JEREMYCWILSON.COM

Applicant Question: Law School Or Business School? And Should I Apply Now?

Hundreds of thousands of graduates this year will spend hours pouring over essays, filling out data forms, and submitting applications to graduate school programs. Some of them may have been planning to apply all year, but a disproportionate number will be submitted by freshly-minted graduates trying to hedge their bets with the economy. They may not know exactly what they want to do, but they fear being thrown in the lions den of unemployment and would prefer to spend another couple of years getting “hazed” with impossible workloads and “cheated” by the “curve” in grad school.  In fact, chances are you’re on of them. But there’s just one problem. What if you don’t get in?

In a recent message from one of my readers, I was asked for a bit of advice about this very topic. The reader asked whether he should be applying to business school or law school, if he should apply this year. My reader is still in college and is not certain of what he wants to do.  His question was also very vague, which I generally advise against if your an applicant.  But I thought it’d be a good chance to steer the conversation a bit and share a few things that I think are important to consider when applying to graduate school, especially now.  My general theme is that applicants should take the time to think about what they want to do and apply when they’re ready to achieve the best results. See my brief response to the question below!

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MESSAGE FROM MY READER

“Dear Jeremy, I am an undergraduate Business Management Major. I was wandering if I should work for probably 2 years after I graduate which would be in one semester. so fall 2010.  I am debating whether or going to law school or not. I am unsure about law school should I still apply?? Or go do my MBA after I work for two years? Please let me know. I just want to get a better resume and specialize in something. I am taking the LSAT but I am not sure about the law degree. If I am not sure should I still try law??”

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MYRESPONSE TO MY READER

Dear (Reader), thanks so much for your question and for reading my blog. It’s always great to see students look at their so early in their careers. Before I get going with any new information, I’d like to offer two quick pieces of advice.  First, you should always take advantage of the chance to ask specific questions during the application process. I suspect that most people will not take the time to respond to such vague questions, and even if they do, the response likely be pretty generic, because the person can’t read your mind.  Second, you should take a few minutes and check out my site a bit more.  I have a couple of posts that might be helpful. For example, I wrote a post named Early Career MBA and JD-MBA Candidates which seems pretty relevant to candidates closer to your age who are considering multiple programs.

Frame Your Decision First
Now, first off, I encourage you to create a framework for your decision before jumping too quickly into the the final decision-making process. In layman’s terms, that means think a little about why you’re applying and what factors are important in your final choice, and then frame your decision based on that. There are so many different career paths out there, many of which will feel pretty compelling at times, so you have to spend time thinking about your abilities, goals, interests, and potential to do well in each.  One way to do that is to think about the differences across the fields. For example, do have high tolerance for risk? Depending on your answer, either business or law may feel more natural. Also, do you enjoy numbers, analysis, reading, or writing? Or do you need some sort of combination?  And finally, do you need a well-structured day as a professional? What about a structured career path? A law degree tends to provide that, though not always.

A lot of students skip this process and instead apply to programs for all the wrong reasons. Maybe it’s what there parents expected, or perhaps they didn’t think of anything better to do. Even worse is that students often apply because they want the prestige of that profession or school or because they were focusing on the end game of getting a nice paycheck.  This is especially true of business schools, where students today tend to tout the post-graduation salary potential and dream of CEO or partner-level titles, rather than what they can learn, what values they might gain, what types of interesting career options they might encounter, and the diverse people they can learn from.  Unfortunately, I’ve noticed that many law school students have hopped on the bandwagon too, and although the conventional focus of law school was to “change the world,” today more students are caving in to loan repayments and are lured by high starting salaries, and no longer the transformative process of school itself. The good news is that if you do want to make money, you can do well in either, so you don’t have to make a decision solely on that basis. Thus, the question really becomes, how relevant is business school or law school (and for other readers, any other school) for you and your interests specifically, and how much will your experience in that school influence what you may want to do down the line.

