Wait Listed – Now what?

A number of schools released their decisions this week and I’ll be writing a couple of posts on what these decisions mean. The one that needs attention most is the wait list decision. Here below I’m re-posting an article that I posted a year ago. The wait list situation is an unsettling and confusing one so I hope this post helps clarify some of the anxiety surrounding wait lists:

When people apply to schools, they typically expect one of two fates: acceptance or rejection. They pray for the best and fantasize all the good imageries associated with becoming a part of their dream school’s entering class. On the other hand, most realistic people also brace themselves for the worst, and try to prepare themselves emotionally for the potential disappointment.

And then the decision arrives – and you are told you are wait listed. The admissions committee tells you that they recognize your “strong achievements” and that they remain “sincerely interested” in your candidacy but they cannot offer you a seat just yet. What does this all mean, and what can you do?

First of all, what it means to be wait listed

As someone who has both experienced the torture of being wait listed and monitored wait lists at Harvard, I can tell you a lot from experience.

When an admissions committee puts an applicant on the wait list, this is what they are saying: “You are great. We like you. You have most or even all of the things that we are looking for in a candidate. However, we don’t have the space to take everyone that we like, and some applicants are a little stronger and/or fit our current needs more. At the same time, we don’t want to lose you. Now, we have made XXX number of offers, and not everyone is going to accept our offer. Therefore, if any spaces open up, we will consider you once again.”

If you’re an MBA applicant applying in an early round, this could also be translated into “We think you are great, but we also want to see what else is out there. So we will review your application again with the next round of applicants.” Try to think of this in a positive light; instead of being rejected, you’re instead given two (or more, if you get wait listed again) chances at admission in one season.

Secondly, how does the wait list work?

Common questions with regard to the wait list include:

• How many people are on the wait list?
• Is the wait list ranked?
• Is there any guarantee I will be offered a seat off the wait list?

The answers are typically 1) it depends on the school; 2) no; 3) no.

Let me talk about the latter two points.

Admissions committees will almost always tell you that the wait list is not ranked. However, in my experience, it would be lying to say that there aren’t some people closer to the top of the wait list than others. Quality is one criterion while other factors will be those beyond your control. Admissions offices at MBA programs admit to using the 3^rd round as a time to “round out” their classes and to look at balance in terms of diversity (e.g., Do they need more people from a particular racial group, geographic region, career field?). The wait list is another such time.

As for whether or not you will come off the wait list, and when, there really is no guarantee at all and the admissions officers are being completely honest with you when they say “I don’t know.” I once worked with a client who got off the wait list 2 weeks before school orientation started!

At the beginning of each season, admissions directors make their projected yields; that is, how many offers they need to make in order to yield their ideal class size. Let’s say that ABC University has 400 seats in its first year class. Traditionally, 55% of their admitted candidates take the offer, while the other 45% choose to attend another school. Thus, ABC University will admit 580 applicants in anticipation that 45% of those applicants will turn down their offers. If more than 45% of the admitted applicants choose to go somewhere else, that is the time that ABC University will go to their wait list.

Finally, what can you do?

There are a number of things you can do if you are wait listed:

