Huffington Post Predicts "B-School Collapse," but We Don't See It

Yesterday on the Huffington Post, Pablo Triana wrote a piece titled "The Coming B-School Collapse," in which he essentially predicted revolt by current and soon-to-be business school students who will no doubt be underwhelmed by their post-MBA job prospects in the next couple of years. While I was intrigued by the prospect of MBAs storming a modern-day Bastille to voice their displeasure with having to wait an extra year to become Masters of the Universe, Triana's piece left me scratching my head a bit.

He first asserts that thousands more applicants than normal are vying for spots in top MBA programs as a result of the rough economy. Okay, so far, so good. I can't fault him so far. He then describes the three types of students that one will find at a top school in this brave new (jobless) world, and while he oversimplifies some, he's still on the right track. I can't really find fault here, either.

Here's where it gets interesting. Triana then goes on to paint a cramped classroom teeming with unemployable know-nothings: "B-schools are then going to be overpopulated and to present a student mix that is potentially explosive." Um, how so? Just because application numbers surged last year, that automatically means the top business schools' classes will be proportionally more packed than before? Yes, this year some school did admit a handful more students (with HBS being the most prominent example), but we're talking about a handful. And every one of those students can read the Wall Street Journal or turn on CNBC... They know to expect a rocky job market, making a revolt a long shot at best.

Although he's taught at a business school before, what really makes me wonder how well Triana is still connected to the business school space is his assertion that "B-schools are completely dominated by theory and theoreticians, bent on embracing failed and lethal dogmas." While this was definitely true ten years ago, and some schools today are still too slow to evolve their programs towards a more pragmatic model (we call them out when we see such behavior), Triana must not know about any of these schools that have done far more than pay lip service to hands-on learning:

University of Michigan (Ross) -- Multidisciplinary Action Projects (MAP)

UC Berkeley (Haas) -- International Business Development (IBD) Program

NYU (Stern) -- Industry Mentoring Initiative

Those are just several good examples; I've left out many other schools' programs that are just as significant. Just to stoke the fires and get bloggers like me to take the bait, he goes on to say, "B-schools show no signs of abating their analytical practices, no real atonement, no true repentance." Triana may have taught at a highly-ranked school for a few years, but he did not sit in a room with admissions officers from a half dozen top school this summer, hearing every one of them express concerns about the employability of their students (and the importance of this trait when looking at an applicant), wonder aloud about how application numbers will look next year, and express how seriously the administration at each school takes the challenge of giving their students truly valuable management training in today's environment. They all spent a lot of time talking about these issues, and I know for a fact that not one of these schools is resting on its laurels.

But, all I do is study these programs for a living. Perhaps it's much better to create a snarky piece with an attention-grabbing headline, incite some class warfare, and maybe sell some ads in the process.

You know what? Why not. Let's see if it happens. The Internet hasn't given me anything good since I first learned that combining cute cats pictures and misspelled words equals comedy gold. I can't wait until I can pull up dozens of YouTube videos of McKinsey wannabes hurling Molotov cocktails across the quad, turning back a wave of armor-clad administrators who can't lure a single bank to come to campus and hand out job offers.

Until then, I suppose I can keep myself busy with helping more and more applicants get into these collapsing business schools.

To learn more about Veritas Prep's GMAT prep and MBA admissions services, be sure to follow us on Twitter.

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Veritas Prep Quoted in the Contra Costa Times

Last week the Bay Area's Contra Costa Times ran an article titled "Value of an MBA Put to the Test," focusing on the evolving return-on-investment equation for prospective business school students. In the article, David Morrill turned to Veritas Prep for advice to give to prospective business school applicants.

The interview gave us the chance to reiterate some of what we always tell our applicants about how important fit is when selecting an MBA program. Taken from the article:

Scott Shrum, director of MBA admissions research at Veritas Prep, advises and prepares students for the process. He says that if a student goes into a graduate school without a plan and the right mindset, they could have a rude awakening.

"If you measure the value of an MBA as a ticket to a six-figure job, then a lot of those people might be disappointed when they graduate," Shrum said. "It's those that realize an MBA is a transformative experience and much more than the paycheck who is going to reap the benefits."

The article also explored the importance of investing in one's own education, especially when times are tough:

"In good times it matters less because there are more are more jobs to be had," Shrum said. "But in a down economy you need to be much choosier, because now companies tend to retreat to the schools they are familiar with and give them good talent."

However, the lesser-known schools shouldn't be entirely thrown aside in consideration. Some offer more flexible hours, online options, and niche affiliations such as the hotel and recreation industry.

Also, if a person doesn't really want to work for a big firm, and is a self-starter that just needs to learn how to read an income statement and pick up the business basics to be an entrepreneur, then there's no reason to spend a bunch of money on a branded school, Shrum said.

The main takeaway is what we've always said: There's no one-size-fits-all MBA program, and there's rarely a single answer when someone asks, "What's the perfect business school for me?" There are a lot of variables to consider, way beyond the rankings, and you owe it to yourself to consider all of them before you make one of the biggest decisions of your young professional career.

For more advice on MBA admissions, visit Veritas Prep. Also, be sure to follow us on Twitter!

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The WSJ on Law School and the Recession -- A Deeper Look

Last week, Nathan Koppel of the Wall Street Journal wrote a thoughtful piece about young professionals retreating to law school as a form of safe harbor in the current economic climate. The column explored both sides of the issue, offering both reasons for and against going back to law school. While I agreed with much of it, I also felt that a great deal of analysis –- and more importantly, critical advice -– was missing from the article.

