Harvard MBA Information Session in Tokyo on June 17, 2017

The HBS MBA program will be hosting an information session in Tokyo on June 17, 2017 from 10am until 12noon. Access and sign-up can be found here.

John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com

Harvard / Stanford / Cambridge MBA Alums to Appear at Tokyo MBA Event on September 22 2016

A former client asked me to post a link to an upcoming event for MBA applicants that will feature recent alums from Harvard, Stanford and Cambridge. More information as well as a link to register for the event to be held on September 22, 2016 can be found here.

John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com

MBA Admissions Essays and Deadlines for 2016-17 are slowly rolling out

It may seem to some that this time of year is far removed from any approaching deadlines. And essay topics for the graduating class of 2019? A long ways off..  Well neither is true. Not only that but in particular, this year deadlines and essays are being released quickly. Here's some that are already out:

Harvard deadlines and essays
Columbia deadlines and essays
UNC Kenan-Flagler deadlines and essays

Stanford deadlines
Dartmouth Tuck deadlines
Indiana Kelley deadlines
HEC Paris (1/17 entry) deadlines
INSEAD (9/17, 1/18 entry) deadlines

So now you're caught up as far as I can tell. I source ClearAdmit on the majority of these, but I do also check the admissions websites of major MBA programs this time of year just to make sure I am on top of what is going on. I'd suggest that if you want to stay on top of the deadlines and essay topics for your top choice schools you subscribe to the ClearAdmit blog and/or bookmark the admissions site of your top schools to make sure you are getting the latest news.

John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com

2015-16 MBA Admissions Deadlines and Essays: Harvard, Stanford, Yale, MIT, Wharton and Columbia

Thinking of submitting an MBA application later this fall? Top schools are releasing their deadlines and essay prompts earlier than ever, and even though we are only in mid-May, there's a lot of information out there:

MBA admissions deadlines:

Harvard, Stanford, MIT Sloan, Wharton, Columbia J-term, Yale



MBA admissions essay questions:

Harvard, Stanford, MIT Sloan, Columbia

This year, Harvard's deadline is September 9th. Time to get started on that application!

John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com

MBA Application Strategy: Adding 1-2 Schools is Easier than Ever

I have never endorsed the concept of applying to more programs than you might normally do so just for the sake of maximising your overall chances. Applying to 10 programs instead of 7, or to 5 programs instead of 3 has often meant, to me at least, greater risk of shoddy and underdeveloped work as a result of not spending enough time on each application. Rushing to complete a lot of work in a short amount of time never really works out for anyone.

However, today MBA applications are easier to complete than ever as recommendation letter prompts and essay topics are becoming more and more generic. 

Essays - 

More and more top MBA programs have been cutting their number of required essays (Wharton, Michigan, Stanford, Tuck) or eliminating mandatory essays entirely and leaving only one optional essay (Harvard). I don't agree with this trend, as I feel schools should be investing more time into choosing the right candidates for their program rather than cutting application requirements. However, the amount of time spent drafting and completing essays is going to be a bit less now that schools have less essays. What will stay the same though for most is the amount of time spent brainstorming contents. This, brainstorming and deciding essays approaches and strategies, is and will always remain a vital component of the process.

Recommendation letters - 

Recently several top MBA programs announced they’re requiring recommenders to respond to a standardised set of questions. Columbia, Yale, Wharton, Chicago, Virginia, and Kellogg are expected to participate. A Poets&Quants article on the topic can be read here. Stanford even made their famous peer recommender an optional part of this year's application - more on that here.

Overall, I feel the change is again a negative one in that schools are becoming more and more alike and less differentiated at the application level. But there’s no doubt that if you aim for 1-2 extra schools amongst those in this list, your recommenders won’t be greatly affected. 

So, if you have finished one application that is strong, and completed to your liking, and it cannot be improved anymore..  then adding an extra school or two might certainly be within reach. I don’t mean that you SHOULD apply to more programs, just that the OPPORTUNITY COST is lower than ever. 

Remember: application quality is most important, and should never be sacrificed. Don’t cut and paste blindly between applications. Research programs and be ready to show how you feel fit with a given program when asked to do so. These are important things to consider for every school to which you apply. But, at the same time, know that the days of saying “I don’t think I have the time to submit an HBS or Wharton app in R2” are likely gone for those who are well-prepared and keeping to a schedule.

