Planning Tips

Tips on how to structure your time and tackle the challenging process of applying to business school.

Published: April 22, 2025

MBA Admissions Tip: Consider Pre-MBA Courses Before Applying

As you prepare for the MBA admissions process, you might want to consider whether you should undertake additional undergraduate-level course work before you apply. Who Should Take Additional Pre-MBA Coursework? There are two reasons that it might benefit a candidate to complete additional coursework as part of their MBA application strategy. If your undergraduate transcript is devoid of quantitative coursework, the admissions committee might be concerned about the lack of data points as they assess whether you’re prepared for an MBA curriculum. Taking additional college-level coursework to demonstrate proficiency in this area can alleviate this concern. Of course, if your Read more

Published: April 15, 2025

MBA Admissions Tip: Reapplying to Business School

Thinking about reapplying to business school? It hurts to get a “no” from all the MBA programs you applied to, but it happens to a lot of applicants – especially those who apply to the very best business schools in the world. The good news is that it’s quite common for unsuccessful applicants to apply a second time. While it’s important to take some time to deal with the disappointment, it’s never too early to begin thinking about the next admissions season. And the goods news is that there are a number of concrete steps you can take to improve Read more

Published: February 13, 2025

Sweethearts & Success: Applying for an MBA as a Couple

For career-minded couples, it sometimes happens that applying for an MBA makes sense for both partners, often at the same time. And because attending the best business school in one’s field can often mean relocating, it’s natural to want to attend the same program as your love. But how do you navigate this in the admissions process? Applying for an MBA as a couple may come with its challenges – including compromising if you aren’t both admitted to your shared first choice school – but it’s definitely a realistic possibility. In fact, we previously featured a Read more

Published: December 17, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Addressing Unemployment or Gaps in Employment

Given the emphasis that schools place on a candidate’s work experience, it is important to be proactive in addressing unemployment or gaps in employment. When applying to business school, many candidates worry about how the adcom might perceive gaps in employment. Read our ‘MBA Admissions Tip: Addressing Unemployment Gaps in Employment’ to learn strategies for effectively managing unemployment and employment gaps during your MBA application process. Gaps in Employment It’s not unheard of for an MBA candidate to have a gap in employment, and this will not necessarily make a negative impact on someone’s candidacy. Gaps might be due to Read more

Published: December 10, 2024

Digging Deep with Your MBA Program Research: Anecdotes & Advocates

Communicating with insiders (current students, alumni, and faculty members) can be beneficial to your MBA applications for a number of reasons. In addition to learning about a given school and your potential fit, you’ll also generate material for your essays, demonstrate your interest in the program, and perhaps even make an ally or two. As you aim to go beyond the schools’ websites and promotional materials, we specifically recommend reaching out to individuals in a few key groups: Current Students People who are currently enrolled in a given program can obviously provide the clearest picture of the present state of Read more

Published: November 28, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Round 1 B-School Rejection Reflections

While we always hope reports of success will dominate MBA LiveWire, the reality is there are only so many seats in a class and leading business schools need to dole out more rejection notices than admits. This MBA Admissions Tip is here to help you move forward in the admissions process if you did not receive good news in Round 1. Reconfiguring Following Rejection If there is any good news when it comes to being rejected in the first round, it’s that it’s still early in the application season, and not too late to readjust your Read more

Published: November 19, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Making Your List of Business Schools

You’ve decided the MBA is the next stop on your career path. What now? The smartest applicants are those who take the time to create an informed MBA application strategy—a well thought-out game plan that can help you obtain your goals as effectively as possible. This includes making a list of your target business schools. One of the first tasks you’ll need to tackle is school selection: strategically choosing which schools to apply to, while considering how your experience and stats compare to those of current students (or, how “competitive” your application will be at each program). How many MBA Read more

Published: November 19, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Business School Recommendation Letters & Writers

