MBA Insider's Blog

Work Experience & Extracurricular Activities

Two areas that you know very well. Where you spend the majority of your time, and where you wish you could spend more time!

Here at Anderson we consider the start of your work experience beginning when you graduate from your undergraduate university/college, and are in a full-time, paid position. It is not so much the quantity of your work experience, but the quality. Non-traditional students may have work experience prior to the start of their undergraduate career, and we will note this on an individual basis. Do not forget that military experience is considered work experience, as you have grown largely in leadership, and decision-making.

Your work experience should be demonstrated in your essay, interview, and especially in your resume. The admissions staff is looking at your overall career trajectory, and the decisions you took along your career path. Promotions, title changes, and increased responsibilities will display your growth within an organization. Be detailed when discussing specific tasks that you completed. If you have led projects or supervised individuals, include the number of people, and duration of time. Discuss cross-functional experience, as this will show your increased business acumen, and understanding of additional functions of business.  

Your ability to work in teams, and your experience with this, will be noted as well. Do you give credit to your teams’ accomplishments in your interview, or are you constantly using the word “I”? Reflect on how you improved your skill set from the interactions with teammates. Conflicts and challenges in the work place can show your ability to brainstorm, and reach resolutions. For our entrepreneurial students, discuss situations dealing with clients or vendors.

If you have changed jobs, be sure to highlight new responsibilities and leadership opportunities-especially areas that have given you skills necessary for your post-MBA goals. You will be asked why you switched jobs, and how these experiences led you to your career goals. Your employment narrative, often known as “your story”, is unique to you, so make it original!

A common question on the road is, “Do extracurricular activities really matter?” Yes! Anderson has a culture rooted in involvement, where relationships flourish into friendships. It is important for the admissions staff to see that you value community involvement, and that you have other interests that give you work/life balance- and an engaging personality!  Hobbies and interests speak to who you are, and what you find important in life. This area can also predict your future involvement at Anderson, and your initiative to take a leadership role within the student organizations. Employers will be curious to see how you added value to the Anderson environment, and how you spent your time during these two-years. Take a look at our student organizations (which are split into identity, interest, and professional clubs), and reach out to our current students. Gather detailed information about the organizations' events, and activities. This will make for great talking points during your interview.   

We do ask about your extracurricular activities during college, though it is important to see that you value involvement, and have continued to invest your time in the community, or within hobbies. It can be challenging to find free time in your daily life, especially when you are working full-time, and applying for an MBA program. If this is your case, start now! If you find yourself at work until late at night, see what committees or groups you can join within the office (this can include staff appreciation committees, and heading volunteer groups).

The admissions staff enjoys getting to know you, and learning how you spend your professional and free time! We may even get a few suggestions of new hobbies to take on- but perhaps I’ll pass on BASE jumping for now!

 

 

Application Tips – Test

We all know that test taking can be a stressful and anxiety producing process, especially in a competitive pre MBA environment. Perhaps it’s the memory of a childhood unexpected pop-quiz or the pressure of having to produce efficiently and effectively in a limited amount of time, which causes such stress. Whatever, the case may be, we hope to put your mind at ease with this blog post by clarifying some facts and dispelling a few misconceptions about how we weigh your tests results during the admissions process.

To apply to our MBA program you can choose to take the GMAT or the GRE. International students are also required to take the TOEFL or IELTS (more on that below).

We use the GMAT and GRE as predictors of your academic performance, particularly for the first year of the MBA program. When we review your scores, all components of the GMAT/GRE are taken into consideration, including the verbal, quantitative, Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA), and Integrated Reasoning (IR – GMAT only) scores, so it’s important to prepare for and do well on each section. If you have not taken either test and are unsure which one to study for, it is suggested that you consider taking the GMAT since it is designed specifically for business school admissions. Ultimately, we recommend that you take the test with which you feel most comfortable with.

GMAT and GRE scores are valid for up to five years, so you may be able to use tests taken during this time period. Also, it is not uncommon for applicants to take these tests more than once in attempts to maximize their scores. You should know that we don’t penalize for taking these tests multiple times. In fact, we will simply pick your highest score and ignore the lower ones.

When you prepare for your test, don’t just look at the average score published by the school, instead look at the ranges of test scores published along with the class profile data. This will give you a much more realistic picture of the kinds of scores that are competitive. Of course, you should keep in mind that the MBA evaluation process is comprehensive and weight is given to all areas listed on the application. Therefore, applicants who have lower test scores can also demonstrate strengths in other areas listed in the application, such as work experience, essays, recs, etc.

Undergraduate and graduate students that received their education outside of the United States are also required to take the TOEFL exam, unless your education was solely taught in English. The TOEFL helps us assess your English fluency, and like the GMAT/GRE, all components of the test are considered. We also accept the IELTS in lieu of the TOEFL. For more information about the TOEFL/IELTS requirement, please be sure to refer to our Graduate Division's website.

If you have any questions about our requirements and application process, please see our admissions webpage, our FAQ’s or email us with your questions.

We look forward to getting to know you over the next few months. Best of luck to you!

Application Tip - Academics

Continuing with our blog series on application tips, it's time to discuss academics. Academics are an important component of the application process because it is necessary for every admitted student to have a strong academic profile in order to do well in the MBA program. In considering the academic potential of each applicant, the admissions committee evaluates prior academic experience as well as tests, either the GMAT or GRE, as well as the TOEFL or IELTS (for applicants who earned their degree/s in a foreign country where the official language is something other than English). Although this blog will focus on academics, such as prior academic work, next week's blog will cover tests so make sure to check back in with us.

When we evaluate prior academic experience, we thoroughly review undergraduate transcripts as well as graduate transcripts (if provided). In evaluating transcripts there are several things that we consider, including: the rigor of the school, the courseload associated with each major, as well as grade trends. So don't worry too much if you got off to a slow start as long as you were able to improve your grades with time as you learned new study methods and got more comfortable with your major. In general we try to give applicants the benefit of the doubt, so a few lower grades can be offset by higher ones. Although not required, graduate coursework can contribute to a candidate's academic profile, as can additional classes taken post-undergrad. Courses such as accounting, statistics, or economics are usually the best ones to show good academic preparation, but not required since we always want to admit students with diverse perspectives, including diverse academic backgrounds.

In terms of how we evaluate transcripts from universities around the world, we are familiar with the grading systems and relative rigor for each country, so we understand the context for each applicant's performance. It is not necessary to convert grades to a 4.0 scale since we will examine transcripts according to the grading scale for the school attended.

As I mentioned in the beginning of this blog, academics are only one part of the application process. To learn more about our application process, feel free to read our earlier two blogs covering our new essay and letters of recommendation and check back in with us over the next few weeks as we continue with our blog series on application tips. Good luck!