Again, I want to stress that Koppel's take on this issue was fundamentally solid and that he presented the issue without much by way of an obvious agenda. That said, the first aspect of the column with which I take issue was his use of statistics. To put it bluntly, I believe he cherry-picked his "application increase" stats around which to build the story, citing Washington and Lee (29% increase), Yale (8%) and Texas (8%) as proof of a massive migration. However, as we wrote a while back, the ABA reported only a 1% increase in applications across the board this year. So again, I don't think there has been quite the "retreat!" mentality that Koppel makes it out to be. Of course, that may just make the underlying question -- Is heading to law school right now a good move? -- all the more relevant because that small increase for this year is a harbinger of a huge increase next year. (See that same blog article for an analysis of the 2001 recession that saw a very small spike that year followed by 17% increase in 2002 applications.)

As to whether or not going to law school at this time is a good idea, I am more on the "yes" side of the fence than I am down the middle. With that in mind, here are key considerations that were either missing from the column or were not explored in great enough depth:

Safe Harbor. For starters, law school lasts three years, so the "hide out" argument could be bolstered by the fact that it gives students longer to ride out the recession. I think Koppel missed an easy chance to compare MBA students (who only get two years) and to introduce the notion of a JD/MBA degree, which provides even more of a diversified skill set and, depending on the school, can allow a student to ride out a down economy for four years. Even the most skeptical among us likely believe that things will be better four years from now -- especially in the legal markets, where transactional attorneys will be in great demand once lending starts up again. In fact, when that day comes, there simply won't be nearly enough junior and mid-level attorneys to draft all the documents that will be needed to support those deals. I could see a major corporate associate hiring boom in the next two-to-four years when lending kicks back in throughout the financial markets (commercial real estate, not so much, but that is beside the point).

New Jobs. I also think Koppel missed an "emerging industries" angle with regard to financial regulation (which would have been a perfect transition from talking about JD/MBA degrees and their value) and corporate governance. Given the clear cause of the economic crisis and the reform being called for by the Obama administration, I believe there are going to be a plethora of new legal jobs in the regulatory sector -- both within governmental agencies (existing bodies like the SEC and possibly those that have yet to be formed) and within companies and law firms as well.

Alternative Career Path. One additional angle that Koppel went for in the column was some advice on how a graduating law student can prop himself up in a down job market. Not to beat a dead horse, but he missed a few things here as well. Koppel got the "elite school" thing right when he discussed the impact that graduating from a top 14 law school has on one's prospects with BigLaw, but when he wrote about pursuing a non-legal job, he made it sound way too easy.

In fact, this part of Koppel's article would have been the ideal place to drop in some of the soundest advice a prospective law student could ever receive: start your alternative career path while in law school. Too many law students make the mistake of assuming they can just waltz out of an elite law school with a JD and get whatever job they want, in whatever industry they want. And while a JD does signal certain things (critical thinking, strong writing skills, work ethic, problem solving) that can make a law school grad immediately attractive in particular industries such as management consulting, it doesn't help much at all in the wide majority of industries who naively see law school as "lawyer training." Never mind that this isn't really true; that's the perception.

So a law student who wants to work for an NBA team, or in business development for Warner Brothers, or for a hedge fund (or name your industry/company) can't simply go take summer jobs at big law firms, graduate, and then send out their resumes. Yes, those summer associate gigs pay a mint, but they put law students on a straight-line path with 20-foot walls towards working at a big law firm. If a law student really wants to work for Warner Brothers, that person has to spend her summers working there for free or for cheap, so that the big guns at Warner Brothers get to know her and value her and desperately want her to work there. Then, when she graduates with her prestigious law degree, they have to pay her and position her accordingly. That is how it works for "alternative" career paths.

And I just desperately wish people would tell prospective students this reality. Maybe the Wall Street Journal wasn't interested in that type of social good or perhaps Koppel didn't even think of this or know about this reality, but this article would have presented a perfect opportunity to broadcast an important message.

The Money Game. The only other thing I would have put in this article is that students should be more cognizant of the financial aspects of their law school choices. With an uncertain job market at the other end of the pipeline, it is no longer a cavalier thing to take out $150,000 in debt to obtain an elite law degree. In 2004, I would have been crazy to go to Duke for $70,000 rather than Chicago for $150,000. Now, in 2008? I'd probably be crazy to do the opposite. Schools are leveraging each other right now too, so it is a good time to pay attention to trends (this year Michigan appears to be the big spender) and also to barter with the schools.

All of this signifies a sea change in the selection/enrollment process. Until now, I would have told a student to pick among the top 14 law schools in this order:

1) fit
2) rank/prestige
3) cost.

Now, under these market conditions, I would change the order to:

1) cost
2) fit
3) rank/prestige.

In my humble opinion, it is far better to go to Cornell and have $50,000 in debt than go to NYU and carry $120,000 in student loans, when it might not matter much with regard to job prospects. Either the deals are going to start happening by the time you graduate (in which case you can get a great job from either school), or they're not (in which case you might be trouble coming from either school). This is now a major consideration. Put another way: students have to consider law school a little more like undergrad with regard to their cost versus return on investment (ROI) analysis.

All in all, Koppel's article got some key issues out on the table and will get people talking. That's the most important thing. I simply wish the analysis had gone deeper and that some key and useful messages would have been delivered to the confused law students and prospective law students who need that information so badly.

To get more law school admissions news and analysis from Veritas Prep, be sure to follow us on Twitter.

