How to Market Yourself to AdCom

7/25/2019 How to Market Yourself to AdCom

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HOW TO WRIT

ESSAYS

WHAT

B-SCHOOLS

LOOK FOR

HOW TO MARKET YOURSELF TO THE

ADCOM

WHAT YOU

NEED TO KNOW

FOR

INTERVIEWS
https://www.youtube.com/user/crackverbalvideoshttps://plus.google.com/+CrackverbalEdutechhttp://www.twitter.com/AskCrackVerbalhttp://www.facebook.com/CrackVerbal


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WHY CRACKVERBAL?

CrackVerbal is India?s fastest growing test-prep company, focusing on GMAT, GRE an

Application Consulting services. Over

3500+ aspirants have trusted uswith such an importan

career decision

So, what makes CrackVerbal dif ferent?

Test-Taking Techniques for Indians:

At CrackVerbal we realized early on that Indian students struggl

to ace standardized tests such as the GMAT & the GRE becaus

typical training programs for these tests cater to a native Englis

population.This is why we have created a unique set o

techniques, which leverage the int ri nsic st rengths of non-nat iv

Engl ish speakers.

Beyond Books:

We absolutely believe that our classroom coaching and

our fabulous trainers can teach you more than books We

wouldn? be doing this if we were not able to do so. We

have a very selective processand rigorous training for

instructors and the cornerstone of our success is our

exceptional t eaching quali ty.

Support System :

CrackVerbal students can discuss questions with our instructor

and fellow-students on the exclusive CrackVerbal forum, whic

now has more than a mil l ion views We also have a dedicate

support number where our instructors address student concerns

Our mission isn? f ulf il led ti ll you have taken the test & reache

your dream school .

Structured preparation:

Many students, with the best of intentions and will-power, still

struggle with GMAT preparation because they?e not sure how to

plan their prep-t ime, how to analyze their weak areas, and how to

improve their GMAT scores. At CrackVerbal, we give you a detailed

study-plan to help you bring the right focus to your GMAT

preparation.


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OUR MBA CONSULTANTS

Arun Jagannathan - dmissions Coach

Founder and CEO at CrackVerbal, Arun brings to the table valuab

insights into the value of an MBA, much of thi s knowledge accrued ove

the years from a ring-side view of students making a transition fro

pre-MBA applicants to post MBA graduates climbing the corporat

ladder. He also brings with him a plethora of information specific t

individual programs given his extensive network among the b-scho

community, including admissions commit tee members at top B schoo

across the globe. Arun is one of the official expert MBA Admissio

consultants on PagalGuy and provides guidance to applicants on othe

forums such as BeattheGMAT and GMATClub.

Shreekala Kurup -

pplication Services Counselor

Shreekala has a strong background in operations (PMP, Six Sigma

accrued during her 7-year stint with Hewlett-Packard, where sh

worked in client facing roles for marquee customers. She is a fellow o

the ISB Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Entrepreneurs program. A

Crackverbal, Shreekala has channeled her corporate experience an

deep understanding of the world of management to help thousands o

students and professionals make the right choices amongst a plethor

of options.

Vijay has extensive experience across the higher education

technology and printing industries. He holds degrees in busines

management and finance from Manchester Metropolitan Universit

UK, and is also an international student ambassador f or MMU. A

CrackVerbal, he has worked with hundreds of MBA aspirants, guidin

them to make the r ight Choices towards pursuing an MBA.

Vijayendra Khanna -

pplication Services Counselor

Pradyot Anand -

Industry Mentor

Pradyot has 10+ years of professional experience spanning strategy

planning, management consulting, and technology across industries

Asia, USA, and Eastern Europe. An alumnus of ISB Hyderabad, Prady

graduated in the top 10% of the ISB batch and made the Dean?s Lis

Having served on the Admissions Panel at ISB for quite some time, an

mentored many successful MBA candidates, Pradyot is one of those MB

Admission Consultants who knows exactl y what makes an AdCom t ick.


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Sannidhi Jhala - Industry Mentor

Sannidhi has over 5 years of experience across the operations field. She

an alumnus ISB Hyderabad, majoring in Marketing & Strategy and

currently working for beverage giant, Coca-Cola as the Area Key Account

Manager. She has mentored many CrackVerbal students and helped them

along the path to their dream B-School.

Nit in Vig -

Industry Mentor

Nitin has over 6 years of experience across Telecom, IT and e-learnin

Nitin graduated f rom Indiana Universit y?s Kelley School of Busines

majoring in Finance and Business Analytics. He currently works as a Sale

Manager for one of India?s largest e-learning companies. Many CrackVerba

students under his tutelage have gone on to bag admits to top-notc

B-schools.

Shirupa has the distinction of being the only person on th

CrackVerbal Admissions Panel to have taught painting (or indeed

taught anything) to professors at ISB and IIMB. She is a versatil

individual with a yen for the arts, teaching and mentoring. A

CrackVerbal, Shirupa wears two hats ? as instructor, and as Admission

Coach; and puts her creative forces to use, helping students develo

and present their stories wi th appeal and panache.

