The MBA Application Process — Hillary’s take

Originally in a Google Doc, putting in Medium in case it’s helpful to anyone.

A process fueled by introspection and goal setting but defined by gatekeeping and stress. Written in January 2019.

What I wish I knew at the beginning

First of all: yes, this is a long process; yes, school is expensive; yes, debt sucks; yes, it's a lot of hard work. It’s good to know those things, but don’t let nonexistent debt or hard work you haven’t actually done yet stop you from starting the process. Now that we have that out of the way...

Think hard and get super specific about what you want from an MBA. It needs to be tangible and achievable, and that story will carry you throughout your entire process - from the essays (you will 100% write a “goals” essay), short answers, your resume, interviews and more. You won’t be able to do this in one sitting, it will take time!

However, it’s fine if you don’t know this when you’re studying for the GMAT. You need to get that out of the way to start the other stuff. I felt that I sort of knew my story going in, but refined it only haphazardly after I took the GMAT. If you have that story locked down from the beginning it will help a lot.

I will also say that I went through this process as a “non-traditional” candidate, meaning I was not coming from Consulting, Finance, or Big Tech, and I do not want to go into those industries. So just know that the advice on the essay part might be skewed towards that.

That being said, take this whole process one step at a time. Focus on the thing you need to do in order to make the next decision. In my mind, the first two things are.

1. Decide you want to apply to business school
2. Take the GMAT or GRE

Before starting this process, you must have an idea of…

• Long term goals: what do you see the peak of your career looking like
• Why an MBA: sure you can get that experience elsewhere, and why does an MBA make the most sense?

Before you start writing essays, you must also know…

• Short term goals: what do you want your summer internship to look like
• Post-grad goals: what do you want your first job post-MBA to look like
• Target coursework / experiences: what do you want your academic experience to look like, regardless of school

My story and stats

After a formative trip to Mozambique in high school with my family, I chose to study Political Economy and international development at UC Berkeley. I did an internship in Ethiopia in the coffee industry, and worked in Microfinance at Kiva after graduating where I loved the mix of impact and consumer products, but felt it was lacking in business growth and profitability. I went to MasterClass, where I learned how to scale a business and create exceptional products, but always felt that it was missing real impact. Now, I’m at Bungalow helping people find housing at accessible prices, but am still missing that genuine pursuit of impact. The mission of companies often gets misused just for recruiting or marketing.

I want to gain an MBA in order to get deeper into the social innovation world, broaden my exposure to new industries, and gain experience in entrepreneurship. This will all work towards my long term goal of starting and building my own social enterprise where revenue and impact are held at equal importance. During my summer internship, I want to work at a larger scale social enterprise like Patagonia or Acumen to see how big organizations operate and fill in my gaps from working at startups. After my MBA, I intend on joining a growing social enterprise like Ellevest or Branch.co, or starting my own.

• 3.7 GPA, BA in Political Economy
• College Activities: Sorority, Lair of the Bear, Model UN, International Travel
• 740 GMAT
• Volunteer: Board Member of 100+ Women Who Care SF, Writer for Watsi
• Extracurriculars: Lacrosse, travel, impact investing, creative writing

Timeline

• I committed to starting this process over Christmas 2018
• Took the Manhattan Prep GMAT course Jan - March 2019
• Took GMAT for the first time in April
• Took GMAT for the second time in May
• Finalized target schools in May
• Started writing essays in June
• Essay writing and application fine-tuning until September
• Submitted all my applications in September, October
• Interviews in October, November
• Acceptances and rejections in December 2019 (a year after starting the process!)
• Somehow selected a school during coronavirus 2020

**If at all possible, AVOID overlapping anything else with the GMAT. Each part of this process requires your full attention so I really liked doing things back to back. Also, if you don’t get the score you’re aiming for then you really can’t move on to the next steps.**

Standardized tests

GMAT or GRE

Most schools accept both and do not have a preference. Don’t overthink this. Go with whatever test you are stronger at. I recommend taking free practice tests online completely cold (no studying) and see which one you have a higher baseline.

I took the GMAT because there was more data on target scores you need for schools. I’d say look at the general range of some schools you’re interested in and shoot for that. My goal was a 720 - that gets your foot in most doors.

Studying and my score

I pretty much dedicated every free hour I had to study (5 hours / weekday) and it was such a dark time. It’s just something you need to do. Be sure to pace yourself!

I took a Manhattan Prep class which I would highly recommend.

If I could do it over, I would do more quantitative prep (1 - 2 weeks) before the prep class began just so I wasn’t playing catch up. Make sure to do more than what is required from class, you’ll get more out of the material.

I studied for about 3 weeks after the class ended and took the GMAT - believe I got a 650 which was way off of what I wanted.

If you are weak at quant, use Target Test Prep as a supplement.

So, I essentially buried myself in my books for another 3 weeks and took it again. Ended up with a 740 (99th %ile in Verbal, 57th %ile in Quant) and was happy with that. That quant score is definitely lower but I felt completely burnt out and that I would not get a better score if I took it again. Also, for what it’s worth, during my 2nd test I felt that I completely bombed it and almost quit in the middle. Just shows how unpredictable every element of this process can be.