Your letters of recommendation are a critical variable in the business school admissions equation. They allow the MBA admissions committee to get an outside perspective on your skills and strength, and to learn about your work experience beyond that’s covered in your essays and resume. Who Should Write my Business School Letters of Recommendation? First, your recommenders should hold a position that is senior to yours – unless the school specifically asks for a peer recommendation. The adcom gives greater weight to statements made by your superiors rather than by a peer because a peer is assumed to be essentially Read more

Published: August 27, 2024

Understanding Visas For Your MBA Abroad

The benefits of studying an MBA abroad are plenty. New job opportunities, new experiences, new people – and the chance to expand your educational horizons. The only downside appears to be the challenge of jumping through the bureaucratic hoops required to set up residence in your new country and apply for that all-important visa. To clarify the process, we’ve put together this guide to help you. Read on to get a breakdown of the visa situation across six different countries! USA If you’re an incoming international student to a U.S.-based MBA program, you’re Read more

Published: August 6, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Should I Apply in Round 1 or Round 2 to My Top Choice School?

In terms of application strategy, one of the biggest questions prospective MBA applicants wrestle with is whether to apply in Round 1 or Round 2 to their top choice school. Overall, if you are an outstanding candidate and have had adequate time to prepare your candidacy, then you should apply as part of the first round. If you are a strong candidate, but perhaps are not in the top echelon or would benefit from a little more time and experience in the application process, consider delaying your application to your top choice school until Round 2. In the meantime, apply Read more

Published: July 30, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Making the Most of Your Campus Visit

While traveling to visit MBA programs in person can be an expensive proposition, the campus trips are well worth it. Your b-school campus visit provides a chance to experience the MBA student culture, evaluate the facilities, and gather valuable information for your application process. To help you make the most of your MBA campus visit, keep these five tips in mind: 1. Make yourself known Putting forth the effort to travel to a school is a signal of interest in the program that the adcom loves to see; however, you need to let them know that you’ve made the trip. Read more

Published: July 16, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Applying to Business School as a Younger Applicant

It has become increasingly common for younger individuals to apply to MBA programs. Whereas the average age and years of work experience at the leading business schools has traditionally hovered at around 28 and five respectively, many programs are now carefully considering the more youthful end of the applicant pool. Of course, the fact that admissions officers are taking a closer look at younger applicants does not mean that getting accepted to a top program is easy for this group. In fact, it may be difficult for younger applicants to present themselves as fully prepared to Read more

Published: July 2, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Selecting & Preparing Recommendation Writers

If you’re applying to business school in the 2024-2025 admissions season, you can start thinking about who should write your MBA recommendation letters. Your letters of recommendation are a critical variable in the MBA admissions equation. They allow the admissions committee to get an outside perspective on your skills and strength, and to learn about your work experience beyond that’s covered in your essays and resume. Who Should Write My MBA Letters of Recommendation? First, your recommenders should hold a position that is senior to yours – unless the school specifically asks for a peer recommendation. The adcom gives greater Read more

Published: June 25, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Defining Your Post-MBA Career Goals

Having clear and realistic post-MBA career goals is essential to the business school application process. Though essay prompts tend to vary year to year, the two things that nearly every prospective student can count on being asked are “What are your short-term and long-term post-MBA goals?” and “How will Business School X help you achieve these goals?” Even if this sort of question doesn’t appear in the essay portion of the application, rest assured that you’ll be asked this question in the data forms and/or during your interview. Identifying clear post-MBA career goals will help in everything from Read more

Published: June 18, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Addressing Unemployment or Gaps in Employment

Given the emphasis that MBA programs place on a candidate’s work experience, it is important to be proactive in addressing unemployment or gaps in employment. When applying to business school, many candidates worry about how the adcom might perceive gaps in employment. Gaps in Employment It’s not unheard of for an MBA candidate to have a gap in employment, and this will not necessarily make a negative impact on someone’s candidacy. Gaps might be due to anything from lay-offs to periods of travel. As a rule of thumb, MBA applicants should explain gaps in employment that are three months or Read more

Published: June 11, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Considering the Campus

