Business School Admissions Tips and Advice
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Obtaining a business degree is always a worthwhile investment, but earning your degree from a top-ranking business school can greatly enhance not only the relative value of your degree, but also put you ahead of the pack with prospective employers, improving your chances of landing a high-paying, satisfying job after graduation.
Getting into a top-ranking business school is no easy feat. But by keeping your grades up, creating a well-rounded portfolio of experience, and honestly assessing your strengths and weaknesses, you can increase your chances of getting into the business school of your choice.
Below are some general guidelines on the admissions process and prerequisites used by most top-ranking business schools to help you prepare your business school acceptance plan.
Business School Application Materials
Graduate business school application materials generally include:
- Complete undergraduate transcripts
- GMAT score
- 2 or 3 letters of recommendation
- Entrance essay
- If you're a non-native English speaker, the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOFEL) score
Typical Business School Prerequisites
- Strong GPA: Many business schools have no formal minimum requirement, but a grade point average of 3.0 or better is often the informal standard for serious consideration. The relative competitiveness of your undergraduate program and difficulty of your major will be taken into consideration.
- Strong GMAT scores: Again, many business schools have no formal minimum requirement, but most admissions committees like to see scores of 600 or higher (out of a possible 800.) Highly selective business schools may require scores of 700-750 or more.
- 2 or 3 years of work experience: Some business schools may not require this, but most recommend it.
- "Managerial Potential": This is demonstrated primarily though your essay and though the letters of recommendation from your current and/or previous supervisors. The letters of recommendation should focus on your leadership skills, on your ability to think critically and on your ability to work as part of a team. Your entrance essay should support these letters of recommendation by detailing your key abilities, relevant accomplishments you've made in your professional and/or academic career, and how you expect your MBA degree to help you achieve your future goals.
- Introductory coursework: You don't need to have an extensive background in business-related coursework, but some business schools require candidates to complete a few credits worth of basic courses in accounting, finance, economics and statistics, either before applying or before entering the program. Others may require you to have completed college-level algebra or calculus. If you have enough relevant work experience, many or all of these requirements may be waived.
B-School Prerequisites
An undergraduate degree in any field qualifies you to go to business school. Admissions committees are looking for talented students who earned high undergraduate GPAs, and scored well on the GMAT, whatever their majors.
When to Apply to Business School
Most schools recommend at least 2 or 3 years of work experience after college, before admitting students into an MBA program. Some schools strongly recommend or require it. Others will overlook your lack of work experience if your academic credentials are strong enough. Some schools have 4+1 programs that are essentially joint BA/MBA programs where you can take some MBA courses as an undergraduate and complete both degrees in 5 years instead of 6.
Most schools require work experience because many of the concepts that are taught in business schools take on a much greater practical meaning when understood in the context of the real business world, rather than from a strictly academic viewpoint. You'll be more likely to find your MBA experience more rewarding with real world work experience under your belt.
Work Experience
As long as your work experience has given you a basic sense of how organizations work, it will satisfy the requirements of most business schools. If your experience has provided you with the opportunity to work as part of a team, or to take a leadership role, that's important, too.
The GMAT
The GMAT is the standardized entrance exam required by many business schools. According to the GMAC (the organization that distributes the GMAT), "The GMAT is specifically designed to measure the verbal, quantitative, and writing skills of applicants for graduate study in business. It does not, however, presuppose any specific knowledge of business or other specific content areas, nor does it measure achievement in any particular subject areas."
The GMAC says "The GMAT consists of four separately timed sections. Each of the first two sections contains a 30-minute writing task; the other two sections are 75 minutes each and contain multiple-choice questions."
When to Take the GMAT
Because the GMAT may be taken year-round in hundreds of locations, because it only takes about 2 weeks for scores to be mailed, and because re-taking the GMAT is not encouraged, you can actually plan to take the test fairly close to the date you plan to submit your applications. As soon as you're certain you want to apply to business school, you should examine the GMAT Bulletin, find the testing center nearest you, and call to inquire about available test dates. Equipped with that information, you should be able to determine when you need to schedule an appointment to take the test.
Taking the GMAT More Than Once
The GMAC says, "You may not take the test more than five times." They also say that, "Although you may choose to take the GMAT more than once, doing so is unlikely to result in a substantial increase in your score." If you do repeat the test, both your most recent and your former GMAT scores will be sent to the schools you've applied to.
Business School Interviews
Business schools typically schedule interviews only after reviewing applications and narrowing the applicant pool to those they are seriously considering.
A good or bad interview can do much to sway an admissions committee. In general, a candidate who is mediocre on paper, but warm, confident, and highly focused in person stands a better chance of getting into business school than a candidate who is stellar on paper, but arrogant, scattered, or otherwise awkward in the interview.