How to Gain Admission to MBA Programs at Top Business Schools

Applying to study at an MBA programme can be a daunting task. Many prospective students do not know where to start when it comes to building a strong application and gaining admission to a business school. Additionally, the top business schools in the world have incredibly high application intakes every year, meaning admissions are highly competitive.  

Here, we aim to guide you through the process, from finding your reason to study an MBA, finding the perfect course, and building a successful application so that you can excel in your business school ambitions. 

Preparing for business school - asking yourself the right questions

Attending business school is a significant choice. It is important, firstly, to know why you would like to do an MBA. A career in business is possible without one and an MBA requires a lot of time and money investment. It is essential you have a clear idea of why an MBA will benefit you. 

You may then want to consider logistics and lifestyle factors. Are you already working? Would you want to resign from your current role, pause your career to study for an MBA and then return to full-time work? Would you want to work professionally alongside your MBA studies? Would you be willing to relocate? Does your current job role offer funding for you to study an MBA? What are the conditions of this funding? You should consider all of this before making any commitments.

Finding your top business school choice

After finalising your decision to attend business school, you should focus on choosing the right one. Your research could include information about the curriculum, tuition fees, employment opportunities, networking and work experience opportunities and teaching styles to help you get a complete picture of the programme. 

The TopMBA website offers rankings for full-time, online, and executive MBA programmes, highlighting the best of each option, depending on student preferences. These rankings will give students information about the highest-ranking programmes in the world as well as each region, country or city if they have already chosen a study destination. 

There are also many indicators, which are a part of the rankings system, such as employability, entrepreneurship & alumni outcomes, diversity, return on investment, class profile, thought leadership and much more. These allow students to streamline their search to find a business school that meets their needs.

Academic history

One of the first things you should reflect on when beginning an MBA application your academic history. Does the strength of your application lie in your academic experience or work experience? 

For an application to a top business school which, as previously stated, can be very competitive, previous experience studying at a leading university would benefit your application. 

Additionally, students who have undergraduate degrees in business or a related subject such as marketing or finance make attractive candidates for an MBA as they already have a clear foundation of knowledge. Students with undergraduate degrees in other non-business-related fields will rely on their work experience as the basis of their knowledge and so more extensive experience might be necessary. 

Your academic history will not assure you a place on an MBA course nor rule you out, but it is important to know your background knowledge and where your strengths lie when crafting a successful application. 

Valuable work experience

Many if not all MBA courses will require candidates to have some work experience. Generally, the minimum amount of professional work experience required is two to five years. 

Reflect on the companies you have worked for and the roles that you have worked in. What did your typical workday look like? What skills did you acquire? What did you learn about your company or the field you were working in? Did you have a specific mentor and what did they teach you? All these things will add interest to your application and showcase your skills and existing knowledge. 

Writing a successful entrance essay

An entrance essay is your chance to show the admissions team who you are and why an MBA at their university is the right choice for you. It should be personal and focus on your passions and ambitions. It should also be specific to the business school that you are applying to and state why this school specifically is the right fit. 

When writing, you should aim for a tone that is formal and professional but also personable so that you can form a good rapport with the person reading it. You should aim to speak confidently about your knowledge and experience without sounding arrogant. 

Your essay should firstly offer an introduction and discuss your background. Was there a specific person or moment that inspired you to work in your current field? Is there a specific experience that has shaped your life or personality? Is there anything unusual about your background that an admissions team might be interested in? 

A large portion of your essay will reflect on your relevant experience; both academic and work based. Make sure that each point is succinct and accurate but ensure that you talk about the things you learned that piqued your interest. Convey your passion for the subject and aim to connect with the admissions team through your enthusiasm. 

Lastly, you will need to share your career ambitions going forward. What would you like your career to look like five or ten years from now? Would you eventually like to explore another area of business? How would you like to make an impact on the business landscape? This will allow you to emphasise why an MBA is necessary. Focus on what you eventually want to achieve, what the current gaps in your knowledge and skills are and how you will use an MBA to get to where you want to be. 

Before sending your essay in, make sure that it has been proofread many times so that it is completely accurate. Your spelling and use of grammar should be perfect. If possible, ask other people to read it and run it through a proofreading application to catch any mistakes that you might have missed. 

Forming an application

An important part of gaining admission to a top business school is completing the application form. It may sound obvious but making sure you take the time to go through the form and enter all your details correctly is a vital part to potentially gaining admission. 

