MBA Application Interview Strategy

This post includes minor updates made in November 2010.

A REACTIVE VS PROACTIVE APPROACH TO INTERVIEW PREPARATION
First, I think it useful to contrast two different of ways of preparing interviews. As I will argue, a proactive approach to interviews is a more effective way to prepare for an MBA interview.

1. REACTIVE INTERVIEW PREPARATION
Just as the name implies, reactive interview preparation is based on reacting to actions taken by others. It has the following characteristics:

A. Timing: Reactive interview preparation does not begin until all other parts of the application process are completed and in the worst case not until the applicant is actually invited. Interviews are not approached as inherent part of the application process, but something that occurs independently from the rest of the process. For example, the applicant does not think about their resume as an agenda setting device (see below) for an interview, but simply as part of the application. Reactive interview preparation is invariably a scramble for time and often comes too late to have sufficient impact on improving the applicant's performance (An interview is a performance).

B. Approach to answering questions: Reactive interview preparation is always based on reacting to the questions. At its core, reactive interview preparation is based on responding to specific answers to set questions. As result, even those who use this method extensively have to prepare many answers to many questions because that is the only way they can be prepared. The problem, of course, is that when encountering a new question (If you put in charge of the world economy right now, what you do?) in actual interview, the interviewee is often at a loss about how to answer.

C. Reactive interviewing is strategically flawed:  Since you don't know what you will be asked, you set yourself up for failure if you plan a strategy only based on the questions you think you will be asked.  It is a poor excuse to say "I was not prepared for that question" because you actually cannot know exactly what you will be asked.   After all, a good interviewer will tailor questions specifically to you and in the process of doing that, they are likely to ask something you are not prepared for.


1. PROACTIVE INTERVIEW PREPARATION
Just as the name implies, active interview preparation is based on taking a proactive approach to interview preparation. It has the following characteristics:

A. Timing: Proactive interview preparation begins with making a resume. Consider that for all US MBA program alumni interviews, all US MBA program student interviews, and many US program admissions interviews, the only thing from your application that your interviewer will have is your resume. Hence, it is important that your resume contain only information you are comfortable discussing in an interview. It is, to some extent, an agenda setting document. Hence, you should view interview preparation to begin with the composition of your resume. Proactive interview preparation also involves begin interview preparation sufficiently early to have impact. For some applicants with weak English and/or interview skills, such preparation may require a month or more to have real effect. For some applicants, it might just require a day or two of highly concentrated preparation. Much will depend on your skills as well who is interviewing and from what school.

B. Approach to answering questions: Proactive interview preparation is always based on knowing what you want to say about yourself before you interview. At its core, proactive interview preparation is based on thinking about your message. You must also be aware of potential questions, but the focus should be on knowing what you want to say about yourself, no matter what the question. You should have keywords and stories that can be used to answer a variety of questions.

C. Proactive interviewing offers a comprehensive strategy: Proactive interview preparation is based on the idea that you don't know what you will be asked, but you do know your message. Being ready for the unexpected is thus incorporated into the very method itself.


Interview Strategy Formulation
It is absolutely critical that you have an overall strategy for determining what you want to say about yourself. Just as with your essays, you need to formulate your self-marketing strategy for your interviews. Obviously what you put in your application should be consistent with and supported by your interview. However writing essays and talking for 30 minutes or more are simply not the same.

Don't worry about the questions, worry about your message!
While you should use the Accepted and Clear Admit sites to learn about the questions, an overemphasis on simply preparing answers to the questions that other applicants were asked is not the main thing you should be doing. Instead, decide what you want to say about yourself.

One way of being proactive is prepare a table like the following:

(CLICK TO ENLARGE)

This table can be used for doing an inventory of your keywords and stories that you will use for interviews. Next, I will consider some specific types of keywords you need to develop.

Strengths/Contributions/Future Potential/Personality
1. One of my key strengths is X. A story that demonstrates this strength is... Another story that does is... This strength will be a contribution at your school because... This strength will contribute to my future goals because...
2. Another of my key strengths is Y. A story that demonstrates this strength is... Another story that does is... This strength will be a contribution at your school because... This strength will contribute to my future goals because...
3. Another of my key strengths is Z. A story that demonstrates this strength is... Another story that does is.. This strength will be a contribution at your school because... This strength will contribute to my future goals because...

