Women's Leadership Blog

MBA Application tips: How to improve your candidacy

 Email Article  

Tweet  

  

  

  

 delicious  

  

  

All aspects of the MBA application process will benefit from careful preparation. From your initial planning all the way to the interview, there is a lot to gain from investing hours up front. If you are planning to apply to business school in the fall, you may be wondering what you can do now to prepare. Aside from solidifying career goals and researching target schools, you can take several actions to improve your candidacy now that will pay dividends in the fall.

Community Involvement

Now is a great time to deepen or establish your involvement with a community organization. Consider roles that will allow you to take a leadership position and create real impact before September. Offering to organize an event is a great discrete activity that will allow you to work in a team, have an impact, and show results. For more information on various opportunities to get involved, visit our post on extracurricular activities.

Academic Enhancement

Whether you had issues with your GMAT score or your undergrad GPA, you can take action now to improve your overall academics before the fall.

If you took the GMAT once or twice and did not receive the score you think you are capable of, consider a prep course to enhance your skills and remind you how to solve those high school math logic problems.

An undergrad GPA hovering around 3.5 is generally considered fine. If your GPA is a 3.2 or below, or you majored in liberal arts, you may consider taking quantitative classes to enhance your academic profile. The MBA canon generally consists of Calculus, Statistics and Microeconomics. If you took any of those classes in undergrad and scored a C or below you should certainly re-take the classes now. Where you take the class is much less important than the course material and grade (aim for A's!!). The local community college is a fine option.

Leadership and Management Potential

Being promoted between now and the fall would be the ideal scenario, but you don't have to wait for your boss to act in order to enhance your overall leadership and management potential for business school applications.

Volunteer for that cross-functional team or project, offer to help your boss with a tough long-term goal, or get involved with employee groups at work whether through volunteering in the community or promoting diversity in your company. Letting others at work know you are interested in developing your people skills may uncover more opportunities to go above and beyond, and provide great material for your resume and essays.

As you prepare for application season, make sure you are taking action that lines up with your passions and overall goals. If you are preparing for your long-term future with excitement, you will be far more effective!

Please register for FWL MBA Application Workshop hosted by Stacy Blackman Consulting here.

Stacy Blackman MBA Admissions Consulting - personalized, comprehensive assistance with every stage of the application process.