Ranking "TOP 20" MBA Programs by Acceptance Rate

Click here for all of my rankings tables together in one post.

For the 3rd in my series of MBA rankings, I asked myself the following: HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO GET ADMITTED TO THE 54 "TOP 20" MBA PROGRAMS WORLDWIDE?

After ranking programs by starting salary ("The 98") and ranking them by average of their Top 20 ranking, I wanted to look at actual acceptance rates. For 39 of the 54 "Top 20" programs I was able to obtain their rates of acceptance rates from US News and World Report(US programs except Northwestern, which I took from Businessweek) and Businessweek (non-US programs). For the other 15, I looked elsewhere, but came up with nothing (If I missed admissions data somewhere, please let me know.)

Here is what I put together (The pretty JPEG version is below):

RANK ------------------------ BUSINESS SCHOOL
1. Acceptance Rate: 7.90% Stanford University GSB
2. Acceptance Rate:13.70% UC Berkeley: Haas
3. Acceptance Rate:13.80% Harvard Business School
4. Acceptance Rate:14.70% Yale School of Management
5. Acceptance Rate:16.30% Columbia Business School
6. Acceptance Rate:17.10% New York University: Stern
7. Acceptance Rate:17.30% U. of Pennsylvania: Wharton
8. Acceptance Rate:19.20% Dartmouth College: Tuck
9. Acceptance Rate:19.70% MIT: Sloan
10. Acceptance Rate: 20% HEC Paris, France
11. Acceptance Rate: 20.40% U. of Michigan: Ross
12. Acceptance Rate: 23.30% U. of Chicago GSB
13. Acceptance Rate: 23.40% UCLA: Anderson
14. Acceptance Rate: 24% IESE Business School
14. Acceptance Rate: 24% Northwestern U.: Kellogg
16. Acceptance Rate: 26% IE Business School
17. Acceptance Rate: 26.70% Cornell University: Johnson
18. Acceptance Rate: 28% IMD
19. Acceptance Rate: 28.90% U. of Virginia: Darden
20. Acceptance Rate: 29.00% York University: Schulich
21. Acceptance Rate: 29% USC: Marshall
22. Acceptance Rate: 29.60% Michigan State: Broad
23. Acceptance Rate: 29.80% Carnegie Mellon: Tepper, US
24. Acceptance Rate: 31.50% Duke University: Fuqua
25. Acceptance Rate: 33% McGill
26. Acceptance Rate: 34% U. of TX at Austin: McCombs
27. Acceptance Rate: 34.40% Indiana University: Kelley
28. Acceptance Rate: 37% SDA Bocconi Italy
29. Acceptance Rate: 39.20% UNC: Kenan-Flagler
30. Acceptance Rate: 42% U. of Toronto: Rotman
31. Acceptance Rate: 48% ESADE Business School
32. Acceptance Rate: 49.80% U. of Iowa: Tippie
33. Acceptance Rate: 53% Brigham Young: Marriot
34. Acceptance Rate: 54% UBC: Sauder
35. Acceptance Rate: 56% Cranfield S. of Management
36. Acceptance Rate: 59% RSM Erasmus University
37. Acceptance Rate: 62% HEC Montreal, Canada
38. Acceptance Rate: 65% Queen's School of Business
39. Acceptance Rate: 72.30% Thunderbird

I could not obtain acceptance rates for AGSM, Ashridge, CEIBS, City University: Cass, EGADE, ESSEC, Henley Business School, Hong Kong UST Bus. School, Indian School of Business, INSEAD, IPADE, Lancaster U, Mngt. School, London Business School, Manchester Business School, U. of Cambridge: Judge, U. of Oxford : Said, and U. of Western Ontario: Ivey. If any of these programs actually provide such data, I would be happy to correct this ranking.

Since I wanted to compare difficulty of admission to averaged top twenty ranking and post-MBA salary, I prepared the following table(Click to enlarge it):
So what does my ranking by difficulty reveal? I think it helps to see the real variation that exists between the difficulty for admission at "Top 20" programs. I have read of fear mongers who would suggest the rate of admission for top programs is around 10%, but with the exception of Stanford GSB, this is not the case. Even Berkeley Haas (A tuition bargain for those paying in-state tuition in California) and HBS (with 88% yield, see my post on Columbia Early Decision regarding this.) have rates of admission over 13%. The reality is that many of the programs that consistently rank "Top 20" have something in the 15% to 25% rate of acceptance. Some programs are not particularly difficult to enter with rates approaching or exceeding 50%.

Keep in mind that difficulty of admission cannot simply be measured by acceptance rate. After all those who apply to a program are self-selecting and the programs can impact who even applies. Stated GPA, TOEFL, IELTS, GMAT, and work experience minimums or age maximums/maximums can significantly reduce the number of applications a school receives: Why apply if you have been told that you will not be considered? Similarly, if a program has no specific minimums and appears open to all applicants, it would be logical to assume that it will receive many applications.

Also keep in mind for the programs where I could not get data, you can't make the assumption that they are easy to enter. That would most certainly be wrong with schools like INSEAD and LBS. I am not sure why these schools are transparent about their rates of admission. I can't imagine that their reputations would be damaged by releasing this information. One would hope that they would want applicants to be able to make fully informed decisions. Certainly, knowing how difficult a school is to enter is one key way to measure that.

Finally, I think it is valuable to use acceptance rate data to determine the level of risk of rejection one is willing to take when applying to B-school. See my "School Application Selection Strategy Based on Salary Approach." That approach is based on using acceptance rate data in combination with post-MBA salary ranking to come up with an optimal set of schools to apply to. Using the table above, I have made it easy to compare acceptance, post-MBA, and averaged "Top 20" ranking for the purpose of school application selection. For those who review my other posts on school selection, it should become clear that I do not consider such a purely quantitative approach to be sufficient, but I do think it is important to incorporate a real consideration of the numbers (rates of admission, yield, post-MBA salary, ROI) when determining where to apply to and where to go.

Comments? Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to.

-Adam Markus
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MBA留学 ビジネススクール カウンセリング コンサルティング MBA ランキング 合格者率

Columbia Business School Early Decision

The post has been updated and expanded since I first posted it on September 7, 2007. Also see my essay analysis for September 2009 Term Admission.

