The Most Underrated Part of Your MBA Application

An MBA application contains a variety of components: from test scores to essays. And while applications are typically reviewed holistically, experts say that there’s one thing that can make or break your MBA application: the recommendation letter.

Fortune recently spoke to admissions experts on why the recommendation letter plays such an important role in MBA applications and how applicants can best approach the recommendation process.

MAKE OR BREAK

The recommendation letter plays a large role in the MBA application, in large part, because it allows admissions officers to see an applicant in a different light.

“Getting that third-party perspective on [applicants] is really important to figure out their personality, their passions, and their goals,” Natalie Lahiff, an MBA admissions consultant with Solomon Admissions and former admissions counselor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, tells Fortune. “The recommendation will either boost that application—or it could go the opposite way.”

CHOOSING YOUR RECOMMENDER

Since the recommendation letter can have a large effect on how your application is viewed, it’s important to select a recommender who can best highlight your strengths and qualities.

“Often, applicants sabotage their efforts when they select bigwig recommenders with impressive titles,” Stacy Blackman, founder of Stacy Blackman Consulting, writes. “While they hope to impress the AdCom, this tactic almost always backfires. A person with a fancy title who doesn’t know the applicant can’t offer specific examples to support even the most generous platitudes. The most effective endorsements come from people who can highlight your professional, personal, and interpersonal skills.”

And, unfortunately, it’s not uncommon to have applicants who end up selecting a recommender who offers negative commentary in letters.

“If you have any doubts that that person is going to have negative comments about you going to business school, don’t even approach them,” Lahiff tells Fortune. “They’re not going to write you a good recommendation.”

WHAT A STRONG LETTER EMPHASIZES

A quality recommendation letter will highlight key attributes that make you an attractive candidate to your intended B-school.

“Sit down with each recommender and let them know the key attributes you’d like them to include,” Blackman writes. “This could mean emphasizing your charisma, intelligence, determination, or creative thinking.”

Beyond highlighting your personal attributes, experts say that a strong recommendation will show what impact you’ve made.

“Ultimately, when we think about business school, it’s about impact,” Shaifali Aggarwal, a Harvard Business School graduate who is the founder and CEO of Ivy Groupe, an MBA admissions consulting firm, tells Fortune. “They want people who are a little bit more humble and self-aware and can take constructive criticism and apply it in a positive way.”

Sources: Fortune, Stacy Blackman Consulting

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