The Founders' Blog

HBS Recommendations Advice (Class of 2017)

By Kyle Watkins (last updated: August 5, 2014)

Based on Excerpts from a Real HBS Recommendation Sample

 

This year’s MBA applicants face fewer required essays and shorter word counts than any recent class of candidates. But applicants haven’t been the only ones facing the squeeze over the past few years. Recommenders, too, have found themselves with less and less space to make an impact: over the past two years, HBS not only reduced the number of recommenders a candidate was allowed to have, it also cut the word count allotted to those recommenders by half.

 

What does this mean for this year’s HBS applicants? First and foremost, applicants need to pick the right recommenders to advocate on their behalf. Second, applicants need to make sure they are adequately preparing those recommenders to write great recommendations.

 

In this blog post, I’ll illustrate the keys to getting great HBS recommendations by revealing a few snippets of a real recommendation from my own HBS application.

Continue reading →

Analyzing the Applications: the Yale SOM Video Interview

By Kyle Watkins (last updated: October 14, 2019)

This year, the Yale School of Management will once again require all its MBA applicants to participate in a video interview as part of the 2014/2015 application process. The rationale, according to Admissions Director Bruce DelMonico who introduced video essays in 2013, is that, “one-on-one interviews, while important, do not do the best job of gauging an applicant’s ability to think on his feet. Responses are polished, and one interviewer’s impressions may not be shared by everyone on the admissions team. Video responses can be compared with those of other applicants and reviewed by multiple team members. Since the questions are not known in advance, responses can’t be scripted.”

While being videotaped may initially make a few applicants anxious, I’d encourage you to rest easy. In fact, I think this could make the application process a little easier. To understand why, read on for more of this edition of our Analyzing the Applications series…

Continue reading →

MBA Admissions Essays are Disappearing

By Kyle Watkins (last updated: October 14, 2019)

How to Make the Most of a Shrinking MBA Admissions Application

MBA admissions essays are quickly disappearing. In fact, an applicant applying to the top ten MBA programs today would be required to complete fewer than half as many essays today as she would have just five year ago. And – she’d have to do it in a lot less space, with the average word limit per essay a mere 75% of what it used to be:

Since last year, HBS has no longer required that applicants write any essay (although only 10 of the 9,543 candidates that applied last cycle actually opted not to submit one). Wharton, meanwhile, moved to require only a single essay of its applicants this year. Even Columbia and Haas, the only programs among the top ten that still require applicants to write more than two essays, have reduced the word limit that applicants are allowed.

Why Essays are Disappearing

Having read many applications, I can attest to the fact that you don’t need four essays and 2,000 words to gauge an applicant’s compatibility with a program. So I don’t mean to cynically suggest that business schools’ motives are entirely self-serving here. With that said, however, logic holds that requiring fewer essays and shorter word counts – essentially decreasing the cost to apply – will increase the number of candidates that submit applications. Increasing the number of applicants will, in turn, decrease a school’s admittance rate, making the school seem more selective and helping to keep the top-ranked programs top ranked.

Additionally, there’s no doubt that reducing the number of application essays also reduces the burden on busy admissions staff. Ensuring that there are fewer essays to read will also ensure that fewer resources are required to do so, something any admissions director could get behind.

Finally, admissions committees are likely looking for a more focused story and essay set from their applicants, who can meander quite a bit over the course of 2,000 words. This raises the next logical question, which is what fewer essays should mean for aspiring applicants…

What it Means for Your Applications

The reduction in essays has been a pretty remarkable shift, and it certainly has consequences for applicants applying this year:

Continue reading →

MBA Admissions Committees Are Tracking Your Engagement

By Kyle Watkins (last updated: July 16, 2014)

“Why This School” Essays Are More Important Than Ever

Over the past five years, admissions committees have slashed the number of essays required to apply. But despite the reduction, one essay question persists among top programs: Why do you want to attend this school?