For each X, Y, Z insert a keyword describing your strength. Connect keywords to specific stories. If possible, find more than one story that demonstrates the keyword. Next think how this strength could be a contribution when you are student. Next think how this strength will contribute to your goals. By using this method, you will have prepared answers to such common questions as "What are your strengths" and "How will you contribute to our school." Additionally you will be ready to show how your past experience will help you achieve your goals. Additionally when asked questions which are less direct about your strengths, you will already have keywords and stories ready for those questions you can't predict. Keep in mind that your strengths might include particular skills as well as personality characteristics. You should think about strengths in the widest sense. Try to develop about 6-12(or more) keywords and 12-20 (or more) stories that relate to your strengths, contributions, personality, and future potential.

Weaknesses/Failures
1. One of my weaknesses is X. A story that demonstrates this is... Another story that does is... I want to overcome this weakness by... This weakness resulted in failure when...
2. Another of my weaknesses is Y. A story that demonstrates this is... Another story that does is... I want to overcome this weakness by... This weakness resulted in failure when...
3. Another of my weaknesses is Z. A story that demonstrates this is... Another story that does is... I want to overcome this weakness by... This weakness resulted in failure when...

HAVE AS MANY WEAKNESSES AS POSSIBLE, NOT JUST ONE OR TWO. TRY FOR THREE TO FIVE. Here you be preparing answers to the very common questions that are asked about weakness, but in addition you will need to think about how the MBA program and/or some other aspect of yourself will make it possible for you to overcome this weakness. Weaknesses should be real and not abstract. You should have clear stories that demonstrate your weaknesses, something many applicants initially have a problem with. Additionally knowing how a program will help you overcome your weakness will explain why you want to attend that school. Finally, SOME, BUT NOT All weaknesses make for great failure stories, another very common topic for interviews.

Leadership and Teamwork Skills/Potential
All applicants should have keywords and supporting stories describing their leadership and teamwork skills and potential. Given the very common nature of questions related to both leadership and teamwork, you should also be prepared for the following:
1. My definition of leadership/teamwork is... because... I demonstrated this kind of leadership by...
2. One leader I really admire is... because... I am similar/want to be like this person because...
3. I think I am a good team member because...

Have enough keywords and stories
If you have enough keyword and stories you will have a solid basis for answering the great range of questions that you are likely to be asked about yourself. Don't develop more than you can master, but don't skimp either.

Questions you should be ready to answer
In addition to having keywords and stories, there are certain questions that you should be ready to answer because they are commonly asked in interviews.
Goals/Why MBA?/ Why this school?
You should have outlined answers to the following:
1. I want an MBA now because...
2. I want an MBA from your school because...
3. Your school is my first choice because...
4. After my MBA, I will...
5. My goals are...
6. If I was not able to attend an MBA program next year, I would...

Ethical Dilemma Questions
Another very common question relates to ethical dilemmas. Be ready. Have a story or two ready. If you are having a difficulty formulating ethical dilemma questions, please take a look at the Institute for Global Ethics. Also see Business Ethics Research - Knowledge@Wharton.

Questions for the interviewer
You should be ready to ask questions to your interviewer. What you ask should be governed by the following considerations:
1. Is the answer to the question obvious? If so, don't ask the question.
2. Is the answer to the question really relevant to you? If not, don't ask it. General questions that have no specific connection to you are probably not worth asking.
3. Will the interviewer be able to answer the question? In general avoid asking interviewers questions that they are not really able to answer. Asking an alum who graduated five years ago about what is new at the school would be one such bad question.

When formulating questions it is obviously important to consider who you will be interviewing with because what you ask an alum is not the same as what you ask an admissions officer or current student.

Behavioral Interviews
Both MIT and, as of 2010, Wharton have behavioral interviews. My post on MIT is comprehensive as this has been their longstanding practice.  Please see here for that analysis.  Regarding the specifics of the Wharton interview, please see here .

Prepare intensively for any category of question that you are especially uncomfortable with.
Many applicants hate answering questions about weakness or failure. Other don't like ethical dilemma. Whatever it is you don't like, master it.