Then Decide Timing
After you make progress there, then you should next think about timing because it’s a bit different for each. My general answer is that there’s no set time to apply to business school and most admissions committees will say the same thing. People apply and get in each year with zero to twenty years experience, though most get in with about four to five years, so it’s important to apply when you’re ready. And for law school, while most people tend to apply a bit sooner (one to two years), schools are starting to trend the same way.  So in that sense, timing again becomes a personal decision and less of a requirement. That said, there is also a small advantage to applying a bit earlier. Applying earlier shows focus at a young age, maturity, and may give you a head start to a better career sooner than later. But those benefits often don’t compare to the benefits of applying later. Older candidates often get access to better job opportunities, interview better, and have more to contribute to class.

Consider More Factors
And after you’ve thought about type of school and timing, you still have to balance that with fit for a program. In your case as a a potential early career candidate this means looking at things like average age of the programs, understanding that some schools tend to accept more younger or older candidates than others. For instance, if you apply only two years out of undergrad, than b-schools like Kellogg might be harder to get into because of the older average age (though some younger applicants do get in), but law schools like Northwestern Law might make more sense since because you’re two  two years of professional experience will be valued. You’ll also want to pay a bit more attention to grades as a younger candidate, especially for MBA applications, who would otherwise have weighed work experience more heavily. The general rule is that since you have less professional experience to offer, admissions offices will look at your stats more closely.

Don’t Rush

For some applicants, this process takes time, while for others it’s more immediate.  But I say, don’t give in to all the hype. Think about your aspirations and your timelines. And play to your own beat and make your own tempo. Because in the end, only you can answer this school question, because that process of discovery is individual.  Broadly speaking, I don’t think people do this enough. And this past year  a lot of  young professionals have begun stressing out. Now they’re frantically taking tests and submitting applications hoping to find a safety net, get bailed out, and get dealt a new hand.  And so, if there was ever a time to highlight the importance of reflection and making the right decision, that time is now.  Sadly, most people still won’t get this right, but if you invest the time up front and choose wisely, I suspect that your energy, excitement, and fit will reflect in your application.

Best of luck!

Tags: Admissions, Application Tips

Applicant Question: Playing the MBA Wait-List Game

What’s going on everyone. We’re one week into the 2010 year here at Northwestern. Hope everyone is still keeping up with those New Year’s resolutions! But don’t worry, I won’t hold you to them to keep reading. I’ve definitely got a couple resolutions myself, including a pretty big one that relates to my website. But you’ll have to stay tuned a bit longer to watch it unfold. I also have a pretty large number of ideas cooking up for future posts and articles, but today I’m going to keep them on the back burner because I’ve got something a little better than that, at least for a select few of you.

Now that we’re right in the middle of the MBA application season, I’ve been getting lots of messages so I thought I’d share a couple of my responses here on my website. I figured I’d start with a recent question I received about being on the Northwestern JD-MBA waitlist. It sounds like my reader feels like he’s stuck in limbo and is ready to be rescued or at least get a little closure from Kellogg. I don’t blame him, I usually like to have closure myself.

But I’d like to add one caveat before I give out any information, which is to keep in mind that I don’t work for Kellogg and that I’m not a member on their MBA Admission team. Instead, I’m a student at Northwestern who is simply offering my time and personal website to respond to a few email questions and ultimately share some really good information with applicants in the b-school world, as I’m sure quite a few of you will appreciate the favor. As readers on my site, I also hope that you will feel free to return the favor, and leave comments and send messages when something peaks your interest.

Okay, so to get back to business, I suspect there are a number of readers all across the U.S. sitting on the edge of their seats and hitting the refresh button every couple of minutes as they wait for update emails, pondering this exact same question. “What do I do now?”

So I’ve decided to answer the question as broadly as possible so that more people might benefit. Take a look below for my reader’s question, and then look below that for my response.

Good luck on your quests everyone !

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READER’S EMAIL TO ME

Dear Jeremy,

Hi, my name is (REMOVED) from (REMOVED). I was introduced to your blog by a friend a few months back and since have been following your entries closely. Think it’s just awesome that you can maintain such a resourceful blog while on your 1st year at law school!