There are many factors that go into deciding whether to apply to a specific school, one of which is the physical place where you’ll be spending 1-2 years, which is why we’ve rounded up some campus visit tips. Whether speaking with current students or touring the campus for yourself, it’s helpful to approach these information-gathering experiences with as clear a sense of what matters to you as possible. Campus Visit Tips: Factors to Consider 1. Facilities Are state-of-the-art classrooms and impressive new architecture a priority for you? Would you prefer a school that is headquartered in a single building to Read more

Published: June 4, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Making Your List of Business Schools

Published: May 21, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Volunteer Experience

While there are many elements to the MBA application, there is one that candidates often underestimate: volunteer experience. We’re sharing this MBA Admissions Tip now so you can consider volunteer opportunities in time for your applications–and to ensure you have experience to enrich the b-school community. Why volunteer experience is important in your MBA application In order to understand why this category is important, candidates should keep in mind that the adcom is responsible for crafting a dynamic class each year. The aim is to admit individuals who will support a vibrant campus community and step into leadership positions. In Read more

Published: May 9, 2024

Calling All MBA Hopefuls: Post Your Profile to ApplyWire

Get ready for the 2024-2025 admissions season by verifying your b-school plans in MBA ApplyWire. This social tool was designed to help applicants develop their MBA application strategy by drawing on the collective wisdom and input of the active Clear Admit applicant community. ApplyWire allows applicants to share the schools they are considering applying to along with some details about their credentials and goals. The community can then chime in with feedback on how the applicant might refine his or her list of target schools. For example, you may receive constructive commentary Read more

Published: May 7, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Consider Pre-MBA Courses Before Applying

Published: April 30, 2024

MBA Admissions Tip: Reapplying to Business School

Published: February 13, 2024

Sweethearts & Success: Applying for an MBA as a Couple

Published: January 17, 2024

Top Deferred Enrollment MBA Programs

In the past several years, we've seen more and more leading business schools offering deferred enrollment MBA programs. Traditionally, full-time work experience has been a requirement for acceptance into a leading MBA program, with students averaging five years of professional experience at the time they begin their graduate studies. Most deferred enrollment MBA programs still require work experience—the difference is that students can gain this experience after they earn admission. Deferred enrollment MBA programs guarantee college seniors (and sometimes graduate students) a spot in their MBA programs, allowing them to enroll two to five years after they graduate from college. This allows students to focus on their work experience with their MBA plans already in place. Read on for information about deferred enrollment MBA programs at: Berkeley Haas Carnegie Mellon Tepper Chicago Booth Columbia Business School Harvard Business School MIT / Sloan Northwestern Kellogg Stanford GSB UVA / Darden The Wharton School Yale School of Management Read more

Published: November 14, 2023

MBA Admissions Tip: Know Your Audience for Your Applications

Know your audience as you complete your MBA applications. As anyone who’s going through the process knows, applying to business school is an incredibly demanding process. In addition to taking the GMAT/GRE, assembling academic transcripts and providing recommendation letters, candidates are required to draft multiple essays, job descriptions, lists of activities and more. With the obvious incentive to save time wherever possible, it’s understandable that many applicants simply cut and paste content from an existing résumé and write about their work in the manner that comes most naturally. However, in doing so, countless candidates each year assemble their materials without Read more

Published: October 10, 2023

MBA Admissions Tip: Selecting & Preparing Recommendation Writers for your MBA Application

Your letters of recommendation are a critical variable in the MBA admissions equation. They allow the admissions committee to get an outside perspective on your skills and strength, and to learn about your work experience beyond that’s covered in your essays and resume. Who Should Write My MBA Letters of Recommendation? First, your recommenders should hold a position that is senior to yours – unless the school specifically asks for a peer recommendation. The adcom gives greater weight to statements made by your superiors rather than by a peer because a peer is assumed to be essentially a friend and Read more

MBA Applywire

April 25, 2025 9:29am ET

Applying: Carnegie Mellon / Tepper, Columbia, Cornell / Johnson, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, INSEAD, London Business School, Michigan / Ross, MIT Sloan, Northwestern / Kellogg, NYU Stern, U. Chicago Booth, UT Austin / McCombs, UVA / Darden, Yale SOM

Intake Year: 2026

Pre-MBA Career: Nuclear Engineer

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting Companies: Accenture , Bain , BCG , McKinsey

GMAT: 740

GPA: 3.3

Years of Work Experience: 5

Location: Canada

Post MBA Location: USA or Middle East

Notes:

Work Experience: Worked 1 year as a process engineer for an Aerospace and Defense company and now work as a radioactive waste management engineer working in nuclear energy with 2.5 years of experience and would have 4.5 years of total work experience by the time I would matriculate.