1. The most important thing you can do is follow the school’s instructions. I believe that the majority of schools welcome communication and updates from wait listed applicants. However, there are also some schools like Harvard Business School that firmly ask applicants to do nothing. It is imperative to follow the school’s instructions because 1) you want to show them that you can follow directions and 2) you do not want to annoy them at any cost.
2. If you are wait listed at a school that does welcome you to update your application, then you may submit a short note or essay that describes anything new and noteworthy that you would like to add to your application. This includes information about a promotion, new responsibilities, new awards, new coursework/grades, and stronger test scores. If you’ve since visited the campus, that is definitely worth mentioning as well.
3. Send another recommendation. Assuming your school does not tell you not to send in additional recommendations, you may consider adding another letter if you believe the new perspective will add value to your application. Related to this, you may also consider having an alum or current student send in a “push” letter for you, confirming your strengths as a candidate, your fit with the school, and your commitment to attending the school.
4. Stay in touch with the school. This point is critical. A major factor that influences a school’s decision to admit someone off the waitlist is his/her level of interest in the school. By the time the admissions committee gets to the wait list, they want to only take people who they know will come if made an offer. They are running out of time so they do not want to make offers to people who need time to decide. Therefore, if you are wait listed by a school that says it is okay to communicate with them, then stay in touch periodically (i.e., sending a quick note telling them you are still interested in remaining on the wait list). By this I mean perhaps once every 4-6 weeks perhaps (you’ll need to use your judgment) or at key decision times, like the two weeks preceding their next decision round (if this is an MBA program). It is equally important to not annoy the admissions staff; do not call or email every week or demand a meeting with the admissions staff or they will start worrying if you will be this anxious and high-maintenance once you are a student there.
5. Analyze your weaknesses. What in your application needed improvement? Could you retake the TOEFL, GMAT or GRE? Do your English skills need improvement? Were your achievements on the weak side? As much as possible, try to tackle these weaknesses and show the admissions committee that you have made improvements since you submitted the application. I sometimes work with clients who insist on writing short essays every month showing their passion for the school, but they do nothing to improve their test scores, which is the very reason they were put on the waitlist. You do not need to overly reassure the admissions committee of your strengths; you need to reassure them that you can overcome the weaknesses (if any) that made them hesitate to admit you in the first place.
6. Continue on with your plans, and your life. Do not put your life on hold for the school that wait lists you. Statistically speaking, your chances of getting admitted off any wait list is small (and the more competitive the school, the smaller the chances). The safest thing to do is to continue with your plans to attend one of the schools to which you have been admitted. If you do get an offer from the school where you are wait listed, then at that point you can change your plans. It is a torturous position to place an applicant, but the best protection for yourself is to move forward with your plans.
7. Release your spot if you are no longer interested in waiting. Many candidates prefer not to wait, and begin to lose interest over time. In this case, as a courtesy, let the school know you are no longer interested. This frees up the wait list so that someone else who really wants to attend can have a better chance of getting in.

Essay Writing: Make it about YOU

Having now gone through another 3/4 of a season analyzing and assessing essays, I’m going to talk about one of the most common issues I see: the generic essay.

Does this sound familiar?

“As a consultant, I’ve been focusing on strategizing solutions and advising clients in order to help them meet their management goals.”

If you’re a consultant it should definitely sound familiar, because it is your job description! It’s your job description whether you’re at McKinsey, BCG, or Bain & Company (etc.) and whether you’re in New York, Mumbai or Buenos Aires (etc.). In fact, that description may sound familiar even if you’re not in consulting. Take out “consultant” and substitute your career and the sentence could still make perfect sense. It is similar to a cashier saying, “I am a cashier and I focus on helping customers check their items out of the store.” Admissions committees know what consultants (and investment bankers and salespeople…) do. But what can you tell them about what you have done, about what you have contributed?

Avoid the generic sentence that tells the admissions committee nothing about you. Your goal, with each sentence that you write, is to give the admissions committee an additional morsel of information or insight about who you are as a person – what you have done, what you hope to learn, what you value. If two or three sentences go by and the reader still doesn’t know anything further about you, then you are not effectively using the space given in the essay.

Another place where I see similar genericness is in the “Why XYZ School” section of the goals essay. Here is an example:

“Your global leadership program will teach me all the fundamentals about leading in global settings, exposing me to various ideas and perspectives about leadership in international business.”

It is like saying,

“Your cake baking class will allow me to learn about all the various aspects of how to bake a cake, turning batter into a cake through the method of baking.” 

Instead of re-describing to the admissions committee what their resources are all about, explain how they will allow you to get the specific knowledge, skills and experiences you are looking for. Why, specifically, do you want to study international leadership? Are you hoping to work in the international division of a company after your degree? Do you currently lack international experience, or are you hoping to build upon what you already have? What specific knowledge – market entry, human resource management, strategy, etc. – do you need in order to achieve your goals? 

If you find that any of your text can be written by any other applicant, then you know you are being too general. With each essay you have limited space in which to tell your story; make sure you are telling yours, not that of 500 other applicants.

Early November Catch-up: MBA Interviews

I’m back, after an extremely intense month of back-to-back R1 deadlines. R1 has been great and we have been receiving a number of interview invitations and even one admission offer already. I’ll soon continue with more essay question analyses but for my first catch-up post I thought I’d talk a bit about interviews.

Interviews

If you were a R1 applicant, you are probably either preparing for your interviews or getting anxious waiting for invitations or both. Each school is different but in general the invitations should start to go out anywhere between 2 weeks after a deadline and the week before the decision notification date. Here are some of my thoughts as someone who had directed the interview program at Harvard Medical School and as someone who has coached MBA applicants through the process.

