Be Yourself. Don't Be Casual. Which Is It?

For years MBA admissions officers have urged applicants to be themselves in the admissions process.  From essays to admissions interviews to interactions at events, admissions officers want to see glimpses of the real applicant, not an act or ideal of what the applicant thinks admissions officers want to see.  We have all heard this advice for years, and most admissions consultants frequently share this same advice with their clients.  “Be yourself,” we say.  “Reveal something about yourself in your application.”  Yet applicants have historically tended to err on the side of being overly formal or being reluctant to share anything that might make them appear less than perfect in admissions officers’ eyes.
 
This “be real” advice from admissions officers is so common that it was interesting to hear a new theme emerge in June’s AIGAC conference: Some applicants have become a little too informal, particularly in admissions interviews and other face-to-face interactions with admissions personnel.  Panel discussion participants including Christine Sneva of Cornell’s Johnson School, Bruce Delmonico of the Yale School of Management, Mary Miller of Columbia Business School, and Mae Jennifer Shores of UCLA Anderson, discussed examples including:

• Overly casual dress
• Unprofessional personal habits such as gum chewing
• Very informal language, including cursing
• Frequently checking one’s phone or sending text messages
• Other unprofessional behavior, such as putting one’s feet up on the interviewer’s desk.

Even more remarkable is that most of the stories told involved applicants meeting with admissions officers in formal settings.  While applicants sometimes wrongly perceive an interview with an alum or a student as an informal discussion and sometimes “let their hair down” a bit too much, it is hard to fathom that admissions officers see this sort of behavior.  (All of the admissions officers at the conference were from business schools, but the lessons they shared are equally applicable to all types of graduate programs.)
 
While these stories still represent the exception rather than the rule for all of the schools in attendance, the clear trend is toward this sort of thing happening more than it did just a few years ago.  Whether it is the result of generational trends—many Generation Y applicants have been exposed to less formal work settings than those who have come before them—or some applicants misinterpreting the “Be Yourself” advice, these applicants clearly do themselves a disservice by acting this way.  MBA admissions officers have enough excellent applicants to choose from that any signs of arrogance or immaturity make it far too easy for them to reject an applicant and look elsewhere for talent.
 
So what advice can an admissions consultant give to help applicants be authentic in the admissions process, yet not come across as overly casual or flippant?  While applicants really should be genuine and reveal a bit about themselves in their interactions with a school, they must remember that applying to an MBA program is not very different from applying for a job—everything about them will be judged.  Just as a job applicant could never put his feet up on an interviewer’s desk and expect to land a job, a business school applicant needs to remember that the admissions interviewer is not just a formality, and that any unprofessional behavior makes it far too easy for an admissions committee to reject that applicant no matter how strong his application is.  When in doubt, an applicant should treat an admissions interview no differently from a job interview.
 
Ultimately, the best litmus test still comes back to common sense.  If an applicant has to ask whether or not a certain behavior is okay, then the answer is probably “no.”  And, if an applicant doesn’t have the common sense or maturity to even ask, then he or she may not yet be ready to apply.
 
By Scott Shrum, Veritas Prep

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Member's Profile: Viktoria P. Pralich, Managing Director at MBA Consult, Moscow

1. What is your background and how did you get into admissions consulting?
I was born in a small Russian town – Veliky Novgorod in the North-West of Russia, not far from St. Petersburg.  I graduated with honors from Novgorod State University’s bilingual division of the Psychology and Pedagogy and was trained to become a psychologist, career consultant and a teacher.  After graduation I was working as a school psychologist and as a junior research associate at the Department of Sociology in my University.  I worked with children (5 to 12 years) and their parents. Consultations were quite a challenge not only because I was a young specialist, but also because I was treating not just the children but the entire family.
 
In 2002 I moved to Moscow and immediately began to work at MBA Consult which was focused on GMAT/TOEFL preparation.  I would like to highlight the contribution of the founder and the owner of our company Vyacheslav Davidenko, a Chicago Booth graduate, who introduced a new consulting direction, built a team of talented professionals, established contacts with top business schools and became my first teacher.  I started as a PR manager and websites editor; I was working closely with the media to promote Western business schools in Russia.  In 2004 I became a Managing Director and currently I am responsible for strategic development including marketing and PR, recruitment and quality improvement for our services and our unique methodology.
 
