Women's Leadership Blog

MBA Series: What You Should Know About MBA Programs Before You Apply

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It’s not surprising that all of my clients ask me this question as they prepare to write the “Why MBA?” essay that most applications require.  While adding school-specific details is certainly a must…there are other issues to address first.  First and foremost, you need to know enough about these schools to know if you even want to apply.  Don’t leave it to the Business Week rankings to decide for you, there are many reasons why some programs are a good fit for you and others may not be.  A lot of people forget this: you are the customer!  Business schools are tweaking their programs, printing brochures, and spending months traveling around the country to convince you – the prospective MBA – to consider their schools.  Each MBA application will cost you a couple hundred bucks and dozens of hours of work, so make sure the programs you’re applying to have most of the big and the little things you want from a school. 

Now that you know why you’re applying to the MBA programs, you probably want to know what you need to include in your essays?  I can’t tell you how many first drafts I’ve read that cite the “unmatched student body, world-class faculty, and committed alumni network” as the reasons for applying to a particular program.  This generic statement says nothing about the applicant.  You need to get specific to demonstrate that you’ve taken time out to research the school and that you have some legitimate reasons why you think their program fits with your needs.  You can effectively research schools in just a few minutes.  Check out the following offerings/traits of the school to see in what ways they mesh with your professional goals, learning agenda, personality and preferences:

• Program format:  case vs. lecture, traditional vs. accelerated, “hands on” learning
• Academic offerings:  specific classes in your areas of interest
• Faculty:  certain specific professors that you might want to meet with, help with research, etc.
• Initiatives:  often schools will emphasize certain disciplines or issues for several years, hosting events, developing new classes, etc.
• Field studies:  faculty support for independent research, business plan development, etc.
• Cross-registration opportunities: what other resources does the school have to offer?
• Clubs

A few sentences of solid material on “Why our program?” should set you up nicely.  Remember, you usually will have tons of other material to cover about your career progress and other topics, so no need to go on and on telling them about themselves. 

For more robust guidance on your MBA application essays, check out the Stacy Blackman Consulting Essay Guide Series – school specific guides with essay tips, sample essays, information on what your target schools value and more.

Visit http://www.stacyblackman.com/essay-guides/ to learn more.