John Couke

john.couke@gmail.com

2014-15 MBA Application Deadlines and Essay Topics

The past week has seen a LOT of releases of 2014-15 application deadlines, essay topics, and other interesting facts. Analysis will follow on this blog later in the spring and into the summer, but for now I wanted to get links out so you can start to reference this information.


Stanford:
application deadlines

essay topics
Stanford has reduced the number of essays they require in their application from 3 to 2. Their signature essay, "What matters most to you, and why?" remains. The link above goes to their admissions website, and it contains excellent advice from the GSB on how to approach the essays. Stanford shares useful advice on their own questions on their site and it is worth a read.

recommendation letter instructions
The peer recommender letter is now just an option as Stanford has dropped the number of required recommenders from 3 to 2.



Harvard:
essay topics and recommendation letter prompts
This link above is to an entry in the HBS "From the Admissions Director" blog, which I highly recommend to those aiming for or thinking of aiming for HBS. The entry also mentions the Round 1 deadline this year will be on 9/9/2014, one week earlier than last year's R1 deadline.)



Wharton:
application deadlines



Columbia:
application deadlines
essay topics
recommendation letters instructions



MIT:
application deadlines


I'll follow up with my analyses throughout the late spring and into the summer. But now is the time to start marking you calendars!

John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com

Harvard 2013-14 MBA Essay Analysis

Here is my advice on approaching Harvard's essay question for those aiming to enter their MBA program in the fall of 2014. 

First the essay question:

You’re applying to Harvard Business School.  We can see your resume, school transcripts, extra-curricular activities, awards, post-MBA career goals, test scores and what your recommenders have to say about you.   What else would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy?

And the school's own comments:

There is no word limit for this question.  We think you know what guidance we're going to give here. Don't overthink, overcraft and overwrite. Just answer the question in clear language that those of us who don't know your world can understand.

And here is my own analysis and advice, broken down into 4 sections:

1. You really should write this.

You're applying to spend two years of your life at this program. There must be something you can write that will help their admissions staff understand you a bit better.  

2. Follow their instructions.  

We can see your resume, school transcripts, extra-curricular activities, awards, post-MBA career goals, test scores and what your recommenders have to say about you.   What else would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy?

I think it is pretty clear that this is not the space for you to give a summary of your accomplishments at work and outside work, as this content will have been covered in other application elements. 

3. Don't give them answers to someone else's questions.

I imagine that 750 words on "what matters most to you and why" would be a pretty bad idea.

4.  The key is to provide some insight into you.

Clearly a persuasive answer will go beyond the other application elements you have provided, and so will involve a stronger degree of self-reflection in order to teach the reader something about who you are. What follows are four options, ordered in a very subjective way: from least appealing to most appealing. 

Option: write about why you need an MBA, how you'll contribute to their program, or why you are choosing to apply to Harvard in particular.

These options fit the question, as they're not in the list of information you've already provided them. However, for most why MBA detail is tied to the goals story, something they'll get information about. Detailing your contribution to the program might only be a simple extrapolation on detail already provided in the resume (my experience doing A will help me to run the A club..). Finally, I don't think Harvard really needs to assess your desire to go to Harvard - this school has a tremendous yield and so isn't overly concerned with weeding out those intent on enrolling in other schools.

Option: connect one or more experiences and show how they follow a particular theme.

You could focus on a personal characteristic you have, how you developed it and how it relates to successful experiences in your working and personal life. You could write about how the choice of your post-undergraduate employer or the choice to change departments or even companies fits a particular theme related to your background or future. Alternatively, you could show how your experiences have prepared you to achieve your goals. Be careful: just lumping together experiences without a lot of thought will seem shallow, especially if the connections are weak or underwhelming to begin with.

Option: tell the story behind an accomplishment or a failure.

Don't write only what you did, but also how you did it, and how you learned from the experience.  Consider the failure option, as failures aren't in the resume and might not be in any other application element. Leaders make bold decisions and take big risks, and so leaders necessarily fail sometimes. Be careful: without self-reflection and a clear sense of how you developed from the experience, this will just be a story and that might not be enough. 

Option: give the "why" behind something you're particularly passionate about, and how you've benefitted from the experience.

Obviously the approach to the HBS essay will vary from one applicant to the next, but of the three options I've listed here this one to me has the most potential to really "draw back the curtain" and reveal something about yourself to HBS admissions. The resume only lists what you've done, not why you've done it, especially for the extra curricular activities. This last option, of the three, has in my opinion the most potential to be interesting and insightful.

