How to Market Yourself to an MBA Admissions Committee

The MBA admissions process can feel pretty daunting, especially when you consider some of the leading schools’ acceptance rates (Harvard’s was 11% for its latest class while Stanford GSB says the rate is typically 5-7%, for example). From GMAT scores and recommendation letters, to those often-imposing MBA essay questions (some of which even ask you to supply a video response) it’s not only important to have everything in place before the deadline, but also to differentiate yourself from other applicants in the process.

During the course of a TopMBA.com series with MBA admissions directors around the world, we’ve found that top business schools often place great emphasis on finding candidates they believe will enrich their MBA program, through the skills and past experiences they can bring to the class. To get into your dream business school, therefore, you’ll need a clear – and honest – vision of what you have to offer. You can gain some insights into the right and wrong ways in which to position yourself during the application process from a QS webinar on August 3, 2016. For the time being, however, here are a few pointers raised by admissions staff attached to leading schools.

Yes, you want to stand out among other applicants in your application’s MBA essay questions. But, that doesn’t mean you have to embark on a futile search for things you have done that no one else in the history of humankind has ever done before, as Stanford GSB’s MBA admissions director, Lisa Giannangeli, advises:

“You don’t need to have accomplishments or feats that are unusual or different from your peers…If you concentrate your efforts on telling us who you are, differentiation will occur naturally.”

With this in mind, it seems wise to ensure your MBA essay captures who you really are - from the values you hold and the experiences underpinning the direction you have taken in your professional life to date, to why you believe an MBA will set you on the right road for the future.

Indeed, concocting an overly elaborate story in your application could conceivably do more harm than good, if and when you progress to the interview stage of MBA admissions, as HEC Paris’ director of communications, development and admissions, Philippe Oster, explains:

“Candidates should aim for consistency – ensuring what they say at interview matches what they have written in their applications.”