An application form will usually ask for details such as your full name – make sure you use your legal name if you go by something different – your date of birth, your contact details, your nationality and your current country of residence, proof of your previous educational achievements and your university transcript from your undergraduate degree. 

Make sure that you allow for plenty of time to complete the application form so that the information you give doesn’t have any mistakes. 

Preparing for an entrance exam

Many MBA programmes will request that applicants complete an entrance exam – usually the GRE or GMAT. This exam is an important step to gaining admission. 

Both the GMAT and GRE exams test the student’s maths and English - or the national language equivalent - proficiency to ensure that they will be able to meet the educational demands of their programme. The difficulty level of the content will not be that different to high school, but many students choose to study to remind themselves of all the different concepts so that they will be able to perform well and achieve a high score on the day. 

The GMAT and GRE are both very similar to each other in terms of content. They test analytical skills, reasoning skills, quantitative data management skills and verbal communication. Neither one is easier or more difficult than the other, but the GMAT focuses on analytics and quantitative processing for those whose strengths lie in mathematics and the GRE focuses more on communication and vocabulary for those who are more advanced in language study. 

As with any exam, make sure you give yourself adequate time to study and prepare. Get plenty of sleep the night before your exam. On the day of your exam, eat a good breakfast and make sure that you have a bag packed with anything you might need to set you up for success.

Succeeding in the interview stage

The final stage of you application process before finding out if you are successful, is the interview. 

An admissions interview will often be conducted by staff from the admissions team and members of faculty working on the MBA programme or in the business department. It may be a more formal question and answer style interview or a general discussion.  

Interview topics could include anything that you mentioned in your essay, your background, your experiences, your strengths and weaknesses and your future plans. 

To prepare for the interview you may want to memorise some of the key points of your essay to ensure that relevant information will be easy to recall when you are being questioned. Do your research and try to find other people who have been through a similar interview process to see if there are questions that commonly come up. You may also want to anticipate some of your weaknesses or the risks and setbacks you might face and frame them in a positive light or develop a plan to work through them in advance, should they be brought up by the interviewer. Anticipating difficult questions will allow you to answer with ease and give the interview a more relaxed feel. 

Frequently asked questions

How do I find the perfect business school?

If you’re looking for a top-ranking business school, Stanford Graduate School of Business takes first place in our QS Full Time MBA Rankings 2024, followed by The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Business School.  

There are also plenty of other highly ranking MBA programmes from all over the world, including London Business School (4th) in the UK, National University of Singapore (=24th) in Singapore, Melbourne Business School at the University of Melbourne (30th) in Australia, Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto (40th) in Canada, EGADE Business School (=62nd) in Mexico and Suliman S. Olayan School of Business at UAB (68th) in Beirut. 

If you are looking for a more personalised recommendation, try our course matching tool available on the Top Universities website.

How do I know what entrance exam to take?

Both the GMAT and GRE are good options as both are widely accepted by business schools all over the world. The GMAT does tend to be more popular with students however you should do your research and choose the exam that is right for you and highlights your personal skills. 

What should I write about in my admissions essay?

Sometimes a school will give you a topic or a question to centre your admissions essay around however it will almost always need to include three topics: your skills, your experience, and future plans.  

How do I apply for business school?

Most business schools will allow you to apply on their website. You will either find a link to a virtual application form on the website or you can submit your contact details and be sent a form which you can fill in and return to them. 

How should I prepare for an exam or interview?

You should make sure that you give yourself plenty of time to prepare. For an exam, make sure you plan out your studies carefully and give yourself plenty of time to learn the material. For an interview, do some research and try to find examples of what you might be asked to prepare your answers. 

 The night before try to reduce any anxiety that you might feel and go to bed early to make sure that you get plenty of sleep. 

On the day of the exam or interview, make sure you eat a good breakfast, are dressed comfortably but present yourself well, have a bag packed with everything you might need (a bottle of water, stationary, your ID and anything else necessary) and arrive at the location of your exam or interview early to reduce the risk of unforeseen circumstances making you late. 

What are the requirements for an MBA programme?

Many MBA programmes will require that prospective students have a high grade in an undergraduate degree and some professional work experience. The required amount of work experience can vary but the minimum is generally from two to five years. 

Some business schools may accept a student without an academic background if they have had an extraordinary career so far or have a lot more than the minimum required work experience, but those admissions are not typical.