To give you a quick introduction of myself and my situation, I’ve done 4 years of investment banking (REMOVED) in (REMOVED) and also understanding the potential synergies from a mix of business and law knowledge and experiences, am too seeking a JD/MBA degree. Thus, I had resigned (voluntary) from (REMOVED) in October to sit the December LSAT. My initial plan was to apply to a bunch (top 10) of MBAs and Law schools and go the one that I get acceptance from both (excluding of course Northwestern, NYU and Duke where they have integrated applications).. But I guess 2 months was not enough to get me fully prepped for the LSAT. Did not feel good about the test and had to cancel. Also I’ve naturally applied to the Northwestern 3yr JD/MBA but was notified this past week that I am waitlisted. Very frustrated as Northwestern was of course my #1 choice with the 3 yr program and the most integrated curriculum..

I was wondering if you would have any insight or tips, waitlist strategies.. For Kellogg in general and if any different, JD/MBA program specific. Any classmates who got admission after being waitlisted, what actions they took after being waitlisted etc. Also do you think the admissions committee be impressed if one makes a campus visit? You understand the state of mind I am in right? Think I can do just about anything for admission but just feeling helpless..

I saw from your blog that school started again this past week, hope I’m not bothering you too much. Any information, tips, stories would be greatly helpful. Many thanks in advance!

Best regards,

(NAME)

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MY RESPONSE TO READER’S EMAIL

Hello (REMOVED),

I hope this message finds you well and finds you in time. I know you probably feel pretty tense right now. It’s a tough year for applying to school and you’ve almost made it across the finish line here in round one, so congratulations. But I know congratulations is the last thing you want to hear, so I’ll try to focus mostly on the tangible steps that someone on the waitlist may or may not want to take.

First off, students on the waitlist get in to top schools every year. For many of them, the waitlist ends up being nothing more than a long line at a new movie, and after standing in line for a bit they are granted a ticket of admission. I know a couple of Kellogg students who got in last year, and there are also students here in the JD-MBA program that had the same experience. For others, the waitlist ends up being more like purgatory and requires a serious gut check, because there’s really not much you can do but wait to see how the school responds. At the end of the day, there are a lot of factors that admissions teams are balancing–individual fit, class composition, predictability of the next round of applicants, employability, diversity, current school needs, and more–so it’s impossible for me, and probably even them, to tell you exactly how things will turn out so early in the game. But I’ll start with a few general ideas and go from there.

As a general reference point for everyone, you should always follow the directions in your decision letter to a ‘T’. If a school tells you they don’t want updates, then don’t shoot yourself in the foot by sending them extra information. Instead sit back, relax, put your feet up on the couch, and wait for them to come calling. But, if a school tells you that they do want to hear updates, than don’t even think about downshifting gears, because you’ve got some work to do if you really want in.

Generally, the waitlisted applicants are considered solid candidates, even star candidates. Now is the time to showcase more subtle aspects of your profile. Be ready to articulate your story again, but this time better. Give them a few golden nuggets you may have forgotten to dig out from your past and put in your essays. Also, distinguish how you stand out from the other number-crunching bankers, consultants, or whatever professional you are (emailer in this case was a banker) and how you can add perspective to the classroom. And be more introspective the next few weeks, so that you’re better prepared to talk about your leadership or entrepreneurial goals. Instead of using industry buzz words, overused resume verbs, and clichéd MBA language, think more deeply about your leadership style and talk more about stuff that motivates you, what you did, how you felt, and what you learned. And if you’re really up to it, try really spilling your guts a bit more and really putting the details out there—always remembering to stay professional of course, as this is business school—because this might just be your last chance.