Shirupa Gupta -

dmissions Coach

Vasudha Gopal -

dmissions Coach

Vasudha is an ex-techie and ex-project manager, with 8 years of

corporate experience at Cisco behind her (and also 8 years o

proofreading and fine-tuning colleagues?application essays just for

fun). She loves the English language with all its idiosyncrasies and

has a raw score of 48 on the GMAT Verbal section. At CrackVerbal, she

uses to advantage her natural zeal for coaxing words, sentences, and

application essays into putt ing their best foot forward.

To view more of our prestigious consultants CLICK HERE
http://applications.crackverbal.com/consultants/http://applications.crackverbal.com/consultants/


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

# 1. What B-Schools look for in you ..................................................? ? ? ? ? ..?

# 2.Essays........................................? .? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ...............? ..9

# 3.Interviews ..............................? .? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ...............? .1


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FOREWORD

Think of any movie you saw in the last few months. Now think how was the hero portrayed.

Was he shown doing routine chores like watching TV

Did they show him sleeping or brushing his teeth

What about him driving to work and stuck in traffic

Probably not

He shown doing superhero effort : saving t he earth, feeding poor people, romancing the

heroine. Just about anything that makes him look cool.

How does this help in understanding B-School appl ications? Well, the same thing appl ies here.

You need to be the "hero" of your story in your MBA Application

This ebook presents you with the 6 factors all B-Schools look for to see if you are the "hero".

How do they see it ? Predominantly through your appl ication essays and your interview. We

have kept a separate chapter on each of t his so you start t hinking how you can be the hero (or

the heroine) of the story.

I hope this ebook helps you start thinking in the right di rection.


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# 1 WHAT B-SCHOOLS LOOK FOR IN YOU

You need to understand what is it that makes you stand out i n the appl icant pool . These are

the aspects that B-Schools look for in an applicant .


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# 2 ESSAYS

B-schools abroad only take students who they think wil l bring a lot to the class in terms of skil l

experience and qualit y. 85 percent of the learning in an MBA program abroad is from your

colleagues rather than f rom the professors. Keeping this in mind, the schools want you to

present an accurate portrait of yourself , helping them gauge who you are and what you wi ll

bring to the table.

It is for this reason; they have what they call, The Admission Essays.

Admission essays are the f irst round of the admission process, after you have taken the GMAT.

Typicall y leading B-schools wi l l ask you 3-5 assorted questions that aim to bring out your real

self . These questions may test you on dif ferent aspects of your personali ty and bring out your

creativity and originality.

Here we give you some sample questions asked by b-schools in their essays and what they are

looking for in an applicant based on these questions.

And, we bring to you the quintessential question of t he entire process ,Why MBA?

Almost all the b-schools want to know this. The questions may be di rect or may acquire

dif ferent avatars, but seeking the same truth, ?Why MBA?

Here are the dif ferent avatars of t he quest ion asked by dif ferent b-schools:

1. Why MBA from X b-school?

2. What are your career aspirations? What do you need to learn at Stanford t o achieve them?

(Stanford)

3. a) What choices have you made that led you to your current posit ion?

(b) Why pursue an MBA at this point in your l if e?

(c) What is your career goal upon graduation from NYU Stern? What is your long-term career

goal? (NYU Stern)

4. Describe your career goals. How wi l l the Ross MBA help you to achieve your goals? (Ross

Michigan)

5. Describe your vision f or your career and your inspiration for pursuing this career path (Duke

Fuqua)


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6. What are your professional goals immediately after you receive your MBA? What are your

long-term career aspirations? Why are you choosing to pursue an MBA and why now? (Yale)

7. Please give us a full descript ion of your career since graduating f rom university. If you

were to remain with your present employer, what would be your next step in terms of

posit ion? (INSEAD)

8. What is your career vision and why is this choice meaningful to you? (Harvard Business

School)

This is the most important and the most frequently asked question by almost all b-schools.

And it is this question that they want to separate wheat from the chaff.

B-schools, ask this question to understand your past and what made you to take this decision

of pursuing an MBA. They want to weed out people who do an MBA, without knowing what to

do with it . And believe us they know a serious candidate when they see an answer to this

question,

This is the question that wil l allow you to show your personalit y and your thought process.

This is the place where you display your lucidi ty and clarity of thought. Here is where you

show the pains that you have taken and your hunger for the MBA. You can show what

homework you have done about the course, the b-school and your career in general. Don?

let this question be a tr ibute to yourself , but a eulogy about the school and how it wil l help

you achieve your short term and long term goals.

