Building an MBA Application takes months and is excruciating, so it is nerve-wracking if you get dinged and have to redo the process another year as a reapplicant. Applicants fear that the B-schools will no longer be interested in them but, the silver lining is that most B-schools are open to reapplicants, admitting up to 10% of reapplicants every year.
For MBA aspirants who have been served the blow, the challenge lies in understanding how they can increase their chances as reapplicants. Most admissions committees do not give feedback on your application, so you could be grappling in the dark about what you did wrong or how you can improve for the next year.
From our experience of doing ding analysis, we have seen two things going wrong with reappplicants.
1. You have the right credentials for the target b-schools but submitted a bad application that failed to impress. Or the timing of your application was wrong.
2. Your credentials fell short.
When the Application Execution Faltered: You had everything going for you, but the application was not convincing. Ask yourself these questions:
Did your resume stand out?
Your resume should highlight your work experience and career progression, educational qualifications and achievements, and any additional information, such as extra-curricular activities (ECAs), community work, volunteering, hobbies, and interests. EACH section should focus on your impact and achievements, and leadership capabilities. A resume that tells only responsibilities is dull to read, doesn’t show your leadership capability and is unable to differentiate you among a vast pool of competition.
The remedy- your resume should sparkle. You should build a resume that makes the adcom perk up and notice you as an accomplished candidate. How do you do that?
- Use action verbs that show real action. Initiated, Introduced, Pioneered, Launched, Increased, Saved, Improved, Led, and Spearheaded are a few of them.
- Quantify every bullet point– be it in the professional section, the education section or the additional information section. Quantify them even if they are related to ECAs and volunteering work. Doing so gives the reader an idea about the impact you could create through your efforts.
- Don’t make your resume dry. In the end, add 1-2 interesting hobbies that add a new flavour to your candidature. Who knows, this one pointer may stick with the adcom/ interviewer.
Were your Essays good enough?
B-schools look for certain qualities- leadership skills, empathy, collaboration, purpose, drive, and a strong value system. For the goals essay, applicants should have clarity on their career path, current skill-set, skill gaps and how an MBA from the business school will help them achieve their career path. Behavioural essays should demonstrate your leadership and other softer skills. In addition, your essay should address the exact essay question. This seems like a no-brainer, but sometimes applicants don’t read the question carefully and also miss answering smaller questions in the essay prompt.
The remedy: Write essays that show your maturity and leadership skills and align with the b-school’s core values. Demonstrate that you are a collaborative and community-driven person who will contribute to peers and the b-school environment. This will help B-schools draw the confidence that you will be successful in the MBA classroom and later, as an alumnus.
Do your Career goals make sense?
Writing illogical, unclear, non-ambitious career goals can serve a death blow to the application. B-schools want to admit applicants who are aware of their career and have an idea of where they are headed in the post MBA phase of their lives. Career goals are also important as they always lead into the next question – why do you need an MBA to achieve this goal and why from our b-school? These questions form the crux of your MBA application and must have convincing answers.
The remedy: Show the adcom that you have had a chance to self-reflect and understand what career choices make sense for you. If you are sticking to the same career goals as your last application, explain why they make sense for you or why you are more convinced about them. If you have taken steps in the past year to move closer to your post MBA career goals, then make a mention in the reapplicant essay.
Also address what additional research have you done in the past year and why you believe it’s a great MBA program for you. If your understanding of what you will gain (and give back) out of the MBA wasn’t strong enough earlier, now is the time to research the b-schools’ academics, community and professional resources and make convincing arguments in your application.
Did your recommender make a strong case for you?
Recommendations are typically not the sole reason for a ding (unless your recommender says something questionable about your capabilities or ethics). That said, your recommendation should present valuable insights about your candidature in addition to what you have already told through other parts of the application. If the recommendation is insipid and half-hearted then it will not benefit you.
The remedy: As a reapplicant, you should rethink your recommender strategy. Here are a few scenarios and their solutions:
- Your recommender did not make a strong case – consider asking someone different.
- You went for the titles and selected senior people who don’t know you so well. Approach your supervisor instead, because adcoms want to hear from people who have seen your work most closely.