In what follows, I provide: my answer to the question of who should apply for Columbia Business School's Early Decision, one reason why I think Columbia has an application option, and some related remarks on application strategy.

SHOULD YOU APPLY FOR COLUMBIA EARLY DECISION?
Every year many applicants to Columbia Business School have to deeply consider whether to apply to the Early Decision or the regular application round. Among top MBA programs Columbia's Early Decision (ED) is unique. While Tuck has Early Action,I have not seen applicants face the same issues of school selection and application with Tuck that I will discuss below in regards to Columbia. First keep the official statement from Columbia regarding Early Decision in mind:

"The Early Decision option is ideal for candidates who have completed their research about MBA programs and have decided that Columbia is the school they want to attend. Early Decision applications are reviewed before Regular Decision applications." Early Decision candidates must sign the following Statement of Commitment: As an Early Decision candidate to Columbia Business School, I understand that if I am admitted I will submit my non-refundable $6000 deposit to secure my place in the September entering class. I am committed to attending Columbia Business School, and will withdraw all applications and decline all offers from other schools upon admission to Columbia Business School.

Early Decision Applicants will find the Statement of Commitment in the Honor System section of the online application.

Early Decision candidates who are offered admission have up to three weeks to arrange their non-refundable $6,000 deposit which must be submitted to reserve a space in the class. Applicants who are not yet ready for this level of commitment are encouraged to apply for Regular Decision."

This statement is quite clear and is taken very seriously by Columbia. Consider Linda Meehan's (assistant dean and executive director for MBA admissions and financial aid at CBS) remarks made in Businessweek's August 19, 2007 chat:

"Early decision is geared toward those applicants who know that Columbia Business School is the right fit for them. They have researched many programs and have determined that the offerings, opportunities, and education available at Columbia will best fit their needs. We ask our ED applicants to know that they will attend Columbia should they be admitted and withdraw applications from any other schools to which they have applied and turn down offers they may have received."

"When one applies ED to Columbia, you sign an honor pledge. As part of this agreement, you state that you will withdraw your applications from any other school to which you may have applied, as well as submit the deposit. That being said, you are bound ethically by your initial decision to apply for the ED period. Should you not be confident that this is the perfect fit for you, please apply during the regular-decision period. Everyone should be able to live with the decisions and commitments they make."

Her language is quite strong. Given that MBA programs take ethics seriously, I think it would be very bad idea to treat ED as some sort of $6000 insurance policy. ED is great for those are ready to apply and know Columbia is their first choice. However, if Columbia is not your first choice, but simply a great option, apply in the regular round.

EARLY DECISION INCREASES COLUMBIA BUSINESS SCHOOL'S YIELD
I think one primary reason that Columbia takes Early Decision so seriously is that ED Increases Columbia's yield (percentage of admitted who attend). Below are the yield rates for Columbia plus the schools I think someone is most likely to chose over Columbia. This data is based on US News and World Report for Fall 2007 Admissions in Yield Order:

HBS Yield: 88% Admitted: 1021 Attend: 901
Stanford GSB Yield: 80% Admitted: 455 Attend: 362
CBS Yield: 77% Admitted: 919 Attend: 711
Wharton Yield: 69% Admitted: 1153 Attend: 799
Univ. of Chicago GSB Yield: 60% Admitted: 932 Attend: 555

Yield is a fundamental measure of program popularity. After all if a program has a higher yield it means that applicants who are often admitted to multiple schools are choosing to attend it over another school.

I think it is useful to compare Columbia's yield rate to those programs with which it is in the most competition for admits. I think that, regardless of any rankings considerations, Columbia is most in competition with HBS and Stanford, where, at least in my experience, it usually loses. Next comes Wharton, where Columbia is more likely to lose, and Chicago, where Columbia often wins. My assumptions were made well before I ever looked at yield numbers, but are, with the seeming exception of Wharton, consistent with them.

Now Columbia's yield is certainly high. That said, ED helps to keep it that way and hence given the unique nature of that round, comparing the rates of CBS to other programs is somewhat problematic because by comparison the other schools are at a disadvantage. Which is to say, if Columbia did not use the mandatory $6000 deposit and ethical stranglehold approach it takes to those who are accepted for Early Decision, its yield would easily fall. How far, I am not sure, but enough for it to matter. Given that Columbia is at least popularly perceived as losing to Wharton when it comes to school selection, I think we can assume there would be a statistically meaningful impact This is, of course, pure speculation on my part. While it might be the case that CBS Adcom simply takes the applicant's binding commitment seriously, I think it would be safe to assume that they do so based on the institutional interest of the Business School, not merely ethical considerations.

APPLICATION STRATEGY ASSUMING COLUMBIA BUSINESS SCHOOL IS YOUR FIRST CHOICE
If Columbia Business School is your first choice and you can get your application ready by the due date of October 8, 2008, I do suggest applying to Early Decision. Given the deadline, you might try to get in other first round applications as well, but I would focus on making your Colombia application as strong as possible and consider applying to more schools in the second round. While I suppose there are many who will finish Colombia by October 8th and try to get in another top program such as HBS by the October 15 deadline, do not do that if it means submitting a weak application for either school.

Try to apply as early to ED as possible, but only if your application is as strong as you can make it. Since decisions are made within ten weeks of sending a complete application, I would recommend that you apply for ED relatively soon after they start taking applications on August 13th because this will give you sufficient time to consider whether you need to apply in the second round. Also, if Tuck is your second choice, it will give you plenty of time to apply to its Early Action round (due on October 15th).

Applying in mid-August means that you should have Columbia's decision by or before the end of October. One advantage to waiting until 2nd Round for at least some of your other applications is that if you don't get invited to a Columbia interview and/or are dinged after an interview, you have a pretty good indicator that you need to do a better job with your other applications (See here for a relevant post on that topic).

Finally, the above application strategy is not for everyone. In my experience, each applicant's needs very. When I am actually advising an individual client on application strategy I can factor in their specific situation to come up with an optimal tailored strategy.

Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to.