Tell stories that show the range of your experience
Keep in mind that you should use stories from different parts of your life. Don't overemphasize one specific situation. Instead tell stories that showcase the range of your experience. To do so effectively, means preparing a sufficient amount of keywords and stories ahead of time. Many applicants wait until days before an interview to prepare, but actually your interview preparations should ideally begin at least a month before you start interviewing. Why so long? Because you have a lot to do:

Over-preparation
I have a very simple and effective method for interview preparation: Over-preparation. The best way to do well in any interview is be prepared for an interview that will be harder than the actual interview. I write this based on my experience. Since 2001, I have been told by grateful clients that my practice interviews were harder than the real thing and as a result they could confidently handle the real thing. I think any highly experienced graduate admissions consultant should be able to provide this kind of practice to their clients. If you don't use an admissions consultant to help you prepare, find someone, a mentor perhaps, who can help you. Whoever you seek advice from, getting actual critical feedback from person who understands the MBA admissions process is critical.

Just as critical is your own preparation. The amount of practice (with someone else and alone) you require will really depend on three variables:

1. Your English ability. For international applicants with low intermediate to high intermediate level ability, expect to focus a significant amount of your time on practicing to speak.

2. Your comfort with interviews. Some people are just really good at interviewing and others are not. If you know that you are weak in the this area, you will really need to practice with another person who can judge your performance.

3. The difficulty of the interview. Some schools simply have difficult interviews (HBS for example), while others do not (Duke for example), so take that into account. A great way to determine the difficulty of a particular school's interviews is to read reports written by applicants (See the links above to the Accepted and Clear Admit interview reports).

Keep it simple and don't recite from memory
Regardless of how complex the topic might be, when you tell a story, keep it simple enough for your listener to follow. The human brain can only absorb a limited amount of information, so when you tell a story make sure that it is something that can be easily followed and delivered very briefly.

For that reason (and others), memorizing long stories and reciting them should be avoided because it will likely result in your interviewer being unable to absorb your story. If the story takes too long to recite, the may also become bored or annoyed. Additionally memorized answers from a non-native speaker of English are a sign that the interviewee's English skills might be weak.

Don't write a script, just a very brief outline
Unless your English speaking ability is very weak, I would strongly recommend that you don't write scripts of your answers, instead prepare a very brief outline and practice telling the story. Tell your stories repeatedly so that you are comfortable doing so, but since you want to come across as polished, but natural, don't memorize it.

Use an audio and/or video recorder
For many people, except for watching yourself on video, nothing is worse than listening to your own voice. However as painful as it maybe, doing so will help you identify weakness in your answers and overall performance. Therefore record and analyze yourself.

Relax and be confident
I know this part can be hard, but the more relaxed and confident you are, the more likely you are to have a good interview. Creating the right impression is as critical as what you actually say. Make your interviewer feel your enthusiasm.

Practice for specific interviews
Finally, don't just practice for any interview, practice for specific interviews. While you may initially need to think about overall strategy and need to prepare your stories, you should focus some of your practice on specific interviews. BOTTOM LINE: If you have mock interviews, make sure they are school specific because a very important aspect of the interview really is about you showing your connection and fit to the school.

If you are interested in my interview preparation or other graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

Questions? Write comments, but do not send me emails asking me to advise you on your application strategy unless you are interested in my consulting services. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my recent post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant."
-Adam Markus
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ビジネススクール カウンセリング コンサルティング MBA留学 インタビュー 面接

Should you press the apply button?

Feeling rushed?  Uncertain about whether that first round MBA application is really ready? Planning on taking the GMAT again, but feeling an absolute urge to apply round one?   My general advice is to wait. 

If you really think what you have is not nearly as good as it could be because
(1) you don't know enough about the school you are applying to
and/or
(2)you don't feel on a gut level like your essays are good enough
and/or
(3) the feedback you have received on your essays has been less than enthusiastic
and/or
(4) you are not sure whether your essays work as a set
and/or
(5) you know you have better stories but just have not had a chance to write them
and/or
(6) you suddenly recognize that your choice of recommenders was not as good as it could have been
and/or
(7) your recommender has had to produce something that is really rushed and not very good...