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MBA Admissions Survey Reminder

This is a quick reminder to let you know that there are only three days left for you to complete the AIGAC MBA admissions survey for a chance to win an iPod Touch or one of two new iPod Shuffles! All you have to do to be eligible is fill out the short online survey and share your thoughts about the MBA admissions process. Don’t miss your chance to contribute your personal thoughts and opinions!

Please click here to access the survey. The survey is now complete. Thanks to everyone who participated!

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New MBA Admissions Survey

We pride ourselves on making the Veritas Prep Blog a source of reliable information and valuable advice on the MBA admissions process. To that end, as a member of the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC), we are conducting a survey to help us better understand our readers' goals and needs. We would like to invite all of our readers to share their school selection priorities and views on the MBA application process.

This online survey should take just 10 minutes to complete. We would love to receive as many responses as possible before the closing date of Friday, March 20th. That end, AIGAC will will give away an iPod Touch and two iPod Shuffles as a token of gratitude.

Thanks in advance for your help! Please click here to participate. The survey is now complete. Thanks to everyone who participated!

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Announcing The Laid-Off Professional's Guide to MBA Admissions

In response to the ever-worsening economy, we have just released a guide to help recently laid-off business school applicants overcome their career setbacks and gain admissions to the world's most competitive MBA programsThe Laid-Off Professional's Guide to MBA Admissions gives you specific, step-by-step instructions for how you can overcome the setback of a job loss and still shine in MBA admissions eyes.

The key themes that you will want to emphasize in your application include:

1. Now is the right time. You should explain that the decision to apply is the result of a well-conceived plan, not the knee-reaction of someone who fears a period of unemployment underemployment. If admissions officers sense that you're in the latter camp, they will likely pass over your application and move on to candidates with more compelling reasons for wanting to earn an MBA.


2. You are a star, not a victim. Essays, letters of recommendation and admission interviews will allow you to highlight multiple professional success stories. Pointing to career achievements paints the picture of a perennial winner who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when jobs had to be cut.


3. You made lemonade out of lemons. Did you use your new-found free time to volunteer or take a night class to hone skill areas? While reporting on these accomplishments may seem less attractive than boasting about a position on the corporate ladder, admissions officers appreciate it when applicants demonstrate productivity during any extended period of time off between jobs.

This white paper is the first installment of The Veritas Prep Recovery Series, a collection of white papers devoted to helping business school applicants who need to overcome certain weaknesses or blemished in their backgrounds.

The The Laid-Off Professional's Guide to MBA Admissions is available for free download here. If you have recently lost your job, or are afraid you will, don't worry... We're here to help!

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Five Tips for Applying to Law School... Next Year

February is a fascinating month to work with law school admissions consulting clients, because half are scrambling to find their way off the waitlist and decide which program to attend, while the other half are already planning for next year. It is a great reminder that, for some people, the idea of law school isn't a major practical decision staring them in the face, but rather an esoteric concept that seems an eternity away. It also a reminder that many of our clients still control most of the factors that will ultimately impact their law school opportunities.

Therefore, we are focusing on are the five things that people should be doing if they plan to apply to law school next year:

1. Plan around the LSAT. More than any other standardized test, the LSAT is a major influence on your admissions prospects. Part of the reason for this is that the LSAT actually does test a lot of the key critical thinking, reading, and reasoning skills that will have a huge impact on your level of success in the classroom, so law schools put a great deal of emphasis on the resulting test scores. Therefore, ensure that you make the proper investment in your preparation. You may or may not decide to pay for a course (or even just for help with logic games), but you should plan on doing as many practice tests as possible and spending the time necessary to become completely comfortable with the exam. This sounds obvious, but you would be surprised how often people procrastinate in their LSAT preparation ... especially when there is "an entire year" to get it done.

2. Mitigate a weakness. The name of the admissions game is to try to read your own profile (GPA, LSAT, resume, etc.) the way an admissions officer would and then use your personal statement to answer their big questions. In short, you have to write away your weaknesses. In a perfect world, there aren't weaknesses to write away, so you can focus simply on drafting an amazing personal statement. Therefore, one thing you should absolutely do in the next year is identify your biggest weaknesses (this is where consulting or some other form of advising is extremely helpful) and then go out and conquer them. If you have some issues with focus and discipline due to a spotty GPA, take a job that requires great maturity. Even better, take some challenges courses and knock them out of the park. If your motivation as a law school applicant seems questionable, seek out an internship somewhere within the legal space. Rather than merely chasing the "best" job or the most "unique" experience, see if there is something more valuable you can do with your time that will round you out as an applicant.

3. Secure your letters of recommendation. It seems like it would be easy to zip over to the office of your favorite college professors and ask them for a quick turnaround on a great letter of recommendation. It's not. Instead of letting time lapse, go to them now and start the recommendation process. Ask them for their advice on whether you should apply to law school and perhaps which schools. Start outlining a timeline for the process, whereby you will supply them with updates, bullet points about your future application story, and other items that will help them write a great letter.

4. Read. Many people will tell you to avoid studying or anything resembling law school life, since you will be doing so much of it once you get to school. Nonsense! You don't have to read books about Civil Procedure or Tort restatements, but you should always be reading. It will help you with the LSAT and it will certainly help you hit the ground running once you arrive on campus. Don't let your mental muscles atrophy.

5. Visit Campus. A common misconception in the law school universe is that rankings are everything and there is no need to worry about "feel" at the various programs. This is false. That said, it can be difficult to tell schools apart based on their online descriptions. The classes, the clinics, the on campus recruitment, the journals ... it definitely bleeds together. And few programs have a flagship designation like "Law and Econ" (University of Chicago). Therefore, the best way to tease out which schools are the best fit is to go visit them. You will get an idea for where they are located, how people interact, and even the "types" of students that attend. Not only that, but you may have the good fortune of meeting with admissions reps or professors on your visits and making a lasting impression.

