Stanford MBA student, Mahak Garg, wrote two popular articles on MBA Crystal Ball
The avalanche of questions from prospective Stanford MBA aspirants that followed prompted her to write this article.
Since my guest posts at MBA Crystal Ball, I have seen a massive spike in LinkedIn requests. Many of them start with, “Hey Mahak, I read your post on MCB. Congratulations on your admission. I am considering doing an MBA too. Is there a way for us to speak?”
I had been in the same boat as you months back – Cold emailing people and hoping at least some of those who have been admitted to my dream schools will get back to me. And I was by no means an expert at seeking guidance and mentorship in an appropriate manner.
Hence, I am writing this post to list down some best practises around such cold emails to help you receive high response rate. The post is split into 3 major sessions
Receiving many incoming requests, I started seeing a pattern – A pattern on how people would seek request and how that would impact my willingness to help them. I would often put my own judgement aside and try to help as many individuals as possible. I remember how even 10-15 minutes of an admitted student’s time would be incredibly helpful to improve my chances of admission. Below are the most frequent categories of messages I receive –
Needless to say, category one is my favourite. Anyways,as I mentioned earlier, I would try my best not to be biased by the initial message and give everyone a fair chance. However, after helping a couple of people, I realised that this is not sustainable for two reasons –
I had to find out a way to filter these requests. After some thinking, I found a simple solution. Whosoever would message me over LinkedIn, I would write exactly the same response
Hi X, Thank you for reaching out. Please email your specific questions to me on …
This was magical. Less than 30% of all people who would reach out on LinkedIn would follow up on email with their questions. This instantly solved both my problems.
People who would email me had thought well through their questions and second now there were much fewer people who I had to guide. I would make sure to set up a call with each of these people who would email methere questions.
Moving on to some things I have seen critical when seeking help. I try to implement these when I seek mentorship for myself too –
I was sure I want to only complete my higher education in US. I had experienced the country first hand through various visits to my brother who was in States for 6 years. Within US, some criteria I used –
Frankly, I did not put in a lot of thought as I was quite rushed myself when applying.
Million dollar question! Unfortunately, I haven’t had the pleasure of working at the ad coms and hence the admissions process is as much of a black box to me as it is to you. I really do not know what part of my application got me here and I would hate to misguide anyone based on my assumptions alone.
For several good colleges, companies such as Prodigy finance offer 100% loans, without any collateral and without any co-signers. For the second question, it is up to your individual risk-taking appetite. In my opinion, an MBA is a life long investment whose benefits are many.
There are too many to cover here – life on campus, academics, culture, social scene, internship, jobs. I’ll cover this in a separate article.
Wishing you all luck! The journey may seem long and gruelling. But it is worth it!!
Related articles:
– Harvard MBA vs Stanford GSB vs Wharton MBA: Which one is right for you?
– Indian student gets into Stanford MBA with full scholarship
– Wharton MBA admit in Round 2 for Indian student with low GMAT score
– What Stanford GSB looks for in MBA applicants
– How to get into Stanford University for undergrad
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5 Comments
Hi,
I m rakshit. I have 23 backlogs in my undergraduation from VIT university. I have 3 years of work ex in the IT industry. Do i stand a chance of getting an interview call from the admission committee of top B schools in the US. My Gmat mocks are hovering in between 74o – 760
Greetings Sir. Im currently doing my undergrad in BCOM. Joining Harvard has always been a dream for me. once I complete my undergrad, what would you suggest me to do before applying Harvard for MBA, which will give me a better shot at it.
1) Should I do GMAT?
2) should I get good scores in my college semesters?
Thanks and Cheers
I have completed my bachelors in electronics and telecommunications from pune university last year. I have done 1 year internship during degree and have 6 months of work experience after and right now I am working with friends in own firm. I want to pursue career in management fields viz. engineering management, project management or MBA is admitted in good university. Can you recommend me any particular course and and good universities. I am taking my GRE and IELTS next month.
sir i have just graduated in be cse 58% from chandigarh university and i want to do an mba ..i have no experience..there is a 2+2 program in many universites can i get into that
@Rakshit: That’s a lot of backlogs, buddy! You’d need to explain what happened there (in your optional essay), and hope Adcoms find it convincing enough to overlook. Read this: https://www.mbacrystalball.com/blog/2015/04/13/managing-low-academic-grades-gpa-mba-applications/
@Amruth: Here’s how to get into Harvard Business School: https://www.mbacrystalball.com/blog/2016/01/18/how-to-get-into-harvard-business-school/
@kartik: This should help you get started: https://www.mbacrystalball.com/blog/2016/02/12/master-of-engineering-management-mem-vs-mba/
@manish: Hee’s more on the 2+2 program at Harvard: https://www.mbacrystalball.com/blog/2016/02/01/hbs-harvard-22/