Every spring, a small amount of prospective MBA candidates are left with nothing but rejection letters and questions, mostly that begin with the phrase “What if.”  What if I wrote a better essay?  What if I scored higher on my GMAT tests? What if my grades were better or my recommendations were stronger? What if I worked for a Fortune 500 company to bolster my acceptance chances?

As Madhavi mentions in her post, strong extracurricular activities are a must for any serious applicant. Since most applicants to top programs will probably have a solid GPAs and mind-blowing GMAT scores, strong participation in extracurricular activities is one of the main places on your application where you need to stand out (in a good way, of course).

Where do you find a good outlet for your charitable involvement? One often overlooked example is your alma mater’s alumni association. If you’re not currently a member of your alumni association (or better yet, you didn’t even know one existed), sign up immediately!

There are three important steps to follow to get a strong recommendation:

Selecting the recommender: The best recommender is a supervisor  who has interacted with you closely. Recommendations from CEOs or CFOs are absolutely useless  unless you have closely worked with them on several projects. A supervisor who can talk about your strengths, weaknesses and really knows what you are made of is one of the best choices. A peer review is sometimes sought by schools. When the recommender selection is left as an open choice, a supervisor is preferred over a peer.

Selecting the right school is one of the most important steps  in the application process. I consider the following aspects crucial to the selection process.

Curriculum and Electives: Check what a school offers as a part of the curriculum. Do the electives offered meet your career goals and aspirations?

Career Placement: How good is the recruitment in your field of  interest. If you are an international student make sure you find out which companies are willing to sponsor work permits. Not all companies are inclined to recruit international students.

From my experience I would suggest the following:

A complete and thorough reflection of WHY an MBA would help you achieve your career goals. Know very well what you wrote in your essays and make sure that you reinforce it in the interview.

WHY MBA? WHY MBA NOW? CAREER GOALS?  ABOUT YOURSELF? (Hint: Show a career progression and also showcase extra curricular activities) WHY XYZ SCHOOL? (Hint: Bring out the match between your goals and what the school has to offer and also what you can contribute and how you can continue to pursue your other interests.) These are all  typical questions and they must be answered VERY VERY well.

Wondering what schools expect when they talk of extra-curricular activities?  Well, be it any domain that the school is concerned about, they look for one key trait: leadership!  In fact, one need not have held any lead role designations in one’s work experience.  The initiatives you took and your leadership instances count.

We have been hearing “It is the best to apply when you and your application are ready”.  But, why not get ready for early rounds? Even if your stars don’t turn lucky for you, you would still have many doors open if you are an early bird. Yes, people who are not happy with the offers they get in the first round decisions always stand a chance to apply to their next set of schools’ second admission rounds. This is more appropriate for international students who are typically allowed to apply only to certain rounds of admission, most likely the first couple of them. First round generally spans from Oct to Dec. But certainly, as said, ensure you are all set when you apply. You may go through the MBA Checklist post to measure your readiness.

Here is a step-by-step approach to mission-MBA. This is designed by logically prioritizing each of the activities that make up the process. This will be of help to address each task in a timely manner.

• Identify your career goals and identify why you would want to have an MBA.  (Read “MBA? Where do I Start?”)
• Choose an MBA program that make the best fit for you in terms of career goals as well as factors like the student body, class size, teaching methodology, placements, student clubs, location etc…

GOSH!! I know. It’s so confusing! #@$% Chill… Read on and I’m sure you’ll feel better.

If you’re one of the lucky ones to have secured an interview at one of your top choices, don’t be afraid. It’s time to showcase your speaking and presentation skills in a forum that will make or break your candidacy.

Face-to-face communication is losing its cache because of the time we spend networking online.  Ironically, business deals and admissions decisions are often based on how you present yourself in-person, and not necessarily online or on paper. The more time we spend online or using technology, the less time we have to advance our interpersonal communication skills in a “people setting.”  Good admission interviewers are looking for confident, credible, and in many cases, experienced speakers and presenters when they conduct MBA interviews.  Did you know that 90% of face-to-face communication is non-verbal? Experienced professionals and interviewers can see right through uneasiness, ignorance, and fear.  Don’t be one of these interviewees.  The only way to nail the interview is to prepare.