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Consortium for Graduate Study in Management
The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management is the country’s preeminent organization for promoting diversity and inclusion in American business. Through an annual competition, The Consortium awards merit-based, full-tuition fellowships to America’s best and brightest candidates.
Management Leadership for Tomorrow Management Leadership for Tomorrow delivers programming that puts minorities on the fast-track to success at every stage of their careers: from College through MBA and the Executive levels. MLT is a leading source of minority talent for top graduate business schools and for many of the nation's premier corporations including Citi, Goldman Sachs, Google, McKinsey & Co, PepsiCo and Target.
As the co-chair of a couple clubs at Tuck, I often get e-mails from prospective students inquiring about the school or a club they're interested in. Most people ask really great questions and I'm really happy to help them in any way I can. However, every now and again, a propsective student does something that is either a) a big no no or b) slightly ridiculous. I've decided to post a few of these as lessons in what not to do.
What Not to Do:
#1 - Accidentally writing the wrong school name in your e-mail/essay or addressing a letter to the wrong person. This will get you ding'ed anywhere - whether applying to school or a job. Enough said.
#2 - Not conveying sincere interest for the school. A few months ago I received an e-mail that started off like this: "After careful consideration I recently decided to include Tuck in my MBA application process." So basically what you just told me is that you weren't originally considering Tuck and that it's probably not your top choice? #ding
#3 - Expecting a current student or admissions officer to tell you why you should attend the school. Sample bad e-mail: "I would like a first person's account of what is unique about the program, and how it can help me fulfill my aspirations." You wouldn't send a potential employer an e-mail that says "Dear Goldman Sachs, please tell me what is unique about your company and how you can help me fulfill my aspirations." so what makes candidates think this is an appropriate strategy for reaching out to a MBA program?
That said, current students and admissions officers are definitely willing to help answer any questions you may have about the program. However, it's all on you to know why you want to get an MBA and why you're interested in a school (even if you're not 100% certain that you're going to apply there yet).
#4 - Trying to show how smart you are by asking unnecessarily complex questions. People will generally assume you are intelligent. Acting 'smarter than thou' does not win you points.
#5 - Claiming to know a current student or admissions officer better than you really do in your interview. Odds are relatively high that the interviewer will reach out to the current students / admissions officers you claim to know in your interview for more information, so be honest. One time an applicant exaggerated how well he knew a current student we'll call "Guy X" during an interview. Ironically (and unknown to him) the applicant was interviewing with "Guy X's" girlfriend. #badtimetoexaggerate
#6 - Not following up. If a current student does an informational call with you or e-mails extensively with you, follow up with them and let you know when you interview/apply. If a current student tells you to 'keep them posted', this generally means that they really like you and might (unknown to you) put in a good word for you with admissions. If you don't follow up with the current student, you lose this opportunity.
#7 - Asking your interviewer to recommend you. If you have to ask, the answer is probably no.
One of the things that has really impressed me about Tuck is the cultural diversity. That might sound ironic given that Tuck is located in Hanover, a New England town with less than 10,000 residents, and even more ironic since this comment is coming from a former New York City chick. Hear me out on this: a third of our student body is of international origin. So while we may not have the most diverse community surrounding Hanover, the international students contribute a great deal of cultural diversity to our school both in the class and out.
As a die hard foodie, one of my favoite things about going to school with so many international students is that I've been able to try all of their favorite foods from their home country. The Tuck administration really makes a point to celebrate every culture here at Tuck, so we frequently have Brazilian barbeques (the best steak I've ever had!), Diwali celebrations (curry heaven), and China-Korea-Japanese Day Party (mind blowing dumplings) in addition to number of other international events. In addition to being incredibly smart, my classmates are wicked good cooks and I'm so thankful that they're willing to share all their traditions and holidays with us!
T'12 Student Performers at China Night Party
The ladies did a very elegant Chinese dance performance at the
party while Yang did a popular Chinese rap complete with nunchucks!