My friend already received his invitation and I didn’t. Does the timing of when I receive my invitation mean anything?

Generally speaking, I will echo what all the admissions officers are saying: no. I do believe that the order in which committee members read and then make decisions on interview invitations is pretty random. In my experience on the admissions side, staff members would organize the applications, put them into folders, wait for remaining materials to come in, stack the completed applications, and randomly divide them into piles for the various committee readers. One reader might do all his or her reading in one sitting, while another might want to bring them home to read. In this process any number of people could be involved and an admissions office would have to be incredibly organized to maintain any particular order in which invitations go out. If there is anything to be gleaned from my little observation, it would be that the sooner you submit your application, the sooner your file would be set up, and the sooner it will go to committee to be read.

Having said that, you can also imagine that some applicants just jump off the page and that it would take all of 2 seconds for the committee to decide “Invite her!” There might be others that the admissions committee may want to think about and discuss some more.

In sum, I’d say that the process is systematic, random and human all at the same time. But don’t give up hope until the very end. I worked with someone once who did not receive an invitation from Wharton until literally the last day the invitations were going out. And he eventually got accepted, but he turned down the offer to go to Stanford instead.

 How can I best prepare for my interviews?

It goes without saying that you need actual practice to get ready, and this holds true whether you’re a native English speaker or an international applicant who has never experienced a western style interview.

Before I offer any tips, I should first mention what interviewers are looking for: personality, communication ability, and fit. They may also use the interview as a chance to get further information on something they may have questions or concerns about. But in general you don’t need to prove your leadership or work accomplishments any further since you already did this in your applications. The interview is a chance to get to know you better, to find out the things they can’t see from reading your application.

For that reason you need to practice enough to come across as someone poised and confident. You need to demonstrate that you’re a good fit with the program. This means that, for example, if you’re applying to Tuck, Haas and Kellogg that you seem like a person who loves teamwork and working collaboratively. If you’re applying to HBS, you need to show that you’ve got the confidence to thrive in a fast-paced, assertive 100% case-based environment.

Here are areas of content you should be thoroughly familiar with before you start your interview:

• You. You should know yourself thoroughly. What motivates you? What experiences have taught, challenged, frustrated, tested, interested, moved, changed, and impacted you the most? Why? How?
• Your future. What do you see yourself doing in the MBA program? Right after? 5 years after? 10 years after? 20 years after?
• The target school. What programs would you take? What are some classes you will join? What extracurricular activities will you like to participate in? Which students and/or alumni have you spoken with? What are their names? Do you have intelligent questions to ask the interviewer at the end of the interview?
• Your application. What is outstanding? What is unique? What makes you a good fit? What are weaknesses? What can you tell the interviewer to alleviate his/her concerns about your weaknesses? Are there any areas of concern that they should know about?

And here are some ways in which you can prepare:

• Run through sample questions and prepare your responses out loud. Some prep services like www.accepted.com post interview reports of former applicants. Find out their experiences and the questions they were asked. Write down notes, but avoid writing down entire answers. Force yourself to speak spontaneously and DO NOT rely on memorized responses.
• Conduct mock interviews with a professional counselor or other person whom you trust.
• Record your voice. Do you use a lot of fillers like “uh” or “like”?
• Videotape yourself. Do you have any distracting habits like looking away excessively or shaking your leg too much?
• Make a note of things you need to change. Then repeat until you get it right.
• Know exactly how to get to your interview destination. Do a test drive if you are not sure of the location.
• Eat well and rest/sleep well before the interview. Put yourself in the optimal physical condition for high level performance.
• Allow yourself plenty of time to get to your interview. Be prepared for traffic, train breakdowns, etc. I’m currently conducting interviews for my undergraduate alma mater and one of the most annoying things is when an interviewee arrives just in the nick of time or even late (and then doesn’t apologize).

Will my interview make or break my chances of admission?

It could, but it probably won’t. The interview, as they say, is just one piece of the application. However, the stronger you are or the weaker you are, the likelier it is that your performance will have some kind of direct impact on the final decision. Most people do “fine” – they’re nice, they’re pleasant, they’re articulate. This kind of interview will simply confirm an otherwise strong application and neither add nor detract significant value. However, there will be some applicants who will, in the words of one admissions officer I spoke with once, “blow [the interviewer] away” and there will be others who will perform so poorly that they raise new concerns that didn’t exist before.

