How To Get Accepted In The Most Competitive Year Ever

The 2021 MBA admissions cycle is projected to be on one of the most competitive years ever.

As applicants prepare for round one this fall, Linda Abraham, president and founder of Accepted, offered a few helpful tips to help guide applicants through the intense application process.

EXAM PREP

MBA applicants will need to take either the GMAT or GRE. Abraham says applicants should avoid stress and unpleasant surprises by giving themselves enough time for exam prep.

“Lower than expected test scores can throw a major monkey wrench in your plans when you take the test within two months of your target deadlines,” she writes. “However, if you bomb it in the spring, you will still have months to prepare again and retake the exam before the deadlines – even the first round deadlines.”

FOCUS ON FIT OVER RANKINGS

Often, applicants are focused on the prestige of a b-school rather than the fit. Abraham says this isn’t an effective strategy when it comes to applying.

“In any case, this superficial approach could lead to rejection, a very expensive mistake, or a less-than-optimal MBA experience,” she writes. “Apply purposefully to specific programs that support your goals and at which you are competitive. Don’t apply to rankings. You won’t attend rankings. You’ll attend a graduate business school.”

GIVE AMPLE TIME TO WRITE

Essays provide admissions officers a view into who you are outside of your GPA and test scores. And strong essays take time with a process of rewriting over and over again.

“Writing – whether long essays, short essays, scripts, activity descriptions, or resumes – benefits from time,” Abraham writes. “Temporal distance between revisions improves critical analysis and editing. In contrast, scrambling to slap something together leads to sloppy thinking and writing.”

Check out a full application timeline from Accepted here.

Sources: Accepted, Wall Street Journal