The ROI on an MBA with just a loan

A lot of schools facilitate students who may need that extra financial nudge to pay for their business studies. And there are some popular scholarships that everyone has heard of and anyone who needs help may apply for the same. But, since a lot of people chase the same popular scholarships, many return empty handed.

Let's get one thing straight. A full-time MBA costs a lot of money. And the return on investment seems to have diminished somewhat. If you decided to just take out a loan for your financial needs, you could end up paying back the money for nearly a decade! So, even before you start your MBA, make this important decision to look for resources that might reduce your debt burden!

Finding Little Known Scholarships

The first resource provided here came to me from someone who had worked in the UN for a long time. This website provides timely information on scholarships, fellowships and internships or volunteering opportunities that you may not have heard about. And no matter where you go in the world, you will find an opportunity on this very website. I invite you to have a look at:

WeMakeScholars.com (Global Resource)

The second resource provided here mostly caters to American citizens and helps obtain partial of full scholarships if you meet the criteria. For example, there are certain state specific scholarships or specialization specific scholarships that you may be eligible for.

scholarshipamerica.org (US Specific Resource)

The above two websites come highly recommended. If you know a few more, please feel free to leave a comment below with the link so others can benefit from the resource. 

The hard lessons are always the ones you remember the longest. For me that lesson was related to questions that my ego just wouldn't let me quit!

Its the smart thing to do, to just guess a question and move on to another one. But, quitting is so against the nature of most "competitive" people that leaving a question becomes "out of the question".

Believe me, I've been there and done that! Its not worth it. The big picture is that GMAT is just a stepping stone towards your ultimate career goal and the higher you score, the  sooner you will be able to forget about the GMAT and focus on other more important tasks such as, visiting schools, talking to current students, and making your applications stand out!

So, here's a simple rule of thumb:

"If you don't have a clue about how to solve a question or if you have a partial clue, guess and move on! If you know how to solve a question or get to the answer but it has been more than 2 minutes since you started solving the question, guess and move on!"

Frankly, the sooner you quit, the more time you will have for other questions that you CAN and  WILL get right! So, forget about the old saying! On the GMAT, the new quote is, "Quit and move on!"

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First of all, if it weren't for consultants, a lot of deserving people would not have made it to business school. MBA Admissions is a maze and it makes sense to find the right consultant for the job. I am applying this year too, and I am looking for a great consultant. Let me be clear. I did hire a major consulting firm a few years ago, and I got stuck with an "expert" who did not give me the time that I thought my hard earned x thousand bucks demanded. I won't say it was a total loss, but I got into a really "safe school" and that's not where I wanted to go. But the experience did teach me something. I am on the lookout for a great consultant again and there is a process/checklist that I am following:

• Contact consulting firms that have already been used by people you know -friends, colleagues, etc. 
• Ask for specific people who come highly recommended. Specific names are really the key, because not all consultants working at big consulting firms are the same. For example, if a Ms Y comes highly recommended, you should try to get her to work with you too.
• What if you get stuck with a douche bag - ask for another consultant asap. Don't wait for things to go wrong.
• Do the BS test: This may be Machiavellian, but if a consultant isn't answering my mails during a weekend, I don't want that person on my case. I always mail on a Saturday or a Sunday.
• Free Consultation test: Look, if someone is trying to just sell you a service instead of asking you what you'd like to know, that's a major red flag. Also, their tone and demeanor is just as important.
• Ask for referrals, even if someone comes recommended.
• If they promise you a Harvard when you know its a long shot, that's a red flag. But, when they try to sell you a really low ranked school, that's not a great sign either. If I wanted to just apply to a rank 20-50 school with a high gmat, gpa, work ex and interesting life stories, I wouldn't be looking for a consultant now would I?
• A consultant trying to scare you about your profile is good. That just tells me I am working with the right consultant- they know how to hook a client, so they know how to market me as well. They need to scare me. They need to be brutally honest. Else, I would never create a stellar app now would I? 

Overall, the process is a daunting one for anyone. Especially, if you have not walked this path before. Just make sure when you spend the money, you get the best value for money.

Are you really serious about applying to B-school?

"Of course, we are!"

