Mission (Im)possible

This is that time of the year when applications of aspirants interested in pursuing a MBA programme are westward ho, particularly to B-schools in the US. You might have a score of 700 plus in Graduate Management Aptitude Test (GMAT), but that doesn''t guarantee you an admission in one of the top B-schools in the US, as the scores are one of the many criteria used during admission.
So, what goes into making of a complete application, which will give you an edge over others? The United States Educational Foundation in India (USEFI) recently organised an interactive session on how to go about the application process of different B-schools in the US.The seminar was addressed by first-year students of Wharton School of University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Business School (HBS).
Speaking on the occasion, a first-year student at Wharton, Rajat Kumar said: "Once you have decided to pursue an MBA and appeared for the GMAT, you need to spend time on doing a research on the objectives behind pursuing management education, perspective of a B-school life, school''s curriculum and strengths, alumni and their career graph, admission process and your future career plans."
Another first-year student at Wharton, Mukul Chawla remarked, "A B-school life in the US is much beyond academic curriculum, so aspirants are advised to research about those aspects when they apply for a particular school."
Coming to the application part, a first-year student at Wharton, Samita Malik said: "In India, students are obsessed about GMAT scores. A 700 plus score can''t guarantee you an admission if you are not good in other aspects."
To begin with essays do play an important role in selection process. You need to say what have you achieved in life, and your career plans after MBA programme. "Always look for enriching experience in your workplace. These things need to be mentioned in your essays," said Chawla.
When it comes to getting recommendation letter for your work experience, aspirants, as Malik said, should get the letter from someone who has observed your work from close quarters. "Recommendation letters are very important, as it gives the admission committee a personal account of you as a person. It''s not necessary to have a recommendation letter from your CEO or boss. Even, your colleague can give an objective assessment about your work," added Malik. "If you don''t provide the recommendation letter of your immediate boss or CEO, you need to mention that why are you not doing it," added Eric from HBS. Even, while writing essay aspirants should be careful about few things.
"There is no need for an aspirant to be flowery. He or she has to ensure that the essay is precise and grammatically correct," said Chawla.
"You are selling yourself to admission committee through your achievements. There is every possibility that you might have failed while trying to achieve something in life. You have to bring out all these in your essays," said Malik.