In my experience, those who performed poorly were those who were too nervous and uncomfortable during an interview and those who couldn’t sound convincing enough as to why they wanted to attend the target school. Both are problems that can be easily remedied with sufficient preparation.

How to Make the Most of an Information Session

Our guest blogger this week is Reve counselor Chelsea. Chelsea is currently pursuing her master’s degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and was formerly a recruiter for a New York-based hedge fund, private equity and technology development company. She holds a B.A. from Williams College. She is writing this week about how to best utilize information sessions. Take it away, Chelsea!

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There are many steps applicants can take to ensure they make the most of a graduate school’s information session, which is an important part of the overall application process. While the following tips are geared towards information sessions given at the school campus, many recommendations can also apply to off campus events.

Before the information session:

· Do your research

Even though the information session itself provides a general overview of the school and its program(s), it is a good idea to do some preliminary research beforehand. For example, you can browse the school’s website and read recent articles in the school’s student newspaper. Not only will this give you an general sense of the school environment and the current issues taking place on campus, it will also help you identify specific areas you’d like to learn more about at the information session. For example, your background research might make you want to learn more about the school’s resources for international students, which is something you can make sure to ask about at the information session.

· Set up additional appointments

Most schools offer campus tours in addition to information sessions. If the school you’re visiting didn’t already provide you with information about taking a tour, you can call the admissions office to inquire about signing up for one. In addition, many admissions offices are able to arrange class visits and student lunches for prospective students. Again, if the admissions office hasn’t already provided you with information about these options, it is a good idea to call the office to see if you can arrange a time to meet with a current student and also to observe a class (ideally a class you might be interested in taking). Meeting with a current student before or after the information session will help you learn the unbiased, “inside scoop” about the school from a student’s perspective. Observing a course will expose you to sample classroom settings and teaching styles at the school.

· Get organized

Be ready to bring paper and pen to the information session so you can take notes on what is said. If you will be visiting many schools over a short period of time, it might also be helpful to bring a camera to take pictures of the campus (including the classrooms, the neighborhood, and some of the housing options). This will help you remember the details of the different schools after all of your visits. Lastly, I personally found it helpful when applying to graduate schools to create a spreadsheet on which I consolidated information about each school. I found this method helpful for comparing and contrasting the different schools as well as for keeping track of the various application deadlines.

· Prepare your “elevator pitch”

An “elevator pitch” is a brief, concise description all about you and your goals. The reason it’s wise to prepare this before the information session is because you might have an opportunity during your visit to speak one-on-one with an admissions representative or a faculty member. If this opportunity arises, you want to be prepared to take full advantage of it and use it as a chance to make an impression on the individuals who might be involved in your application process. Be careful not to sound overly rehearsed! It might be a good idea to do a few “role play” practice sessions with your Reve counselor (your counselor can pretend to be the admissions officer, for example, and ask you questions as though you were just meeting at the information session).

During the information session:

· Observe

The information session is an opportunity for a graduate program to describe and “sell” itself to prospective students. Therefore, it is wise to pay attention to what the school representative emphasizes and what he or she deemphasizes during the session. This will help you discover the school’s strengths and weaknesses. For example, if the presenter repeatedly highlights the program’s academic rigor but fails to mention anything about its career services resources, it may mean that the school is academically quite strong but doesn’t offer much career assistance. In this case, you may want to explicitly inquire about this during the question period. You could also make a note for yourself to stop by the career services office later to investigate or to ask current students their opinion of the school’s career services resources.

· Ask questions

The person hosting the information session will usually leave time for questions at the end. Don’t be afraid to ask questions! This is your chance to learn as much as you can about the school and the program you’re considering, and the school representative is there to answer your questions. Take advantage of it!

After the information session:

· Thank the host

The school representative who gave the presentation likely put a lot of time and effort into the session. It is a nice gesture to thank the representative before you leave. Taking the time to thank the host also gives you an opportunity to introduce yourself to someone who might be involved in your future application evaluation. If the conversation goes well, you might also consider giving your business card as a way to help the representative remember you. I’d personally recommend against handing over your resume (unless the representative explicitly asks for it), as it is more appropriate to include this in your official application. Lastly, if anyone affiliated with the school took extra time to speak with or assist you, it may be appropriate to send him or her a brief “thank you” note. A short email is usually sufficient.

