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How might AI tools such as ChatGPT make the MBA application process easier? Can you use ChatGPT for your business school research? Can you use it to help you brainstorm for your essays? How about for actually writing your application essays? And should you use AI for your application at all? In this episode of the mbaMission Podcast, Harold Simansky, Jessica Shklar, and Jeremy Shinewald discuss when you should—and should not—get assistance from AI with your business school applications, and how to do so effectively.

Each week, Senior Consultant Harold Simansky takes a deep dive with some of his mbaMission colleagues into various aspects of the business school admissions process, from how to select the right schools to choosing and managing your recommenders to drafting compelling application essays and preparing for MBA interviews. A brand new episode of The mbaMission Podcast is released every Tuesday, and you can find it on all the major podcast streaming platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts. More of a visual learner? Check out the mbaMission YouTube channel for full episodes. 

Harold Simansky: Hello, Jeremy. Hello, Jessica. Let’s talk about artificial intelligence. First, a disclaimer: this podcast is not created using artificial intelligence. This is natural intelligence right here. [Laughs] Okay, Jessica, I’m going to throw it right to you.

Jessica Shklar: I think when you think about it from an admissions perspective, from the applicant perspective, AI is a tool—or maybe a better way to say it is it’s a really good starting point, or it can be a good starting point, but it should never be the ending point. And by that I mean you can use AI to help you come up with ideas, to help you get started with a draft, to help with some editing, to find interview questions, to do basic research.

Harold Simansky: Yeah, do basic research.

Jessica Shklar: But if you stop with what AI does for you, you’ll never, well, I think you have a phrase that says, “AI can help you be mediocre.” 

Many MBA candidates do not thoroughly consider and revise their resumes for their applications, often dismissing this element because an existing version may already be saved on their computer. We strongly caution you not to underestimate the value of this document—the admissions committees, in fact, review applicants’ resumes carefully because they serve as a road map of each candidate’s career.

In the past, we have highlighted that your resume is not the place to “stuff” all of your life experiences. Somewhere between the two extremes—cramming your resume with information and ignoring it altogether—lies the ideal: a clear, easily scannable, action/results-oriented resume that tells a story that will capture the attention of an admissions officer who has reviewed hundreds of similar files.

One of the most common errors candidates make is leaving their resume in an industry-specific format, filled with jargon and acronyms recognizable only to an expert in their field. Remember, the admissions committee is not hiring you for a task but is trying to understand your progress, your accomplishments, and even your character. Each bullet point in your resume needs to highlight achievement more than positional expertise.

As you prepare your resume to be included in your application, think about your audience, and recognize that your resume can be a strategic tool to reinforce certain characteristics that are important to you—characteristics that may complement information provided in other parts of your application. For example, if you aspire to a career that is international in nature, you may place more emphasis on your international experience in your resume. Or, if you come from a field that is not known for its management orientation—you were a teacher who administered a school’s $50,000 student activities budget, for example—you may use your resume to emphasize disciplines that are important to an MBA admissions audience.

Some candidates are surprised to realize that one page can communicate so much and therefore deserves a significant level of attention, but investing some time in this short but crucial document is definitely worth the effort.

Business school applicants need to have well-defined post-MBA career goals for both right after they graduate and longer term. They should be able to communicate their desired functional role, industry, and/or type of company and to show that they understand what they will do in the position and the kind of impact they will have. MBA programs also want to know that a candidate’s goals make sense for them, given their background, and that they have clear reasons both for needing an MBA to be successful and for targeting the program in question. So applicants clearly need to be focused and certain about their intended career path, but do they also need a backup plan? 

While having a plan B in mind is always a good idea, what is less straightforward is how you might incorporate it into your MBA application process. During times of extended economic downturn, we have seen some MBA programs, including Harvard Business School, change their essay prompts to invite—or even require—applicants to discuss a backup plan for their career. For example, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business consistently asks candidates, “What are your post-MBA career goals? Share with us your first-choice career plan and your alternate plan.”   

Some business schools, including NYU Stern and UCLA Anderson, ask applicants about backup plans in their admissions interviews. This is most common for candidates planning on going into more competitive industries, such as consulting, or into constantly changing industries, such as technology. The question might also come up when an applicant is proposing to enter a field that is not hiring because of a poor job market, or when a candidate is a career changer who might have trouble making the switch. Generally speaking, being prepared to offer backup goals in your admissions interview is just good practice. Once you have been accepted to your target MBA program, you will most likely want to explore multiple recruiting directions, and considering your options ahead of time will prepare you well to do that. 

So, how do you come up with a strong plan B career goal? The key is to have an alternative plan that works with your key strengths, experiences, and longer-term aspirations as well as your primary goal does. And you want to be mindful of focus and flow. For example, if your main career goal is to become an investment banker, your plan B goal should not be something like product management in technology, because the skills and experience required for the two different directions do not overlap. As a result, showing clear strengths, qualifications, and reasons you need your MBA from the program for this secondary goal would be very difficult.

Instead, you want to identify a backup plan that aligns with your skills and experience thus far and that will position you just as effectively for your long-term aspirations. So, if your main goal is to go into investment banking, your plan B might be taking an in-house corporate finance role at a company. This alternative goal would still align with your professional foundation, and the reasons you are interested in earning your MBA from the program would be the same. Just keep in mind that overall, schools just want to know that you are capable of pursuing and achieving  your career objective, even if it is a backup. 

One of our consultants was recently conducting a ding review with a potential client who had applied to business school on his own but not been accepted. Together, they were exploring what the applicant might do differently this time, and our consultant asked whether the candidate had discussed any of his community service activities in his previous application.

