As political tension rattles the U.S. visa system and high-profile schools like Harvard face international admissions delays, panic is setting in among global MBA applicants. But with 15 years in the field, I see this moment differently: not as a crisis, but as a strategic window. The fear is thinning out competitive applicant pools, creating rare opportunities for those willing to act decisively.
Columbia Business School has revised its 2025 MBA Essay 2 prompt, removing direct references to DEI and inclusive leadership frameworks. While the language is now broader, focusing on collaboration, inclusion, and community, the underlying goal remains the same: Columbia wants applicants who can lead with empathy and build effective teams across differences. Here’s why the change likely happened and how to approach the new essay with strategy and authenticity.
It's that time of year again: the start of a new year. A new beginning. If you're reading this to acquire some ideas for goals you want to achieve in the coming year, you've come to the perfect place. This blog post is meant to help you become the greatest version of a prospective MBA applicant by inspiring new goals or building on existing ones.
When putting up a resume for your MBA application, bear in mind that it is not the same as the resume you would submit in a job application. Too many details in your MBA application resume might be detrimental. You should, however, highlight your critical thinking and decision-making ability. Here are some pointers to assist you determine what material to include and exclude from your MBA Application resume.
The 5 Intangible Skills Your MBA Application Cannot Do Without
Soft skills are transferrable personality traits and behaviors that can be applied to a variety of situations. Soft skills, as opposed to technical or "hard" skills, are interpersonal and behavioral skills that help you work effectively with others and help advance you in your career. Soft skills are a combination of social skills, character traits, and employment qualities.
Your first instinct may be that mentioning your family business on your MBA application is irrelevant, if not detrimental to your prospects of admission. But not entirely. In this blog post, we will examine why family business candidates make excellent MBA students and how to approach your application if you come from a family business background.
Admissions committees know that soft skills are important for business schools, so it's important to show that you have them, especially when applying to top MBA programs. Through your soft skills, the admissions committee can get a sense of who you are and what makes you successful. Here are ten reasons why soft skills are important for your MBA application and, in turn, your career goals:
There are about two weeks until the Round 2 MBA deadlines for the top business schools. What precisely does this mean for you? It entails being deliberate about where you direct your attention and energy. It was possible for you to mold your profile six months ago, but with only a couple of weeks left—interrupted by several holidays—all it's about polish and presentation now.
Emotional intelligence, or EQ, is an awareness of your own emotions as well as the emotions of people around you - and how to act on that knowledge. In this blog post, we discuss the four components of EQ as well as ways for developing each of these: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management.
The most crucial thing you can do after completing your MBA application is to continue connecting with your target business schools. Yes, you have other MBA applications to submit to several institutions. That is a priority, so go ahead and do it. Even if you have completed all of your submissions, you should continue to contact your target MBA schools.
Are you stuck in limbo, awaiting responses from business schools? It's difficult to wait for MBA decisions or interview invitations. Here's a look at what's going on behind the scenes, as well as some advice to help you get through it. It may be tempting, but avoid the forums. There is a lot of disinformation out there, as well as people publishing absolutely false information. Take nothing you read on the internet seriously unless it comes directly from the school.
In yesterday’s blog post, we discussed what transferable skills are, why you need them, and why they are important to include in your MBA application. But in today’s blog post, we will discuss nine different examples of transferrable skills and how you can incorporate them into your MBA application.
Transferable skills are skills that are needed independent of a professional role. These abilities enable you to be successful in any position. Furthermore, they enable you to enter positions, sectors, or departments for which you may not otherwise be fully qualified. There is one universal truth that we have discovered that appears to be largely ignored by the rest of the MBA admissions landscape, and that is the critical importance of adhering to what we call the Art of Transferability. In this blog post, we discuss what transferable skills are, why they are so important, and how to include them in your MBA application.
Since October of this year, over 60,000 tech workers have been laid off. Kellogg Northwestern stated in November 2022 that it will waive the GMAT and GRE tests for laid-off IT professionals. Other top business schools have followed suit in order to attract the market's flow of elite talent. For newly laid-off individuals, MIT Sloan and Berkeley Haas have extended round-two deadlines. Cornell Johnson is waiving the application cost and the application test. And, for its January 4th deadline, UCLA Anderson reduced the application procedure to just one essay question, as well as extensions for test scores and recommenders. So, how can you prepare to submit a competitive, yet timely, round two application in four to six weeks? Here are five pointers for IT applicants considering an MBA.
Allowing the most powerful version of oneself to show through is what presence is all about. Sylvia Ann Hewlett, a famous leadership expert, describes "presence" as a mix of gravitas, communication, and appearance. These components, when combined, create a sense of trustworthiness, expertise, and genuineness. If you hone these skills, you will improve your capacity to stand out in your MBA interviews and make a difference in your MBA application.
Fewer and shorter essays, increased gender equality, and the popularity of the GRE testing (instead of the GMAT) are just a few of the developments in MBA admissions that might be informative for today's applicants. The types of MBA applicants schools are looking for and what makes them stand out have undergone significant changes. In this blog post we talk about how business school applications have changed over the past ten years and how these patterns affect the way you should approach your MBA application today.
The "fail fast, fail often" mentality of startups, where it's accepted that failing is not just something to be endured but a crucial step on the path to success, has given this idea new life. How accurate is this widely held notion, though? When exactly can failure be advantageous? Read this blog post to help turn your negatives into positives for your MBA application.
Instead of stressing yourself out, why not focus on perfecting your responses to the questions you are most likely to be asked? To help you in your preparation, we created a list of five interview questions that you should always ace. These are some of the most frequently asked questions in MBA admissions interviews at elite institutions.
As if the stress of preparing for your MBA interview isn’t enough, you should also consider a few questions to ask your interviewer. However, these should be pertinent questions that will not derail your interview. We'll cover four potential questions you should never ask in this blog article, along with solutions.
What is a decent GMAT score, and should you retake it? Have you taken the GMAT or GRE at least once but are unsure whether your score is competitive enough for top MBA schools? The solution, however, is not as simple. It totally depends on the school and the candidate. If you come from an overrepresented application pool a better GMAT score may be all you need to stand out from the crowd. However, if you're on the verge, consider the following five questions in this blog post.
Are you too old? No. Some clients are surprised to find out that they are "older" MBA candidates and that their years of work experience hurt their chances of getting accepted into an MBA program. But if you are older and want to get an MBA, don't give up on your dreams. There are things you can do to make the admissions committee feel comfortable and excited about your extensive experience.
Although getting a second MBA is very unusual, it can help you move to a different city, change industries, or build the brand recognition and alumni network you missed out on in your first MBA school. Our founder and admissions expert at Amerasia, Paul Lanzillotti, had an interview with Fortune Education, and he poses this question to those thinking about a second MBA: “What are you really going to get out of this?”
