If you need my help in evaluating your contributions and turning them into IMPACTFUL entries for your resume and a believable narrative for your essays, Subscribe to F1GMAT’s MBA Application Review Service

In today’s episode, I have a question from a reader who asks, “Should I include secondary IMPACT of my contributions in an MBA Application?”

Atul Jose (MBA Admissions Consultant, F1GMAT): The answer is – it depends. If you are in a Finance role where your investment decisions in a Merger or bailing out a loss-making entity or helping an early-stage company, all could have a secondary IMPACT on the customers of these companies.

Many times, I have seen applicants obsess about the IMPACT on the team and the company, that they miss the larger picture of customers, markets, and global reach.
 

The best essays captured the applicant's technical, persuasion, and communications skills. If you need help with strategizing and editing your MBA Application essays, Subscribe to F1GMAT's Essay Editing service

Q) I had a 6-month gap in 2021 when the Pandemic was at its peak, and layoffs were common. During this period, I volunteered to assist a couple of small businesses in pivoting to a digital-first strategy. Does the consulting experience have any value since I joined back in an Investment Banking role in late 2021? How many gap months is an acceptable gap for M7 and the top 10 schools in the world?

Atul Jose (Admissions Consultant, F1GMAT): I know from experience helping clients plan through the Pandemic that even the best candidates, laid off because of a fall in demand, typically take 3 months to get an offer at par with the previous offer. When your gap exceeds three months, things will get tricky. 

If you need my help in strategically incorporating lessons from failure in your MBA resume, Subscribe to F1GMAT’s MBA Resume Editing

In today’s episode, I have a question from a reader who asks, “Should I include my failures in MBA Resume.”

This is an important question and often an ignored aspect of your professional milestones. If you work in a high-risk industry or function – Finance, new Technology, or Research- the chance of failure is often high.

If you are a Finance candidate, your strategy might not have worked on an investment, there might be loopholes in a deal, the timing of your investment might be terrible, the asset class might be entirely new for your company, the due diligence process had a systemic weakness and other information gaps that can arise from the client or portfolio company.

If you want to know how to write MBA Application Essays for M7 or T15 MBA programs, Download F1GMAT’s Winning MBA Essay Guide

If you need help creating Winning MBA application essays, Subscribe to F1GMAT’s Essay Editing Service 

In this episode, I will share two strategies before Choosing Schools for the Round 1 MBA Application:

1) Find your Strengths and Weaknesses
A particular branding might work for Stanford, but if you just rephrase it for Harvard, that rarely translates to a Win. You must iterate your essays from the start and highlight projects, life experiences, and goals that align with the school's values.

2) Good Backup as a Strategy for Round 2
A good backup school is in the 5-15 range of top US school ranking with credible funding support and an accessible alumni network
 

If you want to know more about how to write MBA Application Essays, Download F1GMAT’s Winning MBA Essay Guide 

The first draft of your essay should not be perfect in terms of structure or even the focus of the narrative. It should touch on many aspects of how you see yourself, see the world and your role in this world. Through the process of pouring one’s heart out, the applicant finds their voice.

Each country, city, culture, outlook, exposure to different cultures, goals, upbringing, industries, and functions, generates its own unique combination of phrases and thinking that often helps applicants to stand out. It is when they censor themselves or assume a structure for an essay that all the uniqueness is removed from the essay.
 

If you want to know more about how to write persuasive MBA Application Essays, Download F1GMAT’s Winning MBA Essay Guide 

In today’s episode, I will talk about Understanding themes before writing MBA Application Essays.

We have the instinct to understand themes in paragraphs. The first paragraph is about a certain topic; the second is about another, and so on. But when writing an open-ended essay, like the What More Harvard Essay or What Matters Stanford Essay, applicants are confused about the themes to choose. Many choose projects from their professional career, while some choose values, and many are stuck in childhood victories that often don’t translate well in MBA application essays.

So here is the one thing that you must keep in mind before using themes:

Keep themes to 3 and Tie it All together.

If you need help creating a vulnerability narrative for your MBA application goals essay, Subscribe to F1GMAT’s Essay Editing Service

In today’s MBA application strategy tips, I will talk about the difference between vulnerability, sympathy, and empathy and why a vulnerability narrative is essential for your goals and personal MBA application essays.

Without a vulnerability narrative:

The What Matters Essay for Stanford would be a bland corporate vision statement with no personal connection.

The Yale Commitment essay would be some bragging about your achievements.

The Wharton professional goals essay would be a reverse advertisement of the curriculum.
 

If you need my help with Editing your MBA Application Essays, Subscribe to F1GMAT's Essay Editing Service
 

In this MBA Application Essay Writing Tips Series, I will share 4 shortcuts for Creating MBA Essay First Drafts.

1) No Word Limit Writing
2) Paragraph Writing
3) Zig Zag Writing
4) Iterative Writing and Editing

If you need help with strategizing your post-MBA goals, Subscribe to F1GMAT’s Essay Editing Service

I remember watching Mike Tyson’s last bout. When the sports reporter asks him why he is retiring, Mike honestly replies, “I can train and be fit, but I don’t have the fight and guts anymore.”

Don’t include your knocked out project in your weakness essay or your supervisor’s feedback question.

In today’s episode, I will talk about 3 Strategies to create authentic post-MBA goals.

1) Finding the School’s Reputation
2) Temperament 
3) Performance Metrics
 

Download F1GMAT’s Haas MBA Essay Guide to read our Sample Essays on DEI 

Once you shortlist from the 12 identities, choose one of the three scenarios that are indicative of your leadership in DEI:

1) Increasing Representation
2) Educating DEI Initiatives
3) Belonging