In my opinion, one of the best things about Tuck is it's Visiting Executive Program. The Visiting Executive Program brings senior executives to the school to share their expertise with the classroom and meet with students and faculty. From a classroom perspective, this program allows professors to invite senior executives that worked on the case at hand to the classroom to facilitate discussion. You'd be amazed at how much color and clarity their hands on experience brings to discussion!
From a student perspective, the Visiting Executive Program arranges opportunities for office hours, breakfast, lunch, dinner or roundtable discussions with the visiting executive. In order to create a more intimate setting where students can get a lot of one-on-one time with the executive, each meeting is generally limited to less than 10 students. Over the course of my time at Tuck, we've had executives such as Jeff Bezos (CEO of Amazon), John Mackey (CEO of Whole Foods), Robert Eckert (Chairman & CEO of Mattel), Michael Ward (Managing Director at Bain Capital Inc), Brian Myerholtz (Principal at Boston Consulting Group) and a number of other top executives from nearly every industry.* Of course, as a former retail industry exec, my all time favorite visiting executive this fall was Mickey Drexler (CEO of J.Crew). Mickey is a true legend in retail, so my roundtable meeting with him was one of my all time favorite moments at Tuck!
I'm so happy that Tuck offers these opportunities because whether students want to leverage them for networking or just to learn more about an executive's experience, they are truly amazing opportunities to get access to senior business leaders. In some ways I feel that I've learned more from my conversations with these senior execs than I ever could just by reading a book or a case.
*(Disclaimer: As a student focused on general management roles, I've chosen to primarily highlight general management visiting execs. We've had a TON of high ranking banking, finance and consulting execs come as well, but I can't speak to them as much as I haven't followed their sign up lists as closely.)
In this article Sanford “Sandy” Kreisberg, founder of MBA admissions consulting firm HBSGuru, analyzes profiles of typical MBA applicants and assesses their odds of getting into several top MBA programs. Great read for anyone trying to answer the question: "Do I have what it takes to get into a great school?"
In keeping with the spirit of a globally focused MBA program, we (students) have a photo contest each year for the best shot of the Tuck logo in a rare, dangerous or exotic place around the world. Here are a couple of my favorites!
I will graduate from Tuck in five months - and as a female MBA student, I feel pressure to find a job with work life balance. I've noticed that this goal of "work life balance" isn't so much something I am seeking but something that other women think that all women must ultimately pursue. If you don't seek work life balance, you are somehow typecast as a bad wife, bad mother...etc. Ironically, the people that typecast you as the two headed dragon - a bad wife and mother - aren't men. In fact, it's most often women that push other women to pursue less challenging jobs in the name of work life balance.
Sheryl Sandberg did an excellent job addressing this issue in her 2011 commencement speech at Barnard College:
"I have deep respect for my friends who make different choices than I do, who choose the really hard job of raising children... These are choices that you may make some day, and these are fine choices.
But until that day, do everything you can to make sure that when that day comes, you even have a choice to make. Because what I have seen most clearly in my 20 years in the workforce is this: Women almost never make one decision to leave the workforce. It doesn’t happen that way. They make small little decisions along the way that eventually lead them there. Maybe it’s the last year of med school when they say, I’ll take a slightly less interesting specialty because I’m going to want more balance one day. Maybe it’s the fifth year in a law firm when they say, I’m not even sure I should go for partner, because I know I’m going to want kids eventually.
These women don’t even have relationships, and already they’re finding balance, balance for responsibilities they don’t yet have. And from that moment, they start quietly leaning back. The problem is, often they don’t even realize it.
If several years ago you stopped challenging yourself, you’re going to be bored. If you work for some guy who you used to sit next to, and really, he should be working for you, you’re going to feel undervalued, and you won’t come back. So, my heartfelt message to all of you is, and start thinking
about this now, do not leave before you leave. Do not lean back; lean in. Put your foot on that gas pedal and keep it there until the day you have to make a decision, and then make a decision. That’s the only way, when that day comes, you’ll even have a decision to make."
Once I watched this video I realized that I too had started quietly leaning back.