In your specific case (NAME REMOVED), you should definitely take a bit more of a deep breadth. Making the waitlist in a class that only targets 25 students is a big accomplishment. To that end, I’ll note that your request for a distinction between Kellogg and the JD-MBA program is not relevant for you. As an applicant to the dual program, you are not an applicant to Kellogg. Personally, I’ve never heard of any changes of that sort, and if it did happen, it would have to be highly discretionary. But in regards to the JD-MBA waitlist, I don’t have any factual information to share (and if I did, it’d probably be top secret anyhow) but my impression, as I mentioned above, is that JD-MBA students do get off the waitlist fairly regularly. Of course, the odds could sway like a pendulum from year to year, depending on the number of applicants, the yield rate from round one, the caliber of applicants (and subsequent yield rate) from round two, and the number of applicants in round three, leaving you potentially swimming in a pool with a tank of MBA sharks on the worst of years and still leaving you in limbo most every other year. But that’s pretty hard to predict. The good news about getting waitlisted in round one is that you still have two more rounds to get accepted. And if this is your top choice, you’ll still be there sticking it out on the WL while the faint of heart and risk averse go running off to other schools. The real irony with that is that lawyers tend to be risk averse, so staying around might be a catch-22. And the bad news is that exact same fact, that you may have to wait two more rounds before finding out, and that will feel like an eternity, especially if things don’t go according to plan.

Also (REMOVED), from what I’ve heard about Kellogg—though I can’t say anything for certain–is that they are one of those schools that may decide they want more information from you down the line. So while it’s never smart to pester admissions, you should be sure to be ready in case they do ask you for more information. As I said above, take a look in your letter, and if you’re uncertain utilize the Kellogg Admissions office just to be sure.

If at some point now or later they do ask for information, then that is your chance to shine. Think about the suggestions I mentioned above. And since the JD-MBA program here is so small and customized, you might also think about ways to show why want both degrees and what you plan to do with them. That’s something that most, if not all, the JD-MBAs did well in the application process. Further, you may want to discuss how those career goals came about. Are they rooted somewhere in your past or present, or are you simply hoping to stack up a couple more degrees and make some cash when you graduate–don’t let them assume it’s the second by not clearly saying! And once you do that, then you might think about what you’ve done so far to prove that passion and how you can continue at Northwestern, and doing so by differentiating both schools. And just to cover my bases, I’ll also say that every year students from all schools retake GMATs, take extra courses, figure out ways to cover weaknesses, tell them about promotions, and more. It’s up to you whether you think that will help, and unfortunately I don’t have any data at all on how many people here have done or have considered doing that. I suspect that it would be fewer than more, but that’s simply a guess. And every year, the stars do align for a lucky few candidates, even here in the JD-MBA program. So try to stay positive for now, it’s still early.

Now finally, I’ve included a few more pieces of information. First, is a response to your question about visiting campus. Kellogg clearly states on it website (click here), that visint will not increase your chances of admission Though in all your decisions, you should keep in mind that Kellogg and Northwestern JD-MBA are not run exactly the same, and that who knows what someone may take into account when the margins are small enough.

Second, check out the Kellogg admissions blog to see if they have any updates for the JD-MBA program. Click here for the site. Doesn’t look they post regularly, but might be worth taking a look.

And finally, I’ve included a link to an OLD thread in a Businessweek MBA forum. It relates to Kellogg only, but it’s one of the few pieces of information about Kellogg’s waitlist preferences online. Given its date I strongly suggest NOT relying on it, but it might be a useful reference point for some readers. Click here for the link.

Best of luck (REMOVED) !

Tags: Admissions, Admissions, Application Tips, JD-MBA Program

MBA Essay Advice From John Rice, Founder of Management Leadership for Tomorrow

Lately I’ve been getting lots of calls from old friends and classmates applying to business school and looking for a bit of advice. Some applied during round one and are getting anxious to hear back. They ask me about their chances of admission, and want to know what i think in light of 2009’s economic challenges (check out my new post on that topic). Others are frantically wrapping up round two applications and call with more specific questions. I was in the exact same process last year, and I remember how stressful things feel in the last few days. This is especially true if you’re submitting applications to some of the heavy hitters, whose deadlines are fast approaching (List of MBA Deadlines).