Consultant - should you get one?

Unless you can’t afford it or you have someone very close to you who is extremely knowledgeable and has the time to consult you, yes you should absolutely get one. If you can afford it and don’t get one, you are putting yourself at a disadvantage. That’s just the reality. This is one of the most frustrating parts of the whole process to me and speaks to how much gatekeeping there is in the entire process.

There are other great options like Forte Fellows that are worth looking into.

I was unhappy with my consultants (Forster Thomas) so would not recommend them. They were hard to schedule time with and generally procrastinated.

You should talk to multiple consultants to evaluate them. But they should, at a minimum, help you select your schools, write essays, give recommender feedback, proofread, edit, coach, and do interview prep. You’ll be sharing some real shit with them so be sure to choose people who you can candidly communicate with and are really easy to work with.

Selecting your school list

First off, be realistic with yourself. There will be weak areas of your application - you need to let go of your ego but also send it and shoot for the stars.

I applied to 5 schools in Round 1. This was a lot, but it was very nice to get it all over with. If you find yourself applying to more than 5 schools, you should probably revisit your goals and criteria for school selection. Shit gets expensive (it’s like $200 per school just to apply — another example of gatekeeping).

Remember your goals? Those should be your guide for choosing your schools. But in general, elements to consider are…

• Feasibility of acceptance
• Reputation / Ranking
• Location of school
• Strength of network and alumni
• Programs based on your goals
• Student culture
• Whatever else...

My schools

• UCLA Anderson
• NYU Stern
• Berkeley Haas
• Northwestern Kellogg
• Stanford GSB

Essays

These get real deep, real fast.

Leverage your consultants here as the topics change for each school but I do have some thoughts on how to prepare for these.

Something you will need to come to terms with is that your story is probably not that unique, sorry. So unless you’ve founded charities and saved children in Syria or started your own business already that is helping cure cancer, you’re not going to rely on your story.

But, it’s your perspective that is unique. And you need to do the work to figure out what your perspective really is and how to articulate it. You need to do this so it fits with your motivations that are propelling you towards your goal.

• Think about your goal, and figure out why you want to do that (money, fame, family, values, a specific experience)? For me it was values and experiences.
• What in your current career is missing? For me it was genuine pursuit of impact.
• How did you identify what was missing? For me it was a specific story about a MasterClass student, Alonna.
• How did that make you think differently? For me it caused this unsettling feeling that made me reflect.
• How do you think an MBA will help solve that? Programs, faculty, etc.

The application itself

Fitting with my general ignorance of the entire process, I didn’t realize that there were short answer blurbs in the application. Leverage your consultants to help you with these, so my advice here is just don’t leave them to the last minute because these are super important!

Also make sure to have someone proofread your application for typos!

Recommenders

First things first, you will need to have your current manager write a recommendation. So if you have a good relationship with them, great. If you don’t, you need to get ahead of that.

Recommendations need to come from that person’s voice, so if someone has never worked with you but they are the EVP of whatever, it’s going to be a worse recommendation than someone who is a Manager but works with you everyday and loves you.

• I shared my essays with my recommenders and had a little kickoff meeting with each of them where I went through prep material with them
• We went through the recommender questions and brainstormed ideas together
• I gave them a list of accomplishments / stories / interests that they could pull from
• Make it as easy as possible for them or else they will procrastinate
• They might ask you to write it for them — don’t. It will sound fake
• Give them fake deadlines that are actually like 3 weeks before the deadline
• Get your consultant to look at the recommendations and give them feedback, this is monumentally helpful

Interviews

If you’ve received an interview from a school, you’re in great shape! But don’t be too overconfident, obviously.

The interview depends on the school, but in general, these are not tough and are more of a functioning-human-being test.

You’ll either be interviewed by a 2nd year MBA, alumni, or a member of the admissions committee. Especially if it’s a current student, they will have a defined list of questions that they will ask you, and will be pretty focused on going through them. Be prepared for your interviewer to be furiously taking notes — that is normal.

The best advice I can give here is to own your story. If they can see holes in your story, it will set off alarm bells. You should be absolutely fluent in your goals, perspective, motivations, why that school, and be able to tie it all together. Most importantly, one of your primary goals is to show the interviewer that you are deeply interested in their school specifically.

Also, make sure to practice the standard questions and nail down your “outline” for them so when you do answer them, you don’t seem like a robot. These are questions about your short and long term goals, why an MBA, what your plan B is. A quick Google search or looking up on GMATClub can get you a list of these.

Waiting to hear back

Random Calls from the School

Schools will sometimes reach out to you after you submit your application and before they interview you, or after the interview and before the final decision. They will probably say the call is non-evaluative, but do not take that as you don’t need to be prepared for them.

I think the purpose of these calls is to:

• Get you excited about the school and answer any questions
• Answer any doubts they might have (for example, relocating to Illinois from California)
• Evaluate you for a scholarship (if a Dean or member of the faculty is calling, this is probably very good news, they aren’t trying to waste their time)

If you get one of these, have questions prepared that you can’t get answered on the website, and stick to your story. Another reason why those goals are so important to have locked down!

