5 Things To Remember When Applying To Business School

Many people get worried about how to apply to business school. It’s certainly a daunting process, with a lot of steps. However, there are some key things you should remember in order to complete the process successfully.

In this article, we’ll go through the top five things you need to remember when you’re applying to business school. From the important documents you’ll need for your application to how to boost your chances of success, let this be your guide on how to apply to business school.

How to Apply to Business School: 5 Things to Remember

1. Deadlines Are Important

You might think that you have all the time in the world to apply to business school, but deadlines for business programmes are hugely important. Once you’ve chosen the business schools you wish to apply to, pay close attention to their deadlines for applying – they may vary per school.

If you’re applying for an MBA programme, there are usually a few deadlines per year, called rounds. Spaced throughout the year, each round is a chance for your application to be reviewed and a decision made about acceptance. Applying in Round 1 sometimes comes with benefits such as an increased chance of admission, but it means you have to start thinking about your application early.

For Bachelor’s or Master’s degrees, there will likely be different deadlines per year. In many cases, the final deadline will fall in May or June, so you need to have your application ready to go by then at the latest.

2. The GMAT Is Just One Part OF Your Application

Many business schools will require you to have a recent GMAT or GRE score when you apply for a postgraduate programme. These are standardised business school tests that will tell the school if you are prepared for graduate business study.

It’s common to fixate on your GMAT, but remember that it’s just one part of a larger application process. While it’s important to get a good score, it might not be the end of the world if you don’t do as well as you expect. Business schools will evaluate all aspects of your application, including your essays, transcript, and recommendations, in order to make a decision.

If you can, check the average GMAT or GRE scores for the course you are interested in. This will give you a better idea of where you need to aim to increase the likelihood of acceptance. However, don’t neglect the other portions of your application. You should spend as much time preparing your essay answers as you do for revising for the GMAT exam.

3. Why Do You Want To Go To Business School?

The real answer to how to apply to business school? Make it personal. Don’t worry about what you think the admissions team want to see – show them the real you.

Ideally, you want to get as much of your personality and passion across in your essays and personal statement as possible. You want to give the admissions team an insight into who you are and why you want to study business.

So, before you even start writing your personal statement, have a brainstorm. What makes you unique? Do you have a personal reason for going to business school? What about that school in particular made you excited?

The more you focus on your own personal reasons for going to business school in your application, the greater your chance of success.

4. Prepare YouR Documents Early

There are lots of things you’ll have to prepare for your business school application. Part of the process is writing a personal statement or answering essay questions, but there are also a host of documents you’ll need to prepare, too. These might include:

• A CV
• A copy of your degree certificate and transcript, or partial transcript
• English language test scores
• Letter of sponsorship (if needed for visa purposes)

These will all need to be up-to-date documents. In some cases, you may need to contact your university in order to receive some of the documentation (for example, your transcript). Don’t leave this too late to organise; you don’t want to hamper your chances of application success because you forgot to get a copy of your certificate or English language score.

5. Competition is Tough

Finally, if you’re wondering about how to apply to business school, it’s important to remember that competition is tight for schools. At some schools, for instance, there may be upwards of 6.5 applications per programme place.

Success isn’t always guaranteed on your first try, and for many students, it will take multiple applications to be accepted to a school. Don’t be disheartened, though – it doesn’t necessarily mean that you aren’t good enough, just that the school has already filled the classes for the year.

Conclusion

There are lots of stages to applying to business school – it’s undoubtedly a difficult process. However, if you keep these five things in mind, you’ll increase your chances of creating a successful application.

If you’re still deciding which business school to apply to, consider looking at the verified student reviews on the EDUopinions site. This will give you an idea of what it’s like to study at some of Europe’s top business schools, helping you make a better decision.

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