In short, make use of the next year in ways that will aid both your candidacy and your level of preparation so that you can make the experience as meaningful as possible. If you are willing to spend countless hours applying, three years and six figures attending, and then a career practicing law, you should be willing to spend the next year preparing for those things.

If not ... well, that's another post entirely!

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Law School Admissions: Tackling the Personal Statement (Part II)

Last week we initiated a two-part series on the law school personal statement. Part I focused on the art of positioning and answering the reader's biggest question, Part II will describe the five law school themes as well as some thoughts on creating entertainment value in the personal statement.

The Law School Themes. In addition to your primary positioning, you also want to try to round out the key law school themes. They are:

1. Intellect (both intellectual curiosity and intellectual horsepower).
2. Motivation.
3. Discipline.
4. Collegiality.
5. Leadership.

For most applicants, two or three of these themes are readily apparent from the academic profile and resume. Most commonly, things like leadership, collegiality, and discipline jump off the page – evidenced by a long history of getting involved, being part of groups and organizations, and staying committed to tasks.

(Quick note on leadership: this aspect is not as important in the law school process as it would be on, say, the MBA side. Seeking applicants with strong leadership skills is mainly a self-serving proposition as law schools simply want to ensure that they have enough “leaders of men” to run their student programs. Okay, that sounds cynical, but producing leaders and putting them in the work force is just not a major priority.)

For many clients, the big themes that remain at issue are motivation and intellect. Let me discuss them each in turn.

Motivation – This has become an important issue this year as applications are up and MBA types have turned their attention to law school. A JD from a top program offers a bit more job security and, frankly, the program lasts longer, making it easier to ensure riding out a recession. So not only are you competing with more applicants this year, you are also competing against a “type” that is more common now than in previous admissions seasons. The best course of action is to “backdate” your interest in law school and then really spell out your motives for attending law school in the personal statement. It can be secondary to explaining your abilities, but it needs to be there. Another way to look at the issue of motivation is to consider the big three unasked questions on every law school application: 1) Why law school? 2) Why this law school in particular? and 3) why now?

Intellect – This breaks down into both intellectual curiosity and horsepower. Many applicants are fine on the former, but weak on the latter due to a low LSAT score (“low” being a relative term based on the 25th-to-75th percentile ranges at their schools of interest). Even if the GPA and LSAT components are fairly strong, they are often not indicative of a candidate’s true potential.

Entertainment Value. Considering the entertainment value of the personal statement does more than just provide relief for the weary application reader – it also aids in the framing of your writing sample, especially if there is a risk of the personal statement reading like a laundry list or a glorified resume. Listing everything out in that way is obviously to be avoided, but sometimes candidates must drive home accomplishments or events in a way that starts to resemble a list. A great way to do it is to embed a hook and frame the personal statement in that way. One solution is to build the narrative around “challenges” or “accomplishments” or any other device that gives it a thrust and a thread. Then you can create a setup in the intro, 3-4 exemplary paragraphs, and a conclusion that brings it home. Be sure to get right to the point, stating the big takeaway point in the very first line – then work from there.

Overall, the personal statement is not the place to cover everything. You simply want to triage what is most important and then build a compelling and detailed narrative to support that position. Confront your issues head on and tell the reader what he is dying to know and you will be leaps and bounds ahead of your competition.

For more on how to draft fantastic personal statements, take a look at our law school admissions consulting services, including our personal statement assistance service.

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MBA Admissions: Waitlist Advice

Being waitlisted by your target business school can feel a lot like flipping a coin and seeing it end up on its edge; this lack of a final answer after months of anticipation can almost feel more frustrating than receiving a firm "yes" or "no." But take heart in the fact that you're still in the MBA admissions game, and there may be more that you can do to ultimately get accepted.

First of all, know that a waitlist decision is much more similar to an acceptance than a rejection. The admissions office clearly saw something in your application that it liked, but for some reason -- perhaps you have a weaker undergrad transcript than they'd like to see, or there are simply too many other applicants who look just like you -- just couldn't pull the trigger and offer you a seat. While this can be very frustrating, in many cases (depending on the school) you have at least one more chance to show that you have what your target school looks for in its candidates.

Before you do anything, you will need to determine your school's policy for handling waitlisted candidates. Some schools readily welcome updates and additional correspondence, while others will allow only certain kinds of contact, such as messages sent to a specific email address. Some business schools, however, explicitly forbid you from contacting the admissions office under any circumstances. If this describes your target school, do yourself a favor and obey this policy -- not doing so makes admissions officers' jobs easy (i.e., it's easy for them to remove you from further consideration). It's frustrating, we know, but you won't help your cause by ignoring the rules.

Assuming that your target MBA program does allow you to contact the admissions office, then think about what potential weaknesses in your candidacy you may be able to bolster. Ask yourself:

• Did I clearly define my career goals?


• Was it clear how earning an MBA will help me achieve these goals?


• In what ways did I demonstrate fit with my target school?


• How did I showcase my leadership, intellect, maturity, and teamwork abilities?


• Did my GMAT score, undergraduate transcript, and professional experience prove my ability to succeed in the business school classroom?


• What about my application made me stand out vs. applicants with a similar profile?


• Did I do enough to demonstrate my enthusiasm for the school, including visiting the school and speaking with current students?