---you should really consider waiting until round two.  

Once we start something it is often very hard to stop doing it.  Especially for highly motivated people, going off the plan and or simply not being among the first can be a very difficult to do.

Don't get me wrong because I like first round for applicants who are ready to go.  I am taking this little blog writing break between working with mostly round one applicants.  I think it is better to apply to R1 if one is ready.  On the other hand, for most schools there really is very little difference between R1 and R2.  I am on record for advocating for MIT and Stanford, but otherwise and in general (and there are always exceptions to any general statement),  I don't think it really impacts outcomes that much.   But beyond that I believe in the "garbage in, garbage out rule."  If you submit garbage, you get garbage.  If you think your stuff is not ready, go with your gut and get it better for round two.

-Adam
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The Duke MBA Fee Reduction Program

Below is an email I received from Duke MBA admissions on Saturday, Oct 3, 2009 at 1:47 PM.  While I think it is great that they are offering an application fee reduction from $200 to $50 to those "who schedule a campus visit through our online scheduling tool and come to Durham or who register for and attend a Duke MBA information session or coffee chat at one of our worldwide locations," I have to wonder if Duke is just doing this out of the kindness of their hearts or is it some attempt to increase applications?

According to US News, their Fall 2008 (Class of 2010) admissions data is as follows:

Number of applicants (full-time)	3,076
Number of acceptances (full-time)	934
Acceptance rate (full-time)	30.4%

Total first-year enrollment (full-time) 434

 YIELD (My calculation): 46%

 The Fuqua website also has data for the Class of 2010, but not the Class of 2011.

So what we have is a scenario where a school that admits 30.4% of its pool and only actually gets 46% of them to attend is now  offering an incentive to apply if you become better informed about their program.    Below, they will state that they are doing it to assist applicants during these tough economic times.  That might very well be true.  At the same time, I assume they are doing this so that they have a bigger pool of applicants to choose from, get more selective, and hopefully find applicants who are better informed and motivated to attend their school.  For applicants interested in Duke, I suggest you save money, become as informed as possible about the school, and apply.  

For those who are somewhat interested in Duke, well, you might as well look into it more, but only apply if it meets your bottom line criteria. A $150 savings is not a good basis for making a life decision.

-Adam 

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"A Special Offer from The Duke MBA

Clearly, the world is facing many economic challenges today. At The Duke MBA, we recognize that the MBA application process is an investment of time and money, which can both be in short supply in times like these. We feel strongly that visiting with Duke admissions officers, students, and alumni in person is incredibly helpful in understanding the Team Fuqua culture, and we also understand that traveling to our campus can be difficult. To help alleviate some of the financial stress you may be facing, we are pleased to announce the following Duke MBA Application Fee Reduction Program.

Individuals who schedule a campus visit through our online scheduling tool and come to Durham or who register for and attend a Duke MBA information session or coffee chat at one of our worldwide locations will be able to submit an application for the 2009 – 2010 application year for only $50, instead of the usual $200 fee. In this way, we are able to cover our administrative expenses while minimizing the impact on our applicants.

Please visit our Web site for a complete listing of upcoming information sessions and coffee chats, or access our online scheduling tool to craft your own campus visit (with or without interview) and plan to visit us. We will look forward to seeing you!

Important Information:

The reduced fee information for the Daytime program will not be available on the online application until October 7. If you are applying to the Daytime program in Rounds 1, 2, or 3 and want to take advantage of this offer, please do not submit your application until after October 7.

For those who are planning to apply for our Daytime Early Action deadline (October 6), the fee reduction functionality will not be available on the application by this deadline. However, please send an email to application-processing@fuqua.duke.edu at least 72 hours prior to submitting your application and we will provide you with instructions for activating the fee reduction.

For applicants interested in the Cross Continent, Global Executive, or Weekend Executive MBA programs, the fee reduction function will be available at the end of October. If you will be submitting your application prior to November 1, please contact application-processing@fuqua.duke.edu at least 72 hours prior to submitting your application and we will provide you with instructions for activating the fee reduction.

Choosing the fee reduction on the online application prior to submitting your application is the only way to receive the reduction. The Duke MBA will NOT be able to offer refunds after an application has been submitted.

