If your 2023–2024 MBA applications were not successful, don’t despair! Take a little time to absorb the disappointment. After all, you spent significant time and effort in crafting these applications. As soon as you are able, however, focus on the future. Many MBA candidates are successful in their subsequent applications! Here are six tips to follow to help you achieve your desired results next year:
1. Reflect and rework your application.
Do not take any of this personally—a rejection from a program is not a rejection of you as a person or the potential for your career. View it objectively as you would a self-assessment of your strengths and weaknesses. Review your key stats—test scores, GPA, and work experience—relative to the class profile. Although most MBA programs will not offer feedback on a denied application, some might. If you have developed a good relationship with anyone in admissions, reach out during the somewhat slower season of April through June and you may be able to glean further insight about your application. You also could conduct your own “ding analysis” by reviewing your application through the lens an admissions team uses in considering your application. Could your goals have been stated more clearly? Did you show evidence of impact in your leadership? Did you demonstrate specific knowledge about the MBA program in your application? Once you have identified the weakest part of your profile, focus on improving it before reapplying.
2. Confirm reapplicant requirements.
Check with each school to determine how it defines a reapplicant and what is required in a subsequent application. Some schools will consider you a reapplicant only if you were denied admission in the previous year, while others classify you as a reapplicant if you ever applied to their program. The essay requirements can also vary. Some schools such as Northwestern Kellogg ask you to write new essays and require an additional essay in which you explain how you have grown since your last application. Meanwhile, Columbia Business School considers you a reapplicant if you apply within 12 months of your prior application, and the school is very reapplicant friendly in requiring you to write only one new essay in which you describe how you have grown since your last application. Harvard Business School (HBS), on the other hand, has no specific requirements for reapplicants.
3. Improve your weaknesses.
If your GMAT score could be stronger, retake the test—although now you will need to take the GMAT Focus Edition! If you cannot achieve a score within the middle 80% range (you may want to look at this concordance table from GMAC to help you understand how GMAT Focus scores compare to the old GMAT scores), consider taking the GRE or even the Executive Assessment (EA) if your target program accepts these exams. If you do not think testing is the best way to demonstrate your readiness for an MBA program, research business schools that accept test waivers. If your undergraduate grades were poor or you lack quantitative readiness, take a quant class for academic credit or consider enrolling in a program such as MBA Math. And if leadership is a weak area for you, take the initiative to deepen your impact and engagement in the organizations that matter most to you—both inside and outside of work. Look for ways to connect the dots between your community engagement and your career goals.
4. Show the love.
Connect with each target school to learn more about its offerings. Use this extra time to get to know the program better and develop more compelling reasons why it is right for you. Attend online webinars, reach out to student ambassadors, and look for opportunities to visit schools in person. MBA programs can track your engagement as you sign up for and attend various events, so continuing to engage with them is a way for schools to see your continued interest. In addition, make connections with officers in clubs of interest to you and build a network of advocates to demonstrate your deep commitment. Schools want to admit people who want to attend their program. When an admissions officer checks your file and sees your regular engagement, they have some concrete evidence of your ongoing interest in the program.
5. Review your recommender strategy.
When creating a new application as a reapplicant, share new information about yourself. If a different recommender can offer new information about your work impact, consider asking that person to become a recommender to add this fresh perspective to your reapplication. If you decide to keep the same recommenders because they are still your biggest champions, be sure that they share new information about your growth and impact since your last application.
6. Start fresh with essays.
Resist the urge to recycle previous essays. Even if the essay questions have not changed, you should have additional professional and community experience to share in your new essays. One of the fastest routes to the ding pile is to submit last year’s essays without including any new insights. Demonstrate your growth as a candidate in every part of the application by updating your resume, adding new work accomplishments to your essays, and continuing to build your knowledge of the program through ongoing engagement.
Although you cannot control what happened in the past, you have absolute control over how you approach the reapplication process. Let last year’s rejection strengthen you in your goal of gaining a spot in your dream MBA program. Although HBS does not release these stats every year, a 2015 Poets&Quants article reported that reapplicants constituted ten percent of HBS’s class that year! Let this offer you some hope that many students who have been rejected the first time do indeed find success in a future year. Why not you?
The time to start again is NOW! Take this opportunity to build a new chapter with a happy ending. Our team of experienced Stratus MBA admissions counselors would be glad to discuss your MBA profile in a free consultation.