Once you have identified some potential weaknesses, draft a letter (paper is better, although email may be required) highlighting new information that offsets these weaknesses. Outside of these weaknesses, any big news in your life -- such as a job promotion, a significant achievement at work, or a notable new contribution to your community -- also makes for a good reason to contact the admissions office.

Once you do this, your job is not done. Assuming the MBA admissions office welcomes this contact, plan on making contact with a short and professional note every few weeks to remind them that you still exist and to reiterate your interest. If you can manage a trip to campus, great, but don't expect an admissions officer to officially meet with you. Still, short and relevant notes like these can be the difference between getting lost in the waitlist and getting into your target business school.

Visit Veritas Prep for more information on navigating the waitlist and for help in crafting your own waitlist letter.

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Law School Admissions: Tackling the Personal Statement (Part I)

For law school applicants, this time of year tends to be all about personal statements. It is often the last remaining piece holding up submission of an application. Candidates struggle with the blank canvas nature of the assignment as they try to figure out what to write about and how to fit it all into two pages.

Many of our clients seem to be making one of two common mistakes: 1) trying to cram everything into the personal statement, to the point it sounds like an annotated resume, or 2) writing at great length about their strengths. It is tempting to throw it all at the wall and see what sticks, or to lean on what you know works. Neither of these methods will get the job done.

Below are some suggestions for your personal statement that will help candidates avoid these problems and craft a meaningful, persuasive writing sample. The Veritas Prep approach to creating a great personal statement always centers on three elements: 1) positioning, 2) the law school themes, and 3) entertainment value.

Positioning. Positioning focuses on the major thrust of the personal statement. What is the strength you most want to advertise? The weakness you most need to mitigate? Is there a unique factor you can showcase? What is the one hole in your application that the admissions committee is dying for you to resolve in this space? This can be different for each applicant, but the one thing I know for sure is that the personal statement exists for you to tell the reader what he needs to know. Forget what you think you should write about or what makes for the best traditional essay – it all depends on a hierarchy of needs. If someone is a 4.0/180 from a great school, with a great resume, then the only concern is how entertaining the writing needs to be. For someone with amazing grades and LSAT scores, but zero real life experience, they had better be sure to talk about how they can lead and relate to people. And so on. During my time in admissions, I was always amazed by the fact that applicants avoided the "big issues" in their profile and wrote about something trite or off topic. Who cares if an applicant did relief work when my big question is whether or not they are smart enough to handle the work? I hope that does not sound harsh, but that is how it works.

Therefore, your biggest challenge as an applicant is to figure out how to frame your personal statement and what the scope should be, based on the preliminary facts that are in your favor, and those that are not. One of the most common application positions tends to be "my GPA and LSAT do not fully indicate my abilities." This isn’t going to feel amazingly original, but for a candidate with substandard scores, this will be the main question in the mind of the reader after glancing at a "one sheet" (the internal document that has your basic stats and information) and the resume. When you write your personal statement and review it, ask yourself: "Am I convincing the reader that I have the raw intellect to kill it in the classroom?" You want to be able to say yes to that.

Come back next Wednesday for Part II, focusing on the five law school themes as well as advice on bringing it all together in an entertaining fashion.

For more on how to draft fantastic personal statements, take a look at our law school admissions consulting services. We also offer specialized personal statement assistance services.

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MBA Admissions Tips for Minority Applicants

Every year we receive countless inquiries from minority applicants who want to know if an MBA program is right for them, and what their minority background means for them in the MBA admissions process. The following are seven tips that we often share with our clients who come from these backgrounds:

• You Do Fit In! ­– Many underrepresented minority applicants have a vision of business school that includes a sea of similar-looking people, all with very similar professional and cultural backgrounds. This is definitely not the case, and admissions officers at top MBA programs constantly work to dispel this myth. Don't fool yourself into thinking, "They'd never want me. I don't fit the mold of a Harvard MBA." The very things that make you different could be what get you into a top business school. Embrace these things, and resist the urge to bury them in your admissions essays.


• But Don't Expect "Diversity" Alone to Get You In – Every year business schools are challenged to fill their classes with a diverse mix of students, and that diversity applies to so much more than your sex or ethnicity. What about your professional background makes you unique? What about your upbringing gives you a different perspective that you will bring to the classroom? What career ambitions do you have that might catch the admissions committee's attention? Make sure you know yourself and can articulate how you would enrich a business school classroom discussion.


• Know What You'll Do With an MBA – It's okay if you still don't know exactly what you want to do when you graduate from business school, much less what you want to do twenty years from now. But business school admissions officers will expect that you understand what an MBA will do for you and – maybe more importantly – what it won't. Even if you're not sure whether you want to do investment banking or private equity, you'll need to show admissions officers that you have realistic career expectations and that you'll be marketable to prospective employers when you graduate.


• Reach Out to Students and Alumni Like You – Many top business schools have clubs that serve the needs of minority students and alumni. These people can help you really get to know an MBA program before you apply, as well as help you with the job search once you're in school. It's pretty easy to find these clubs on a school's web site, and their members are usually very happy to help someone in your shoes. Don't hesitate to reach out and ask for their advice.


• And Mentor Those Who Come After You – In business school and in the business world in general, many minorities benefit from strong networks of experienced mentors looking out for more junior people. Hopefully you have been (or will soon be) on the receiving end of some of this mentorship. If so, "pay it forward" and help a young professional or soon-to-be graduate who might benefit from your experience. While you may still feel young and inexperienced, you have a great deal to teach someone in college who is still deciding what they want to do when they grow up.


