What Do You Bring To An MBA Program?

As the MBA application season is now in full swing, it’s crucial to understand the qualities you should convey in your MBA application. It’s not just about why you need an MBA to progress in your career, but what you bring to an MBA program is equally important. The AdCom members reading your application should clearly understand your unique contributions. Business school is different from your college days or other graduate programs. It’s an exciting, peer-driven learning experience where much of the knowledge comes from your classmates.

Sure, MBA programs vary in how much they incorporate case discussions involving the whole class versus lectures or experiential learning. Nonetheless, a common expectation is that students will contribute insights from their personal, extracurricular, academic, and professional lives. Finding a way to convey what your classmates will learn from you and how you’ll be an asset to their program if you attend is monumentally important.

It’s also tricky. While every program will evaluate your candidacy based on how you might contribute to the class, only a few schools—such as Wharton—directly ask this question in their essay prompts. With so few spots at the top programs, you’ll have to figure out subtle ways to communicate this information throughout your application materials. But where to begin? SBC consultant Erika Olsen, a host of our popular B-Schooled podcast, shared this expert advice for showing what you bring to an MBA program.  

Curious about your chances of getting into a top B-school? Contact us to talk strategy with a free 15-minute advising session with an SBC Principal Consultant. 

SHOWING WHAT YOU BRING TO AN MBA PROGRAM

We’ve gone in-depth into how applicants can “MBA” their resume before, so we won’t recap that advice here. But after you’ve tinkered with your resume to make it showcase your MBA-relevant skills, set it aside until after you’ve drafted your essays. Then, look at it with fresh eyes through the lens of what it tells the admissions committee about how you’ll contribute to their community.

Evaluating your resume from this vantage point may make you realize that you want to prioritize one project over another if you don’t have space to include everything. For example, say you’re a consultant, and you’ve written one of your MBA essays about a project in the healthcare space. Likewise, you’ve stated that your future career goals are in the healthcare field.

By this point, your interest in and passion for the healthcare industry are well documented. In that case, your MBA resume could include other projects in different industries to show the admissions committee that your classroom contributions won’t be confined solely to discussions around the healthcare sector.

That same thinking can work for job functions, too. Suppose you’re a professional working at a major healthcare provider. In that case, you’d want to brainstorm all the different functions you’ve been involved with and any cross-team or cross-division initiatives you’ve played a role in.

You may work in data analytics but have collaborated with the legal department or the marketing team. Ensure you include that type of exposure on your resume and think outside of the day-to-day responsibilities and achievements in your given role.

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

What you bring to the table as an MBA candidate goes beyond the professional experience on your resume. You can highlight your college-era activities in and outside of class, any organizations you might volunteer with, or any hobbies and interests you have.

For example, you may participate in a book club or an ongoing informal game of neighborhood soccer. Perhaps you host elaborate, themed dinner parties for friends. Let the AdCom know about those other noteworthy things you could bond over—and teach—your future classmates.

As we stress in our resume episode of the B-Schooled podcast, MBA applicants should attempt to quantify activities and results wherever possible. It’s important to give the admissions committee a sense of how many other people you might interact with in these informal extracurriculars. So, a line on your resume might read something like “Spearhead a monthly dinner party for 15 people highlighting international cuisine,” or “Organize my neighborhood’s weekend pickup soccer game for approximately 45 people.”

Suppose you have limited formal extracurriculars but have several hobbies, most of which are solo in nature. In that case, stick with the differentiating ones that give more insight into what makes you tick. You may love running, and going for that daily jog has been a sanity saver since the pandemic. However, the reality is that this type of activity is not a differentiator.

Think about the things you like to read up on or educate yourself about. Maybe you’re a sucker for a specific type of foreign film. Or you’re a whiz at putting together 3,00-piece jigsaw puzzles. You might collect something interesting, like our founder Stacy Blackman’s collection of Pez dispensers. Fun quirks like these offer the admissions committee insights into what you might bond with your future classmates over.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Your recommendation letters are another way for the admissions committee to get a feel for the skills and personal qualities you would bring to the class. When you have initial conversations with recommenders or check in on their progress, remind them to highlight examples of your soft skills, too. They may mention how you’re involved socially with your colleagues, be it through heading up a volunteer fundraiser, mentoring new hires, or overseeing the holiday gift exchange. These examples can provide a more holistic view of your potential contributions to the MBA program.

But, of course, the most effective way to show what you bring to an MBA program is through your essay responses.

Curious about your chances of getting into a top B-school? Contact us to talk strategy with a free 15-minute advising session with an SBC Principal Consultant. 

IMPACT IN YOUR MBA ESSAYS

Our final advice is for MBA programs that don’t specifically ask how you’ll contribute. In these cases, how you would convey what you bring to an MBA program is not apparent. Often, writing about things that don’t immediately scream “business school application material” can be advantageous.

When it comes to your essays, we encourage you to think broadly. Let your personality and motivations shine through. Remember the Golden Rule of essay writing: show, don’t tell. It’s possible to convey what you’ll contribute to business school without directly saying, “I will contribute my leadership skills and my ability to mediate between groups that can’t see eye to eye.” Express your unique qualities and contributions, and don’t be afraid to think outside the box.

Instead, you might share a story about how you were able to win more favorable terms with a notoriously stingy supplier. You can show it through your stories about how you spearheaded an initiative at work that went above and beyond your role. Or, talk about how you worked weekends to crack a challenging client problem or how you helped smooth over a relationship with an angry client. The admissions team comprises intelligent people who can spot your star qualities based on the stories you tell and anecdotes from your recommenders.

So, What do You Bring to an MBA Program?

Securing a spot in a top MBA program requires more than just showcasing your professional achievements and career goals; it demands a holistic presentation of your unique qualities and contributions. By thoughtfully curating your resume, emphasizing your diverse experiences and extracurricular activities, and crafting compelling essays and recommendation letters, you can effectively communicate the value you will bring to the program.

Remember, the admissions committee seeks candidates who will enrich the learning environment and foster a collaborative, dynamic community. By demonstrating your distinct perspectives and skills, you can position yourself as an invaluable asset to any MBA cohort.

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Stacy Blackman Consulting’s B-Schooled Podcast is hosted by Erika Olson, Harvard MBA, and Chandler Arnold, Stanford GSB MBA. B-Schooled now has more than a quarter million downloads and 200+ episodes.  Search and sort through our 200 B-Schooled podcasts. 

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Stacy Blackman is the founder of Stacy Blackman Consulting (SBC). We are the only consulting firm in the industry that has a complete panel of former MBA Admissions Officers from the top US and European MBA programs. SBC holds the #1 ranking on MBAinsight, CollegeConsensus, ClearAdmit, BeattheGMAT, ExamStrategist and we are  #1 out of 11 firms for the presence on our SBC team of former MBA Admissions Officers by PoetsandQuants.  Sign up for SBC’s E-Newsletter for valuable insider intel culled from the former MBA Admissions Officers on our team and real-time learnings: stacyblackman.com/newsletter  Request a free MBA Advising Session call: stacyblackman.com.

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