As a result, January is usually one of the hardest times of the year for applicants. Not only are applicants scrambling around to pull their application materials together while also cramming to fine-tune their essays before the deadline but they’re also sitting on pins and needles worrying whether they’ll get in to the schools they applied to in the first round. But the best thing to do now is sit back and relax a little. This is completely normal. I still remember these feelings of anxiety and uncertainly like I had them yesterday, But I still ended up doing really well, so in the end, these feelings were never really all that relevant except for motivating me to work harder. In my opinion however, what was most relevant were the essays. In fact, I consider the essays to be the most significant part of the application by far, and in my experience, the best business school applicants spend a significant amount of time writing so they can develop their stories. Similarly, you should also make sure you’re happy with your essays and hold off on submitting everything until you’re absolutely finished.

That said, the point of this post is to pass along a few final tips on how to ensure you’ve submitted the best possible business school essays possible. The advice actually comes John Rice, an HBS grad, business school admissions guru, and founder of Management Leadership For Tomorrow (MLT, www.ML4T.org). MLT is a national non-profit organization dedicated to developing diverse leaders and professionals, and it is an organization I’m proud to be part of. (As usual, I can never really say enough about how valuable MLT is) I’ll note that John originally posted his information on a website named GottaMentor (gottamentor.com) which which was co-founded by his wife Andrea Rice and is a social networking site created for high potential professionals to share information. All the B-school applicants, students, and graduates out there should definitely check it out. Unlike Facebook, LinkedIn, and other networking sites, Gotta Mentor is geared specifically toward business professionals and “allows you to engage people who will add true value to YOUR career.” Have a look at John’s article below and ionce you finish up the essays, come back and check out Gotta Mentor as well.

Good luck!

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Source: Gotta Mentor
Author: John Rice
Title: Business School Essays That Get You In
Link: http://www.gottamentor.com/ViewGeneralAdvice.aspx?g=14

Here is an excerpt from John’s Article

“One of the most important aspects of applying to business school is understanding how to tell your story in a way that translates your strengths and accomplishments into high potential for positive impact at your target MBA campus and later as a leader over the course of your post-MBA career. Focus the body of your story on articulating and illustrating the following things:

1. What you are passionate about and why, and what that implies for your long-term career goals. Your story should focus on what you want to accomplish in life/why and secondarily how business school fits into that plan. Failing to be introspective and genuine about what you really care about and what you really want to do with your life virtually eliminates the chance that you will tell a unique, memorable, and compelling story. Many applicants make the mistake of …. ” (Click here to see the rest of John’s essays advice)

Tags: Admissions, Application Tips, Diversity, Websites

Kellogg MBA and JD-MBA Application Deadlines

I recently received an email from an applicant asking me to post the due date for the Kellogg business school application. Both the Kellogg and the JD-MBA applications are due this upcoming Thursday on October 15. I suspect many of you have been working hard the past one or two weeks turning in applications to a few other top schools but don’t let this stop you from turning in the best application possible this Thursday.

Don’t forget that people will likely be applying to b-school in hordes again this year because of the economy, just like last year, where at many schools Round 1 had a 25%-35% increase. In fact, some people predict this year will be even worse. As such, it’s important to put your best foot forward before hitting the submit button. Generally this means doing things like making sure you actually answer the essay questions, putting the correct school name in your essays, meticulously double-checking the data form for errors and completeness, ensuring that you complied with the essay formatting requirements, ensuring you get the letters of recommendation in on time, and double checking to make sure you’ve squeezed everything possible into your essays. Once you’ve done all that, then you’ve done all that you can, so just take a sigh of relief, submit, and relax a bit because it’s going to be a long season of waiting to hear back. It always is.

I’ll also reiterate something I’ve said in a previous post. If you are considering applying in either Round 1 or Round 2, but not sure if you’re ready to submit to Kellogg this week (or to any school), schools will always encourage you to apply when your application is best. Historically applicants have applied heavily to both rounds, but slightly more people do apply to round 2. As a result, round 2 is often more competitive in terms of the “number of applicants.” My two pieces of personal advice are 1) that you should always put your best foot forward and 2) that on the margin, earlier is better.

