MBA Admissions Tip: Know Your Audience
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 ever asking a fundamental question:
Who will read my MBA application?
While the answer to this question may vary from school to school, one thing is certain: It is unlikely that the person reading your MBA application will have an intimate level of familiarity with your specific industry or job function. In fact, admissions readers at some schools have spent their careers in higher education and have never worked in the for-profit realm.
Why does this matter?
The bottom line here is that if you use industry-specific jargon throughout your application – or even just assume that the reader has prior knowledge of your field – you’re likely to lose them.
Even if the admissions reader is familiar with your field, they’ll be using your application materials to gauge how well you’ll be able to explain your work and background to classmates who aren’t. Drawing on their past experience in class discussions is a key way that students contribute to each other’s learning during an MBA program. But if you aren’t able to share your insights in a way that your peers from other professional backgrounds can readily understand, this affects the amount of value you’re able to add.
Writing for All Audiences
As you’re writing about your experiences throughout your application, imagine that you’re explaining your work to a friend who works in a different field. While this is easier said than done, it underlines the importance of sharing your materials with an unbiased adviser (ideally not a work colleague or family member) to make sure that you aren’t off-base with some of your assumptions.
It’s also important to keep the big picture in mind. Many applicants get so focused on the details of their own work and role that they forger to provide enough background and context for an outsider to understand how their efforts fit into the success of their larger department or organization as a whole. To ensure that a reader fully appreciates your impact, you need to set the scene.
Clear Admit Resources
For some extra resources on how to perfect your application, read our Essay Topic Analyses for each school and interviews with admissions committee members. Visit the Clear Admit shop for our Strategy Guides and Interview Guides, which provide added insight into all aspects of the admissions process.
MBA Admissions Academy
Episode 5: Understanding Your Admissions Reader
MBA Applywire
I am hoping to begin my Transactional practice at an Am200 Law firm and then transition into my MBA to look for PE/VC opportunities
I'm an international MBA applicant from Peru with approximately 7 years of experience in M&A and corporate finance across the energy, consumer goods, and financial advisory sectors.
I hold a B.S. in Economics from Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos (UNMSM), where I graduated in the top third of my class with a GPA of 14.2/20.
I started my career in Deal Advisory at KPMG, followed by M&A and Corporate Venture Capital at Alicorp. I'm currently an M&A Associate at Luz del Sur, a leading Peruvian electricity utility, where I've worked on renewable energy acquisitions totaling approximately US$780M, including wind and solar assets. My experience spans valuation, financial modeling, due diligence, transaction structuring, and SPA negotiations.
Outside work, I'm involved with NetvalU, a nonprofit helping public university students pursue careers in finance.
**Post-MBA Goals:** My primary goal is to transition into Private Equity, ideally focusing on energy, infrastructure, or energy transition investments in the US or Europe. I'm particularly interested in infrastructure funds and investment platforms focused on acquiring, developing, and managing energy assets. Alternatively, I would consider Investment Banking, particularly within Power & Utilities, Energy, or Infrastructure coverage groups, as a pathway toward a long-term career in investing.
I'd appreciate feedback on my competitiveness for top MBA programs, particularly considering my international background, academic record, and professional experience. I'm especially interested in understanding how realistic a direct transition into PE or infrastructure investing would be, which schools provide the strongest opportunities in this space, and whether my target school list is appropriately balanced.
Thanks in advance for your insights!
Ethical technology transformation within banking
Hi Alex & Graham!
I'm considering applying to UK business schools for next year, with a focus on LBS. Here are some notes on my profile:
I did my undergraduate degree in quantitative economics and political sciences at a global top 50 university, and I supported myself through university with part-time jobs while being active in on-campus clubs and societies, which explains my under-achieving GPA.
I then joined PwC where I did operational management consulting for Australian (and some international) corporate clients, achieving a promotion to Senior Consultant ahead of the typical schedule.
I then moved to a large commercial airline, where I became an internal consultant getting involved in many different projects each with individual accountability and outcomes achieved. This led to four promotions in three years, with my latest promotion taking on multiple direct reports of junior internal consultants.
For extracurriculars, I'm involved in my university impact consulting club which I was a president of, and return often to mentor the new class each year.
I'm doing the MBA to pivot into MBB Consulting in the UK, where I want to develop my strategy and value-creation capability in a global setting with a long-term ambition of becoming a Chief Transformation Officer in the industrials / consumer goods sectors.
I'm relatively confident in my ability to get into the UK schools I mentioned, but the full sticker price of the MBA is still a shock. What would make my profile stand out for scholarships?
A higher GMAT? I feel I have left some points on the table here and intend to re-sit the exam before I submit my Round 2 application.
Do I create competitive tension by applying to more schools? Perhaps INSEAD or an M7 (say, Columbia or Kellogg).