-Adam Markus
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MBA留学 ビジネススクール カウンセリング コンサルティング コロンビア MBA

The 54 "Top 20" MBA Programs Averaged Ranking

This is the second of two posts on MBA Rankings. The first post is here. See also my ranking of these programs by acceptance rate.
Click here for all of my rankings tables together in one post.

In what follows, I have built upon the data I collected on the 54 programs worldwide (Table 1) that are generally identified by major ranking lists as "Top 20." While it seemed quite useful to simply collect all the data together so that I could see which programs were considered "Top 20" by the most well known ranking lists, I wanted to see what would happen if I simply determined the average ranking for each of the 54 schools and so that is what I did in Table 2. In Table 3, I eliminated all the calculations and added in "The 98," my ranking of MBA programs by post-MBA salary.

TABLE 2: "CALCULATION OF AVERAGE RANKINGS FOR "THE 54" TOP 20 MBA PROGRAMS WORLDWIDE"
SKIP THIS PART AND GO TO TABLE 3 IF YOU DON'T CARE HOW I PUT THE AVERAGED RANKINGS TOGETHER
Actually I copied this method from one used by Real Clear Politics (RCP) for looking at Polling Data. The situation is similar because the RCP averages, just like mine, do not take account for differences in the methods by which the initial calculations were made. I will enter into the debate about the various problems with all of these publication's rankings, not because I am unbiased, but because I am. As I am no statistician, I used the following rather simple method to make my calculation:

1. Schools that were not ranked in the Top 20 on a specific list that they qualified for were given the value of 21. By assigning the value of 21, I have not weighted the value of the individual rankings.

2. I calculated average value by taking scores for all six rankings and
dividing by 6 for US programs and 5 for non-US Programs as
US News and World Report only ranks US.

3. The school with the lowest total has the top average rank.

4. Schools with the same average numerical value have the same rank.
Obvious unsolved problems with my methods that I am aware of :
1. Some ranking do not actually rank 20 programs.
2: While US News and W World Report, FT, and EIU's each have one comprehensive list, the other four rankings break-up schools into two or more lists, which results in Businessweek, Wall Street Journal, and Forbes having more impact on the averaged ranking.
3. I could have used FT's regional lists, but choose to use the Worldwide list.

Here is the result (Click to enlarge it):

TABLE 3: "AVERAGED RANKING FOR THE 54 TOP 20 MBA PROGRAMS WORLDWIDE"

Table 3 does two things. First, it simply presents the programs in rank order. I am placing them here as well for ease of reading, but in order to see the second thing it does, you need to look at the JPEG (see below):

AVERAGED RANK FOR THE 54 "Top 20" MBA Programs
1. U. of Chicago GSB
2. IMD, Switzerland
3. London Business School
4. Stanford University GSB
5. Dartmouth College: Tuck
6. Harvard Business School
7. Columbia Business School
8. IESE Business School
9. MIT: Sloan
10. UC Berkeley: Haas
11. Queen's School of Business
12. Northwestern U.: Kellogg
12. U. of Pennsylvania: Wharton
14. IE Business School
15. ESADE Business School
16. New York University: Stern
17. SDA Bocconi Italy
18. INSEAD
18. U. of Michigan: Ross
20. York University: Schulich
21. Manchester Business School
22. Lancaster U., Mngt. School
23. U. of Virginia: Darden
23. Yale School of Management
25. IPADE
26. Duke University: Fuqua
27. Cranfield S. of Management
27. U. of Western Ontario: Ivey
29. HEC Paris, France
30. Cornell University: Johnson
31. RSM Erasmus University
32. HEC Montreal, Canada
33. UNC: Kenan-Flagler
34. CEIBS
35. Carnegie Mellon: Tepper, US
36. UCLA: Anderson
37. U. of Oxford : Said
37. U. of Toronto: Rotman
39. AGSM
40. City University: Cass
40. ESSEC
40. UBC: Sauder
40. U. of Cambridge: Judge
44. EGADE
45. Henley Business School
46. McGill
47. Thunderbird
47. U. of TX at Austin: McCombs
48. Hong Kong UST Bus. School
49. U. of Iowa: Tippie
50. Indiana University: Kelley
51. Brigham Young: Marriot
51. USC: Marshall
52. Ashridge
53. Michigan State: Broad
54. Indian School of Business

The second thing that Table 3 does is include the post-MBA salary based on my own ranking, "The 98." As you may have gathered from this earlier attempt at looking at MBA rankings, I have a bias towards that single characteristic that all B-schools have in common: market value. My use of FT for the purpose of ranking schools in post-MBA salary order relates directly to my belief that applicants should calculate the ROI of the programs they plan to apply to. An MBA is an investment and you can't calculate the rate of return on investment by looking at a school's ranking, instead you need to think about starting salary, lost income, and other tangible and intangible factors that will make such an investment either a success or a failure.

The wide ranging results that I saw when I put Table 1 together convinced me even more that looking at starting salary makes the most sense. Since I am focused on rankings here, I simply added "The 98" rank for any program that had my list. If you want to see the starting post-MBA salaries, you can find them here.

TABLE 3:
(Click to enlarge it)
I hope you found this post helpful or at least entertaining. By the way if you find any errors in my data, please let me know. I have already spent too much time on this to triple check my numbers.

Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to.

-Adam Markus
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MBA留学 ビジネススクール カウンセリング コンサルティング MBA ランキング

A Comparison Of Rankings For Top 20 MBA Programs Worldwide

This is the first of two posts on MBA Rankings. The second post is here. See also my ranking of these programs by acceptance rate.
Click here for all of my rankings tables together in one post.

MBA Rankings are important because applicants, recruiters, students, and the schools themselves pay great attention to them. As to their basis in reality, I am not a statistician, so I can't judge their validity as measurements. I won't even try.

For me the chief value in MBA rankings is that they provide lists of schools that are generally thought to be superior by enough people and institutions so that the authors of the rankings are taken somewhat seriously. Applicants take them seriously enough when selecting where to apply. B-Schools take them seriously enough to mention their rankings.

If you are told that your company will only sponsor you for a "Top 20" MBA program, then you will have to take these lists seriously. Every year I have had Japanese clients who have been under such constraints. I hope the following is somewhat helpful to them.