- You selected someone from a bygone era of your life (say undergrad professor) and their opinion is no longer so relevant. Get a new recommender.
- You did not brief your recommender well. Spend more time with the recommender emphasizing the qualities they can highlight and “reminding” them of your biggest achievements. Also, remind them of your extra-curricular achievements and community-building initiatives at work. Recommenders may not think these important to mention in the reco.
- If in the past year, you have worked on a new project or job and this experience is relevant to your MBA application, consider asking a new recommender who can speak to this experience and thus offer a fresh perspective on your capabilities.
Did you apply at the right time?
Sometimes applicants are qualified, and they put in a good application, but they are too late in the application cycle and lose out because of lack of space in the MBA Class. It will help to apply in the earlier rounds of the application cycle, specifically, if you come from an overrepresented pool. If B-schools have early application rounds, apply to those.
You may fear that you don’t have many profile enhancements to show in the new application. B-schools will understand that you will not become a new person in a single year. That said, there would always be something that can be enhanced in your profile. If not a promotion, it could be a new project, a new initiative or new impact. There could also be new extra-curricular initiatives. The trick is to start early to identify the areas for enhancement and then put in the effort to work upon them. in the following months up to the application deadlines.
When Your Credentials are not so strong
Sometimes adcoms may find that you have the potential, but you are a little raw in some aspects. In this case, one or two years’ gap before you reapply can help mitigate this problem. However, its important you understand what improvements you need to make and then work out a strategy to strengthen these areas.
So, what could be possible reasons for a ding?
Academics – Adcoms consider your undergrad GPA, the rigor of your courses and how you fared in them. If your undergrad GPA was low or you scored badly in quant subjects or you did not study quant subjects at all, you can make improvements here.
The remedy: Consider studying subjects like Statistics, Calculus, Math or Economics to build up a newer transcript. MBA Math, HBS online, college extension courses and MOOC certifications courses can be beneficial in showing your academic preparedness. As GMAT and GRE point towards your academic capability, you should apply with a score 20-30 points above the class average. This may require a retake.
Standardized tests- An average or lower test score can lead to a ding especially if you belong to an overrepresented category of applicants. Someone with a similar profile but a better GMAT score can be given an offer instead of you.
The remedy: If your test scores are becoming the hurdle, then retake the test. If GMAT is not yielding the desired results, take GRE instead and vice-versa.
Work experience- As a lot of learning during the MBA program happens through peers, you will have to contribute insights from your work experience in the classroom and outside. Although most B-schools do not have a minimum work experience requirement, if your work experience is less or not as strong, there will be little you can contribute, and this is a definite red flag for the adcom
The remedy: Waiting 1-2 years before you apply will give you the window to enhance your profile in several ways. First among them is career progression, which can come through a promotion, increased managerial and budget responsibilities, or a change in job and role. Also your impact would have increased through your work. Second, take initiative at work, take up challenging projects, learn new skills, and try to get international exposure. Taking up roles which align with your career goals is also a positive step.
Leadership and teamwork Capability – Some applicants haven’t had enough opportunities to take leadership responsibilities and fall short in this criterion. As most b-school activities are student led, its important you give the adcom the comfort that you can launch and lead initiatives.
The remedy: The additional year can be spent working on your leadership and teamwork skills – and you can do this through your professional and/or personal endeavours. Take initiative and see them through, despite the challenges. Ensure that every component of your new application- resume, essays, recommendations- demonstrates your leadership skills.
Interview- Interviews offer you a chance to show your maturity, communication, interpersonal and leadership skills, and overall enthusiasm for the MBA program. Faltering on these can harm you.
The remedy: Interviewers may not know you are a reapplicant, but make sure you have improved on any of the above aspects that could have been a weak link in the previous attempt. Also, make sure to show your fit with the program. Lastly, research the program well so that you can impress the interviewer about your interest in the program.
To conclude, we have given you an exhaustive list of things that can lead to rejection and ways to rectify them. All of them may not apply to you but think deep and figure out which of these do indeed apply to you. Then work hard to mitigate these challenges.
Just keep asking yourself, what can you do differently / better this time around.