For reference, see below for a full list of important application dates. Best of luck to everyone, and I hope to see many of you at Kellogg’s admit weekend this year!

2009-2010 Kellogg Deadlines and Notification Dates

Round 1
Deadline: October 15, 2009
Notification: January 11, 2010

Round Two
Deadline: January 14, 2010
Notification: March 29, 2010

Round Three
Deadline: March 4, 2010
Notification: May 17, 2010

Click here for the official Kellogg page.

Tags: Admissions, Application Tips

Achievement

Just two days ago, I met a future applicant to Northwestern Law, and he asked me to give him a few pointers on how to stand out in his application and how to talk about his past achievements in his personal statement. Similarly, just yesterday, a buddy of mine asked me to review some essays for HBS, including their staple essay “What are your three most substantial accomplishments and why do you view them as such?” Like the gentleman applying to law school, he also wanted help quantifying his past achievements. And just today, I met with a JD-MBA prospect at Northwestern. I chatted with him for over an hour about his application, and he told me about some of the things he had achieved since graduating back in 2005.  And so moving into the first week of October, “Achievement” seems to be a big theme for lots of people I know.

I’ve also been doing a lot of thinking about my own achievements recently. Having recently returned to the life of a student again, it’s hard not to wonder what type of grades I’ll get, what types of jobs I’ll have over the next few years, and ultimately what I’ll be doing many years from now. Every day, I’m working to achieve as much as possible. Doing so, I can’t help but think a lot about my classmates who are going through the same process. Northwestern Law has a lot of sharp kids, and it’s pretty clear that many of them will achieve a lot in their careers. My entire section spends a lot of time in the library, and as a whole everyone seems pretty motivated. I have one friend in particular who I chat with quite a bit. She has as much discipline as anyone I know in the class. She has a 5am early morning study schedule, a laser focus on getting good grades, an ability to block out all the social chaos that comes with law school, and a commitment to doing what it takes to get a great job upon graduation. I am pretty impressed, and I have no doubt that she’ll do really well and achieve everything she’s hoping to.

My point is that thinking about your achievements is something that successful people do for a large part of their lives. It’s inevitable. Although it seems a bit counterintuitive in environments like Northwestern, where the culture is overwhelmingly team-based and where most people come to leave their egos at the door, Northwestern is no exception to the rule. People here think and talk all the time about what they want to individually achieve.

I remember almost 12 months ago when I first began thinking about my achievements. I had just begun my business school applications. My first step after narrowing down the schools I wanted to apply to was thinking long and hard about every single one of my accomplishments. I was forced brainstorm all my major things I’d done in my life, decide which ones were most important to me, analyze which ones had the broadest impact, quantify how each one impacted the people and organizations around me, and finally sum up all the things I learned from the experiences. I took the process pretty seriously, especially in a year full of b-school applicants, and it took months to organize all my thoughts. But this process really paid off, and I recommend all current applicants do the same. I’ll tell you why.

Conventional wisdom says that your past performance (i.e. achievements) is the best indicator of future performance. The theory is that if you’ve achieved a lot in the past, than you’re more likely to do so in the future. Graduate schools bank on this fact when they’re making admissions decisions, especially MBA programs . For example, if you’ve done well in a relevant job, earned good grades in a relevant major, and received strong reviews in a competitive work environment, then odds are you’re more likely to be better prepared to do well in graduate school and eventually in the workforce again.