Goals: Did a few co-ops in water treatment and now work in clean energy and have a passion for environmental solutions. But don't necessarily enjoy technical heavy work and want more towards management side of this. Looking to pivot to strategy consulting, specializing in sustainability.

EC: Community Outreach Executive for Nuclear chapter at my work where I give speeches at elementary schools to promote STEM careers; Communication representative for my Union; some volunteer work with my local food bank and some other small community involvements.

Target: UVA / Duke / Cornell / Yale / Dartmouth
Safety: McCombs / Tepper
Reach: Kelloggs / Booth / Columbia

Does my profile have a shot at this? I have applied to Round 2 for INSEAD but outside of that, will properly apply this fall. Would love any insights/opinions/recommendations!

April 25, 2025 9:04am ET

Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Carnegie Mellon / Tepper, Rice / Jones, UCLA Anderson, USC / Marshall, UT Austin / McCombs, Yale SOM

Intake Year: 2026

Pre-MBA Career: Sales Engineer

Post-MBA Target Industry: Entrepreneurship, Other

GMAT: 728

GPA: 6.1

Years of Work Experience: 4.5

Location: San Francisco Bay Area

Post MBA Location: San Francisco Bay Area

Notes:

I am looking to apply to MBA programs with focus on energy and sustainability. I want to stay in the west coast and I am currently based out of here. Please recommend admission consultants too. The biggest caveat: I am unemployed currently (left my job in Dec 2024 to focus on my passions and figure out long term plans) and currently doing part time unpaid work as a VC scout and in a climate startup.

Profile Snapshot

Demographics: US citizen by birth but grew up in India. Indian female, currently based in SF bay area

Academics: Undergrad from top Indian engineering school (Bachelors of Engineering in EEE) (low GPA) - 6.1

Two research papers in undergrad with 40+ citations currently. Low GPA due to death in family and other problems but have strong ECs and papers in undergrad.

GMAT: 730

Work Experience (4+ years, diverse)

1.5 years at strategic analytics consulting & AI research firm in India – front-office, European clients - Medical devices and FMCG (F500). Title was imagineer (role is mix of business, data and engineering)

0.4 years at another analytics consulting firm – data engineer, FMCG client (TC: 120K) in Austin Texas

2.4 years: Series D startup Agentic AI space. Title Sales engineer in SF, California (GTM role working with enterprise Fortune 50 clients). Two unofficial promotions - no title change but got salary increase of 10k each and unofficial lead sales engineer. (TC - 180K plus options)

Currently unemployed. The AI field left me very concerned, rapid job loss and I was part of the problem among other concerns. I left since I wanted to focus and transition to the energy sector. Currently working with a cleanTech venture firm as VC scout and a sustainability startup. No money. Might start looking for jobs soon

ECs:

Founded Non-profit during undergrad. Still running in my undergrad school

Chief Marketing Officer of my undergrad alma mater in the bay area: organize events with 100k plus is revenue. Lead team of 5 and have one VP under me.

Toastmasters: was ex-VP

Passionate about animals and children education. Donate and fund multiple programs in India.

My strongest value system is giving back to my community hence I want to go into energy and sustainability.

Goals

Short-term: Work in energy startups - Go to Market in CleanTech, P&L or Development roles in public utilities, strategy role in an energy firm

Long-term: PE targeting the energy sector or VC in renewables

Dilemma
Will I get any admits? concerned about low GPA and unemployment.

Would love your views on:

Do I have a realistic shot at (M7 / T10)?