· Check out the neighborhood

If you have time at the end of the day, you might consider exploring the neighborhood around the school. It is helpful to see whether the school is located in an area you’d feel comfortable living in during the duration of your program. Some things to consider may be the availability of public transportation and the general safety of the neighborhood.

-Chelsea

MBA Recommendations

Round 1 deadlines are heating up, so I apologize for the week long absence!

I’m going to talk a bit about recommendations today. There is a lot to say about recommendations, and I do write about the subject more extensively in an internal manual that I distribute to my workshop students. For the purposes of this post, though, I will highlight some FAQs which should give you enough information to get started.

Who should write my recommendations?

You will likely need 2 or 3 letters for business school. In selecting your recommenders, think of the balance and mix of perspectives that they will be showing. Will both or all 3 be commenting on the exact same projects from the same points of view? This usually happens if you ask your boss and then your boss’s boss to write for you. In this case, it might be a good idea to consider someone else for your 2nd or 3rd letter – for example, a client, a higher level person who worked with you on different projects, a former boss (but not from too long ago). If you have overseas experience or have worked with someone outside of your nationality, you could consider asking that person as well.

In the end, you should choose those who can speak very highly of you and who know you and your work intimately. Do not choose the job title of the recommender or MBA alum status over your personal relationship. In other words, don’t choose someone who doesn’t know you well simply because s/he is high ranking. Business schools are used to seeing letters from “famous” people and will get turned off if they believe you are trying to impress them with your recommenders’ job titles.

How should I approach my recommenders about writing for me?

You want to first show respect for your recommender’s time by giving him plenty of time to write your recommendations. If possible, ask 2 or more months in advance. Approach him first about your plans and politely ask if he would be willing to write for you. Once he agrees, give him whatever instructions  and details are necessary for him to understand the process (you will need to enter his contact information into your on-line application, at which point your recommender will receive an email from the b-school that explains how to access the recommendation form on-line…so you should explain this to him). Sit down with him and go over your plans and goals. It is possible, if your recommender is not American, European or Canadian, that you will need to coach him on how to write a proper recommendation. To be safe, though, don’t assume that even a westerner will know how to write an excellent letter. If he doesn’t have a history of successfully recommending candidates to b-school, go ahead and politely offer some pointers. In my experience even MBA alumni and partners have appreciated receiving guidance.

Finally, you may want to bring a resume or some notes of your strengths and achievements for your recommender, just to help him get started. (He may accept, alter or reject your ideas but any information would help.)

Are there any key points my recommender needs to know when writing my recommendations?

Yes. Very briefly, your recommendation needs to help you stand out among the 99% of recommendations that are very good. So you need to be more than good. Your recommender needs to show details, anecdotes, impact, and he needs to talk about how you compare against others in your rank, in your company, in the field, etc. Without this comparative language, it is difficult for admissions committees to judge just which consultant, i-banker, etc. is truly outstanding.

When talking about a weakness, your recommender needs to be careful. Safe examples are “real” but fixable, something that will not make the admissions committee worry about having you as a member of their community. (Bad temper? Nervous in group situations? That can singlehandedly destroy your chances of admission.)

Should I get letters written by alumni of the schools that I’m applying to?

You shouldn’t go out of your way to do this. In other words, this should not be your priority. Focus on who knows you best. If that person happens to have an MBA or even one from your target school, then great. Will having an MBA alum write for you give you an advantage? No. It’s a bonus if you happen to be a strong candidate and your recommender happens to love you and is a graduate of your target school. She can say things like, “Having gone through the program myself, I know that Maya would be a great fit.” That kind of statement can carry good credibility. But an alum cannot help boost an applicant who isn’t that strong to begin with. Remember, the majority of recommendations are written by people with no connection to the school.

MBA versus MPP or MPA: How to Decide

Starting this month we will be introducing our team of counselors who will contribute to our blog from time to time.

Our first featured writer/counselor is Lucia, who has a strong background as well as interests in economics, public policy, international policy, social entrepreneurship, CSR, small business development, and media, among other fields. She is trilingual in English, Chinese and Japanese and has a BA from Wellesley College and an MPA from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs.

Would a degree in Public Policy or Public Administration suit me better than a degree in Business Administration?