There are other ways to qualify for an application fee reduction or waiver. Please click here for a complete listing.

Best regards,

The Duke MBA Office of Admissions
+1.919.660.7705
www.fuqua.duke.edu"

Oxford Said Fall 2010

My more recent post on TOEFL and IELTS requirements for Oxford can be found here. 

For Fall 2010 admission, I have revised my post on the Oxford Said Business School MBA application essay questions from my previous post. The most significant changes relate to an expanded discussion of the second question.  I have taken the questions from the Online Application.

Oxford has two questions.

1)Explain why you chose your current job. How do you hope to see your career developing over the next five years? How will an MBA assist you in the development of these ambitions? Maximum 1,000 words.
As the first and third parts of this question are similar to my analysis of Chicago, I would suggest you read that in addition to what I say here.

That said, Oxford Essay 1 is a completely practical question. Unlike schools like Stanford that ask about the applicant's "career aspirations" or even a school like Chicago that asks for future goals, Oxford is looking for something more grounded and more specific: A FIVE YEAR PLAN. Note the ambiguity in the question itself, the plan maybe written from the perspective of the present or from the perspective of after one finishes the MBA. I advise clients to treat it as as post-MBA five year plan as I think that is implied by the presence of the third part of the question ("How will an MBA assist you in the development of these ambitions?"), but I would not insist on that. I think most applicants should treat it as a post-MBA five year plan, but if you prefer integrating the MBA directly into the plan, that is fine.

WHAT IS A PLAN?
A plan is practical. It has details. It shows you have really thought about what you want to do. It shows you have done research about your intended future employer and/or future entrepreneurial venture. It shows you are realistic. That does not mean that it should be boring or lack ambition, but it does mean that it has to rise beyond a level of mere abstraction. Treat it as seriously as you would treat a memo to your boss on the future direction of your department, a proposal to a client on an expensive project, or a business plan. Make sure you show how Oxford fits the plan. If you can't establish a tight connection between your plan and Oxford, either apply somewhere else or change your plan. And remember as long as you can speak effectively about your plan in an interview, the second after you are admitted, you have no obligation to stick to that plan.

2) Which recent development, world event or book has most influenced your thinking and why? Maximum 2,000 words.
This is "The Oxford Question" and just as Essay 1 is highly practical, this one is the place to think great thoughts, to show your personality, and to establish you fit at a school known for centuries as one of the great centers of scholarship. Over the years, I have worked with great applicants who used this question successfully to win admission to Oxford. For Fall 2009, I had five clients admitted to Oxford.  You can find testimonials from three of them here.  Each told their own story. The things that were common to all, was a willingness to take on a big subject and to show their connection to it.

THE RELEVANCE TEST: A great answer here will be on something relevant to why Oxford should admit you:
- A concept or value that has influenced a major decision(s) you have made in your life
-An important aspect of the way you view an issue critical to your goals
-Your commitment to something greater than your own personal interest
-Your inner intellectual life
-Your ethical values
-Some other aspect of who you are that will compel admissions to want to interview you

A RECENT DEVELOPMENT
A number of clients have successfully written on recent development.  Obviously the impact of a recent development is much more time-limited than a world event or book. Your ability to integrate such a development- technological, environmental, cultural, political, economic, academic or social most likely- into your own experience can be a great way to show Oxford how you think about the changing world around you.  I have noticed that this topic seems to really easily connect to goals and can make for some of the most effective essays that I have read.


WORLD EVENT
While many recent developments are world events, not all world events are recent developments.  Did some world event in the past deeply impact your thinking?  If so, what was it?   This topic can work extremely well if you want to focus your essay on showing how something in the past impacted you.  This topic will likely make it possible for you to easily integrate your experiences into the essay.

BOOK
In many ways I consider this to be the most difficult topic to write on because it involves a question of taste.  You really need to think seriously about what sort of book is appropriate.  Based on working with clients, I suggest you select something that fits well with Oxford.  If the previous sentence is not specific enough, you need to learn more about the academic culture of the place.  Serious literature,  serious non-fiction, academic texts,  and classics are likely to be more effective than popular fiction,  popular business, self-help, or other popular non-fiction.  If  I sound like I am being a snob, it is because, at least based on what I can determine from working with a variety of clients,  it is in your interest to follow my snob advice!  Know your audience and act accordingly.  This is not supposed to be a book report, so focus on directly connecting specific aspect(s) of a book to your thinking and most likely your actions.