What I have done here is simply take all the major lists and look only at the rankings for top 20 programs as ranked by Businessweek, the Financial Times, US News and World Report, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazine, and The Economist Intelligence Unit. Following this table, you see each ranking list. Note: If less than 20 programs are listed that is because less than 20 were ranked.
To best view the following table, click on it.


The rankings lists:

BUSINESSWEEK
New Businessweek rankings will be coming in October 2008, this are the rankings from October 2006.

Top 20 US
1 University of Chicago
2 University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
3 Northwestern University (Kellogg)
4 Harvard University
5 University of Michigan (Ross)
6 Stanford University
7 MIT (Sloan)
8 UC Berkeley (Haas)
9 Duke University (Fuqua)
10 Columbia University
11 Dartmouth (Tuck)
12 UCLA (Anderson)
13 Cornell University (Johnson)
14 NYU (Stern)
15 University of Virginia (Darden)
16 Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)
17 UNC - Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)
18 Indiana University (Kelley)
19 Yale University
20 University of Texas - Austin

Non-U.S. Top 10 MBA Programs
1 Queens University
2 Western Ontario (Ivey)
3 Toronto (Rotman)
4 IMD
5 London Business School
6 INSEAD
7 ESADE
8 IESE
9 York (Schulich)
10 HEC - Montreal


US NEWS AND WORLD REPORT
March 2008
1. Harvard University
1. Stanford University
3. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
4. Northwestern University (Kellogg)
4. University of Chicago
7. Dartmouth College (Tuck)
7. University of California--Berkeley (Haas)
9. Columbia University
10 . New York University (Stern)
11. University of California--Los Angeles (Anderson)
12 .University of Michigan--Ann Arbor (Ross)
13. Yale University
14. Cornell University (Johnson)
14. Duke University (Fuqua)
14 . University of Virginia (Darden)
17. Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)
18. University of Texas--Austin (McCombs)
19. University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)
20. Indiana University--Bloomington (Kelley)


FINANCIAL TIMES
Top Twenty Worldwide
2008
1. University of Pennsylvania: Wharton
2. London Business School
3. Columbia Business School
4. Stanford University GSB
5. Harvard Business School
6. INSEAD
7. MIT: Sloan US
8. IE Business School
9. University of Chicago GSB
10. University of Cambridge: Judge UK
11. CEIBS
12. IESE Business School
13. New York University: Stern
14. IMD Switzerland
15. Dartmouth College: Tuck
16. Yale School of Management
17. Hong Kong UST Business School
18. HEC Paris France
19. University of Oxford
20. Indian School of Business


WALL STREET JOURNAL RECRUITER'S POLL

National Ranking: Recruiters hiring for jobs in the US
2007
1. Dartmouth College (Tuck)
2. University of California, Berkeley (Haas)
3. Columbia University
4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
5. Carnegie Mellon University (Tepper)
6. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (Kenan-Flagler)
7. University of Michigan (Ross)
8. Yale University
9 . University of Chicago
10. University of Virginia (Darden)
11. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
12. Northwestern University (Kellogg)
13. Duke University (Fuqua)
14. Harvard University
15. University of California, Los Angeles (Anderson)
16. Cornell University (Johnson)
17. New York University (Stern)
18. University of Southern California (Marshall)
19. Stanford University

Recruiters Hiring for Jobs Primarily Outside of the US
2007
1. ESADE
2. IMD
3. London Business School
4. IPADE
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
6. Columbia University
7. ESSEC
8. Tecnológico de Monterrey (EGADE)
9. HEC Paris
10. Thunderbird
11. York University (Schulich)
12. University of Western Ontario (Ivey)
13. University of Chicago
14. Instituto de Empresa (IE)
15. INSEAD
16. University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
17. Bocconi University
18. Erasmus University (Rotterdam)
19. IESE
20. Northwestern University (Kellogg)


ECONOMIST INTELLIGENCE UNIT:
2007 Ranking
1. Chicago, University of - Graduate School of Business
2. Stanford Graduate School of Business
3. IESE Business School - University of Navarra
4. Dartmouth College--Tuck School of Business
5. IMD - International Institute for Management Development
6. California at Berkeley, University of--Haas School of Business
7. Cambridge, University of - Judge Business School
8. New York University - Leonard N Stern School of Business
9. IE Business School
10. Henley Business School
11. Cranfield School of Management
12. Michigan, University of - Stephen M Ross School of Business
13. Harvard Business School
14. Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management
15. London Business School
16. MIT Sloan School of Management
17. INSEAD
18. Columbia Business School
19. Ashridge
20. Hong Kong UST -- School of Business and Management

FORBES
2007

Top US

1. Dartmouth (Tuck)
2. Stanford
3. Harvard
4. Virginia (Darden)
5. Pennsylvania (Wharton)
6. Columbia
7. Chicago
8. Yale
9. Northwestern (Kellogg)
10. Cornell (Johnson)
11. NYU (Stern)
12. Duke (Fuqua)
13. UC Berkeley (Haas)
14. Texas-Austin (McCombs)
15. UNC (Kenan-Flagler)
16. Iowa (Tippie)
17. MIT (Sloan)
18. Brigham Young (Marriott)
19. Michigan State (Broad)
20. Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)

Top Non-U.S. One-Year Business Schools

1. IMD
2. Instituto de Empresa
3. Cranfield
4. SDA Bocconi
5. University of Oxford
6. Lancaster
7. City University, Cass
8. Queen's
9. HEC-Montreal

Top Non-U.S. Two-Year Business Schools
1. IESE
2. London Business School
3. Manchester Business School
4. York
5. IPADE
6. Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM)
7. UBC, Saunder
8. ESADE
9. CEIBS
10. HEC-Paris
11. McGill


Read the second post in this series for the Averaged Ranking of the 54 "Top 20" Programs.

Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to.

-Adam Markus
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MBA留学 ビジネススクール カウンセリング コンサルティング MBA ランキング

HBS: What is your career vision and why is this choice meaningful to you?

