關於申請商學院(二) --- 選校，申請

有了GMAT的成績，便可著手選學校。大部分申請讀MBA的都是在職的雇員。他們有全職的工作，而且很多的工作都需要很長的工作時，所以申請商學院不可能像申請大學那樣報好多所學校。一般來說，能manage 報五所商學院就不錯了，否則時間上根本忙不過來。

同申請大學一樣，擇校也需考慮到三個層次：Dream School, Reach School, and Safety School. 同時也要考慮到學校的突出點。比如，前三名的商學院盡管都很全麵，但也有各自的特色。Harvard 商學院注重Management and Leadership, Stanford 著名於高科技和Entrepreneurship, Wharton則在金融和市場領域很強勢。

鑒於商學院的AO(Admission Officer) 人員有限，同時也考慮到申請者時間有限，好多商學院采取了分三輪申請及錄取：Round 1, Round 2, and Round 3. 第一輪申請截止大約在十月一號，第二輪大約在次年的一月中，第三輪大約在四月初。就Competitiveness來講，第一輪和第二輪應該是沒有區別，錄取的比例也大體一致，但第三輪就很險了。絕大部分學校不建議你孤注一擲在第三輪申請，因為如果他們在第一二輪已經招到滿意的了，他們是不會再去考慮第三輪的申請者了，除非AO在第一第二輪中沒招全，或沒招到特別滿意的，否則你的申請就白做了。有些學校根本就沒有第三輪，比如：MIT。 還有一種是沒有Rounds, 隻有Early and Regular. 比如：哥大。哥大有Early 的deadline和Regular的deadline。但是，哥大的AO不會等到Deadline才開始看applications, 而是收到一份看一份，看一份就決定一份，他們是Rolling Admission.

Application包括：Education background, College transcript, College courses, Extra curriculum, Years after college, Professional experience, full resume, Essays, and Recommendations.

Recommendations需要兩到三份，最好是你的current manager, your previous manager, or anyone who is more senior than you.  哈佛指定第三份必須來之於另一個行業的，或業外了解你的leadership, community services等方麵的人。

Essay是整個Application裏的重頭戲。每個學校都需要三到四篇Essay. 申請商學院的大部分時間就花在寫Essay上了。這兒列出幾所學校的Essay題目供參考：

Harvard:

1. Tell us about three of your accomplishments. (600 words)

2. Tell us three setbacks you have faced. (600 words)

3. Why do you want an MBA? (400 words)

4. Answer a question you wish we had asked. (400 words)

Wharton:

1. What are your professional objectives? (300 words)

2. Reflect on a time when you turned down an opportunity. What was the thought process behind your decision? Would you make the same decision today? (600 words)

3. Discuss a time when you faced a challenging interpersonal experience. How did you navigate the situation and what did you learn from it? (600 words)

MIT

1. Please describe a time when you went beyond what was defined, expected, established, or popular. (500 words or fewer, limited to one page)

2. Please describe a time when you convinced an individual or group to accept one of your ideas. (500 words or fewer, limited to one page)

3. Please describe a time when you had to make a decision without having all the information you needed. (500 words or fewer, limited to one page)

Columbia

1. Describe a life experience that has shaped you. The goal of this essay is to get a sense of who you are, rather than what you have achieved professionally. (Maximum 500 words)

2. What is your post-MBA professional goal? (200 characters)

3. Considering your post-MBA and long term professional goals, why are you pursuing an MBA at this point in your career? Additionally, why is Columbia Business School a good fit for you? (Maximum 750 words)

Yale:

1. Please answer each of the four (4) questions below with a short paragraph of no more than 150 words. This is an opportunity to distill your core ideas, values, goals and motivations into a set of snapshots that help tell us who you are, where you are going professionally, and why. (600 words total)

• What are your professional goals immediately after you receive your MBA?

• What are your long-term career aspirations?

• Why are you choosing to pursue an MBA? (If you plan to use your Yale MBA to make a significant change in the nature of your career, please tell us what you have done to prepare for this transition.)

• The intentions of our students to engage in a broad-minded business school community and to connect to an eminent and purposeful university greatly influences the Yale MBA experience. How do you plan to be involved in the Yale SOM and greater Yale communities as a student?

2. At the Yale School of Management, we believe the world needs leaders who:

• Understand organizations, teams, networks and the complex nature of leadership;

• Understand markets and competition in different contexts; and

• Understand the diversity of economies throughout the world and the relationships between business and society.

What experiences have you had that demonstrate your strength in one or more of these areas? (500 words maximum)

       3   What is the most difficult feedback you have received from another person or the most significant weakness you perceive in yourself? What steps have you taken to address it and how will business school contribute to this process? (500 words maximum)

待續。