The thing that has influenced you is less important then how it is has influenced you. A good answer will focus less on the recent development, world event, or book and more on its impact on you. Focus on those aspects of the development, world event, or book that specifically impacted you. Show how it has done so.

Make certain that your explanation of the recent development, world event, or book is very clear as Oxford is using this question to determine your ability to analyze something. Be precise in your explanation and do not assume the reader has extensive knowledge of the subject. Even if the subject is well known, say "9/11" in the US, it would still be critical that you explain the exact impact of particular aspects of that event had on you.

Finally, effective answers are always personal. Given the limited space in Essay 1 to discuss accomplishments, you may very well find that you can do so in Essay 2, but if you have a great topic for Essay 2 and it is not necessarily focused on your accomplishments, don't worry as long as it clearly helps Oxford understand why they should interview you.

Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant." If you are interested in my graduate admission consulting services, please click here.

-Adam Markus
アダム マーカス

オックスフォード大学のビジネススクール MBA留学

The 100th Post of 2009: An interview with me

To celebrate the 100th of 2009, I have decided to engage in a self-indulgent interview with myself.  Hopefully some of my readers will find this interesting as my objective is answer a number of questions I am frequently asked.


ON CONSULTING AND CLIENTS
Question: How long have you been a graduate admissions consultant and how much experience do you have?
Answer: I started working as graduate admissions consultant in November 2001.  From 2001 to 2007, I worked for one of Japan's largest test preparation and admissions consulting companies and then, in September 2007, I started my consulting service and this blog. From 2004-2007, I managed the one-to-one consulting at my former employer while simultaneously doing admissions consulting full-time, which was a great opportunity to learn about how much I preferred the latter.
Question: So you like admissions consulting?
Answer: No, I am passionate about it.  Which means that I tend to work best with highly focused clients who take the process at as seriously as I do.  My passion comes from belief in the value of education, my desire to help others find fit in their own lives, and because I love learning about other people.
Question: Are you good?
Answer: I think so.  For me, my client's testimonials, results, and referrals serve as an effective feedback mechanism for me to think so. 
Question: Can you get better?
Answer: I hope so.  I believe in the value of learning.  Part of the way I learn is by thinking about the admissions process and then writing about it.  Sometimes, like with my recent Chicago Booth Essay 1 post, I revise my ideas and advice to account for such new insights.  New inputs generally results in new observations, so getting such stimulation is the key.  The most direct way I learn more is through working with different people.
Question: So who do you work with?
Answer: Well, actually that has changed.  From 2001-2007, most of my clients were Japanese.  Once I launched my blog in 2007, this began to change.  By 2009, 50% of my clients are Japanese and 50% are not Japanese.  My clients located in Japan are both Japanese and, like myself, resident foreigners.  My clients outside of Japan are from all over the world with the majority in the US and East Asia. I have also worked with a number of clients from the Middle East, various parts of the former Soviet Union, India, Turkey, and Western Europe.  I intentionally try to work with a wide range of clients, which is a great way for me to leverage my schedule as well as continually increase my ability to learn from a really diverse and a remarkable range of individuals.
Question: Do you only work with applicants applying to Top 10 MBA programs?
Answer: No.  While the majority of my MBA clients are certainly focused on such programs,  I work with applicants applying to all kinds of graduate programs.  For me, the real issue is not what the school's ranking is, but whether I see a good fit between myself and the client.
Question: Why does fit matter?  Don't you just work with anyone?  After all, they have the money and you...
Answer: No, I don't work with everyone who contacts me. The reason I do initial free intake sessions is that both the potential client and I can judge fit.  From 2001-2007, when I worked for a company with a sales department, I had no control over who I worked with.  This was great training for me because it required me to work with a huge range of people, but at the same time, I thought it was an awful way to run a one-to-one service.  I believe that effective admissions consulting is a highly individualized counseling service and that fit between the client and consultant is critical.  Since I believe in the value of individual choice, I know that not everyone will choose me.  I think that is fine because like anyone I am unique and hence not to everyone's taste. 
Question: So you don't mind being rejected?
Answer: No way! I think picking the right admissions consultant is important, that chemistry between people is variable enough, and that my own methods are unique enough that they are not to everyone's taste.
Question: So what kind of applicant do you work with?
Answer:  My clients are focused on their futures. They are passionate about improving themselves. They understand that the admissions process is hard. They want to win and they are looking for a coach who will work hard to get them to perform to their highest level.
Question: You use the word "coach." Why?  Don't you just edit?
Answer: My primary role is to be a coach. Like any successful athletic coach, I know what the nature of the competition is, can assess the strength of my athlete, work to enhance their performance, and generate a win.  My methods involve dialogue, feedback on what they write (or what they say in an interview), and, as a very secondary consideration, editing.  I don't do rewriting, so my editing tends to take the form of helping with word count or page length issues, eliminating obvious problems, and/or making suggestions for moving the text around to maximize its impact.  Sometimes I have to act as a censor when a client writes about a topic that is, for a variety of reasons, damaging.   Keep in mind that many of my clients don't need me to edit anything.  They need me to make sure that they are presenting the best possible case through both analytical writing (goals essays) and interpretative storytelling (most other essays) that they can.  My objective, like any coach, is to teach them a set of skills that they can employ.  I am always looking to create a learning curve so that my client is continually improving as he/she moves from essay set to essay set and/or interview to interview.
Question: What is a damaging topic?
Answer: Well that varies from client to client, but basically anything that has the potential to undermine an application.  Beyond just being too confessional (Yes, there are limits to what you should tell an admissions committee!), mostly damaging topics are those that could be easily misinterpreted so as to suggest that the applicant is dishonest, sexist, racist, mentally unbalanced(very rare), immature,  or mentally challenged.  We all write things that have unintended meaning.  I am a very good reader and one of the ways I read is to make sure that my client is not potentially sending a fatally bad message. I would consider this as an important, but actually very small part of my work. I spend the vast part of my time talking with and writing to clients about ways to enhance their content.

