Five Years of Business School Entry Preparation
Do you intend going to a top School for your MBA?
Says Business Week contributor Francesca Di Meglio “Typically, students enter business school five years after getting their undergrad degree”
Business Week has come up with a series of five articles each detailing what you should do during the first five years after graduating.
Five years sounds like a long time. It might be, but it’s also roughly the amount of work experience collected before a student enters an MBA program. Which means that if you’re planning on going to business school, you’ll boost your chances of getting into a top school by spending those five years wisely.
I am presenting ‘The Five Year Planner’ in a tabulated form below:
| Typically you would have achieved this at the end of each year |
Ist Year
You have launched your career and found a mentor |
2nd Year
You take more responsibility at the office and in your extracurricular activities |
3rd Year
You got a promotion or move to another company. You made your mark on the job and started preparing for the application process |
4th Year
You’re ready to actually apply to graduate business school and become a student again |
5th Year
You started to live—and feel—like a student again. The MBA is, after all, just around the corner |
| Career and Work Environment | Started building a satisfying, well-rounded life and career.
Decide how you can make impact in the office and start implementing your plan of action. |
Show progress in your career. Receive a promotion or take on a project or assignment that had you in a Start thinking about your next career move. Gain either exposure or experience internationally |
You should have been promoted where you’ve been working or moved to another company |
Earned recognition on the job and broadened your experiences by taking on new roles or projects
Begun taking note of your achievements and demonstrations of leadership in preparation for the essays and the interviews |
Addressed your weaknesses as an applicant in the application |
| Mentors | Discover Mentors who can guide you on your future activities |
Take on more responsibility for your relationship with your mentors and |
Find someone to mentor while still maintaining relationships with your |
Choose your recommenders and either talk with them about the MBA in general or your desire to apply, depending on your relationship with each | |
| Skill Set and related | Develop your skill set
Decide on the time you will take GMAT |
Work on any weaknesses in your academic record |
Narrow down the list of things you’d like to be doing after you complete |
Come up with a clear-cut career path to share with the admissions committees | |
| Extra Curricular Activities | Translate your passions into activities you want to do in future.
Read Relevant business books and articles |
Demonstrate initiative in one of your extracurricular activities and |
|||
| Financing your education |
Begun to save money to finance your education |
Tightened your finances even more than before in anticipation of paying |
Started applying for scholarships and any other free money to fund your MBA |
||
| Researching the Schools | Made contact with business schools that interest you |
Narrowed your list of top business schools and thoroughly researched them Researched the regions of the schools that interest you most to determine the types of jobs available, the cost of living, and the culture for you and your family if you have one |
Become an insider at the MBA programs at the top of your list
Found a way to explain why you’re a good fit for the schools on your short list and completed your applications |
||
| Relationship |
Discuss your future with your loved ones and listened to their thoughts |
Wrap things up at work in a way that leaves you in the good graces of your former employer |
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