All MBA Application Related Tips

In the US, the immigrant population is still driving most of the startups in Silicon Valley. From an admissions perspective, schools must maintain diversity in nationality. The competition is between Permanent Residents vs. H1B visa holders, vs. International Entrepreneurs or startup candidates. And quite often, schools prefer those already in the US over someone from another country.

International entrepreneurial applicants and candidates with extensive startup experience understand this preference. They try to differentiate themselves and quite often make these two mistakes:

Storytelling is an outline of your relationship with time, world, future, and yourself. 

The inner conflict between your ego and the challenge put forward by the outside world is similar to the turmoil that the reviewers go through on a daily basis while reviewing your essays or pondering over their future. 

When the story is about your life journey, the essay should demonstrate why you are interesting. Focus on 5 Strategies:

1. Differentiate Just Enough

In a slow job market where competition for top MBA programs increase, applicants from the technology, finance, and consulting industries must bring their A game to demonstrate uniqueness. 

Before you draft an essay or prepare for your interview, understand what is considered unique in MBA Admissions:

If “We”, a word used sparsely during questions about success, is frequently used when the topic is about Failures, the blame game has already started.  

Before you draft an essay or a script for the failure narrative in interviews, understand:

1) Question the Status Quo