• Get Involved With MBA-Related Organizations Now – The National Society of Hispanic MBAs, The National Black MBA Association, and The Consortium for Graduate Study in Management are just three of the organizations that exist to help minorities discover the value of an MBA and thrive in top business schools. While many minority MBA students only discover and take advantage of them after they get to business school, these groups have plenty to offer even if you're only casually considering an MBA. Sign up for their newsletters and attend their events to develop a deeper understanding of the value of a business education.


• Take Enough Time to Ace the GMAT – While a strong GMAT score alone won't get you into a top business school, a low score can keep you out. But how do you get a high score? None other than the Graduate Management Admission Council (the organization that runs the GMAT) conducted a study in 2005 that showed a clear correlation between time spent preparing for the GMAT and an applicant's score – those who scored over 700 on the exam averaged well over 100 hours of preparation. So, get your hands on as many resources as you can digest, hire a tutor or enroll in a GMAT prep course if you need more help, and give yourself at least a couple of months to prepare for the exam properly.

If you are a minority applicant, keep these principles in mind as you begin to prepare your MBA applications. If you would like more help in the process, the MBA admissions experts at Veritas Prep can help you define your target business schools, clarify your career goals, and perfect your MBA admissions essays.

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MBA Admissions Interviews - What to Expect

At this time of year we tend to get a lot of questions about the MBA admissions interview process. If you have been invited to interview with one of your target business schools (congratulations!), then here are the main types of questions you can expect to hear:

• High-level questions about you

Just like in a typical job interview, your interviewer will often start things off with "Walk me through your resume" or "Tell me about yourself." This is your chance to take control of the admissions interview and explicitly state the two or three core messages that you want to get across. Practice is critical here -- you will want to develop and rehearse an two-three minute "elevator pitch" that describes your background, highlights your strengths, and provides a story beyond the plain facts stated on your resume.



• Questions about why you want to go to business school and your career goals

A good elevator pitch will likely cover these questions some, but expect the interviewer to probe more deeply here. These questions also give you the chance to answer why you want to specifically go to the school in question, and the research that you do on the school will pay off here. You don't want to go overboard, but citing a few specifics about the program will show the interviewer that you've done your research and are sincerely interested in the school. The interviewer may also ask, "Where else are you applying?" Our advice is to be honest here -- just make sure you have a good reason for applying to each of your target schools.



• Questions about specific experiences in your background

Some schools will spend a majority of the interview in this area in order to better understand your background. These are the questions that famously start with, "Tell me about a time when..." These questions can cover all of the four applicant dimensions that we discuss in Your MBA Game Plan -- maturity, leadership, innovation, and teamwork. Your job here is to call on specific examples from your past, not to talk in hypothetical generalities. Use the "SAR" method: Situation (what the challenge or opportunity was), Action (what YOU specifically did), and Result (what you achieved through your action).

Good luck in your interview! If you want more hands-on help, take a look at Veritas Prep's MBA interview preparation services. Also, Your MBA Game Plan contains dozens of sample MBA interview questions to help you get ready.

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Our First Annual MBA Admissions Officer Survey Results

Last week we released the results of Veritas Prep's first annual survey of MBA admissions officers, to uncover what's happening in the field today and to help business school applicants anticipate future trends.

We enlisted the help of an independent third party to survey admissions officers at the top 30 business schools in the U.S. (as defined by BusinessWeek's ranking system). The survey ran in October and November, and covered more than half of the admissions officers at these MBA programs.

Some findings were surprising, while others confirmed what we have been telling our clients for years. Among the most interesting results:

• The biggest challenges institutions face are attracting more, better-qualified candidates, and supporting cultural diversity in their student bodies. Among desired changes that admissions officers would like to see in their applicant pool, diversity ranks first (87%), while 57 percent of respondents would like to see a larger applicant pool at their institutions.


• The number of international applicants to leading U.S. business schools has increased over the past five years. Ninety-four percent of responding admissions officers report a moderate to significant increase in international applicants during the last five admissions cycles.


• The number of admits straight out of undergraduate studies is on the rise. Despite the fact that 63 percent of respondents say professional experience is the most important factor in student selection, almost half (47%) report that the number of admits straight out of college has significantly or moderately increased compared to five years ago.


• Careless errors ranked as the top faux pas committed by students during the application process. Inconsistency between institutional choice and students' educational objectives and ambitions ranked second, and the inclusion of unrequested items and inappropriate interview conduct tie for the third most commonly witnessed application blunder.


• Admissions officers view students that enlist the assistance of admissions consultants neutrally. While seven percent of respondents said that they view applicants who use admissions consultants positively, 80 percent view such students neutrally. In general, most admissions officers feel that admissions consultants help students identify the programs with which they fit best and clarify their career goals.


• Admissions officers anticipate changes in the student application process in coming years. Most respondents believe the student application process will include more face-to-face or telephone interviews in the next five years (60%). While over half of admissions officers foresee the application process becoming less complex (53%), another forty percent predict the application process will become increasingly intricate in the coming years.

We especially found the learnings around diversity and the trend toward younger applicants to be most interesting. And while we were glad to see that nearly all MBA admissions officers view applicants who use admissions consultants neutrally or positively, we will continue to work to ensure that our clients get a great deal of value from their relationship with us -- but only in a 100% ethical way. As always, we will never write our applicants' essays or tell them what to say.

Visit Veritas Prep to learn more about how we can help you in the MBA admissions process.

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Free Law School Admissions Webinar - Dec. 15

This Monday, Dec. 15, Adam Hoff will host an online law school admissions seminar for those who are considering applying to law school this year.