This post is on the forth of the four "Question 3" questions for the Harvard Business School MBA Application for Fall 2009 Admission. You must answer two out of four of these questions. To see all the posts in this series: Overall Strategy 1 2 3-1 3-2 3-3 3-4.

3-4.What is your career vision and why is this choice meaningful to you? (400-word limit)

While I think it is important that the MBA Admissions Board understand what motivates you, I don't believe that you necessarily have to answer this question to tell them that. While many applicants are likely to want to answer this question, if you want to set yourself apart from the pack, don't do it unless your answer is really very compelling.

The reason they made it optional is because they don't want to read standard obligatory goals essays. This has been part of trend at HBS which began when they stopped asking about why applicants want to attend there. I think they decided that asking that particular "Why HBS?" question was not interesting and probably not sufficiently helpful in selecting who would necessarily succeed at HBS. As I have mentioned in my post on Strategy, it is possible to express your future academic and professional objectives in another essay question.

At a strategic application level, I suggest you still should go through the process of analyzing your goals in detail. Chances are quite high that if your are interviewed by HBS, you will be asked about your goals. Hence, having essays that account for your goals even indirectly or in limited detail is an important part of having an overall application strategy.

Even if your career vision is absolutely clear to you, I suggest going through a formal process of MBA goals formulation. You can use my GAP, SWOT, AND ROI TABLE FOR FORMULATING GRADUATE DEGREE GOALS for this purpose (see below). I think Gap, SWOT, and ROI analysis are great ways for understanding what your goals are, why you want a degree, and how you will use it. (Click here for the Businessweek MBA ROI calculator. Click here for a GMAC report on MBA ROI. )

(To best view the following table, click on it. For a word version, please email me at adammarkus@gmail.com)

How to use this table:

Step 1. Begin by analyzing your "Present Situation." What job(s) have you held? What was/is your functional role(s)? What was/are your responsibilities?

Next, analyze your present strengths and weaknesses for succeeding in your present career. REMEMBER: WHEN YOU ARE THINKING ABOUT YOUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESS DON'T ONLY THINK ABOUT WORK, THINK ABOUT OTHER ASPECTS OF YOUR LIFE. In particular, some of your greatest strengths may have been demonstrated outside of work, so make sure you are accounting for them.
Strengths: What are you good at? Where do you add value? What are you praised for? What are you proud of?
Weakness: What are you bad at? What are you criticized for? What do you try to avoid due to your own limitations? What do you fear?

Next, analyze the environment you work in right now. What opportunities exist for your growth and success? What threats could limit your career growth?

Step 2. Now, do the same thing in Step 1 for your "Post-Degree" future after you have earned your graduate degree. IF YOU CANNOT COMPLETE STEP 2, YOU HAVE NOT SUFFICIENTLY PLANNED FOR YOUR FUTURE and therefore you need to do more research and need to think more about it.

Step 3. If you could complete step 2, than you should see the "Gap" between your present and your future. What skills, knowledge, and other resources do you need to close the gap between your present and future responsibilities, strengths, and opportunities?

Step 4. After completing Step 3, you now need to determine how an MBA will add value to you. It is possible that an increased salary as a result of job change will be sufficient "ROI" for the degree to justify itself, but you should show how a degree will allow you to reach your career goals. How will the degree enhance your skills and opportunities and help you overcome your weaknesses and external threats? If you can complete Step 4, then you should be ready to explain what your goals are, why you want a degree, and the relationship between your past and future career, as well as your strengths and weaknesses. If you know about HBS, you are ready to write about your goals, whether in Question 3-4 or elsewhere in the essay set.

The above table will also help you answer such common interview questions as: Where do you want to work after you finish your degree? Why do you want an MBA (or other degree)? What are you strengths? What are your weaknesses? What are your goals?

Formulating goals is not enough to answer 3-4 effectively because HBS is especially focused on understanding the "why," not just the "what." Simply stating what your goals are and why HBS is the best place for you to accomplish them is not exactly what you need here. Instead, you need to articulate a vision related to your goals. You need to focus on your motivations as well as your idealized career outcomes.

Making your career goals sound exciting requires thinking about whether these goals are compelling. Admissions committees ask applicants to write about their goals after graduate school, but can applicants actually know what will be on the cutting-edge in two or three years? While many applicants will be able to successfully apply with relatively standard goals ("I want to be a consultant because..."), putting together a truly outstanding career vision is one way of differentiating your application. But how?

Be informed. HBS Admissions needs to believe you know what you are talking about. If you are changing careers, no one expects you to be an expert, but you should come across as having a clear plan based on real research into your future. If are planning on staying in your present industry, you should be well informed not only about the companies you have worked for, but the industry as a whole. If you are not already doing so, read industry related publications and network.

Those changing fields should most certainly read industry related publications in their intended field. Additionally, I suggest conducting informational interviews with at least one peer level and one senior level person in that field. Conduct a peer-level interview to get a good idea of what it would be like to actually work in that industry. Conduct a senior-level interview to get the perspective of someone who can see the big picture and all the little details as well.

Don't know anyone in your intended field? Network! One great way to start that is through LinkedIn. Another is by making use of your undergraduate alumni network and/or career center.

LEARN WHAT IS HOT. No matter whether you are changing fields or not, learn what is hot now and try to figure out what will be hot by the time you graduate. Now, of course, this is just a plan and chances are that what is hot in your industry or field now, may very well be cold in the future. The point is to come across to the Harvard Business School as someone who is not only well informed, but has CUTTING-EDGE knowledge. Some great general sources for learning what is hot:

HBS Sources: One of the best places to learn about what HBS perceives as cutting-edge is through HBS. You should most certainly visit Harvard Working Knowledge, Harvard Business Review, and Harvard Business School Publishing.

Beyond HBS: Additionally, other great business school sources include the University of Chicago GSB's Working Papers, The University of Chicago's Capital Ideas, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Knowledge @ Wharton, and MIT Sloan Management Review.

LinkedIn Answers: I would suggest that everyone join LinkedIn and make use of LinkedIn Answers. LinkedIn Answers is a great way to tap into cutting edge expertise (including my admissions advice!). Follow LinkedIn's rules and you will often be able to obtain excellent information.

