SEVEN ADMISSIONS CRITERIA

Those top schools will evaluate seven main elements of your candidacy.  There is significant variation in the emphasis placed on those elements, but as a GMAT instructor who has worked with hundreds of applicants, I have also noticed distinct similarities among the top programs.

I've arranged the seven elements in what I feel is their order of importance.  Like the magazines that rank business schools, I can't resist ranking the application elements.  My rankings are based on my own experience, and I will be the first to admit that they are regularly contradicted.  I have plenty of former students at Harvard, Wharton, Stanford and every other top school who were admitted because an admissions officer liked something in their applications and threw out the rule book to accept them.  

So don't be discouraged if you feel a little weak in some of the categories I place high in my ranking.  As I write this, I can think of former students at all three of the schools I just mentioned who had glaring weaknesses in important categories but managed to convince the admissions officers that they had something valuable to offer.

Keep in mind as you read through the seven items that their ranking applies only to top MBA programs.  Less competitive programs have entirely different motivations behind their admissions decisions.  

After running through the seven items, be sure to look at the GMAT tutorial and the tutorial on writing the essays.  And if you're interested in working with an editor on your application essays, feel free to contact us.

Good luck.

                                                                                    John Evans

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