2. What are a few unique aspects of the Russian market
Moscow represents essentially the whole market.  Considering the size of Russia, we can imagine huge growth opportunities but the majority of the population is not ready from a moral, psychological and financial perspective to apply for Western educational institutions.  Our typical client initially came to Moscow from a province, conquered the capital and built a career here, and now is setting global targets.
 
Another obstacle is a widespread stereotype that if you want to work in Russia, you should study business in Russia, as there are its own rules, laws, approaches.  Russian candidates began to attend Western business schools years ago, but this stereotype is still strong.  Only recently, thanks to the efforts and initiatives of the Russian Harvard Club at the level of President Medvedev and the Russian Government, there is more awareness of studying business abroad.  In 2012, a financial support program is expected to be introduced for international business school graduate programs.  We, as pioneers of the educational movement of that kind in Russia and former Soviet Republics, consider it as a breakthrough that we, certainly, support.
 
The main feature of a Russian candidate is that the admission process in a Western educational institution differs significantly from the one in our country.  We have to teach candidates to analyze themselves, their actions, professional background, make conclusions, and, the most important, to present and position themselves.
 
Among full-time MBA programs top schools are the most preferred ones.  Among ExMBA programs the choice varies from 3 to 5 schools and many top ExMBA programs simply don’t fit for Russian managers due to inconvenient schedules.  Also, Russian ExMBA candidates will always prefer a program that does not require the GMAT.
 
3. Any interesting stories you want to share?
A lot of funny things happen.  We have a joke that if a client wrote “Harvard” in English without any mistakes and pronounced the acronym “GMAT” correctly (there are plenty of variations in Russian and some are quite amusing) – the first step is done.  Of course, we are glad when people who attend our courses find their significant others and get married.  As the saying goes, GMAT is to blame.
 
We work with schools closely and there is nothing better than this vibrant friendly communication – from intimate meetings (5 or 10 participants) to large events with more than 100 guests (when Harvard, Columbia or Stanford arrives).  For the last 4 years we developed a unique series of free of charge seminars on admissions, career building, as well as information sessions and coffee chats with alumni.  Eventually, our candidate doesn’t only prepare for tests; he or she undergoes internal development in order to reach their goals and we implicitly urge them to.
 
4. Who are your typical clients, how long do you work with them.
The application process takes quite a lot of time from a Russian candidate; we work with a client for a year and a half on average.  As I’ve already mentioned, we are a full service company: our clients can start from scratch (without even knowledge of English) and pass through all preparation stages.  I work with candidates at the very first stage – decision making, profile analysis, development of admission strategy, selection of school, supervision at each stage of preparation, motivational support, and, if necessary, adjustment of strategy.  I don’t edit essays or deliver trainings; this is the job of other consultants.  Nevertheless our methodology is unique because we work with a client as a united team, where all members – from TOEFL/GMAT teacher to key consultant – look in the same direction.
 
5. Your favorite thing at work is…
Our team.  And, of course, our clients’ success – from high scores of standardized tests to marriages, job promotions (I strongly believe that – as he or she spends about a year and a half in the atmosphere of “success, highest aspirations, and growth of self-confidence” – it is also our merit).
 
6. Tell me a bit about yourself…
I am a happy person; my job harmoniously combines my hobbies– communication with people, travelling, and organizing events.
 
7. What is your experience with AIGAC?
I would like to thank all founders of AIGAC.  We are inspired by and learn from other members of AIGAC via their books, websites and more. We are really excited to be a part of this organization.
 
By Yael Redelman-Sidi, Admit 1 MBA

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Managing Your Reputation as a Consultant

This year’s AIGAC conference provided a great opportunity for discussion with peers.  Over dinner one evening, our table broached the topic of managing your reputation as a consultant.  As someone with a few years’ experience as a consultant now, I was curious about how actively experienced consultants manage their reputation, both online & offline.  In a world where people provide feedback on YELP for everything from restaurant reviews to, you guessed it, Admissions Consultants, I wondered how many consultants spend time following what is said about them in different forums.   In particular, I was curious about how consultants keep on top of feedback, given the many forums in which it might be shared and how do consultants respond when feedback is provided?
 
