The Business School Application Process: Applying for financial aid

Let’s be realistic: business school ain’t cheap.

Now that you’ve completed the applications for admission at each of your schools and programs, you’re almost done. You’ll still need to pay for school, and in order to obtain scholarships and loans, schools require you to submit financial aid applications.

Apply for financial aid and scholarships.
In order to apply for financial aid, you’ll need a massive stack of information. Perhaps most crucial in that stack of information: your taxes.

The Business School Application Process: Making it official: the applications.

You’ve researched. You’ve planned. You’ve taken your tests. Sent your transcripts. Gathered your letters of recommendation. Written your application essays and personal statements. Now it’s time to make it official.

Complete and submit your applications.
Good news: you’re just moments away from becoming an official business school applicant. The hard parts are finished, and by now, you should have a stellar application packet almost ready to go… it just needs an official application form to introduce you to the admissions committees who will soon be reviewing your file.
And more good news: there’s not much you can do to screw this part up, but there are a few pitfalls you must absolutely avoid at all costs.

The Business School Application Process: Essays and Personal Statements

You know yourself.

Adcoms, however, don’t know you. All they have to go on is your GPA, some test scores, some letters from some people who know you, and these: your application essays and/or personal statement. With that said, your essays and personal statements are, well, personal. So I can’t (or won’t) tell you what you should write.
What I can–and will–tell you is what characteristics your essays should and should not have. There are reasons adcoms ask specific questions: 1) to figure out how well you can follow directions, 2) to learn more about your writing and communication skills, and 3) to find out more about your specific qualifications for their programs.

Here’s a good starter list of dos and don’ts:

The Business School Application Process: Recommendations

People dig you.
Well, let’s hope they do, at least, because once you’ve requested that your transcripts and documentations be sent to schools, it’s time to find a few people who are willing to vouch for your aptitude for graduate business studies:

Solicit and obtain letters of recommendation.
Adcoms (admissions committee members) don’t know you. Some MBA programs don’t even offer interviews, though most of the top ones do. In most cases, all they’ll see of you is a short stack of paper, and they’ll probably have hundreds or thousands more very much like yours from other applicants who want to get into their program just as much as you do. Standing out from the pile can be difficult, but it’s absolutely crucial to gaining acceptance (and, perhaps, scholarship offers) to your desired program(s).

The Business School Application Process: Transcripts and Paperwork

The proof is in the paper.
Wait, that’s not how the saying goes? Well, in relation to business school applications, that’s how it should go. Once you have your test prep study plan in full-swing, you’re ready to start the next phase:

Get your transcripts and other academic documents sent.
For some of you, the process of sending your transcript(s) to the MBA programs you’re applying to may be an easy process. If you only attended one undergraduate institution, didn’t dual enroll during high school, don’t have any blemishes on your single transcript, and are only applying to one program, then your process will probably be relatively painless. And if so, I envy you. The rest of you, be forewarned: this can be the slowest and least controllable element of your application.

The Business School Application Process: Test preparation

You’ve decided you want to go to business school. You’ve done your research. You’ve created your own system to manage your application process. Next, it’s time to get the biggest hurdle out of the way:

Prepare for and take the appropriate tests (GMAT/GRE and or TOEFL).
I could write about test prep all day, but the goal for this entry is to help you setup a study-and-execution plan for tackling the GMAT.

The Business School Application Process: Managing the application process

If you’ve completed your research, you should be ready to move on to the next step and begin some real work. But before you start plugging away, it’s smart to organize your application process.

Manage the application process.
Managing the process– much like you might manage a project at work– will help ensure you meet all deadlines and obligations while maintaining high quality standards in your applications. Here are the most important elements you’ll want to be sure to work into your routine:

The Business School Application Process

Okay, so you’ve decided you want to go to business school. Now what? This blog entry and the following seven will build and flesh out a “To Do” list for you, helping you find answers to questions from “What should I study?” to “How can I get financial aid?” Each entry will focus on one step of the process so that you know where to start and what to do next.

I strongly recommend starting this list a year before you plan to start business school, but this can definitely be done in six months or less; you’ll just need to be more resourceful in some steps. Here’s a good ordered list of things to do to get yourself started (we’ll fill in notes on each step in this and subsequent entries):