Whatever you do, make sure it reveals something about you - your unique characteristics, your passions or interests, or how your experiences have contributed to a direction you're taking that you're passionate about continuing.

John Couke

john.couke@gmail.com

Harvard Deadlines for 2013-14 MBA Admissions

HBS has released their deadlines for applying to their MBA program starting in the fall of 2014.


Round 1 - 

Deadline: 9/16/2013 (12noon Boston time)
Decision: 12/11/2013

Round 2 - 

Deadline: 1/6/2014 (12noon Boston time)
Decision: 3/26/2014

Round 3 - 

Deadline: 4/7/2014 (12noon Boston time)
Decision: 5/14/2014

This and all other information is available at the HBS admissions website.


John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com

Harvard Business School Releases their Essay (yes - only one) for the 2013-14 MBA Admissions Season

Harvard Business School has released their essay prompt for those aiming to enter the class of 2016, and apparently it's optional:

• You’re applying to Harvard Business School.  We can see your resume, school transcripts, extra-curricular activities, awards, post-MBA career goals, test scores and what your recommenders have to say about you.   What else would you like us to know as we consider your candidacy?

They've also included their own instructions on it:

There is no word limit for this question.  We think you know what guidance we're going to give here. Don't overthink, overcraft and overwrite. Just answer the question in clear language that those of us who don't know your world can understand.

And a note in their admissions blog as to whether you need the essay at all:

Maybe there will be admits this year who say we don't need to know anything else beyond the credentials they have already submitted - for them, the application may be "essay-less".

My quick thoughts:

No word limit doesn't mean it's okay to write 17 pages as a response. Conciseness is important.

A bucket list of everything not included in the prompt may not work well either - especially if it reads as a list or is unfocused. Focus is important too.

Whatever the topic you choose, make sure it's important.  By this I mean make sure it says something significant about you that will help the reader to understand more about who you are and what drives you.

Even though Dee Leopold has stressed that some may choose not to submit an essay, I'd imagine that the vast majority of applicants would have something they want to add to their application about themselves. This essay is a good place to do that.

Be sure to confirm this and all relevant directions and instructions at the HBS admissions site.

John Couke

john.couke@gmail.com

Harvard Business School Announces Round 1 Deadline for the Class Entering in the Fall of 2014

In a recent posting to Harvard's From the Admissions Director Blog (I strongly encourage anyone thinking of applying to HBS to follow that blog) it was pointed out among other pieces of information that the round 1 deadline this year will be on September 16th.

Time flies! It seems the current admissions season is barely over before the next begins..

John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com

Common Application to Remove "Topic of your Choice" from its Essay Option

NACAC officials have announced that the "topic of your choice" option in the Common Application long essay will be removed, leaving applicants to choose only from the given list of topics. This has been reported here at the Chronicle of Higher Education and has also been written about here in the New York Times popular The Choice column.

John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com

ps.  I strongly encourage current and future undergraduate applicants to follow The Choice blog at the New York Times, as it regularly contains useful information on the process of applying to universities.

pps.  Are there any potential undergrad applicants out there looking for an essay or admissions counselor? Be wary of those that make promises that seem to be too big or too good to be true, as another recent article at The Choice shows.

LLM Deadlines are Slowly Being Released

For LLM applicants anxious to get their schedule updated with this year's deadlines, a few schools - New York University Law School, Harvard Law School, Georgetown Law and Berkeley Law have released their information.  

New York University offers a deadline of 12/17/2012 for international students.

Harvard Law School has a deadline of 12/1/2012, however applicants are strongly encouraged to apply by 11/15/2012. 

Georgetown Law has announced an Early Action deadline of 11/15/2012, and a Regular Action for foreign-trained attorneys of 2/15/2013. 

Berkeley Law has announced that their deadline is 12/15/2012. 

As for other schools, including Columbia Law School, Chicago Law and Stanford Law School, as of this blog posting deadlines hadn't been released.  Be sure to keep checking each program's official admissions pages to get the most accurate and up to date information, rather than relying on other sites such as LSAC.org.  Over the next two weeks or so most schools will probably have released their deadlines.

John Couke

john.couke@gmail.com

Harvard MBA Admissions Director Clarifies the Post-Interview Reflection Essay

In a recent posting to her blog, Dee Leopold, the Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at Harvard Business School, has offered clarification as to the new post-interview reflection exercise that will be required of all students shortly after completing their interview.

