Ready to Rock: Nailing the MBA Application Process

Getting accepted into a business schooln MBA program means being the cream of the crop in every aspect of the MBA application process: MBA résumé, MBA essays, and – most critically – the MBA interview. One of the biggest mistakes that applicants make is failing to prepare for the toughest part of the process and not making a solid plan for the interview. In this article, I’ll offer some tips for the entire process, focusing on theinterview preparation so that you can stand apart from the crowd.

1. Hitting the highlights: Your MBA résumé

While there are some MBA programs that ask for a CV in their MBA application, this is rare. Most graduate business schools ask for an MBA résumé. This means that you'll need to make some difficult decisions about what to include because, unlike a CV, space is limited in a résumé. Keep in mind while writing your MBA résuméthat you're not applying for a job but a seat in an academic program. Therefore, the admissions officers want to know about your experiences as they relate to you gaining the skills and experiences you need to contribute to your cohort in your MBA résumé.

2. Make it meaningful: Your MBA essays

‘Depth’ and ‘significance’ are the keys to creating a great MBA application essays. Skip the projects where you only played a small role or were not included in the decision making process – regardless of how big the project was or the dollar amounts involved. Let your MBA essay tellthe admissions officers read tales of when you were dynamic, had to think on your feet, and needed to secure the buy-in of other team members. They want to read MBA essays about times in your professional experience where you made a difference.

3. Sealing the deal: Your MBA interview preparation

The interview preparation is often the part of the MBAgraduate business school application process about which applicants either worry too much or too little. Walking confidently into an MBA interview only to realize that you're in over your head will become quickly apparent to the interviewer. Conversely, if you're fearful, this will show and also make the interviewer uncomfortable.

Unfortunately, there's no way to be 100% prepared for an MBA interview. It isn't a theatre production where you can practice your lines beforehand and then give a performance to the interviewer. It's an organic process that has its own natural flow. If you seem too rehearsed, you'll likely be viewed as fake.

Because of this, it is important to view your interview preparationpractice time not in terms of exactly what you plan to say, but the main points that you want to express to the interviewer. The more that you keep a mindset of having a conversation instead of being ‘grilled’ about your background, the more confident you will seem.

So how do you ensure that you will seem confident, but not cocky, and conversational without being too casual?

Without a doubt, this is a delicate balance. However, it is one that you can achieve in your MBA interview preparation. Although you cannot be exactly certain about what you will be asked or the precise direction the interview will follow, you are also not completely clueless. Be sincere and thoughtful in your responses, and the interviewer will see you as a mature individual, both personally and professionally, who is ready for the challenges of an MBA program.