh wait… What about your significant other????? Here is Part 2 of advice from the trenches, coming from an international BSer who was accepted to a great MBA program last season and then had all sorts of complications to tend to – including how to...