Building a Strong MBA Resume

The Popularity of EQ in MBA Admissions

Emotional Intelligence, or EQ, has been making its way around the b-school world.

Schools like NYU Stern and Yale SOM have already made it a pre-requisite in their MBA applications.

But what exactly is EQ and why has it grown so much in demand?

Seb Murray, a business education journalist, recently discussed the EQ phenomenon and why it’s become a staple of the MBA in a piece for Find MBA.

WHAT IS EQ?

It’s first important to define what exactly EQ is.

“Your EQ is the level of your ability to understand other people, what motivates them and how to work cooperatively with them,” Howard Gardner, the influential Harvard theorist, says in a piece for Psych Central.

According to Psych Central, EQ is based upon five fundamental categories of emotional skills including self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, and social skills.

EQ IN THE MBA

At the b-school level, EQ is especially important since students are constantly collaborating both in class and beyond.

“Mature, approachable and productive behavior facilitates learning and bonding in the classroom,” Alex Min, CEO of The MBA Exchange, an admissions agency, tells Find MBA.

And experts say these types of EQ traits carry on far beyond the classroom setting and into the real business world.

“Running a business isn’t just a numbers game,” Stacey Koprince, head of Manhattan Prep’s content and curriculum, tells Find MBA. “You’ll help your business to be more successful if you’re able to connect with your clients and co-workers at a human level, which reflects well on the program from which you graduated.”

EQ VS. IQ

B-schools tend to consider EQ in addition to IQ.

At NYU Stern, both are core to the admissions process. But including EQ to the equation has helped add perspective to admissions.

“We got some very interesting and useful information about people — things that people don’t necessarily talk about themselves,” Isser Gallogly, the associate dean of MBA admissions at New York University’s Stern School of Business, tells P&Q. “Some people don’t like to brag. Some people feel like it’s very disingenuous to self-promote in that way. And there is something about someone else giving the example that gives more resonance to it. It definitely gave us some insight on people in ways that we hadn’t gotten before and I don’t think would have gotten in any other way, other than bringing the person in for an interview.”

And while EQ is certainly growing in popularity amongst b-schools, experts say having both is critical.

“Both are essential to effective leadership,” Luke Anthony Peña, executive director of admissions and financial aid at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business, tells Find MBA. “The best leader has the cognitive intelligence to chart a path, and the emotional intelligence to empower others to share in the journey.”

Sources: Find MBA, Poets & Quants, Psych Central.

 

 

 

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