Business Management - Graduate Study MBA Master of Business Administration

Apply Effectively: The strongest candidates competing to gain admission into business schools are very focused on their intended career paths. They are reasonably clear about what is needed to get there and what it takes to be successful. Are you one of those people? Can you compete favorably in the applicant pool?
Your investment in an US MBA starts with the application process. Because of application costs, time and effort required to prepare applications, you will want to limit the number of schools to which you apply.
It takes time to prepare a solid application, and it can be expensive to apply to many schools. Don’t spread yourself too thin. There are more than 1,500 graduate management programs worldwide, but only a portion will be a good match for any candidate. To help keep applications manageable, narrow your list to between five and seven schools that have the curricular strength, culture and program philosophy that will meet your educational and professional needs. Be sure to include at least one school that you believe you are more than qualified to attend on the basis of your work experience, test scores and academic performance. Also include your dream school.
Your best chance of making the right decisions and getting into a good university without drilling a hole in your pocket is to take professional help. Make sure you have a free counseling session with Prof. Ganesh Kohli before you take a final decision.

Your GMAT Scores: The GMAT measures basic verbal, mathematical and analytical writing skills that you have developed over a long period of time in your education and work. It does NOT measure:
-your knowledge of business
-your job skills
-specific content in your undergraduate or first university course work
-your abilities in any other specific subject area
-subjective qualities—such as motivation, creativity, and interpersonal skills
The GMAT consists of three main parts, the Analytical Writing Assessment, Quantitative section and Verbal section. The Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA) consists of two separate writing tasks—Analysis of an Issue and Analysis of an Argument. You are allowed 30 minutes to complete each one. Quantitative Section of the GMAT contains 37 multiple-choice questions of two question types—Data Sufficiency and Problem Solving. You will be allowed a maximum of 75 minutes to complete the entire section. Verbal Section of the GMAT contains 41 multiple choice questions of three question types—Reading Comprehension, Critical Reasoning, and Sentence Correction. You are allowed a maximum of 75 minutes to complete this entire section.
Your GMAT score is an invaluable tool for admission professionals. Since the applicants come from different countries, cultures, academic backgrounds and levels of work experience, hence GMAT gives admissions professionals one element of the application that is a consistent measure. The GMAT is given under standard conditions around the world, with the highest level of security to ensure that scores are comparable across applicants. Hence sound preparation so as to attain a good test score can certainly increase your chances of getting into your dream business school.
For more details on the GMAT test, click here.

Academic Records: An MBA is, in fact, an academic degree and requires academic skills. The last thing an admissions officer wants is to offer you a place in a class and then have you not perform well.
MBA programs require applicants to have sixteen years of education and will expect you to provide transcripts from all the schools you attended.
Do yourself a favor and contact your institutions early in the application process so you will know how to get a transcript and how long it takes. You wouldn’t want the lack of a transcript to hold up processing of your application. There is no standard or preferred graduate major for applicants to graduate management programs. In fact, most schools are looking for people from all kinds of backgrounds to provide diversity.
Admissions professionals will review your academic record to help them predict your performance in graduate business school. When they assess your academic performance, admissions staff will consider your graduate work, including course work that took place outside a college/university program. Be sure to provide transcripts of all course work as part of your application. Admissions staff may weigh your most recent work more heavily as a measure of your aptitude and maturity as a prospective student.

Essays: Most schools require at least one essay with each application. The essay is your opportunity to present a clear picture of yourself, your motivations and your abilities. It also offers an important example of your written communication skills. The best application essays not only answer the question as asked, they also reflect your “voice”.
Your essay should articulate how attributes of the school to which you are applying fit with your abilities and interests. This will show that you have done thorough research and self-assessment. You should also explain your interest in a particular course of study, as well as its relevance to your post - MBA career plans.

Essays School should:
-always answer the questions asked
-be reasonably specific
-be concise (stay within the word limit if one is given)
-reinforce the other parts of your application
-address the particular school and program in question
An essay enables you to articulate your viewpoints, goals and experience and helps tie together your application as a coherent representation of who you are, what you have to offer, and what you hope to gain from a graduate management program.
At KIC, this is the key area where you have help available. Often the essay is more important than your test scores.

Work Experience: Unlike many other graduate programs, most business schools expect their applicants to have work experience. Because companies increasingly want to hire people who have an MBA work ex, the people typically admitted to graduate business schools are older and have more significant leadership experience than those admitted in the past. The average age of a first-year MBA student is 28 years old. Just 10 years ago, it was 25.
Work experiences provide rich subject matter for an MBA program. It is much easier to teach concepts and approaches to solving business problems to students who have had some experience in the business world. Courses in many business schools rely heavily on class participation and group work. The more experience you have in a business environment, the more you will be able to contribute. In measuring the value of your experience, admissions professionals will look carefully for evidence of results and accomplishments. Make sure the resume / CV or work summary you provide in your application focuses on results rather than the activities themselves. Evidence of leadership, project management and other management skills are also helpful.

Letters of Recommendation: Meaningful recommendations provide specific information that demonstrates your ability to excel in both an MBA program and a business or professional career. Recommendations are important to:
-confirm or elaborate on your credentials, strengths, and aspirations
-help business schools develop a consistent overall impression of a candidate
Recommendations from employers and work colleagues for an MBA program can provide specific information about your work experience, which can be a major factor in admissions decisions. Each program requires a specific number of recommendation letters, usually two or three. Do not exceed that number without prior agreement from the admissions staff. More is not considered better. Admission staffs appreciate it when applicants follow instructions and supply only the information requested.

Interviews: Interview policies vary from school to school. Some programs require one. Others grant interviews by invitation only, while still others do not offer interviews at all. Be sure you understand interview requirements and how your interview will be used in the application process.
Even if an interview is not required, it can be a great way to gain firsthand information about the school’s environment, facilities, students and faculty. That knowledge can help you make an informed decision later on.
A personal interview is also an excellent opportunity for you to demonstrate your interpersonal skills to admissions staff.

Extracurricular Activities: Your ability to lead and work with others and your interest in life outside professional pursuits provide valuable insights into who you are. Extracurricular activities can be great places to showcase yourself.
Emphasize activities that show multitasking, well-roundedness and leadership. A person with a reasonable academic performance who accomplished a lot outside of class may be viewed as well as (or more favorably than) someone with a perfect academic performance and nothing else to show for his or her time. This is also a great way for a candidate with less work experience to demonstrate skills that were developed in a university but have not been fully utilized in the workplace yet. Schools want to know not only how well you do in school but also how successful you are in the “real world”.