Getting an admit to a top business school is a tough task, especially if you are targeting some very selective business schools. Stanford GSB had an acceptance rate of 6.9% for its latest class. Other top business schools’ acceptance rates hover around 12%.
To successfully navigate the highly competitive MBA admissions process every MBA hopeful desires an impeccable application. To get an edge over the competition, many candidates hire MBA admissions consultants to help them create a perfect application.
However, are MBA admissions consultants worth your time and money? If yes, what factors should you consider before hiring one?
Let’s discuss answers to these and more such questions.
Who is an MBA admissions consultant?
An MBA consultant is your personal guide through the MBA application process and helps you build a narrative and storyline, helps you identify the leadership qualities you possess and instances where you have displayed them, helps you align your post-MBA career goals, helps you project the things in your application and interview that a B-school admissions committee is looking for. An MBA consultant is a guide and a partner in thought as you start this difficult and competitive journey.
It’s important to know that an MBA consultant is not in charge of filling out or writing any part of your application. Most coaches have been through the process and done well, so they can give you great advice, but they can’t and shouldn’t offer to do any of the work for you. If you have someone else write any part of your application, you are almost certain to be turned down. Don’t get caught in that.
Second, it’s important to remember that each consultant will offer a different set of services. Some will be able to help you with the whole process, from figuring out how to apply to preparing for the interview. Others will focus on specific parts of the process, like helping you come up with ideas for your essays or helping you apply for scholarships.
We at Admit Expert offer end-to-end MBA application services.
Why do you need an MBA admissions consultant?
Let’s assume you want a top job at a well-known organization. As you do some preliminary research on the company, you find out that its application process is stringent and includes a number of things you have never done before, such as writing in detail about yourself and your past experiences, showing how good you are at your job, and explaining why you want this job in particular.
Since you are already working a full-time job, it might take you a few weeks or even months to put together an application that shows who you are and gives you the best chance of getting the job. And to make things even harder, you realize that you are competing with thousands of other people for this coveted job, and many of them seem to be better qualified than you.
What would you do?
Option 1 – Send in an application quickly without anyone else seeing it.
OR
Option 2 – Carefully put together an application with the help of a trusted advisor, mentor, or former leader at the company.
The second option seems like it would be much more likely to work out well, right? We agree with you.
The stakes are high for people who want to get into the top business schools in the world. Getting into a top business school will set a person up for the rest of their life, give them a quick return on their investment, and help them be successful in business in the future.
Each year, there are thousands of people who want to get into an MBA program, but there are only a few hundred spots available. They all know need to stand out from the other applicants. If this sounds like a very competitive process, that’s because it is.
This is exactly why MBA admissions consultants exist: to help MBA applicants through the application process and make sure that the application they send in is the best one possible.
An MBA admissions consultant knows the application process and has already helped many applicants navigate through it. Imagine a field laid with landmines, and you don’t know the location of these landmines, but want to cross the field. You’d most probably get blown up. An admissions consultant is an expert who has got many candidates to navigate that field in past and knows the exact locations of these landmines, which are analogous to loopholes and disconnects in application
What do MBA admissions consultants do?
MBA admissions consultants work with MBA hopefuls for a few months on different parts of the MBA application process. They help them come up with ideas, put them into action, and polish their application materials.
Here are a few things that MBA admissions consultants do:
Profile Evaluation: The first step any admissions consultant does is profile evaluation. They assess your overall profile and provide feedback on strengths and weaknesses, explain remedial steps, and a high-level strategy. At the beginning of the application process, you can take several important steps that will help you build your profile and improve your chances of getting in. An MBA admissions expert can help you with these steps and other important things, like taking or retaking the GMAT/GRE, taking math and/or finance classes, choosing a volunteer organization to join, planning campus visits, and talking to students and alumni to learn more about the different programs. You can strengthen your profile by focusing on your weaknesses and making sure they are balanced with your strengths.
We at Admit Expert provide the first one-on-one consultation/ profile evaluation for free.
Introspection: As you get ready to apply to business school and prepare for this very important step in your life, it’s important to have a long-term plan and goals to reach. An admissions consultant can help you get through this part of the process with proper introspection so that when it’s time to stand out, you have a lot of stories about your professional, community, and personal accomplishments to choose from.
Business School selection: An MBA admissions consultant can help you find the business schools where you will be competitive and explain the best programs’ features and strengths so you can find the one that fits you and your goals the best.
Brainstorming ideas for your personal statements and essays: During one-on-one idea-generation sessions, an MBA admissions consultant can help you find interesting and inspiring stories from your past and show you how to best use these unique personal anecdotes in the larger context of your application, creating compelling and thorough statements that show off your best qualities. Because of this process, sometimes your admissions consultant will know you almost as well as you know yourself. An outsider’s perspective is very helpful at this stage because the advisor can see strengths in things that you may have thought were weaknesses or help you turn a weakness into a story of growth.
