What Makes Someone a Qualified MBA Student?

Even though community service is generally perceived as being voluntary, it is highly valued by many business schools. This is because community service almost always reflects your priorities and values, and speaks volumes about you as a person. Community service is a broad category that encompasses taking an active role and interest in your surrounding environment. It provides an opportunity for you to reveal facets of yourself that aren’t immediately apparent in your application. More importantly, your history of activism and participation shows the MBA admissions committee that you are likely to be an active contributor to their student and alumni organizations. As much as your test scores and prior experience matter, they will only get your foot in the door. Workaholic students with perfect scores yet poor social skills are not what the top business schools want in an MBA student. Make sure your extracurricular activities are highlighted. They can be the extra push necessary to get you an interview with the admissions committee.

Business schools look for students who are proven problem solvers. As you’re preparing your application, you might be a bit concerned about your quantitative skills, especially if you haven’t yet taken the GMAT. However, the GMAT is not the only way to show relevant quantitative skills. Did you do well in statistics in college? Can you grasp quantitative concepts quickly? Do you have a job where you crunch through Excel like a wizard? Make sure you reference these instances in your application, which will help demonstrate your abilities regardless of your quantitative score on the GMAT. Schools want to be confident that you will thrive in the MBA program and be able to analyze and discuss quantitative concepts. As long as you figure out a way to show that you are comfortable with problem solving and math, you will have an edge over other applicants.

Your long-term professional aspirations must be communicated, even though it’s common for a prospective MBA student to be uncertain about their specific career goals. Start with explaining your proposed plans after graduation and articulate the reasons that this specific MBA program is relevant to your dreams. When it comes to your career ambitions, you have to walk a fine line between being realistic and thinking big. Convey how your past and current roles have provided invaluable experience into managing and overseeing all aspects of a business. Convince the committee that your drive is not contingent upon your acceptance into their program, even though it would certainly aid you.

The iconic Steve Jobs was more a business visionary than an engineer or manager. He transformed the user experience of personal computers and applied his critical thinking skills to the ways in which we experience the digital age creatively. One of his notable attributes was innovation and he constantly sought minor tweaks and revisions (Apple has continued this tradition by regularly releasing upgraded and updated versions of their products). In this regard, Jobs was a maverick businessman with a burning desire to try more and more new ideas, while always challenging the status quo. In your business career, you will also often have to think ‘outside the box’ to markedly transform ideas. Top business schools want to see how you might be able to capitalize on an intuitive marketing sense and produce something novel that meets a demand. Be sure to give them specific examples of your potential in this respect – how has your style of thinking influenced your colleagues or an idea in incubation?  

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There are many reasons to pursue an MBA program: Diversity of employment opportunities, a higher salary and the acquisition of further skills high among them. Whatever your reason for applying to business school, gaining acceptance requires showcasing the qualities listed above. It might seem obvious that these are the traits that schools are looking for, but an honest self-assessment will be crucial to completing a holistic application to your preferred MBA program(s). It’s wise to gather feedback from people who know you well, to see if they have any insights they can share about your character, work ethic and values. Distinguishing yourself from the flock while presenting yourself as a worthy MBA student will take a good portion of your time, but if you can convince the admissions committee that you possess these six qualities – by providing excellent examples of each – it ought to put you in a league of your own.