Remember some basic facts while answering questions

Be Realistic: Do not portray your aspiration to a Steve Jobs by day and Mother Teresa

by night. Remember an MBA is not something that wi l l guarantee future success and it

depends on individual talents as much as the education. The career aspirations must be high,

but no so high that they sound ludicrous. You have to draw the line between realism and

incredible, and stop at realism. (Also remember Steve Jobs never thought he will be what he

is today. And in all probabilit y he would not have written an essay as he is not an MBA).


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Align your future goals to your current career: Remember MBA abroad is an

enhancement degree and not a degree in i tself. So it makes better sense for you to align you

future goals to your present career. So it wi l l make sense for you tell , ?Right now I am a senio

software engineer where I have noticed all these flaws in delivery. I want to do an MBA, get

into a management role and correct i t.? This wi ll give you a better chance than tell ing, ?I am

PL/SQL expert and after doing my MBA, I want to be a marketing guru and sell soap.? In the

latter, the admission committee reaction in all probabil ity wi ll be ?Are you smoking bro??

Do not save anything for the swim back: This is a l ine from the movie ?Gattacca? Here

the main protagonist and his brother play a game called ?Chicken?where they swim out to

the sea and the f irst one who gives up and swims for the shore is the loser. The brother

always wins, because of his better stamina. However at a crit ical juncture in the movie, the

protagonist challenges his brother and wins the contest. When asked how he did it, he

simply says, ?I never saved anything for the swim back.?

This might be the story of your MBA appl ication essay. If you say, I want t o start a

mobile application company and with an MBA, I wil l also have a fall-back option, they will

think that you are not confident of yourself . And they don? li ke people who save something

for the swim back.


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What you should not do

Do not feel sorry for yourself, If you think you have not done extraordinary things. No

b-school expects you to be a Bill Gates when you apply there and quite frankly no one is.

Remember, even the World?s youngest ?Billionaire?Mark Zuckerberg (Founder of Facebook)

stole his idea. So be proud of yourself and don? lie to get that edge. And also know if you are

honest you don? have to remember anything.

Make it all about yourself : If you fail to t alk about the specif ics of the program and the

course and how that wil l help you, the schools on their part wil l consider you to be another

self -obsessed narcissist who has appl ied for reasons other than genuine.

Set your mark at such a low level that you do not need an MBA: If you state that, at the

end of my MBA, all you want to be is the Manager of your project, which quite frankly does

not need an MBA, you will get the dreaded ?dunk?mail. Set your goals suff iciently high but

not as high as they deem it to be incredible.


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# 3 INTERVIEWS

What do B-schools really look f or when they are trying to interview you? This is the t ime when

a lot of people who have sent in their applications, would have started receiving their

interview call s. So remember these 3 things whenever you think of an interview :

A.Content - Does this person know what he is talking about? Make sure you go through each

and every thing that you have writ ten in your application. Make sure that you have a good ide

? for example if you say that you want to get into Finance, post MBA, then pretty much you

should be able to answer questions such as, ?What do you think will happen if the interest

rates were to go up?? or, ?Why do you think the Rupee slipped against the Dollar??. So these

are the things that you need to know. If you say Product Management they could ask you

questions, again not very theoretical questions but things like, ?Tell me a product feature that

you l ike in say Google.? or ?Tell me a product company that you think has a very bright

future.? They want to make sure that you know your stuff .


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B. Communication ? Second thing apart f rom content is communication. How well are you abl

to express your ideas. You want to focus on body language, you want to focus on tone, clarity,

clarity of speech and ensuring that your answer comes out as clearly, as crisply as possible.

One suggestion that I have for this is please go back again t o your application and prepare for

some standard questions like, ?Why do you want to do an MBA? ?What brings you here??

?Why this part icular school?? ?Tell me an achievement that you are proud of?? ?Tell me what

are your weaknesses?? ?What do you want to do post MBA?? ?Tell me something about

yourself?? ? Typically many interviews start that way. Make sure you are very clear in your

communication.

C. Clari ty

? When you look at clarit y, they are really looking at clarity of vision and specif ically

looking at what you want to take away from B-school, what is it that you want in li fe. The tip

over here is be yourself . Don? try to be someone you are not. For example if they ask you

what you want to do post your MBA, be very clear, say you want to get into Consult ing, you

need to be able to say, ?This is what I want to do.?, ?I?m very clear this is how a school such as

ISB is going to help me.?, Be genuine, don? t ry to sound confused. If you don? know

something be open, say, ?I don? know but I can hazard a guess.? ?I can sti l l try, I can attempt

this?, but don? t ry to get caught in your own tangle. For example there are people who have

mentioned adventure sports in their profile which they have attempted once, l ike bungee

jumping. But i f you have done it only once, there is only so much you can know. So you kind o

start digging your own hole. Be very clear and specif ic in what you talk.

These are the 3 t ips that I had - Content, Communication and Clari ty. I hope it was useful & I

hope to catch you next week


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Email : [email protected]

Mobile: +919008166800/9008177800

www.crackverbal.com
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