Providing high-level edits on your written materials: An MBA admissions consultant can ask questions and make suggestions to improve the detail, color, and flow of your writing while staying within each program’s word limit. The goal is to improve your ideas by paying attention to sentence structure, grammar, and style while keeping your own voice. A consultant can give you feedback on more than just your application essays. They will also help you with creating a resume, letters of recommendation, and unconventional essays like video essays.
Resume and Short Answers: Your resume and your answers to the short-answer questions asked by the school you want to attend are also important parts of your application. An admissions consultant can make sure that all of these parts are clear, well-thought-out, and focused on getting results. This will increase your chances of success and help you take advantage of every chance to make a good impression on the admissions committee.
Letters of Recommendation: It takes thought and skill to choose and work with the people who will write your letters of recommendation. An admissions consultant will give you the tools you need to find and work with the recommenders whose letters will make your application stronger and stand out to the admissions committees.
Unconventional Essays: A good MBA admissions consultant will also help you create and manage the new wave of “essays” that business schools are asking for, like videos and PowerPoint presentations.
Interview Preparation: Your MBA admissions consultant will make sure you are well-prepared for your admissions interviews by giving you a mock interview and giving you feedback on key points that will help you do well.
Waitlist advice: If you are on a school’s waitlist, an experienced MBA admissions consultant can tell you how to improve your candidacy in the meantime and how to let the admissions committee know about any changes.
Rejection Review: If you were rejected from your target program, an MBA admissions consultant can look at your entire application, including your test scores, resume, essays, transcript, short-answer responses, reference letters, and any other relevant materials, and give you written feedback that shows your strengths and weaknesses and suggests ways to improve your candidacy for your next application.
Post-acceptance Counseling: It can be hard to decide which business school to attend. An MBA admissions consultant can help you make this life-changing decision by giving you objective advice and a second opinion.
It’s quite clear that the MBA application is rigorous and requires a lot of effort. However, how to decide if you require assistance from an MBA admissions consultant? Let’s see this in the next section.
Should you hire an admissions consultant?
Hire an admissions consultant if:
- Your target business schools are some of the most selective business schools. The competition is intense and you would definitely need a mentor to help you navigate the admissions process successfully.
- You haven’t written a lot for some time now or find it challenging to articulate your thoughts. An MBA admissions consultant will help you sort relevant stories from your personal and professional life and help choose the right ones to strengthen your profile.
- Your overall profile is weaker because of your low GPA, GMAT/GRE score, and low work experience.
- You belong to a competitive applicant pool like Indian male engineers. Since business schools strive to create a diverse class, few applicant pools are more competitive than others
- You are overwhelmed by how hard it is to get into an MBA program. You could use some help with being efficient, staying organized, and getting things done on time. An expert admissions consultant who has helped hundreds of applicants get in can be a big help as you go through the process yourself.
- You need help getting past language or cultural barriers. The right consultant can help you make your essays clearer and easier to understand for the people reading them. They won’t change your words or stories in a way that doesn’t sound like you.
- You think an expert could help your application if they took a second look at it. We believe that no one should send in an application that hasn’t been looked over by another person. An experienced MBA admissions consultant, especially one who lives and breathes business school admissions like the full-time consultants at Admit Expert do, knows exactly what admissions committees are looking for and can really give you an edge over the competition.
If you relate to one or more points mentioned above then you should consider hiring an MBA admissions consultant.
So, what factors should you consider before hiring an MBA admissions consultant? Let’s discuss this now.
How to choose the right MBA admissions consultant for yourself?
Here are a few factors that you should consider before hiring an MBA admissions consultant.
Expertise
Expertise is one of the first things to look at. How long has the consultant been helping people get into MBA programs, and where have their clients been accepted? Is he/she a top business school alum and has gone through the grind of getting accepted? What kind of reviews has the coach gotten, and what have people who have worked with them said about it?
School Alumni in your admissions consultant team
Getting insights from alumni of your target business schools is priceless. Imagine having them on your team of admissions consultants whose sole purpose is to get you into your target business school. Nothing will boost your application quality more than having an alum help you.
Cost
Cost is a factor that is linked to expertise. Different coaches will charge different prices because they have different levels of experience and expertise.
MBA Program and Work Experience
The information a consultant can give also depends on where they went to school. If you want to go to a top school like Harvard or Stanford or Wharton, you might want to work with a coach who went to one of those schools because they will know more about the admissions process.
You might also look at a consultant’s professional background.
For example, if you’ve worked in the PE/VC industry, you might look for a coach with similar experience. If you’re a finance professional, you might look for a consultant who also has some experience in finance. Even small things like this can help you connect with your coach, which could give your application an edge.
Each mentor’s profile on Admit Expert has information about a mentor’s business school, work history, and special skills.
The people you work with are important. Be polite but firm, and be ready to answer questions as well. A coach wants to know if you’re a good fit for them as well.
Get started with Admit Expert
If you agree with a lot of what we’ve said here and want a mentor who will do everything possible to increase your chances of getting into your target MBA program, contact us today to find out how we can help you with your MBA applications. Or, you can just click the button below to apply. We can’t wait to meet you!