Adam, who is Veritas Prep's Director of Law School Admissions Consulting, is a law school admissions expert, former admissions officer, and University of Chicago Law School graduate. He will discuss:

• Admissions trends for the 2008-2009 application season


• What law school admissions officers look for in an application


• The increasingly popular JD/MBA dual degree program


• Strategies for dealing with rising applicant numbers


• What to do if you're waitlisted by your dream school


• Q&A and general discussion

This free online event will run this coming Monday, Dec. 15., from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM PST. All you need to need to access it is a PC or Mac with an Internet connection and sound capabilities.

Register for our online law school admissions seminar here!

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Top Ten Common MBA Application Mistakes from Stanford GSB

Last week LaNeika Ward, Acting Assistant Director of MBA Admissions at Stanford GSB, posted the top ten most common mistakes that the admissions committee finds in applications.

Some of them are pretty amazing (e.g., "Enter your name correctly"), but smart people do indeed make mistakes! Other mistakes are very important things that can be easily forgotten while cramming to complete your applications, such as failing to provide a good reason for leaving any of your previous jobs.

Other than these standout mistakes, several interesting things emerge from this list:

• When discussing experiences, Stanford wants you to only focus on the past three years. In other words, it's great if you were president of your fraternity in college, but the Stanford admissions committee puts much more emphasis on what you've done more recently.



• The admissions committee asks that you explain any period of four months or more when you were not in school or working. I actually find it interesting that they're not interested in ALL such periods. Perhaps they understand that some fresh college graduates may take some time to land on their feet and get their first job.



• Ward makes a point of making sure that your letter of recommendation from a peer truly comes from a peer, not a supervisor whom you consider to be a friend.



• Note the reference to the "application verification process over the summer," which should serve as a clear warning against pulling any shenanigans in your application. Stick to the truth!

All in all, some good advice that applies to any MBA application. But the above points are interesting because they especially shed light on what Stanford GSB looks for in its business school applicants.

For more advice on applying to business school, read about the MBA application process at Veritas Prep.

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Veritas Prep Featured in BusinessWeek

The folks at BusinessWeek are working on an interesting and valuable series: If someone could start planning their business school application five years in advance, what should they plan and do each year leading up to submitting their application? For the first story in this series, called Five Years to B-School: The First Year, she turned to Veritas Prep's own Scott Shrum for advice for future MBA applicants.

While there's no one-size-fits all plan for a future applicant, and not many people necessarily know five years out that they'll one day apply to business school, Francesca Di Meglio nicely sums up what a future business school applicant should have done by the end of year one. According to the article, by this time you should have:

• Begun developing your skill set


• Found a few mentors who have given you a better idea about the jobs you might like to do in the future


• Found a way to translate your passions into a couple of activities in which you'd really liked to get involved


• Decided how you can make an impact at the office and in those extracurricular activities and start implementing a plan of action to do just that


• Kept your mind on business by reading relevant books and articles


• Made a decision about when you'd like to take the GMAT


• Started building a satisfying, well-rounded life and career

You can read the entire article at BusinessWeek. If you would like more advice on the MBA application process and you live in the New York area, there's just one week left to register for MBA Admissions Blueprint and meet one-on-one with a Veritas Prep admissions expert on Dec. 6 and 7!

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Veritas Prep Featured in The Wall Street Journal

An article in today's Wall Street Journal ("Escape Route: Seeking Refuge in an M.B.A. Program") looked more deeply into the trend of people turning to graduate school as the economy slows. Veritas Prep was mentioned as one of the GMAT prep and admissions consulting firms that has recently seen tremendous growth because of the softening economy and Wall Street turmoil.

While this trend has been covered a great deal lately, this piece raises an interesting question: If more people pursue their MBAs now but the Wall Street landscape looks dramatically different in three years, where will those grads go? According to the article:

But the severity of the financial crisis and the demise and consolidation of financial powerhouses that in previous years have nabbed top talent at schools across the country make this year's flight to business school different. When this year's M.B.A. applicants graduate, they will enter a dramatically different Wall Street and potentially smaller job market that has been altered by the ripple effects of the credit crunch.

"The demand for managing money and the demand for banking skills, that's going to be here," says Stacey Kole, deputy dean for the full-time M.B.A. program at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. But "it may migrate to different firms." Ms. Kole says the school is seeing more boutique firms recruit on campus, as well as employers in other sectors recruiting for finance jobs. "People who may have gone to Wall Street will go to Main Street in a finance role," she says.

Business schools aren't the only ones that may see an increase in application because of the economy. According to the Law School Admission Council, this past June there were 28,939 LSATs administered in June, representing a 15.3% increase from a year ago.

Perhaps most concerning is the effect that the current market may have on student loans. Some lenders (such as Citi) have already suspended loan programs, while others are tightening their lending standards. It remains to be seen how much of an impact this trend will have on the overall graduate school admissions landscape.

If you're just now thinking about applying to business school or law school this year, take a look at Veritas Prep's industry-leading admissions consulting team.

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MBA Admissions Tips from Haas

The Haas admissions team just released a great new podcast detailing what they look for when evaluating MBA applicants. Peter Johnson (Director of Admissions) and Stephanie Fujii (Associate Director of Admissions) shared a few important insights into how Haas evaluates every Haas applicant.

According to Johnson and Fujii, the three key areas that Haas looks at when evaluating applicants are: academic aptitude, professional accomplishments and leadership, and personal qualities.