She notes that the question will be, "You've just had your HBS interview. Tell us about it. How well did we get to know you?"  and that no word limit will be placed on the response. In addition, she states that her admissions team will not be strict on grammar, typos, etc, as this is an exercise in "real-world" writing, rather than essays, which can often be over-prepared.

Read more here.


I've written before on how an applicant feels a natural inclination after completing an interview to reach out to their interviewer and attempt to relive the whole thing, correct mistakes and give themselves a second chance to answer questions. This post-interview reflection is, simply, a chance to a) emphasize 1-2 key elements about yourself you feel you got across well, and b) introduce 1-2 key messages you feel you didn't have the chance to emphasize, but that are important to you.


John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com

Harvard Business School to Visit Tokyo on June 10 2012

There will be a Harvard Business School General Outreach Event in Tokyo on Sunday June 10 2012 from 10am to 12noon. Registration is currently open, but will close early on June 7. Details and registration available here.

John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com

Harvard Business School Deadlines, Essay Topics and new Post-Interview Reflection Essay for Fall 2013 Entry

Harvard Business School has announced their deadlines and essay topics for the upcoming 2012-13 admissions season. It is also adding a new twist to the interview process as well.

DEADLINES

The round deadlines are as follows:

Round 1:
Deadline: 9/24/2012
Decision: 12/12/2012

Round 2:
Deadline: 1/7/2013
Decision: 3/27/2013

Round 3:
Deadline: 4/8/2013
Decision: 5/15/2013

Each deadline is 12pm (noon) Boston time.

Please verify all information on the application dates page within the school's official application process pages.


ESSAYS

Harvard has in recent years been the first major program to release their essay topics, and they have done so again this year, launching new essay topics:

1. Tell us about something you did well. (400 words)

2. Tell us about something you wish you had done better. (400 words)

Joint degree candidates have a third essay:

How do you expect the joint degree experience to benefit you on both a professional and a personal level? (400 words)

These essays are challenging, so for applicants to multiple programs HBS should not the place to begin the essay writing process. There is also not a lot of space here to go into detail on what makes you special and unique.  Applicants will therefore need to use both essays, combined with the entire application, strategically in order to differentiate themselves. Note as well that the application itself contains three extra places to describe your background, goals and activities:

1. At the start of the employment section, after choosing an intended post-MBA industry and function, applicants must answer "How does pursuing an MBA support your choices above?" within a maximum of 500 characters (including spaces).

2. Within the employment section applicants may describe elements of their work (responsibilities, key accomplishments, most significant challenge for each job in 200 characters each) and within the extra-curricular section they may describe their activities (250 characters each). 

3. The application contains an additional information section (500 characters).

Be sure to check the application directly to confirm all information. 

POST-INTERVIEW REFLECTION ESSAY

Finally, the school has added a new post-interview reflection essay, to be submitted to the school after completing the interview.  Here is what HBS admissions says about this new final step to the admissions process:

This is new. AFTER the interview, candidates are asked to do a written reflection on the interview experience which will be submitted via the online application system. This is a chance for you to have the "last word," so to speak.

This is, to me, an interesting twist on the interview, and may channel some to "relive" the interview, a topic which I have posted about before. 

This information comes from the HBS Admissions & Financial Aid blog - required reading for anyone interested in applying to HBS to follow this blog regularly. 

I will write up some thoughts about the new essay topics as well as how to consider handling the post-interview essay in a later posting.

John Couke

john.couke@gmail.com

The Role of Balance in Your MBA Application

Most MBA programs ask a series of essay questions that allow you chance to bring out many sides of yourself: what you do for a career, what you do outside of work, and even your academic background. But how should you approach all of the topics in your MBA application if all you do, during the week and even a lot of the weekend, is work?  There is nothing wrong with showing dedication to your organization. However, if you are ready to make a change in your life, such as applying to business school, you need to realize that the one thing about your current life that will not go with you is that job.  The skills you have gained will - and you can show the benefits of those by describing in your essays and interview how they'll help you to make specific contributions to your classmates. But to help the admissions committee of a particular school get a good sense of your potential level of involvement outside of class, it is useful to present both your work and non-work sides in your application. There are several benefits to doing so.

1) Knowing what you choose to do outside of work helps people understand you better.

In the workplace there may be restrictions on what you can and cannot do with your time, based on your job description or level of responsibility. But in your free time, you have a lot more leverage and ability to choose what you get involved in and how you spend your time.  And understanding these decisions about what you choose to do with your free time will help your application reader better understand who you are and what you value. 