Hoovers: For information about specific companies, Hoovers is just a great way to learn about key facts including competitors (a very useful way of knowing who else you might want to work for and to learn about an industry). While primarily focused on the US, Hoovers does have listings for companies worldwide.

Vault: For scope of coverage, this site is a must. Vault includes both career and admissions information. It includes both company specific and industry-wide information.

Other sources: Read magazines, websites, and books that relate to your intended field.


The writing process: After going through a process of reflection and analysis, prepare a version of essay 3-4 that includes everything you want to say. If you have previously prepared a goals essay for another school this may serve as a foundation, but modify it to tell admissions everything you would want them to know about your career vision. Next begin the process of revision. Here are a few key things to consider when revising:

1. Think about the most important thing you need admissions to know about your career vision. Begin your essay with that. Chances are good that on your initial draft the most important thing is somewhere in the middle or end of your essay.

2. Prioritize the rest of your content: What do they really need to know? You probably have lots of details that can be cut.

3. Make a formal argument: Your essay should be neither a set of disembodied points or a summary. Instead, it should be a formal statement about your career vision. It may very well partially take the form of a memo or it may be rather creative. The important point is that the reader should be able to understand it clearly and be convinced by it.

Finally, once you have put together your career vision, consider how the rest of your application supports what you say in it. Without over-marketing yourself, or even necessarily writing it directly in the essays, make sure that your past accomplishments and other aspects of your application show how your potential will contribute to your future career vision.

Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to.
-Adam Markus
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HBS: What area of the world are you most curious about and why?

This post is on the third of four "Question 3" questions for the Harvard Business School MBA Application for Fall 2009 Admission. You must answer two out of four of these questions. All my posts in this series: Overall Strategy 1 2 3-1 3-2 3-3 3-4.

Question 3: 3.What area of the world are you most curious about and why? (400-word limit)

I really like this question. It is new for this year. And as far as I know, HBS is the first to ask it. It is so refreshing to see a question that is so open-ended and yet so potentially revealing. While many will assume that this question applies only to those with an international focus, it actually would apply to any location that you are curious about. Clearly the curiosity consideration is key here.

As with other HBS questions, the "why" is just as important as the "what." Since curiosity is about what you don't know, the overall focus of this question should be future oriented. That is to say, it would be wrong to write this essay about something you WERE curious about; instead it must be about something you ARE curious about.

But curiosity is not enough! What area of the world you are curious about must be something related to your future. Otherwise, why does HBS need to know about it? Most likely it will relate to what you want to study at HBS, what you want to do after you graduate from HBS, and/or to your values.

This question is not for everyone, but for those whose goals and/or values are connected to specific geographic location, it is an ideal question.

It also a question that one can use to focus on internationalism. This is the second year in a row that HBS has asked a question related to having a global perspective. To understand more about how a global perspective fits into HBS overall, I suggest taking a look at The Global Initiative.
Additionally, you should investigate the Immersion Experience. Future Immersion Experiences are being planned for China, India, the Middle East, and New Orleans.

If you use this essay to discuss your professional goals, please refer to my analysis of 3-4 as I discuss how to articulate a career vision there in great detail.

Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to.
-Adam Markus
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HBS: Discuss how you have engaged with a community or organization.

This post is on the second of four "Question 3" questions for the Harvard Business School MBA Application for Fall 2009 Admission. You must answer two out of four of these questions. All my posts in this series: Overall Strategy 1 2 3-1 3-2 3-3 3-4.

Question 3: 2. Discuss how you have engaged with a community or organization.
(400-word limit)

This year, HBS has provided a leadership question that anyone can answer. "Community" and "organization" are such inclusive terms that one might be referring to a small local community, a virtual community, a specific ethnic/religious community, a corporation, a small company, a worldwide NGO, a school, etc. Engagement means involvement, contribution, making a difference. To do so is to show the potential for leadership that HBS is looking for. If you don't write on this question, your leadership potential must be accounted for elsewhere in the HBS application.

HBS is about leadership. The HBS mission statement makes that clear: The mission of Harvard Business School is to educate leaders who make a difference in the world. As such HBS places a very high premium on applicants' leadership potential:
A Habit of Leadership
We recognize—and welcome—leadership that may be expressed in many forms, from college extracurricular activities to academic or business achievements, from personal accomplishments to community commitments. We appreciate leadership on any scale as well, from organizing a classroom to directing a combat squad, from running an independent business to spearheading initiatives at work. In essence, we are looking for evidence of your potential — a portfolio of experiences, initiatives, and accomplishments that reflect a habit of leadership.
Harvard thus has a very open-ended conception of leadership, but they are rigid in the necessity that applicants demonstrate it. I think this is true for other schools to a varying extent as well. For example, like HBS, "INSEAD is looking for applicants who can demonstrate their potential as leaders." Even if a set of business school essay questions does not necessarily explicitly ask for you to show your potential for leadership, it had better be expressed.

Leadership is no easy thing. Nor is it obvious. The worst possible thing is to conceive of leadership as simple formal responsibility or a title because this conveys nothing about the person in that position. While some applicants will, in fact, have held formal leadership positions, many will not.

Formal leadership positions are great to write about if they involve the applicant actually having significant impact, making a difficult decision, being a visionary, showing creativity, or otherwise going beyond their formal responsibility, but the same is true for those showing leadership without having a formal title.

If you are having difficulty really understanding leadership, I have a few suggestions.

First, one great place to read about leadership, and business in general, is Harvard Business School Working Knowledge.

Second, find out what kind of leader you are by taking this quiz based on Lewin's classic framework. I think leadership is more complicated than Lewin's framework, but this quiz is a great way to get you started thinking about yourself, a key part of answering any leadership essay question effectively.

Third, if you have not done so, I suggest reading relevant essays in 65 Successful Harvard Business School Application Essays: With Analysis by the Staff of the Harbus, The Harvard Business School Newspaper. Reading through the essays on leadership should help you to understand the great diversity of topics that are possible.

OK, now that we have grounded ourselves in understanding the importance of leadership and begun to develop some possible leadership stories, how should you proceed?