Last year I took an internship with a top consumer goods company that was known for its work life balance and is rated one of the best places for mothers to work. When I accepted the offer, those seemed like good selling points to me. However, once I started working there I found the work to be unchallenging and was perplexed by the culture. The office cleared out by 5pm everyday, no one worked weekends and my boss spent an unusual amount of his desk time planning his son's little league games. After working in a fast paced career pre-MBA (which I loved), I just didn't get the appeal of this 9-5 role. Reflecting on this experience, I realize I had somehow leaned back and convinced myself that a place that 'mothers like' is the place for me. I don't even have kids. So why was I making career choices around children that I may or may not ever have?
As I move forward with my full-time job search, I've realized that I must be true to myself and my dreams. I didn't come to Tuck with the ultimate goal of finding "work life balance". I came to Tuck to develop the skill set and network I need to pursue what I'm passionate about - and that's exactly what I intend to do.
Here's to leaning in and keeping our feet firmly planted on the gas pedal!
"I can't begin to tell you how many situations a recommender has derailed an applicant's dreams by procrastinating or doing a shoddy job" points out Chioma Isiadinso author of The Best Business School Admissions Secrets. Clearly after all the hard work that's gone into your application, the last thing you want is to get dinged for a bad letter of recommendation. So what can you do to prevent this from happening?
Choose recommenders that know you well - Ideally your recommenders should be your immediate manager (when possible) or a prior manager that can speak to your leadership skills and progression. Don't choose the CEO or someone else with a fancy title in hopes of impressing the admissions office. This technique will backfire on you. The admissions office wants to read a letter of recommendation from someone that knows you well and has worked closely with you.
*If you choose someone that's written your annual review before, you should have a good idea (based on past reviews) of how they regard you as a leader and what they will be most inclined to write about.
Choose recommenders that will CHAMPION you - As Ms. Isiadinso points out in the above video, you need to think of yourself as a brand and choose a recommender that's willing to be a brand champion for you. Run the other way and find a new recommender if your potential recommender says: he's too busy, doesn't understand why you want to get an MBA or just generally doesn't come across as supportive. This type of person is not going to champion you in your letter of recommendation.
Prime your recommenders with your successes - Not everyone is a natural for writing letters of recommendation. Take the time to set up a meeting with your recommender early on and discuss what you'll be writing about in your application essays and what you think your key successes are as a leader. If it's been a while since you worked with your recommender, this is especially important. Even if you recommender thinks you are a rock star, the precise details of your accomplishments may be a little hazy in his mind and need refreshing. The last thing you want is a vague or generic letter of recommendation that doesn't back up any of the 'key messages' in your essays.
Give your recommenders sufficient time to write your letter of recommendation - Depending on how many schools you're applying to and how busy your recommenders are, you'll want to give them 1-6 months to write the recommendations. It's also helpful to follow up with them as the deadline approaches to make sure everything is submitted on time.
In the eternal quest to beat the GMAT, it's easy to get caught up in the GMAT hype and think it's the end all and be all of your application. It's not. While it's important to have a GMAT score that falls in the competitive range for your target school, scoring the elusive 800 isn't going to be what gets you accepted. However, putting together a well-rounded application that makes you stand out from the heap of other applications will.
So how can you make yourself 'stand out yet fit in'? If you don't know the answer to this question then I highly recommend that you use an admissions consultant.
While I was in the very early stages of my MBA application process, a friend of mine at Stanford GSB told me that he had used an admissions consultant and that he highly recommended that I use one as well. At first, I was skeptical to say the least. Admissions consultants are known to charge a pretty price tag - would I really get my money's worth out of this service? Nevertheless, I decided to get a basic package with Stacy Blackman Consulting and it was worth every penny.
When I first met with my admissions consultant, I felt confident about my candidacy but wasn't quite sure which experiences to highlight in my essays to really make me standout. Thankfully my admissions consultant did a phenomenal job in helping me determine which experiences to highlight in my essays for each school. With her guidance, I was able to put together a knock out application that got me into my top choice.
In summary, if you're not sure how to make yourself standout from the competition, invest in an admissions consultant. (Unless you think you'll need a lot of editing help, a 4-5 hour package will generally do.) I personally recommend Stacy Blackman, but I've also heard Maureen Phalen at the Admissions Advisory Group is excellent as well!
