Over the past 10 years, I have seen so many interesting dynamics between supervisors and applicants from technology, military, investment banking, marketing, consulting, and engineering backgrounds. Each interaction I had as part of F1GMAT's Recommendation Letter Editing Service has given me insights into following certain best practices.
Business Schools understand that revealing your MBA plan might not be met with enthusiasm if you were hired with a specific time horizon (contracts) or objective (company goals in the short term) in mind.
Under such circumstances, you are wise to seek letters from your previous supervisor. But there are 4 scenarios where the current supervisor is a better fit:
The strengths recommendation letter question can make or break your admissions. After you have persuaded your supervisor to include relevant examples and highlight qualities that are unique and also important for admissions, make sure that you avoid these 3 mistakes:
1) Cliched narratives
One aspect of the MBA Application that is beyond your control is the recommendation letter.
GMAT/GRE – you can retake and improve the score.
Essays, with the support of Admissions Consultants like me, you can dramatically improve the quality of the narrative. But for managing supervisors who are 3-30 years older than you, it is not a straightforward process.
I have created a 10-step checklist for you
The Wharton MBA program doesn’t ask you for the Common LOR questions – one about constructive feedback and the other about how you stand out from similar well qualified individuals in similar roles.
Wharton Recommendation letter Questions are two:
MIT Sloan MBA program is among the few programs that only asks for 1 recommendation letter. For the novice applicant, this is a relief, but as someone who has edited hundreds of recommendation letters, one recommendation letter instead of 2 makes the drafting and editing even tougher.
Follow these 4 Strategies to build a winning case for your candidacy:
From excuses like I am busy on Saturdays and Sundays to “How can you do this to us (startups)” to “There are strict protocols on submitting recommendation letters from an official email id” to “Write what you want, I will sign it”, the variations of the supervisor who don’t want to play ball come in many forms.
In this recommendation letter tip, I will share a common mistake that applicants make while coordinating recommendation letters from supervisors.
During the recommendation letter coordination process, applicants share the summary of all their projects. Some even share the outline of the essay, and many, against all recommendations, share the actual essay.
In this Recommendation Letter Tips series, I will share the strategies and best practices to initiate the first communication with recommenders.
In today’s MBA admissions advice blog, I will share 2 types of supervisors that can improve your admission chances to top MBA programs by 60 to 70%.
1) Alumni with Excellent Writing Skills
The truth is not in black and white form.
“George can’t resist helping others”
For a September or even a January Deadline, start shortlisting, and persuading the recommender by June. If you have not already pursued your supervisor for the recommendation letter, here is a to-do list.
Although recommendation letter comes fourth in the list of the most important MBA Application elements, guiding a first time recommender can be tricky if the person is not 100% sold on the idea of completing this important task.
You can’t expect the time commitment from a first-time recommender if the person is not a well-wisher. Read 5 Tips for Recommenders
We have seen the otherwise jovial current supervisors turning into monsters while the otherwise nonchalant previous supervisors showing greater enthusiasm for your plans.
When recommenders ask you to rephrase the letter for other schools, you know that you have picked the wrong recommender. Unless, the supervisor mentored you to who you are, it becomes impossible to fight the argument that “they don’t have the time to complete 5 different recommendation letters.”
Learn how to Manage MBA Deadlines: Recommendation Letter
MBA Admissions Officers have hinted that it is all right to give writing guidelines for a recommendation letter, but it would be unethical to review the recommendation letter in the same manner as essays are reviewed both by consultants and by the candidate.
So to what extent should recommendation letter be reviewed by the applicant?
Start with what you are trying to convey through the essays. The recommendation letter should support the values, and principles that you stand for. It should not be tailor-made for your essays though.
MBA recommendation letter tips to keep in mind.
Getting recommendation letter for your business school is more time consuming than you think. Many factors will play into it.