To learn more, we reached out to several consultants, a few of whom were willing to share their insights.  Each of the consultants we spoke with indicated that they would really value the perspective of the broader group.  As a result, we would like to continue this dialog in future newsletters and would ask all consultants to take 5 minutes to reply to this quick questionnaire.
 
The most effective way to manage feedback: connect with clients
All of the consultants we spoke with for this article indicated that the most powerful tool in managing their reputation continues to be providing great service to and connecting with clients.  Candy Lee LaBalle, of MBA Spain said it best: “mainly, I focus on keeping all my clients very happy.”  She continued on to say “in my environment, it all comes down to word-of-mouth reputation. For that reason, I treat everyone who contacts me with respect, I answer questions and offer advice freely and I share as much information as I can with the Spanish MBA public.”  She discussed her efforts to maintain a high profile in Spanish MBA forums, providing value-added comments for applicants.
 
Do you track online feedback?
Of the handful of consultants we talked with, there were mixed results when it came to the question of tracking feedback.  Some consultants indicated that they simply do not have time to engage with online forums, and rely on individual client feedback sessions to get real-time feedback.  Another shared a more active approach, making a habit of responding to feedback that is shared online with an immediate offer to re-connect with the applicant who has specific comments.  Yet another mentioned setting up several Google Alerts, to know what is said about their organization in the marketplace.
 
Where do you go to track feedback?
There are a number of portals to help prospective applicants to vet consultants, perhaps the most frequented one at the moment is Admissions 411, with thousands of visits per year (though valuable to note that one consultant believes that most of those visitors are consultants, not prospective applicants)!  While Admissions 411 includes feedback on consultants around the globe, applicants also use local sources for many of our peers outside of the US.  While MBAnavi (a similar site to Admissions 411 in Japan) is no longer active, NiChannel offers specific sub-pages for Education & Teachers and Cram & Prep Schools.  The public nature of feedback could change dramatically if a couple of notable sites, including Beat The GMAT, begin to offer consultant feedback forums.
 
Online feedback opportunities continue to increase
While Beat The GMAT currently offers members of its community the opportunity to provide feedback on GMAT prep companies, it is considering expanding to include feedback on consultants.  Eric Bahn, Founder of Beat The GMAT, identified one critical consideration in this endeavor.  “The single most important aspect of collecting and sharing feedback is verifying the validity of the commenter.  Through our proprietary algorithm, we are confident that anyone who is contributing feedback on GMAT prep companies is real and to date, we have not had any occurrences of comments from people whose validity has been questioned.”  Asked what recourse GMAT prep companies have in the event there is a negative comment, Eric replied “we are absolutely willing to investigate to ensure that the comments come from a real person.  Then, we encourage the companies to respond, if they believe it is necessary.  The coolest part of our community, however, is that it is applicants themselves that often rally and respond, sharing their positive results in the face of a one-off comment about a less-than-satisfactory experience.”  Eric indicated that if Beat The GMAT does offer a forum for Admissions Consultant feedback, they would be equally open to confirming the validity of comments.
 
Your feedback is valuable
We would love your feedback, to learn more about how you manage feedback, both online and offline in your business.  Please respond to our short questionnaire and we will share the results in a future newsletter.
 
By Andrea Sparrey, Sparrey Consulting

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Directors

President, Anna Ivey, Anna Ivey Consulting Inc. Phone: 877-525-4839 Email: aivey@aigac.org  Vice President, Linda Abraham, Accepted.com LLC Phone: 310-815-9553 x101 Email: labraham@aigac.org Treasurer, Claudine Vainrub, EduPlan Phone: 888-588-9111 Email: cvainrub@aigac.org Secretary, Betsy Massar Master Admissions Phone: 415-305-1163 Email: betsy@masteradmissions.com

Ricardo Betti, MBA Empresarial Phone: (5511) 5051-9684 Email: rbetti@aigac.org Graham Richmond, Clear Admit LLC Phone: 215-568-2590 Email: grichmond@aigac.org Irene (Maxx) Duffy, Maxx Associates Phone: 626-256-6225 Email: mduffy@aigac.org Executive Director, Kathy Snelson Phone: 916-446-3670 Email: ksnelson@aigac.org Administrative Assistant, Mary Megarry Phone: 916-446-3670 Email: mmegarry@aigac.org