Academic Aptitude
When assessing your academic aptitude, the admissions committee especially looks at your undergraduate transcript and your GMAT score. Haas will also will take into consideration your coursework in other graduate programs, if applicable. According to Fujii, "Basically, we're trying to evaluate your ability to succeed academically in our program." Johnson made note that they pay attention to the caliber of your undergraduate institution, the rigor in your undergraduate classes, and the overall trend in your GPA from your freshman year to your senior year. The school does not have a hard GMAT score cutoff, but Johnson urges applicants to aim to at least be in the school's middle-80% GMAT range (currently 650-750).

Professional Accomplishments and Leadership
Work experience is very important to Haas. Most incoming students at Haas have between three and seven years of work experience after college. The school rarely admits applicants with less than two years of work experience. But it's about more than just quantity of experience. According to Johnson, "We really need to understand your career progression. Why have you transitioned from one job to another? How has your role progressed within each organization? Have your responsibilities increased? Have you had the opportunity to develop leadership skills?" Johnson went on to add that it's impressive to see that a candidate has earned a series of promotions and increases in responsibility, rather than someone who "started out at the top." Finally, the Haas admissions team looks closely for signs of how you've impacted your organization, which is a key yardstick of your leadership ability, regardless of your job title.

Personal Qualities
Like all other top business schools, Haas puts a lot of emphasis on who you are, not just what you've accomplished. As Johnson says, "We're interested in understanding our applicants as individuals. In other words, what's important to you? What are you passionate about?" They go on to emphasize that you really need to be your self in your MBA application. Says Johnson, "The number one mistake that applicants make in their essays is that they spend too much time trying to write what they think the admissions committee wants to read." Finally, they give another important piece of advice that we often give our clients: Don't underestimate how much time and effort it will take to create truly great, personal MBA essays. Finally, they explain Haas's interview policy: The school typically invites 25%-30% of its applicants to interview (usually conducted by alumni or students), and Haas rarely admits an applicant without an interview.

These are just a few of the tips that Haas includes in their podcast. We definitely recommend that you give it a listen if you're interested in Haas, but give it a listen even if you don't plan on applying to Haas this year.

For more advice on applying to Haas, visit the Veritas Prep UC Berkeley (Haas) information page and let us help you develop your own MBA Game Plan for Haas.

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More Advice from U Chicago Law - Letters of Recommendation

The University of Chicago blog, A Day in the Life, which was detailed here yesterday, has also posted a helpful missive on the elusive letter of recommendation.

The big takeways here are A) to find someone who knows you well enough to write substantively on your academic qualities and B) to "feather the nest" (so to speak) by providing a packet of information to the recommender in question, allowing that person to do a thorough job. Chicago also makes it clear that recommendations should be from academic sources whenever possible, so applicants would be well served to cozy up to a few professors during their junior year or (worst case) during the fall.

Furthemore, Veritas Prep is pleased to see our own tips and suggestions mirrored throughout the post. The client always wins when consultants and law schools see eye to eye.

The following is from Veritas Prep's Application Tips page and features many of the sentiments included in the U Chicago blog post:

One of the most egregious misperceptions regarding letters of recommendations has to do with the credibility of the source. While you do want to ask credible people to pen these letters, that doesn’t mean you want to ask famous people to perform the task. It is far better to have your anonymous history professor eloquently detail your passion for learning, your collegiality, and your desire for social justice than it is for a famous politician to deliver a canned letter about what a promising future you have. Admissions officers have many talents and chief among them is the ability to sniff out a cut-and-paste letter of recommendation.

Most law schools ask for either multiple academic recommendations or a combination of scholarly and professional references. The authors of these letters should be able to produce a nuanced recommendation that speaks to at least one of the five most important attributes in a law school applicant and they should really, truly know you.

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Law School Personal Statement Advice: U Chicago

The University of Chicago is considered by some to be the most "old fashioned" of the elite law schools - quick to ban Internet use in classrooms, slow to add cutting edge cirriculum additions (although it is clear that Justice Scalia would prefer they move even more slowly).

So it might come as a surprise to many in the law school community that Chicago actually features one of the most student-friendly and transparent admissions blogs out there.

A recent post was particularly helpful for law school applicants, as it provided some insight into the law school's perspective on the increasingly tricky personal statement component of the application.

The advice contained within is not exactly groundbreaking, but still offers some nice commentary on the difficulty of the assignment (hopefully providing some peace of mind to applicants) and seems to invite worthwhile and honest feedback, which is a departure from a recent post on the Yale Law School blog.

Among other tips, the blog's author - Sarah Arimoto-Mercer, Director of Financial Aid - stresses that applicants do not have to describe post-graduation legal practice goals, details some major "don't" items (grammar errors, unconventional personal statements, naive statements, and "big words"), and hammers home the point that a personal statement is about the applicant.

The best news for client's of Veritas Prep's Law School Admissions Consulting services is that we see eye-to-eye with the University of Chicago. Consider the following phrases:

From Veritas Prep's "Personal Statement" page:

One of the most difficult things facing an applicant during the law school admission process is the lack of control. Many application components are set in stone or out of a student's hands entirely. This makes the personal statement of paramount importance. Students can control their own story in this critical writing sample.

And from the U Chicago blog post on the subject:

The personal statement is your chance to go above and beyond the numbers. Your LSAT and GPA are pretty concrete by the time you apply to law school. The personal statement is an element of the application where you can still make a difference. Since you cannot request an interview with the admissions committee, you can think of the personal statement as your chance to say what you would have wanted to highlight in an interview.

For students who would like to receive more insight into the personal statement component of the application, consider reading the following application tips on the subject.

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