The Waiting Game

This part sucks. A lot. Honestly there is not much advice I can give here besides try to stay calm in whatever way works for you. The good news is, you’ll have a lot more free time now that you’re done with applications! Get a massage. Go on a vacation. Drink. Ski.

Getting Rejected

It will probably happen, and it sucks! I got rejected from Stanford despite being a great candidate and a would-be 4th generation alum (from the GSB specifically!).

I don’t have much great advice here besides warning you that this entire process is incredibly random, and so nothing is bulletproof. If you submit the best application you possibly can, that’s really all you can do. Life is full of swerves.

Getting Accepted

When this happens, PLEASE CELEBRATE! You made this happen. It’s a great fucking feeling.

My results

• Full ride to Anderson
• Full ride (+ $20k cash stipend) to Stern
• $80k to Kellogg (half ride)
• Waitlisted at Haas, chose not to pursue
• Rejected from Stanford

Your Mindset Might Change

Selecting a school was surprisingly difficult. If I had been admitted to Stanford it would have been a no-brainer, but I wasn’t. NYU was always up high on my list. I knew I did not want to return to a collegiate experience, but I also care about rankings (if you think you don’t care about rankings at all please go stare into a mirror for 10 minutes and get real with yourself), so I flip flopped a lot. Coronavirus also hit during this time, so that was an additional stressor.

My TL;DR here is just let the decision come to you and go where you are going to be the happiest person. Being happy will influence each part of your experience — and so if something is important to that (for me it was location), don’t ignore than instinct. The MBA experience is incredibly intense and you want to be a happy person throughout!

I made weighted averages, talked to dozens of people, researched online, went to admit weekends, etc. But all you can do is know what are the most important factors for you and just give it time. For me, it was a lot about location — proximity to startups and an urban environment and social life. I had spoken to dozens of Kellogg students who would literally fly to New York to network at startups. If you’re trying to go into consulting or finance, where the specific school really does matter, it’s a completely different decision for you.

It took me about 3 months and 2 flip flops to finally choose NYU over Kellogg.

• Anderson: ruled out as I didn’t want to be in LA, lower ranked out of my choices.
• Haas: ruled out as I didn’t want to go back to Berkeley.
• Kellogg: was not excited about living in Evanston, found the social life to be incredibly collegiate and I didn’t want to “re-do” undergrad. I know I would’ve had a great time here, and the program is incredible, but I couldn’t sacrifice my personal needs.
• NYU: The choice! Its location and the full ride made this really exciting to me. Since I’m not going into Finance or Consulting, proximity to startups was something that NYU has an absolute edge on over Kellogg. And I get to fulfill a strong personal desire to live in New York, making this impossible to pass up.

Admit Weekends

Go to these!

They are going to roll out the red carpet for you. Kellogg threw this unbelievable reception in Chicago with an open bar, party buses, a DJ, dinner, etc. It was so incredibly polished and very impressive. DON’T LET THAT BE WHAT MAKES YOUR DECISION. Just enjoy the pampering but don’t let it conceal the things you should really be making your decision about. When you go into these weekends, be clear on what you want to evaluate the school on and pay close attention to those things.

Because of covid, NYU’s was virtual, which was unfortunate because I couldn’t have an apples to apples comparison.

Staying Sane / General Advice

• This is a long process, pace yourself.
• If you’re evaluating consultants, ask them all the same, difficult question and see how they respond.
• Write down your goals and what you care about at the beginning of this process and refer to them often. If ranking doesn’t matter to you, write that down and remind yourself when you’re choosing a school to attend. It’s too easy to get wrapped up in the bullshit.
• Get massages if you can, they help.
• If you can, visit the schools before writing your essays. It will make them better.
• It takes a village, talk to people along the way! People are willing to help. Ask for advice.
• Find your story and stick to it.
• Read really compelling books before going to bed while studying for the GMAT, it will help you unwind after studying and prevent you from dreaming about geometry.
• Be proud of yourself for putting yourself out there and going through this process. Trying is better than not.

You will probably get so much unsolicited advice. If you are a woman you are well versed in dealing with this. I experienced a TON (and still do). Just prepare your quick remarks to navigate those conversations. They are usually one of the following situations:

• Successful people who did not get MBAs saying that you don’t need an MBA.
• Your employer saying that you should stay because you can get the same experiences at work and you can “learn everything you need to know from them.”
• Successful people who did get MBAs saying that you don’t need an MBA (this one is so infuriating to me).
• People asking you why you want to get an MBA and then critiquing your goals (this is just so obnoxious and I think that people ask this either because they don’t know what else to say or because they’ve always wanted to get an MBA but have never tried and are trying to make themselves feel better).
• Note: at the beginning these questions might feel uncomfortable to answer. But use them as practice for your pitch and battle-testing your story! Create a short, medium, and long version and ask your audience which one they want.

Please, please, please, pay it forward, especially to other women and people who may not easily clear the insane hurdles this process presents.

And good luck!