This is a question many applicants are considering.

There are certainly similarities between MPP/MPA and MBAs. In both cases, students will be developing practical leadership, teambuilding and decision making skills. There will be statistical analysis, consulting projects and project evaluations.

Finding the right program for you requires thinking very clearly about what you plan to do after you graduate. You need to think, “What life and what career am I preparing for?”

Students in MPA and MPP/MPA programs are often aiming for careers in government or in public service management like education, healthcare, energy, or city planning. They also work in private consulting companies, non-profit and international organizations. They are found in private companies, especially those that develop services and products for the public such as water, energy, transport, and health.

MPP/MPA students concentrate on understanding the dynamics of effectively managing and providing public services. MPP/MPA students need to understand the complex dynamics between government, citizens and private sector stakeholders.

Let’s look at an example. Think about healthcare. An MBA student may look at an individual healthcare company’s financial statements; MPP/MPA students look at a city’s health budget or a vaccine project under the Ministry of Health. An MBA student may work on a new healthcare project and judge success by the amount of profit generated. An MPP/MPA student may work on a healthcare project and judge success by different indicators – how many patients reached, how many neighborhoods involved, how smoothly different government agencies work together.

In both cases, budgets, efficiency, communication, and management skills are essential. In many cases, however, public and private sectors work very closely together so the line between “Business Administration” and “Public Administration” is not always clear.

So the best thing to do is to think about your passions. Are you fascinated with politics and society? Do you want to understand how government policies affect immigrants in your country? Do you want to change the kind of education your schools focus on? Do you have ideas about how new energy sources could be used cheaply in your country? Or do you think government does not encourage creativity in corporations? Do you wonder why so few women are top managers in government? Do you wonder how Japan will deal with its shrinking labor pool and rising levels of “metabo”?

Then maybe you should be considering a degree in Public Policy or Public Administration. If, however, you want to learn how to launch and market a cell phone you have designed, expect to be the manager of the overseas branch of a domestic manufacturing company, or want to introduce new human resources programs to domestic trading companies, then maybe an MBA would be better for you after all.

In reality, at many larger universities, students in MPP/MPA and MBA programs can take classes within both schools. Talk to Reve counselors about schools that allow the flexibility to experience courses in both programs.

-Lucia

How to Make the Most of Your Campus Visits

You’ll be investing quite a bit of time and money when you travel to schools, so what can you do to make sure you get the maximum benefit out of your visits? Here are some of our tips:

• Research before you go

I know, you’re probably thinking, “But my whole purpose in visiting is to do research!” The whole point of spending several hundred or even thousand dollars on your trip(s) is so you can find out as much as possible about your schools; you don’t want to waste your time or money asking basic questions that you can find answers to in the comfort of your own home. If you do your basic research at home, you’ll be ready to research the specifics when you get to campus, asking pointed questions about things you couldn’t find out about on the school website. Also, even though your visit will not be evaluative, it is human nature to judge, so you want to make sure that you come across as mature and fairly focused when you talk with staff and students.

• Get a good idea of what your goals are

This is related to the above point about researching. If you have a fairly good sense of what you want to do after graduation and why you want an MBA or MPA or LLM (etc.), you’ll be able to narrow down your research while on campus. For example, if you know you want to go into marketing, you can focus your trip on finding out more about the school’s offerings in marketing. Likewise, when you talk to current students, they could also give you feedback or share experiences about good resources in your field of interest.

• Talk to a lot of people

Talk to non-admissions people

Don’t limit yourself to the admissions staff and students who volunteer with the admissions office. Admissions is  the sales department of a university – of course they’re going to tell you good things! Chat with a random student in the hallway or cafeteria. Visit the student affairs office, career services office, research centers, financial aid office, etc. since these will be offices with which you’ll be dealing if you were to enroll as a student. Do you have any questions for them? Do these other departments sound helpful and resourceful?