He hesitated a moment before confessing, “Well, I have some volunteer experience, but I can’t write about it in my application. It has to do with my church.”

The truth was, this applicant had been involved with church activities for an entire decade—leading fund-raising activities, facilitating group discussions, organizing social events, and either participating in or leading extensive community service projects. But he believed (and in fact, had been told by an admissions consultant from a different firm) that because his efforts all fell under the umbrella of a religious organization, he should avoid sharing them with the admissions committee.

We disagree. Strongly.

At mbaMission, we have a simple rule of thumb for deciding whether to address potential hot-button topics such as religion and politics in your MBA application. If your intention is to convince your reader to agree with or accept your views, then you should not write about them. But if you are instead describing why the topic is meaningful to you and how you have been involved, then including it gives the admissions committee insight into your personality and value system, helping them get to know you better as an individual and candidate. 

Sharing activities you have participated in within a religious context is certainly fine, but what about discussing your actual religious beliefs? Are those taboo? We have read compelling emotional essays from applicants about how they lost the religious beliefs they were brought up with, as well as essays from candidates who discovered and adopted religious practices and beliefs on their own. Again, our rule of thumb applies: as long as you are writing about your personal beliefs—not condemning anyone else’s or trying to push your beliefs onto others—the topic can truly be a powerful one.

(And as for the potential client in our opening anecdote, he ultimately became an mbaMission client, wrote about both his volunteer activities with the church and his religious beliefs and practices, and was ultimately accepted to multiple top-ten business schools!)

A point might come in your career when you ask yourself how you can “level up” or accelerate your professional trajectory. We at mbaMission have advised many candidates over the years on whether an EMBA (executive MBA) program might be right for them. These programs are becoming increasingly popular, and in this post, we have compiled a list of reasons you might want to consider the EMBA option.

You are on the executive track with managerial experience.

The top EMBA programs look for “executives” first and foremost. This means that in addition to having a minimum of ten years of work experience, you should have people-management experience or at least be on the executive, or junior executive, track (for example, you oversee projects or teams even if they do not report directly to you).

You prefer to remain at your job while earning your degree.

EMBA programs are usually offered on a part-time basis on weekends and in the evenings over an 18- to 24-month time frame. For example, Columbia Business School offers two EMBA options: (1) Friday and Saturdays and (2) Saturdays only. UPenn Wharton’s EMBA classes are held on Friday and Saturday of alternate weekends, plus several extended sessions.

This format allows students to continue at their jobs and immediately apply the lessons they learn in the classroom to their work environment and responsibilities. The opportunity cost of this kind of program is therefore lower, given that students are not required to pause their careers while they pursue their degree. If you like your job and wish to stay in it while you earn your MBA, an EMBA program would be a good choice for you.

You prefer to network with classmates who are more mature or more tenured in their career.

While many students in two-year MBA programs are still exploring their career options, most EMBA students already have clearly defined goals and a set career path. If you value interacting with classmates who are more mature and have more professional experience, an EMBA program is likely a better fit for you.

You feel that having technical expertise alone is not enough as you progress in your career.

Many EMBA students do not come from traditional business backgrounds. In fact, a good percentage of them tend to be attorneys, engineers, accountants, and so on. However, as they attain ever more senior levels at work, they are increasingly asked to manage business issues and people. This shift in responsibilities can give people the sense that their technical expertise might not be sufficient on its own to support them as they advance in their careers. An EMBA can provide you with the knowledge and skills you would need in a top leadership position in many companies and/or industries.

You are prepared to juggle work, family, and personal life while in school.

Because EMBA programs are part-time, you will have to hold down a demanding full-time job while attending classes, meeting with your study groups, studying for exams, and maintaining your family responsibilities and personal life—all at the same time! This is no easy feat. Although an EMBA program might check all the boxes with respect to what you require to accelerate your career, keep in mind the demands it will make on your time and family life. In reality, EMBA students do sometimes drop out before earning their degree, often because of work or family/personal reasons. So, be sure you have the full support of your family and employer before you embark on your EMBA journey.

You want to grow your network globally.

Top schools recognize the need to expand access to top business professionals around the world. To do so, they are increasingly offering online and/or blended EMBA programs.  For example, Wharton launched its first-ever global cohort through its Global EMBA program in May 2023. This 22-month learning format brings together students from around the world for a 25% in-person, 75% live online learning experience. Duke Fuqua’s 21-month Global Executive MBA combines in-person international residencies with distance learning, rotating through different international cities each year. If you wish to grow your network internationally and are open to the online or hybrid format, programs like these could help you do so more easily than before.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you contemplate whether an EMBA might be the right choice for you: 

• Benefits of an EMBA: The key advantages of an EMBA program are being able to stay in your job while obtaining your degree and growing your global network with high-achieving peers. Obtaining your EMBA will position you for the long-term growth of your career into the senior leadership ranks.

• EMBA admissions criteria: Many top EMBA programs require that candidates have a minimum of ten years of work experience, plus people-management experience. You should also consider how you would balance your work, personal, and family commitments with a grueling academic schedule. Ensuring that you have your employer’s and family’s support is something the EMBA admissions teams can and will factor into their assessment of your candidacy.

• EMBA program structure: Most EMBA programs last 18 to 24 months on a part-time basis. Classes are usually held on weekends or in the evenings. Increasingly, remote learning is combined with in-person experiences, allowing for even more flexibility.

If you would like to discuss which EMBA programs would be right for you or get targeted guidance on your EMBA plans or application, sign up for a free 30-minute consultation with an mbaMission expert.