Sharing personal interests helps your reader feel that they know you better as a person and makes them feel a bit closer to you. A cold and impersonal description of a mega-merger in which you had only a minor role is not nearly as effective as a story about your determination to complete a marathon - especially when the reader if deciding whether you are an interesting person worthy of attending their school.

2) Balance in your application can make the admissions officer reassured that you will be able to make the transition to their school.  

If all you have is your job - then what will be left once you stop working?  Show that you will not sink at b-school but instead you'll swim - by describing your personal interests and what you want to get involved in while at the program. A lot of MBA graduates would likely say that they benefitted greatly from the education outside the classroom - events, trips, and other such activities with their peers. In some cases these experiences are academic in nature, such as a case competition.  But in others they are more peer-bonding exercises, where you get to know your classmates (and future global network) better. Don't underestimate the importance of a soccer club or baseball team in forming bonds with your classmates during the MBA.

3) Your work accomplishments may already be covered in your reference letters.

If one (or more) of your referees is a supervisor from your job, he/she will likely use a considerable portion of his/her letter describing the contribution you have made to projects, teams, or the organization itself. This doesn't mean you should ignore discussing your work in your essays - but it does show that certain work-related accomplishments will already be covered.

For all of these reasons, it is useful to ensure that your work takes it proper position in your application as a key part of who you are, not the entire definition. Take care to separate yourself as an individual from the work that you do.  When brainstorming potential topics, note the following two things:

1) Characteristics like leadership extend beyond the job.

Some schools (Harvard in particular) look for evidence of leadership in your application.  And it is worth noting that a true leader will exhibit this characteristic across many facets of their life. Do you know anyone who is bright, successful, trustworthy, approachable, fearless and dedicated while at work, but turns into a completely different person, devoid of all of these traits, once they leave the office?  When you are struggling with how to demonstrate your leadership, don't limit yourself to only work-related stories. Instead, show that the leadership you demonstrate at work is truly useful in understanding who you are, by showing how you exhibit that leadership outside of work too.

2) Many characteristics can be demonstrated equally well through work and non-work stories.

When asked for an example of how you have demonstrated the ability to work well in a team, often either a work-related story (your contribution to a team that made a big accomplishment) or a non-work related story (your role as the starting point guard on a community basketball team that won a big match) can work equally well.  Fo this reason, when brainstorming teamwork accomplishments, don't limit yourself to just the work experiences.  Consider what you do outside of work, and how those experiences may also be relevant. 

For those that truly dedicate the vast majority of their time to their organization, there is still one last idea to consider: informal volunteer work in your company. This may or may not be effective, depending on the individual situation.  However, there are options available to you even within the context of your organization that may help you to show balance, such as:

- attendance in a cross-functional or cross-departmental task force you chose to join to accomplish something

- weekend volunteer work done through your organization

- informal and/or extra-curricular training of subordinates

- organizing or participating in company activities such as community events, family events or other such activities

So, now we can understand the value of balance in an MBA application, and at least for most, get a head start on considering what kinds of topics might be useful. By using a variety of topics that span your work, life outside of work, and academic background, you can paint a picture of yourself that is well-rounded and will show effectively your potential to contribute to an MBA program.

The purpose of this article is not to be a definitive source, but rather to start a conversation.  Comments?

John Couke

john.couke@gmail.com

Delicious Bookmarks

So far in the short life of this blog, one of the most popular ways in which my readers have found me is through my collection of bookmarks at delicious.com.  

I have been an avid collector of bookmarks since about 2005, and in particular I use delicious (as well as pinboard more recently) to sort my bookmarks and allow for easy retrieval.  As this collection has grown so has its usefulness. Currently, I have over 14,000 bookmarks (!) to a variety of topics that you may find useful, including resume design and preparation, interview questions and preparation, employment, admissions, LLM programs, MBA programs and even undergraduate programs.  In addition to this, I have school-specific bookmarks for many schools including Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Kellogg and countless others.  

The internet is, as we all know, a great place to research. If you are interested in learning about any of these topics above, or others such as being waitlisted, letters of recommendation, visiting campus, or even determining fit with programs, I'd suggest you start with my delicious bookmarks, scroll through the tags until you find ones interesting to you, and start your search there.

Good luck with your research!

John Couke
john.couke@gmail.com