Well, lets say that you work on your essays for months. You make sure your recommenders remember all those awesome things you did. You scored that coveted GMAT score by sheer hard work. Everything seems to be going well. You fill up the application form and then upload all the relevant documents.

You review your application form page by page. Everything seems fine. Of course, just to remember how hard you worked you download the pdf file just before submitting. And then, you click submit. Make the payment. And sit back and wait.

Then, you forget about the school. Its been a few weeks and you haven't heard from the school. You remember the PDF that you had saved before submitting the application. Maybe something went amiss. So, you open your complete application form and to your horror, you have made some really bad mistakes on the application form.

You're a male and you've marked yourself as female!
You got the names of many of your awards, accomplishments and other things wrong!
A few relevant dates are out of sync with your resume or reality.
Or
The textboxes within the application form that are nothing short of mini-essays have terrible mistakes in them.

Of course, you can contact the admissions committee and tell them about all of that. In most cases, they will figure out discrepancies themselves. And when they do, they won't think you tried to cheat them, but they WILL see that you did not even review your application form! And then they will ask themselves, "Is this person serious about applying to our school?"

And that is the one question that you don't want them to ask.

Long story short, review your application forms wholistically. PDFs can be generated at any time, and you can review as many times as needed. In fact, try reviewing your app within 15 minutes and find friends/family members who would do it for you too. Weed out any possible mistakes, so that you give yourself the most chance of getting in.

The primary way for most Adcoms to know who you are is by reading your essays. First impressions are everything. So how many times should you edit? What should you put in and what should you leave out of an essay? Who determines the quality of your essay? Does it even answer the question? Does it read like a senate bill or a Shakespearean play? How much detail is too much?

These and many other questions should be answered by YOU! No one but you. The buck stops with you. But here are some general guidelines:

1. Start early with stories - Right now would be a good idea. If you haven't taken the GMAT, then at least brainstorm stories about your life that you'd really like to talk about. Stories that highlight your strengths, weaknesses, setbacks, triumphs, and comebacks. Personal stories are also fine.

2.  Length of your first draft - your first draft's word count should at least be double the maximum word count. Pour your heart out with adjectives, examples, beliefs and stories.

3. The Magic number for editing: There is no magic number! But, there is a deadline. Your essays should be finalized at least a month before the actual round deadline for a school. Edit as many times as you want. If you've hired a consultant, they may try to finalize it within three edits. But, you don't have to stop.

And that is the main point of this post. Edit as many times as needed. But, make sure you set a deadline and submit your essays before that deadline. Submitting your essays a month before the actual deadline gives you time for poking your recommenders and refining the application form.

Ship it. Don't wait for the last moment and don't try to make it perfect. Excellent is good enough.

HBS has come out with its approximate deadlines for the new admissions season:
September 2015, January 2016 and April 2016.

Essays and Exact deadlines to be released on May 15,2015.

The application will go live in early June!

The MBA admissions season has officially kicked off. CBS is out with its deadlines and essays. Others will follow suit soon. But before you start writing essays and talking to recommenders(read: making sure they REALLY want to recommend you), you need to select schools!

Not everybody wants to head to an ivy league school that's 2000 miles away. Maybe, you just want a great finance program closer to home. Maybe, you're more  comfortable with the good old teaching method of lectures. Or maybe, you just hope to secure a good scholarship, because you simply can't afford it.

That is why there is no "one-size" fits all solution to school selection. Be wary of the cheap consultants who don't even bother asking you for anything more than your GMAT score and a resume that tells them nothing about your future goals. You really have just 2 options:

a. Create your own school selection mechanism
b. Hire a quality consultant

I would in fact create my own thoroughly analyzed list before asking a consultant about it.

So, here is my list. Your's does not have to be as ugly. I used colors and the criteria are what matters to me. You can modify as per your preference:

	My Preferences	School 1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8
GMAT	7xx
Work Experience	75
Length	Any
Location	Near Major City
Class Size	Any
Teaching Method	Experiential
Flexibility	Some
International exposure	Yes
Brand	Yes
Specialization	Entrepreneurship/IT/M&A
Ease of Financing	Yes
Housing	Yes
Employment Stats	Great (94+ %)

If you don't like this method, just hire a consultant. ATB!