MBA Admissions Tips

Business school applicants are always looking for advice and strategies to write winning essays, perform well on the interview, and get into their dream business school. Paul Bodine, author and admissions consultant, recently fielded questions from reporter Francesca Di Meglio and the public at a live chat event about applications and getting accepted to top MBA programs. Here is an edited transcript of the chat with information on everything from the importance of campus visits to deciding how to handle the failure essay properly on an application:

PaulBodine2008: Starbot asked about applicants with weak postcollege extracurriculars getting into top-five business schools. [The question was accidentally deleted from the system.] Business schools understand that IB and consulting folks, for example, have to work ungodly hours, but poor post-college extracurriculars is still a weakness that you need to compensate for, especially at the top schools. If you have specific reasons, like a family crisis, then you should discuss that in an optional essay. Most of my clients who get into the top schools have strong undergraduate as well as strong postgraduate [extracurriculars].