Stanford asks applicants, “Why Stanford?” Wharton asks applicants what they hope to gain “from a Wharton MBA?”. Columbia, for all practical purposes, asks applicants the question twice, once in its first essay prompt and again in its second.

Despite this, MBA applicants too often seem to invest limited effort in crafting a well-thought-out answer as to why they want to go to a particular program. Too many provide the same generic response: they name a few classes, clubs, and professors that align with their interests; they compliment the school’s energetic student body and expansive alumni network; and then they move on.

Well, business schools aren’t satisfied. So they’ve begun to try to get at this question another way. Using software like Talisma and Slate, admissions committees have started tracking how often applicants engage with the school as a means of discerning how badly candidates really even want to attend.

Schools will track everything from the number of emails you’ve sent the admissions committee to the number of events and webinars you’ve attended. According to a recent Businessweek article, some schools even track whether you’ve interviewed alumni.

So, why do business schools care so much, and what should applicants do about it?

Continue reading →

Wharton Essay Analysis

By Kyle Watkins (last updated: July 10, 2014)

Wharton Business School Essay Tips for the 2014-2015 Admissions Cycle

Over the past five years, Wharton has steadily decreased the number of essays required in its application. This year, that trend continues, as Wharton announced that it will require only one, 500-word essay, a far cry from the four essays totaling over 2,000 words that it required half a decade ago.

At face value, this may just be an attempt by Wharton to reverse the decline in applications they saw with the Class of 2015, the latest class for which stats are available:

Percent Change in Number of Applicants

 

Requiring less essay writing lowers the cost of applying, likely increasing the number of applications Wharton will receive (and also making the school’s admissions stats seem more selective – something that can only help it stay at the top of the US News business school rankings).

But this change also raises the stake for applicants, who have a lot less space to capture the attention of the Wharton admissions committee. In about half the words that are in this blog post, candidates must answer:

What do you hope to gain both personally and professionally from the Wharton MBA?

The question is nearly identical to the prompt provided for last year’s applicants, which asked, “What do you aspire to achieve, personally and professionally, through the Wharton MBA?” Perhaps this biggest different is the word choice Wharton used to set up the question. “Hope to gain” is a lot more down to earth than “aspire to achieve” – likely a subtle cue to applicants that went a bit overboard with their answers last year. Wharton isn’t looking for applicants dreaming of solving poverty and ending hunger; they want to get to know you in a very personal and real way. The shift in language is a subtle hint at that, and something applicants should be mindful of when they’re deciding how lofty they want to make their goals.

Last year, Wharton made a similarly subtle shift in this essay question, which previously had read, “How will a Wharton MBA help you achieve your professional objectives?” The addition of the word “personal” last year was an important prod to get applicants to talk more about their passions and values, as well as their professional ambition and vision. The admissions committee wants to know how you’ll participate in the broader school community – and what you expect to gain from that involvement. It wants to know how you think you’ll grow as a person, so you have to go beyond the commonplace reasons almost all applicants give for why they want an MBA: enhance their skill set and grow their network.

So, given all of this, what does a good Wharton essay response look like? Here are the keys:

Continue reading →

Cancelling your GMAT score

By Kyle Watkins (last updated: July 7, 2014)

On June 27, 2014, GMAC announced that GMAT candidates would now be able to see their unofficial score before deciding whether to accept or cancel their test score.

This is a significant change for MBA applicants, who will now need to add one step to their GMAT test preparation: a score cancellation strategy session.

Until recently, we systematically recommended GMAT test takers to never cancel their score. It is indeed very common to hear of candidates who scored 700+ GMAT scores while feeling they had performed poorly during the test. I remember almost cancelling a 750 GMAT score myself after answering a string of very easy quant questions towards the end of my test… I incorrectly thought that something had gone terribly wrong.

With GMAC’s recent change, GMAT candidates are now in a position to make an informed decision. Because of the limited time available to click on the accept / reject score buttons (only 2 minutes), we strongly advise test takers to set their cancellation threshold (if any) before taking the test.

Here are a few tips to make your decision easier:
Continue reading →