April 24, 2025 7:07pm ET

Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Duke / Fuqua, Harvard Business School, Northwestern / Kellogg, Stanford GSB, UPenn / Wharton

Intake Year: 2026

Pre-MBA Career: LDP into Program Manager (global role)

Post-MBA Target Industry: Pharmaceutical, Entrepreneurship Companies: Amgen , Astra Zeneca , Merck , Roche

GMAT: 685

GPA: 3.2

Years of Work Experience: 3

Location: Bay Area

Post MBA Location: Bay Area or San Diego

Notes:

Haas is part-time. Rest are FT. Curious as what the best option is for both ROI and long-term value.

-Currently make $200k+ TC.
-BS in STEM (3.20) low rank state school
-MS in Management (3.9+) low rank private school
-Good ECs/Volunteering/Hobbies -- Founded an org that is still ongoing. On the private school's alumni relations board.
-Good story for personal statements and interviews. First-gen everything, low income.

Goals (in order of best to worst case):
1) co-founding a startup and running with it (e.g. vc funding, fellowships, etc.)
2) Chief of Staff at a start up --> Head of Dept or C-level
3) Back into another LDP in the area of interest

April 24, 2025 2:12pm ET

Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Columbia, NYU Stern, U. Washington / Foster, UCLA Anderson, UT Austin / McCombs, UVA / Darden

Intake Year: 2026

Pre-MBA Career: Boutique Consulting

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting Companies: Deloitte

GMAT: 700

GPA: 3.91

Years of Work Experience: 3

Location: San Francisco

Post MBA Location: New York

Notes:

Studying for GRE and estimated around 320 in mocks. Is a 320 GRE better than 700 GMAT (classic)?

April 24, 2025 2:08pm ET

Applying: Columbia, Cornell / Johnson, Harvard Business School, MIT Sloan, Northwestern / Kellogg, Stanford GSB, UPenn / Wharton, UVA / Darden

Pre-MBA Career: Pharmaceuticals (specifically in clinical operations)

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Pharmaceutical Companies: BCG , Deloitte , Ernst & Young , Other , Amgen , Johnson & Johnson , Merck , Roche , Other

GPA: 3.5

Location: Northeast

Notes:

3.5 GPA with a B.S. in Molecular Biology from a small, private, non-target school. Graduating in 2025 but I'm looking to apply to a top MBA program in the next 3-5 years. I currently have a role lined up with a top 5 pharmaceutical company in clinical operations but my end goal would be to pivot into strategy or business development at a pharma company or consulting for life sciences. I have already taken GMAT FE (605 score) but I don't count this as I plan to retake and study (ideal score would be 675+, this will hopefully be achievable). If you have any additional advice I can implement in the next 3-5 years it would be greatly appreciated.

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MBA LiveWire

April 28, 2025 11:23am ET

Interview Invite to Michigan State / Broad

Round: Round 4

Received via email on April 08, 2025

Standardized Test: GRE

GPA: 3.1

GRE: 319

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Technology

April 28, 2025 9:38am ET

Waitlisted at U. Chicago Booth

Round: Round 2

Received via portal on March 26, 2025

Standardized Test: GRE

GPA: 2.7

GRE: 333

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Marketing

Application Location: Accra, Ghana

April 28, 2025 9:33am ET

Accepted to Duke / Fuqua

Round: Round 2

Received via phone on March 13, 2025

Standardized Test: GRE

GPA: 2.94

GRE: 330

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Target Career: Marketing

Application Location: Accra, Ghana

April 27, 2025 3:49pm ET

Accepted from Waitlist to London Business School

Round: Round 2

Received via email on April 24, 2025

Standardized Test: GMAT

GMAT: 655

Program Type: Traditional Two-Year

Application Location: Chile

April 26, 2025 9:49am ET

Accepted to Rice / Jones

Round: Round 4

Received via phone on April 21, 2025

Standardized Test: Granted Waiver

GPA: 3.68

Target Career: Consulting

Application Location: Houston, TX

Note:

Applied 4/12/25, 1st interview 4/15/25, 2nd interview 4/16/25

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