Talk to students outside of your ethnic or nationality group

Our Japanese students have a wonderful network at business schools around the world and are usually greeted with open arms when they arrive on campus. The only thing is, many interact only with Japanese students on the campus visit. Since you wouldn’t want to and cannot interact with only one group when you start graduate school, I really encourage all of you to talk to as many different types of people as possible during your visits. Of course someone from your country will be able to tell you best what it’s like to make the transition, but try to get a sense of what business school life will be like by socializing with a broad range of people. (Again, you never know if you might be making a positive impression in the process…)

Talk to faculty (if applicable)

If you have a deep interest in a particular academic area or if there are certain faculty with whom you’d be interested in working, see if you could talk to a department administrator or the professor him/herself. (Ideally you would contact this person in advance.) We had a student once who went to see a professor at Stanford Business School about his unique science-business background and interests, and that professor immediately got on the phone and called his colleague in the engineering faculty, and our student was able to talk to this second professor. Now, this usually works better if you are very strong academically and/or have a compelling specialty/expertise.

• Get involved

You might just be there for a day or two, but try and do something other than attending the activities prescribed by the admissions office. Find out from current students events like happy hours and parties and see if you can go! One of our students once attended 3 drinking parties while visiting Haas and another actually joined a game of hockey while visiting Tuck. He had made some contacts beforehand and was invited to play with the students. Needless to say, he made a great impression on the students and was able to show how well he fit in even as a visiting applicant. Now, these are great “extras” which will be a lot of fun for you and which certainly can’t hurt in the application process. BUT, do this using your best judgment. In both my examples our students either had or initiated contacts or otherwise were able to wisely use their interpersonal skills to slip into these activities very naturally. You don’t want to barge in uninvited to any activity.

As you can see from all these tips, the whole point of visiting a school is to find out enough to determine if you can see yourself at the school.

Visiting Campus

We’re getting a lot of questions these days about campus visits, in particular, “should I or shouldn’t I?” and “If I visit, when should I go?” Below are some frequently asked questions about visiting schools:

Does visiting a school help my chances of admission?

Technically, no. While the admissions process is quite subjective in nature, it does try its best to present a level playing field. This means that a university cannot give extra “points” to those applicants who have the money and/or time to visit a school. Imagine the advantage that local applicants would have over out-of-town or international applicants!

Visiting a school will help in that first-hand experience will allow you to approach your application (in particular essays and interviews) with that much more awareness, knowledge, sincerity, and passion. If you can get to know a school just as well by attending information sessions and talking to students and alumni/ae, then that’s fine. For many people, seeing the school in person, sitting in on a class, and having dinner or going to a party with current students make a world of difference in how they feel toward a school; this energy then gets channeled into the essays and interviews.

Having said that, visiting a school may have some subtle effect on the selection process for schools that are outside the top 3 or 5. For example, it really won’t matter to HBS one way or another to hear an applicant talk about how he’s proved his passion for HBS by visiting the school. However, for many schools that often lose their admitted candidates to rival universities, knowing that you are committed enough to visit their school may send them a positive message…

When should I visit my target schools?

Ideally, if your work schedule allows it, you would visit once schools are in session (back from summer vacation) but before you submit your applications. In this way you can take maximum advantage of the school visit to help you make final decisions about which schools to apply as well as to express your interest in the essays.

One thing to consider also is the interview policy of the school. Does your target school allow you to sign up for an interview? If so, this will be a great thing to do while you are visiting. If your school interviews by invitation only, then you’d need to decide if you want to visit before you apply, or wait until you get an interview invitation (which is not guaranteed) to schedule a trip, or be prepared to make two trips. Regarding interviews: if you are out of state or overseas, you should be able to have the option to interview locally with an alum or over the telephone should you get selected for an interview.

And what if the only time you have available to visit is after your application deadlines? In this case, it might make better sense to visit once you’ve received your decision notifications. School visits are also very helpful for candidates trying to decide which school to attend. Once you’ve been accepted, your school will schedule an “Admit Weekend” which is like a post-admission recruitment event; now they are trying to convince you to attend their school over another.

How should I set up my campus visits?

The best thing to do is to visit your target school’s admission website and sign up on-line or call the admissions office. Check to see what they are offering and when (most schools offer tours and information sessions year round, but class visits and lunch with students during limited periods). Find out about their interview policy as well and see if you can conduct an interview while you are there.

Can you simply visit the campus on your own or by coordinating with friends and contacts at the school? Of course. However, the school won’t necessarily know that you will be coming and it is always a good idea for the admissions office to have a record of your visit.

Since this post is getting long, I will write separately later in the week about how to make the best use of your campus visit.

