This document provides advice for preparing an MBA application. It recommends cleaning up one's resume, reflecting on why one wants an MBA and what goals it will help achieve, researching programs, creating an organized application checklist, preparing finances, signing up and studying for the GMAT, requesting transcripts early, asking recommenders well in advance, setting deadlines to write personal statements before deadlines and other pressures arise, and beginning online applications early. The document stresses thorough preparation and organization to strengthen one's applications.

1. Preparing
for MBA
Applications

2. CLEAN UP YOUR RESUME
I suggest this is one of the first, if not the
first, things you do. Cleaning up and revising
your resume gives you a chance to look back
on things you have accomplished in your
professional or academic life. It also gives
you the opportunity to see if you really are
ready to apply to business school and that it
makes sense.
Furthermore, asking people to review and
provide feedback on your resume is a way
to begin communicating your desire to
apply to business school and will help you
generate a support system during the
application process.

3. ASK YOURSELF “WHY?” AND “WHAT FOR?”
Asking yourself the reason for why you want to
earn your MBA, and what you think it will help you
achieve, will make the process easier and more
meaningful for you in the long-run. As part of this
reflection, carefully think about where you are in
your career and whether or not the investment will
be worth the time, money and sacrifice. And for
when people ask you why you are applying to
business school, you can easily communicate your
WHY and OBJECTIVE.

4. DO YOUR RESEARCH
Once you know why you want to earn
your MBA, research programs and
schools with that reasoning in mind and
see which ones best match your needs,
wants and goals. Do as much research
as you can. This includes attending
informational sessions and reaching out
to current students, faculty, academic
advisors, and alumni – for example, in-
person “coffee” chats or meet-ups
could be even more helpful than relying
solely on online research. Set a deadline
to finalize a list of schools you wish to
apply to.

5. CREATE A CHECK-LIST
When you have your finalized list, create separate tabs
for each school you will be applying to in a binder.
Print out the specific criteria and application deadlines
for each school. For every school, there will be
different application components you will want to lay
out and fully understand. You will want to create to-do
lists and add contact lists to the tabs. You can even
create a master calendar that includes all the deadlines
in one view at the beginning of the binder.
This is just one specific suggestion, but there are other
ways of organizing your list of schools and the
important application information for each of them. At
the very least, you’ll want to know which schools have
earlier deadlines and prioritize those applications first.

6. PREPARE PERSONAL FINANCES
I always advise that people get accepted into their schools before thinking or
worrying about how they will fund their education (although you will want to
know and write down all the financial aid, scholarship or fellowship application
deadlines ahead of time). It is a privileged mindset to think in these terms, but I
think it’s more important at the outset to have options available to you and not let
cost dissuade you from applying, especially if you are at a point where you have
decided that you are willing and able to incur those future cost burdens of an MBA
program.
Either way, you will want to start saving and planning for the more immediate
costs that come with the application process itself. The expenses include
application fees (look for ways to waive those fees), GMAT registration fees,
GMAT test prep courses, GMAT study materials, etc.

7. SIGN UP FOR THE GMAT
Give yourself enough time to
study. Consider signing up for the
GMAT first before you begin
studying or enrolling in a test
prep course. It helps to have an
end date in mind to serve as
motivation and to help you plan
your study schedule.

8. REQUEST TRANSCRIPTS
Signing up for the GMAT and
requesting transcripts are probably
two of the easiest things you can do
right away. Requesting transcripts
can get tricky, however, if you are
applying to a lot of schools, so I
suggest doing this well in advance.

9. ASK FOR PERSONAL
RECOMMENDATIONS
(NOW RATHER THAN LATER)
Identify the people you want to write
a letter of recommendation on your
behalf. Each school’s application has
different criteria on who they want to
see recommendations from, but
overall, you’ll want to choose people
who genuinely know your work and
what you are capable of. I suggest you
craft email drafts for when making
that first ask, then have trusted
colleagues, friends or family review
the emails. Make sure to include your
resume, why you want to get your
MBA, and offer the opportunity to
speak further via phone call or in-
person. Make it easy on them by
providing enough detail and enough
time for them to put together a
recommendation. Also make it clear
how they should submit their letter –
each school is different.

10. SET DEADLINES FOR PERSONAL STATEMENTS
Just like for your GMAT prep, give yourself enough
time to write your personal statements. You’ll also
want to set deadlines for yourself when writing
your personal statements.
I recommend starting your personal statements as
early as possible and not worrying about them
while you’re preparing for the GMAT (focusing on
them before studying or after you take the test).
This is because I think it is best to write the
personal statements when your mind is not
stressed or worried about other things. The
biggest challenge can be getting out that first draft
because we get so wrapped up in how we think we
should convey ourselves to admissions. It is easier
to sound more authentic and be done with the first
draft, in particular, when we are not working under
pressure. It is also easier to write all of them at the
same time because many of the prompts of the
different schools will be related somehow,
although you’ll want to customize as much as
possible.

11. BEGIN ONLINE APPLICATIONS
You can knock out the online portion of the
application fairly easily. I suggest setting
some quality time aside on a weekend to
get these online applications done. Again,
make sure to prioritize schools based on
varying deadline.