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Maximizing Your MBA Application Feedback Session

How can I know what I’m doing wrong if no one will tell me?

Ah, the MBA applicants lament. You forfeit your evenings and weekends to study for the GMAT. You dredge your life experience and pour your soul into your essays. And for what – just a rejection? Don’t adcoms realize how much work it is to apply to business school?

Many do – that’s why they offer feedback sessions – a time for rejected applicants to gain some insight on where they can improve. However, there are a few nuances to getting the most out of your time, says best-selling author and MBA consultant Stacy Blackman.

According to Blackman, rejected applicants may only get 15 minutes with an adcom. In that time, they probably shouldn’t expect the adcom to provide insider information on what it takes to be accepted. “It’s unlikely that members of the admissions committee will tell you flat out that you don’t have the stats, background or qualifications to attend their MBA program,” Blackman writes in her latest U.S. News column. “Nor will they tell you to change your life plans just for the sake of the application.”

Instead, they should focus on asking certain questions that can help them piece together some areas for improvement. Blackman suggests these questions:

• Was there any concern about my quantitative abilities? If so, what can I do to demonstrate my capabilities?

  • Were my career goals clear?

  • Are my reasons for wanting an MBA sound?

  • What were some of the biggest weaknesses in my application? Do you have any suggestions for how I can ease your concerns in those areas?

In other words, this is a means to stay on the radar and lay some groundwork for a successful application the following year. And that’s exactly how adcoms see it as well, adds Blackman. “This availability of application feedback confirms that the schools really do welcome and encourage re-applicants, who often find success the second time around. In fact, in the past, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School has shared with us anecdotally​ that applicants who reapplied often have a slight edge in the applicant pool.”

DON’T MISS: ADCOM QUESTIONS ASKED BY HARVARD, YALE AND MIT

Source: U.S. News & World Report