Steps You Can Take Now to Begin the Application Process

The application process can be overwhelming especially if you are an international applicant unfamiliar with the higher education system abroad. Add a full time job and perhaps family responsibility to your workload, and you will soon find that you have little time to do everything that you need to do. It’s therefore imperative that you begin the application process as early as you can. To simplify the process, I’ll write down a list of things you need to pay attention to starting now, whether you are applying for October, January or March deadlines!

Things to Do

• Narrow down a list of schools to which you want to apply

The only way you can do this is to RESEARCH thoroughly your target schools.

Internet: Start with school websites and register your name with each school. You can do this by creating an account (if the application is already available) or by signing up for information (if the application is not yet available). Once you are in the school’s database, you will automatically begin receiving e-mail updates about information sessions, application deadlines, etc. Read student and admission blogs. Listen to podcasts and anything else that the school offers on-line.

Information Sessions: Find out about and sign up for information sessions, receptions, and graduate school fairs (e.g., those sponsored by the MBA Tour). Large prep schools like Agos in Tokyo will often host visits by admission representatives so you should check with those institutions as well.

Network: Talk to current students and alumni/ae. They may be sitting right next to you at work. Or you may need to ask friends of friends for contacts. Also see if there are alumni/ae groups in your city that you can tap into. You can also contact the admissions office at your target schools to ask for referrals. Many, if not most, schools offer this service.

Visit the School: This is not realistic for many people living overseas or out of town, but if you can get some time away and can reasonably afford it, a campus visit may be worth your investment. You don’t technically get any “brownie points” for visiting but you should be able to explain more passionately or sincerely your reasons for choosing the school once you have actually seen and experienced the campus.

• Complete any required tests (GMAT, GRE, TOEFL)

You all know this and for many this is the biggest obstacle. Given the competition these recent years, a strong GMAT or GRE score is critical. Five or six years ago it was more common to see candidates with so-so test scores get admitted to top schools; these instances are much rarer now. I am going to generalize here, but I would say that if you want to apply to a top 10 business school, you should aim for over a 660 or 670*. At the same time, if you already have a 680 or 690 and your time is limited, I would recommend working on your application rather than trying to get a 700. A 700 looks pretty on an application but it doesn’t show the admissions committee that you are that more intelligent than someone with a 680. At this point your essays will have more persuasive power so you should devote your energy there.

*My advice would depend on the individual’s situation.

• Decide which deadlines by which you wish to apply (applicable mainly to MBA applicants)

I can’t go into specifics here since my advice would depend on the individual person, but in general you’d need to consider a number of factors like your test score(s) and time availability/schedule. Another point you should keep in mind is the competition from your own firm. If you know there are other strong candidates from your company or organization applying to the same school, you should consider applying in an early round. Ultimately, though, you should only apply when you believe you have put together the strongest application that you could. A mediocre application in the first round (especially when the overall quality is especially high) will be useless.

• Decide on your recommenders

Check to see how many recommenders you will need to write your letters. Most schools require 2 letters while some top schools require 3. Consider the perspectives you will get; will everyone be writing about the same thing? Be sure to give your recommenders plenty of time to prepare your letters. Take them to coffee or sit down with them to discuss your plans and to review your background and strengths. If they will be written in a foreign language, be sure to arrange for translation service. I will write a future post on recommendation letters. (We offer recommendation translation service for Japanese recommendations. Please contact us at admin@revecounseling.com if you need assistance.)

• Check the requirements of each school carefully

While the application process to English-based graduate programs in the U.S., Canada and Europe are more or less the same, each school has different policies and requirements. For example, some schools require official copies of your GMAT/GRE and TOEFL scores by the deadline while others only require self-reported scores by the deadline; some schools ask for official transcripts by the deadline while others ask for them only once you have been admitted. Since ordering transcripts, test score reports, etc. requires time (and unfortunately glitches are not uncommon), make sure you are very clear and organized about what you need to order and submit.

• Begin working on your essays

This will be the most time consuming part of the application process. Do not underestimate how much time you will need! I have been working mainly with Japanese applicants, and it takes my average student (and they are all pretty bright) approximately 4-6 drafts before completing an essay set. This means revising each essay 4-6 times. And when you consider that the average school essay set consists of 4-5 essays, that’s a lot of writing. If you are not a native English speaker and you are not familiar with the application process, I suggest giving yourself 4-6 weeks to complete your first school set. This estimation is based on working on applications while working a full time job and perhaps also studying for the GMAT or TOEFL.