I have developed the following grid to help you outline your leadership story. The categories this grid employs may go beyond any particular school's essay requirements. Filling it out completely will help you write about your leadership in a way that will convince admissions of your leadership potential.
CLICK TO ENLARGE. EMAIL me at adammarkus@gmail.com if you want the original excel version.

How to use the grid:
1. Decide on a specific story. HBS 3-2 is asking about "a community or organization,"so select only one.
2. Identify the most significant things you did in the situation, these are you action steps.
3. For each action step identify:

• What skills or qualities you demonstrated to complete this step.
• The strengths you demonstrated to complete this step.
• The kind of leadership you demonstrated.
• What you still need to learn about leadership.

4. Think about the results and identify how they relate to your action steps. So at minimum, you should be able to state the impact on the community or organization. Additionally you may find that you are able to state the impact on yourself.

5. After completing the chart you will see that some aspects of your action steps may be repeated. If there is a total duplication and nothing new is shown, either you need to redefine the action step or you may decide not to focus on it very much.

6. Once you think you have two to four fully worked-out action steps, start writing your essay.

7. Next, start re-writing. Eliminate duplicate points made between action steps. Make choices about what parts of each action to step to highlight. Given that there are usually word limits, you will have to make some decisions about what to include.

Simply providing a description of your engagement, is not enough. Think about what it signifies about you. Think about what your engagement reveals about your leadership potential, your professional or personal goals, and/or your skill set.

Finally, thinking and writing about leadership is an important part of preparing for interviews because you can be certain that you will have to talk about leadership. So you might find that the parts of the outline you jettison now will become valuable when you will want to have alternative stories for your HBS interview.

Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to.
-Adam Markus
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HBS: What would you like the MBA Admissions Board to know about your undergraduate academic experience?

This post is on the first of four "Question 3" questions for the Harvard Business School MBA Application for Fall 2009 Admission. You must answer two out of four of these questions. Here are all the posts in this series: Overall Strategy 1 2 3-1 3-2 3-3 3-4.

Question 3: 1. What would you like the MBA Admissions Board to know about your undergraduate academic experience? (400-word limit)

It is rather obvious that the questions an MBA program asks you reflect its admissions strategies. This is as true for the Harvard Business School as for any other school. For example, when HBS introduced the this question in 2005, it was directly connected to an effort to recruit younger applicants.

This question is obviously ideal for an applicant to the 2+2 program, a graduating senior or someone with 1 or 2 years of work to answer.It is no surprise that they ask this question. Consider the emphasis that HBS puts on academic ability:

"Harvard Business School is a demanding, fast-paced, and highly-verbal environment. We look for individuals who will thrive on sophisticated ideas and lively discussion. Our case-based method of learning depends upon the active participation of prepared students who can assess, analyze, and act upon complex information within often-ambiguous contexts. The MBA Admissions Board will review your prior academic performance, the results of the GMAT, and, if applicable, TOEFL and/or IELTS, and the nature of your work experience. There is no particular previous course of study required to apply; you must, however, demonstrate the ability to master analytical and quantitative concepts."

More generally, I think that this question is great for any applicant who learned something valuable in their undergraduate academic program. You don't need a high GPA to answer this one and, in fact, those who don't have a high GPA, but actually did something meaningful as part of their program of study, should consider writing on this topic to help mitigate the impact of a weak GPA.

For those who have been out of school for a while or would prefer to emphasize other aspects of their background, this question need not be answered as long as some other aspect(s) of your application- GMAT score, GPA, transcript, your resume, or perhaps one of your substantial accomplishments- demonstrates your academic potential to succeed. You must demonstrate your academic potential somewhere in your application (Yes, a solid GPA and GMAT are enough for that purpose), so if you find that have not done so effectively elsewhere and have an important story to tell about your undergraduate experience, you should most certainly consider writing an essay on this question.

Additionally for those whose undergraduate academic experience connects to their career vision and/or reasons for obtaining an MBA, part of this essay may very well serve that explanatory purpose. If you do find that you can best relate your career vision and/or reasons for pursuing an MBA on this topic, I still suggest you closely review my analysis of 3-4.

Finally, I should point out that I don't see any advantage to using this essay to explain a bad GPA or GMAT. Instead focus not such an explanation, but on making a clear argument for why you are strong candidate. There is an additional information section on the application which is long enough to provide a brief explanation of anything problematic in your academic background.

Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to.
-Adam Markus
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HBS: What have you learned from a mistake?

This post is on the second of two required questions for the Harvard Business School MBA Application for Fall 2009 Admission. My posts in this series are: Overall Strategy 1 2 3-1 3-2 3-3 3-4.

2. What have you learned from a mistake? (400-word limit)

I think the reason HBS, as well as many other schools, ask about mistakes and failures is because they want to see that you have the ability to learn from errors and/or problems. Clearly this is an important skill required for analyzing case studies.

I think it is important that we read what is written here very closely as it will help you see that there are multiple correct ways to answer this question. It is particularly important to differentiate between a failure and a mistake:

FAILURE: 1. The condition or fact of not achieving the desired end or ends: the failure of an experiment. 2. One that fails: a failure at one's career. 3. The condition or fact of being insufficient or falling short: a crop failure. 4. A cessation of proper functioning or performance: a power failure. 5. Nonperformance of what is requested or expected; omission: .failure to report a change of address. 6. The act or fact of failing to pass a course, test, or assignment. 7. A decline in strength or effectiveness.

MISTAKE: 1. An error or fault resulting from defective judgment, deficient knowledge, or carelessness. 2. A misconception or misunderstanding.

A mistake is wider in scope than a failure because not all mistakes necessarily lead to failure, though human failures are certainly the result of mistakes. A mistake may lead to a failure. A mistake may actually lead to a positive unintended outcome.

Notice that HBS does not say "your mistake." It is possible that the mistake you learned from might be one where you were an observer, a victim, and/or the source of the solution. That said, I can't recommend writing about a mistake where you blame someone else. After all, leaders take responsibility and if you are using one of your four essays to show why you are not responsible, I don't think you will be optimizing your chances for an interview invitation from HBS.

