Why We Created Veritas Prep Annual Reports

This past Friday we announced the launch of the best free resource that we've ever created for business school applicants: Veritas Prep Annual Reports, in-depth guides to ten of the world's top business (with five more soon to follow).

Response has been phenomenal so far, with hundreds and hundreds of reports already downloaded. While we thrilled with (and humbled by) how quickly they've taken off, we've received these questions a few times already: Why did we create our Annual Reports? How are these different from what's already "out there," on school web sites, in brochures, etc.? The answer is simple: When you research multiple top schools, pretty quickly they all start to sound the same. And, believe it or not, the schools themselves often unwittingly contribute to this problem!

In the MBA admissions process, a lot of emphasis is placed on knowing yourself -- your personal beliefs, your philosophy in how you approach your work, and your post-MBA plans and dreams all contribute to the case that you build in your MBA applications. This emphasis is well placed, since there's no way to truly show admissions officers who you are (and make them want to admit you) without first understanding what makes you tick.

While many applicants fail to demonstrate enough self-awareness, the challenge that you're even more likely underestimate is building a deep enough understanding of each of the business schools in which you are interested. Think about it: You have had more than 20 years to get to know yourself, and although self-reflection is challenging and sometimes uncomfortable exercise, you have plenty of material to work with. When researching business schools, though, you're probably starting from scratch.

Perhaps you start your research by looking at U.S. News & World Report's or BusinessWeek's business school rankings. Then maybe you ask around and see what your friends and family members think about the schools –- their opinions will usually either mirror the rankings ("Columbia? I've heard of that. You should go there."), or be shaped by their own person experiences ("Go to State. I did!"). Then you might cruise around some online message boards, where you can read hundreds of posts from other applicants who will tell you, "Harvard/Stanford/Wharton are the only schools worth going to." Before long, you'll realize that these folks don't know much more than you do, and it becomes yet another case study in the blind leading the blind.

So how can you break this cycle and dig deeper to get to know your target schools better? No doubt, many business schools' online resources (including virtual tours, admissions officer or student blogs, Twitter feeds, and chats) have come a long way in the past few years, and they provide no shortage of information on each school. There are also opportunities to meet with admissions officers at school-specific events and larger events such as the MBA Tour, Forte Foundation events, and QS World MBA Tour, where you can interact one-on-one with admissions officers and hear what the school looks for, straight from the horse's mouth. And, we still believe that the absolute best way to get to know an MBA program is to visit the campus -– doing a campus tour, sitting in on a class, and meeting some students are the most effective way to get to know a school.

While these resources are all valuable tools that you should use as you prepare your applications, the problem is that –- even when you hear directly from the schools -– many MBA programs start to sound the same. Pick up a brochure or visit the web site of any top-20 MBA program, and you will almost certainly see most of these mentioned: "A global perspective... An innovative, forward-thinking curriculum... Opportunities for hands-on learning..." Uh oh. You're getting this information straight from the source, and now they're really starting to sound the same. But that can't really be, right?

The reality is that these programs are indeed very different from one another, but each school's admissions officers, based on the pressure they're under to appear innovative and plugged into headline-making business trends, need to hit many of the same notes when marketing themselves. No top business school (that is trying to attract top business school applicants) wants to appear as if it doesn't have an answer to the question of "How do you give your students practical learning opportunities?” or "How has your school evolved its curriculum to give your students a more global view of business?" Hence the pressure for schools to touch on many of the same messages in their marketing, leaving you with the challenge of being able to tell one program apart from another.

Without a doubt, visiting a school and talking to its students is one effective way to overcome this challenge. Aside from that approach, which is obviously costly and time-consuming, your best bet is to go to a source that knows all of the top programs well and have the ability to separate mere marketing messages from what matters most at each program – both in terms of how the program is run and what admissions officers look for in applicants.

To meet this need, the admissions consulting team at Veritas Prep created Annual Reports, in-depth insider's guides to each of the top business schools. We have dug deep into 10 (soon to be 15!) of the world's most competitive MBA programs to identify what makes each school unique, helping you to determine how well you fit with each one. We've drawn upon our tens of thousands of combined hours of school research and admissions consulting -– and pulled in other recent graduates and current students where necessary -- to help you easily identify what matters, what doesn't, and how this information can help you get into your target MBA programs.

All of our Veritas Prep Annual Reports are absolutely free to anyone who visits the Veritas Prep Annual Reports page and registers. We recommend that you download them and use them as a starting point for your school research. If you're already well past the starting point, then use your Annual Reports to cross-check your facts and to make sure you're on the right path.