Another testimonial from a Harvard/MIT applicant

Since we are in the middle of the application season for b-schools, many applicants are doing more and more research about different schools to find additional information to better prepare themselves for their upcoming interviews. We have been getting numerous e-mails from current college students either asking us questions or just giving us feedback about YoungMBA. I am happy to share with you a recent e-mail I have received from a current b-school applicant:

Insider interview tips

I just thought I’d scribble off a quick post on a couple of MBA interview tips that apply to college seniors.

1) I’m not sure about you, but I was scared stiff when I first started rehearsing for my interviews. I tried to act very serious and professional, and ended up coming across as all boring and uptight. After a few more practices I learned to relax, to smile, to joke, and most importantly, to treat the guy interviewing you, who may be 10-20 years older, as a friend just like you would any normal classmate. Some interviewers are current MBA students, hence they’d want to consider things like “Do I want to hang out with this guy?”, which might be an issue for an applicant straight out of college.

The “selling points” of a college senior

As a college senior I found that I had certain advantages with which I could sell myself to business schools. Maybe this will come in handy for others as well.

1) I could sell myself as an academic, someone who was very intellectually curious and eager to learn. A Chicago GSB admissions staff actually told me that they were interested in college seniors because of the academic seriousness that they brought to the table, as opposed to an older applicant who had not touched a textbook in years. Obviously having a high GPA, a challenging transcript and a good GMAT score will help you sell this point more convincingly.

The most important question for college seniors is…

…Why MBA, Why now?

I simply had to chime in on this topic, because I believe one’s answer to this question is the single factor that determines not only whether one can successfully gain admission into a business school straight out of undergrad, but more importantly whether one should even be thinking about going to business school as a college senior.

Young MBA experience at b-school

We have recently received a question from one of our readers. Here is what she wrote: “Do you feel that your “older” ( or more experienced) classmates treat your opinions & thoughts any differently than those of more experienced students?”

My initial response to this question would be a big NO. I have yet to feel that my classmates at business school are treating my opinions differently because I have no full-time work experience. However, as a young MBA student, this depends mostly on you.

Combined GPA/GMAT® Score: Will I get in?

During my application process I had a relatively low GMAT® score, so I found myself continually questioning whether or not I could get into a Top 25 program. In order to gauge how I compared to other applicants I used the following formula:

( GPA X 200 ) + GMAT® = Combined GPA/GMAT® Score

Young MBAs or Old…It’s Finals time!

‘Tis the Season…for finals! Whether you are a young MBA student or a rather older one, you absolutely dread this time of the year. You just can’t wait to be done! Most b-schools are having their finals either this week or the next; and Vanderbilt is no exception.

YoungMBA Forum

• United States
• Japan
• Canada
• Turkey
• Netherlands
• United Kingdom
• Taiwan
• Indonesia
• Italy
• India
• Australia

Now, why did I list all of these countries? It’s simple; this is only a small list of countries where YoungMBA.net has received visitors from in its short existence.

Hey, I thought I was still a student?

My feet have become accustomed to wearing heels. I have developed a personal relationship with my dry cleaner. I attend as many information sessions and networking events as study groups (well, almost). I have a business card case.

Does this sound like the life of a typical student to you? It definitely wasn’t what I was expecting. I actually had more in common with my friend working in marketing at American Express than my friend starting her Master’s in International Affairs at Georgetown. The transition is obviously harder for those of us going straight through. We have a conception of school in our really recent memory and little experience with a formal workplace setting. Maybe this is business school’s way of making the transition easier for the traditional candidate who has been out of school for a few years.

School selection

I hope everyone had a pleasant Thanksgiving holiday. The week after Thanksgiving at Vanderbilt was rather crazy! We were bombarded with deliverables, team meetings, projects, upcoming resume deadlines for various internship positions listed in our database, and much more. Finally, I survived the first week back from Thanksgiving and took a short trip to Atlanta with Brooks for the SEC Championship game between LSU and Tennessee. Now I am back in Nashville, ready to start yet another week!