But this concept doesn’t just apply to admissions, it also applies to job searching. Right now, all of my business school counterparts at Kellogg are currently re-thinking through their accomplishments, as they’re starting the recruiting process. They’re being asked questions such as What was your role at your last job? What have accomplished so far in school? What did you do as club president? and Why should we hire you? The number of behavioral questions can be really challenging, and during an interview you don’t have time to think about your response and you don’t have the leeway to improvise on the spot. You’ve got to come prepared to talk. And if you can do that well, then you’ll probably do quite well in the interview. But don’t be fooled, once my classmates get a job, it doesn’t end there. They’ll still be doing the same after school when they’re interviewing for their second and third jobs and when they’re marketing their companies, offering their services to clients, running political campaigns, and going through performance reviews.

Ultimately, what I’ve learned since starting my application process more than 15 months ago is that being successful necessitates a very high level of reflection. Reflection on past achievements and reflecting on how to use those to ensure success in the future.  It requires being self aware and understanding how your environments effect your ability to succeed. Your abilities and pitfalls. Your blind spots and the things that you excel in. And also the things that are most important to you no matter what your skill level is.

In my own experience, the more I’ve thought about my experiences ahead of time, the better off I’ve been.  That’s because I believe that the best leaders reflect on past experiences all the time. And not only do they think about their successes but they think about their failures. And that’s why they so often have compelling stories, a grand vision for the future, and are able to achieve seemingly impossible results. And in the end, their reflection gives them an arsenal to draw on … not only to achieve a high level of success but also to help others do the same.

Tags: Application Tips, Kellogg, Law School, Leadership/ Management

Kellogg Preview Weekend

Hi everyone, I wanted to quickly pass along the information for the Kellogg Preview Weekend. Kellogg Preview is a minority prospective weekend for this year’s Kellogg applicants. I went last year, and it was a lot of fun. It was a great chance to mingle with lots of potential Kellogg students, many who actually ended up at Kellogg. It was also a great chance to see firsthand what it would be like to be a student at both Kellogg and the JD-MBA program. And it was also a good time to do your interview on campus with an admissions staff member.

I plan to be stop by the event this year, so I hope to see some of you there. Keep in mind that if you do end up at Kellogg next year, we’ll be classmates because I’m spending my time at the law school this year and will start at Kellogg in 2010.

See below for official info on our event. If you are considering going, then I suggest you consider signing up soon because last year the event filled up. Also, note that although the event targets a specific audience, it is open to all prospective students.

Below is the official Kellogg blurb on the event. Feel free to use my comment box to ask any questions about the event.

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Kellogg Preview: Minority Prospective Student Weekend – November 13-14, 2009

The admissions office along with the Africa Business Club, Black Management Association and Hispanic Business Student Association are excited to once again host this annual event. Over this two day event, participants will enjoy mock classes with Professor Harry Kraemer and Professor Steve Rogers and connect with an assigned KPW Buddy while interacting with students from the larger Kellogg community.

To register for these and our off-campus events, visit our website.

We look forward to meeting you soon!

Tags: Admissions, Application Tips, Kellogg

MLT MBA Prep Application

Hey there prospective b-school applicants. I wanted to pass along a quick reminder about applying to MLT’s MBA Prep Program. I’m an alumni of the program and think very highly of it. As I’ve mentioned in a few posts before, MLT is definitely a tremendous resource, not only in terms of applying to school but also in terms of the resources you will have afterward–career counseling, mentoring, networking, training, and more. And the good news is that applications are currently being accepted.

That’s right. Applications are currently being accepted for MBA Prep 2011. That’s relevant for minority MBA applicants who intend to enroll in an MBA program as the class of 2013. For more details, feel free to check out my past post and the MLT website.

For those interested in applying this year, below are the two application deadlines:

1. First-round application deadline is September 15, 2009
2. Second-round application deadline is October 31, 2009

If you are considering applying in either Round 1 or Round 2, MBA Prep does encourage you to consider Round 1. Over the past few years, more and more applicants are applying to MLT, so as a result, it is becoming more competitive. You should never rush your application and should always put your best foot forward. But, on the margin, earlier is better.

Since today is already September 12, some of you will not be able to apply by the September 15. I encourage you to submit on or before the October 31 deadline. Feel free to post any comments or questions you have, and I will respond.

Good luck!

Tags: Application Tips, MLT