It is critical that you learned something meaningful about yourself. And your learning about yourself should be important, otherwise why tell admissions about it? Therefore the key constraint of this question is that whatever the mistake is, you have learned something important from it. While not stated, you may very well find that one way of showing what you learned is to discuss how you applied your lesson to a new situation.
I would, in fact, argue that the heart of any sort of "failure question," whether it is an essay question or an interview is what you learned. Also depending on what your role was, how you reacted is also very important.

The basic components of an answer:
1. Clearly state what the mistake was.
2. Clearly state your role.
3. Explain how you reacted to the situation.
4. Explain what you learned.

Finally, the nice thing about mistakes is that everyone makes them. That said, if your mistake is terribly minor, it is unlikely to really to reveal anything significant. So focus on a big mistake where you really learned something. The word count is limited, but, if you can, show how you applied what you learned to a new situation because the application of abstract learning to a new situation is a key indicator of real learning.

Questions? Write comments or contact me directly at adammarkus@gmail.com. Please see my FAQ regarding the types of questions I will respond to.
-Adam Markus
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HBS: What are your three most substantial accomplishments and why do you view them as such?

This post is on the first of two required questions for the Harvard Business School MBA Application for Fall 2009 Admission. All my posts in this series: Overall Strategy 1 2 3-1 3-2 3-3 3-4.

1. What are your three most substantial accomplishments and why do you view them as such? (600-word limit)

HBS has asked this question for a very long time. According to 65 Successful Harvard Business School Application Essays, "This is one of those essays that is probably a permanent fixture in the HBS application (p. 121)." So far it has been the only question not to change. HBS has made this one of the mandatory questions because...
-Accomplishments reveal your potential to succeed at HBS and afterwards.
-Accomplishments reveal your potential for contributing to your classmates.
-Everyone has had accomplishments, so it is easy to compare applicants.
-What you consider to be an accomplishment are real tests of your self-awareness and judgment.

The following grid is the kind I have used successfully with applicants preparing this question (and the similar two accomplishment version for INSEAD):

CLICK TO ENLARGE. Email me at adammarkus@gmail.com if you want the original excel version.

How to use this grid for outlining your answer to Question 1:

Row 1: "Stories." The first thing you need to do is think of the accomplishments. These will eventually take the form of stories, so that is what I call them. A few things to keep in mind:

• Your accomplishments may be personal, professional, or academic. If academic, make sure the accomplishment does not overlap with 3-1 if you choose to write on that question.
• While it is very important that your accomplishments be distinct so as to reveal different things about you, there is no single formula for what their content must be. Especially given the highly variable nature of this essay set, it is possible that you have three professional accomplishments or one personal/one professional/one academic or two academic/one personal. It really will depend on your background.
• The key consideration is that each accomplishment must be substantial and that you can explain why.

Row 2: "What skill, value, or unique experience is being showcased?" Your accomplishments need to reveal valuable things about you. Some will call these selling points, but more specifically they consist of skills, values, or unique experiences. One might use a specific accomplishment to emphasize one's leadership skills, another to show one's ethical values, and another to explain a significant barrier that was overcome. The point is that each accomplishment must , at its core, reveal something key to understanding who you are.

Row 3: "What potential for success in the MBA program or afterwards is demonstrated?" You may or may not be directly stating this in the essay, but you should think about what each accomplishment reveals in terms of your potential. HBS Adcom will most certainly be considering how your accomplishments demonstrate your potential to succeed at HBS and afterwards, so you should as well. One key way of thinking about the MBA application process is to see it as a test of potential. Potential itself can mean different things at different schools and so you must keep in mind differences between schools and, in particular, must pay close attention to what schools say really matters when they assess applicants. Harvard Business School Admissions states:
Genuine business talent cannot be narrowly defined. Instead of looking for an "ideal" candidate, HBS invites MBA applicants who exhibit a variety of skills, accomplishments, and temperaments. The true common characteristics of our students are demonstrated leadership potential and a capacity to thrive in a rigorous academic environment.
Therefore, please keep in mind that a core part of your own application strategy should be determining which parts of yourself to emphasize both overall and for a particular school. For example, at HBS, clearly "demonstrated leadership potential" and a strong academic background are necessary. In fact, the latter is particularly important at HBS, especially because the forced grading curve makes it a uniquely challenging academic environment. For more about academic potential, see 3-1.

Beyond the potential to succeed at HBS, you may want to use one of your accomplishments to show why you will be able to reach your post-MBA goals. In fact, given the structure of the HBS set, you may end up writing about your goals in this essay if your goals relate directly to one or more of the accomplishments you write about.

Row 4: "Will this be a contribution to others in the MBA program? How?" Just as with potential, think about whether your accomplishments demonstrate your ability to add value to other students at HBS. Given space limitations, it is not likely that you will explain how one or more of your accomplishments will be a contribution, but rather this is a strategic consideration. The dynamic nature of case study at HBS is very much based on what each student contributes. Think about whether any of your accomplishments demonstrate how you will likely add value to other students' HBS experience. Not all substantial accomplishments will have this quality, but many will.

Row 5: "Why does Adcom need to know about this?" If your accomplishment has made it this far, chances are it is substantial. That said, I have two simple tests for determining whether an accomplishment really belongs in this essay. The first is whether the Harvard Business School Admissions Committee (Adcom) really needs to know about this accomplishment. After all, you might consider getting the love of your life to marry you to be one of your most substantial accomplishments, but will Adcom care? If an accomplishment does not reveal (whether stated or implied) potential and/or contribution, chances are likely that it is not significant enough.

Row 6: "Is this something Adcom could learn about you elsewhere? (If "YES," find another accomplishment)" The second and final simple test I have for determining whether an accomplishment really belongs in this essay is based on the idea that something that is totally obvious about you to anyone looking at your resume and transcript is probably not worth mentioning. If you were a CPA, having an accomplishment that merely demonstrated you were good at accounting would not be worth writing about. Instead it would be important to show something more specific that reveals something that is not obvious by a mere examination of the basic facts of your application.

Finally, as I mentioned above, what you include here is a real test of your judgment, so don't just write about your obvious accomplishments. Think deeply and come up with a set of unique accomplishments that reveal distinct, interesting, and the most important things about you that will compel admissions to want to 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.
-Adam Markus
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