BLOG NOMENCLATURE, BRANDING, AND READERSHIP
Question:  Why do you use the URL's http://adammarkus.com/ and http://adam-markus.blogspot.com/ and not something more directly related to admissions consulting?
Answer: For a very simple reason, I am my own brand.  When I decided to go into business for myself, I thought deeply about this issue.  It seemed intuitive that there was no reason to hide behind the myth of an organization that I would never build.  Based on my past experience, I could easily hire, train, and manage counselors, but the good ones would become competitors and the bad ones would damage my brand.  I rejected an organizational option from the very beginning.  Since I had no passion to build such an organization, I knew that if I offered quality content and consulting, I would get readers and clients.
Question: So, did it work? 
Answer: Yes, much better than I had anticipated it would. Within a few months of launching my blog, I had attracted a solid group of readers.  At the moment,  the blog receives  an average of 435 visitor per day.  This varies throughout the year from about 200 to 700 hits a day.
Question: How does this make you feel? 
Answer: Grateful to my readers! I am happy to know that my blog posts, especially my essay question analysis, are valued.  Based on the feedback I receive both from readers and potential clients, I know that I putting time and effort into something that others find value in.

APPLICANT PROFILING
Question: You know, I was looking at some other admissions consultants sites and noticed that they were quite willing to analyze an applicant's profile based on relatively short written description, but you don't do this. Why not?
Answer: There are a few reasons.  First, I don't have the time.  My blog is a free resource, but counseling individuals is my sole income source, so I am not giving that away.  Second, I think it is totally unprofessional to assess an applicant based on limited information without engaging them in a conversation to determine what their actual situation is. Some people look good or bad on paper, but are otherwise in reality. It is the consultant's job to figure that out.   Of course certain realities are easily handled. For example, if someone tells you that they are 33 and want to go to HBS, it is easy to say very objectively that their chances are almost non-existent.  Beyond, commenting on the merely obvious,  I think profiling without actually consulting is professional malpractice.

