As Round 2 submission deadlines approach, it’s important to ensure that each component of your business school application is top notch.

Stratus Admissions Counseling recently put together a checklist for Round 2 applicants as they approach their B-school applications—from crafting your goals to cleaning up your resume.

BE SPECIFIC WITH YOUR GOALS

When it comes to setting your post-MBA goals, experts say the more specific you can be, the better.

“If you say your goal is to work in consulting for MBB (McKinsey, Bain, or Boston Consulting Group) but you give no background or context, it is hard to stand out,” Donna Bauman, Kellogg alum and former UNC Kenan-Flagler MBA admissions committee member, says. “However, if you share that you have worked with strategy consultants in your current role as an internal retail strategy analyst and have been inspired by their data-driven recommendations, you give the reader some context.”

INCLUDE GOALS IN YOUR RESUME

Your MBA resume should serve as a one-page summary of not only your accomplishments, but also your post-MBA goals.

Kelly Lundy, a former Columbia Business School alumni interviewer, recommends mentioning your post-MBA goals within your resume to help paint a cohesive story of where you’ve been and where you’re headed.

“When I was an alumni interviewer for Columbia Business School, I only had the candidate’s resume to review in advance of the meeting, and it was often hard to gauge what they were looking to get out of business school based on their resume alone,” Lundy says. “Consider including an indication of your post-grad career goals in the interests/leadership experience section of your resume so the interviewer sees your efforts to achieve the goal.”

SET YOUR RECOMMENDERS UP FOR SUCCESS

Setting your MBA recommenders up with the proper information can help them write a quality letter that aligns to the rest of your MBA application.

“Take the time to synthesize the relevant information across all of the recommendations you are requesting so your recommenders understand the process and are familiar with the questions they will answer,” Sophie Hilaire, a Wharton alum, says. “Share with them how you have differentiated yourself from your peers or stood out from others with similar roles.”

Sources: Stratus Admissions Counseling, Accepted

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