For a business school that was little more than an idea ten years ago, the Indian School of Business has come a very long way. First conceived in the late 1990s with the explicit goal of becoming “an internationally top-ranked, research-driven, independent management institution that grooms future leaders for India and the world,” ISB has [...]

Andrew wanted to get into Stanford, but I told him he wasn’t being realistic. His 700 GMAT was fine, but didn’t compensate completely for his mediocre GPA in college, his hardly electrifying profile (IT guy with a major consultancy), and his fine but unremarkable extracurricular credentials. Then Andrew told me his story. Raised in one [...]

Make no mistake. Of all the essays you’ll write for your business school application, the goals essay is the most important. It’s the one essay in which schools most explicitly ask you to answer the central question that underlies your entire application—why exactly do you need an MBA? Not surprisingly, it’s also the essay that [...]

Once you have your self-marketing handle, you have the multipart message that should inform all your essays for every school (albeit with some tweaking here and there to match particular schools’ emphases). Now you need to find the best specific stories that illustrate that message. Unlike medical and law schools, which often give you carte [...]

Imagine you’re at a tony cocktail party where you find yourself competing with the best and brightest of your peers to make a lasting impression on your welcoming but overworked hosts. You’re all splendidly accomplished, well-rounded types, but you know your influential hosts are only likely to remember a handful of you when the evening’s done. When [...]

This is the season when most MBA applicants are frantically trying to complete their applications for their target schools. You probably already have your GMAT or GRE done and are now wrestling with your essays. It’s important to remember that when admissions committees must choose between equally qualified super-achievers, nothing helps them more…[Read more]