ESSAY EXAMPLES
Question: Adam, your analysis lacks any specific essay examples.  Why?
Answer:  Well, I see no value in doing so. There are books that provide such examples.  The HBS one being the most notable.  I think it is useful to see such examples so that you can see that successful applicants approach the process in their own unique ways.  Since I know that the unique voice of an applicant can make a huge difference to the ultimate admissions outcome,  I want each of my clients and/or readers to find their own way.  They can certainly find formulaic template content elsewhere, so I don't think I would be adding any value by including it. 
Question: But your analysis can be so abstract... 
Answer: Yes, exactly. Given the possibility of great answers being expressed in manifold ways, my analysis is necessarily abstract.  At the same time, I hope that I am providing conceptual road maps that enable effective understanding of the question being asked and help to elicit effective answers.

FIT
Question: What is at the core of your strategy as an admissions consultant?
Answer: Fit.
Question: Fit?
Answer:  I am principally concerned with two types of fit: (1) The identification by applicant of schools that they think they fit with (school selection) and (2)The fit of an applicant and their application for a specific school. The vast majority of my clients for MBA, Masters of Law, and other graduate programs have been focused on admission to top US and European graduate programs.  Without both kinds of fit present, there is no point in making an application. If you can't both find and demonstrate fit, don't apply. My objective is always to help my clients find both kinds of fit, but sometimes in the very process of counseling, a client realizes a particular school is not for them.  I think that is a fine outcome because it allows the client to focus on schools where they can find fit with.  Fit thus functions not only as a core rhetorical structure in an essay or interview, but as way for clients to best utilize their own resources.
Question: Is fit that important?
Answer: Yes. One of my strengths as an admissions consultant is that I am not necessarily a believer in the inherent necessity of graduate education.  In fact my method for helping clients formulate goals is very much based on the assumption that they have no reason to obtain a graduate degree unless they can demonstrate otherwise.  Assuming they have demonstrated why they want a graduate degree in a particular field, I next assume that they have no specific reason to attend a particular school unless they can show that they can. Thus helping my clients find fit is at the core of what I do. I work to help my clients articulate goals and find fit so that when they actually submit an application or do an interview, the admissions reader or interview can easily see the fit.
Question: I assume your strategy relates to why so many admissions officers emphasize fit.
Answer: That is correct.  Fit is at the core of my strategy because it is at the core of any selective applicant admissions process.  Fit is also at the core of my strategy because I want applicants to make good decisions about school selection.
Question: What do you mean by good decisions?
Answer: I mean that those considering graduate school need to think and research deeply about where to apply.  Sometimes they make the wrong choices because they don't actually focus on fit. Instead applicants focus on brand name or ranking without a real sense of what their needs are and/or their own relative chances for admission. Fit also means defining a minimally acceptable anticipated ROI.  Unless an applicant must simply get into school, say because of company sponsorship,  I see no point in going to a school which does not fit an applicant's minimal ROI.  The cost of graduate education is usually so high that if an applicant cannot clearly identify why they will benefit from attending a particular school, that is a good indicator not to apply there.
Question: So no should apply to safety schools?
Answer: No, it is simply a question of definition.  A school where an applicant can see the fit for their future is always worth considering.  A school where they can't see the fit is not.  Sometimes I work with applicants who were previously admitted to a "safety school," but actually the school is below their own sense of fit, so it is not really an effective solution.  I have noticed that when they apply to a new group of schools, they are far more selective. Sometimes I initiate such a change in strategy, but just as often it is the client who initially comes to me with a better thought out list of options.  I think of a safety or backup as one's bottom line acceptable choice.  For some applicants that might mean only applying to one school, while for others, it might mean applying to ten or more.  Whatever the number of schools applied to, the applicant's objective should be to find fit with all of them.

Question: Anything else you would like to tell us?
Answer:  Keep reading my blog.  Thank you for doing so.  My objective is get another 30-40 posts up by the end of the year, but if it ends up being only another 20, please forgive me.  I am getting rather busy.  Finally, I hope you enjoyed this post.

Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to. Before emailing me questions about your chances for admission or personal profile, please see my recent post on "Why I don't analyze profiles without consulting with the applicant." If you are interested in my graduate admission consulting services, please click here.
-Adam Markus
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