5 Tips For Getting a Head Start on Your Business School Applications

Tip #1: Take the GMAT as soon as possible

If you’re thinking about business school, you should really take the GMAT right after you graduate from college or even during your senior year. Your scores are good for 5 years, and if you don’t score in the 700s, you’ll have plenty of time to take the test again later.

Once you have your GMAT wrapped up, you’ll have one less thing to worry about.

Tip #2: Start thinking about your essay examples early

You should start piecing together your essay stories at least several months before the application deadlines. The writing prompts will differ from college to college, but once you have your stories selected, the actual process of writing the essays will go by quickly.

Aside from essays, most of the application process is just filling out paperwork and keeping in contact with your recommendation letter writers.

Tip #3: Get feedback on your essays

Another benefit of starting your essays early is having enough time to get feedback and revise. I guarantee you that if you get other people to look at your essay, your first draft will get absolutely torn apart. That’s a good thing because having your essay torn apart by your friends is better than having it torn apart by the admissions people.

Tip #4: Research your career path

If you’re going to pick the right business school and use your time there wisely, you’ll need to have a clearer picture about your career path. If you want to work for a particular company, see what schools the company likes hiring from and try to enroll there.

A lot of people come to business school wanting to do venture capital and private equity without knowing what it really takes to get into those industries. If they had done their research before going to business school, they might have applied somewhere else.

Tip #5: Start extracurriculars early

If you want an extracurricular activity to benefit your admissions chances, you need to be involved with it for at least a couple of years. It will look odd to business schools if you start an extracurricular activity right before applying.

“This applicant started volunteering for a non-profit organization less than a year before applying here. How convenient.”

You shouldn’t include an extracurricular activity in your application unless you have at least 2 years of experience with it and some sort of leadership role within that activity to talk about. Otherwise, the extracurricular activity will end up looking insincere. You’ll only end up hurting your admissions chances that way.