Poets&Quants | Getting Into Business School With A Scholarship

Hello P&Q readers, and welcome to my advice column! My name is Karen Marks, and I am the Founder and President of North Star Admissions Consulting. I have been helping people get into their dream schools since 2012, and prior to that I was the Associate Director of Admissions at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. In both roles, my goal is to give people the accurate, insider information that they need in order to succeed and make good decisions. Ask away, no topic is off limits!

This month, I want to answer one of the questions that I am asked most frequently on intake calls: “How Can I Improve My Chances of Getting into Business School – With a Scholarship?”

I get it. Business school is expensive. So is admissions consulting, and applicants are naturally concerned about the ROI for both. Since 2012, I have helped my clients earn more than $70 million in scholarships, including full tuition, primarily at M7 and top 15 schools. I know how to help you get into the best possible school, and what you need to do in order to earn scholarships.

Clarify Your Goals – and make sure they are coherent.

Articulating what you want to do when you graduate, and why you need to go to business school in order to get there, is a core part of any successful application. It’s also surprisingly difficult to do. Your goals need to be aspirational but realistic, consistent with your interests and values, and specific enough to be understandable but not TOO specific, which can make you seem inflexible. It’s a lot to manage, but if your goals don’t resonate with the committee you aren’t going to get in.

Apply to the Right Schools. (For the right reasons, to paraphrase the Bachelor.)

When I have intake calls with prospective applicants who are applying to all of the M7’s – and who can’t articulate why they are interested in each one, I get concerned. It’s not that I don’t understand why prestige and brand recognition matter, and these schools are popular and uber selective for very good reason. However, they are also quite different from each other, and not all 7 (or all of the top 15, etc.), are likely to be an equally good fit.

Why does this matter? If you can’t articulate what you, personally will bring to each school, while also demonstrating that you understand their specific culture and curriculum, your application simply isn’t competitive.

Furthermore, for most applicants, it makes sense to widen your net. I’m not saying that you should apply to schools that aren’t worth it for you – but the rankings aren’t the whole story in terms of a degree’s value, and personal fit/ROI are critical components of any solid school list. Also, if you want to maximize your odds of getting a scholarship, apply to schools where you are strong in the pool.

Don’t be overconfident.

We have all seen the numbers indicating that there has been a decline in business school applications. While this is undeniably true, the majority of applicants (most of whom are well qualified on paper) are STILL REJECTED. Don’t assume (and definitely don’t telegraph) that you are entitled to admission. Business schools, especially, the top ones, can fill their classes many times over with candidates who bring grades, scores and experience that is above their class average. Admissions committees don’t love arrogance – be humble, and put in the work to submit thoughtful applications.

Start Early.

Those round one deadlines come up fast, and they are generally advantageous for applicants – especially if you are hoping for scholarships. Putting together strong applications takes time; don’t underestimate the process.

Get Personal.

If the school isn’t getting to know you well, they are unlikely to feel compelled to admit you, much less to offer you a scholarship. Make sure that you are talking about what really matters to you, and address deficits head on.

Work with Me.

Ha! Seriously, though, it’s incredibly gratifying to help get people get into their dream schools, especially with multiple full tuition offers. If you want to feel confident that you are doing everything you can to optimize your odds of success, call me.

Karen has more than 15 years of experience evaluating candidates for admission to Dartmouth College and to the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Since founding North Star Admissions Consulting in 2012, she has helped applicants gain admission to the nation’s top schools, including Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Wharton, MIT, Tuck, Columbia, Kellogg, Booth, Haas, Duke, Johnson, Ross, NYU, UNC, UCLA, Georgetown and more. Clients have been awarded more than $70 million dollars in scholarships, and more than 98% have gotten into one of their top choice schools. Inquire about an MBA application scholarship.