Typical Early Career Profiles - Stanford GSB

According to Stanford GSB at http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/mba/admission/college_seniors.html.

College Seniors

We will offer admission to college seniors who present superior academic credentials and outstanding evidence of leadership potential through extracurricular and community activities. If you are a college senior and feel you would benefit from obtaining full-time work experience before enrolling, you may defer enrollment for one or two years. The Committee on Admissions also may offer deferred admission to college seniors whom they feel would better contribute, grow, and learn in the MBA Program after obtaining full-time work experience.

Qualities Stanford Seeks in Undergraduate Applicants

• Extensive leadership demonstrated through activities, research, or work experiences.  
• Superb academic credentials
• Maturity and self-confidence
• An ability to articulate why you wish to attend business school now

Consider attending business school immediately following your university program if:

• You feel ready to pursue your MBA.
• Your academic background, extracurricular experiences, summer work experiences and personal aspirations, combined with an MBA, will put you on a managerial career track.
• You know you want to pursue a career path such as marketing, sales, finance, or general management in which an MBA could provide you the opportunity to develop valuable skills, gain knowledge and a competitive advantage.

Advice for Undergraduate Applicants

• Take the GMAT or GRE in your junior or early in your senior year.
• Pursue opportunities for independent research, such as lab work, seminars, and theses.  
• Take courses in mathematics—such as calculus, microeconomics, or statistics—to strengthen your quantitative exposure.
• Take an accounting course to understand the language of business.
• Take logic courses—such as computer programming, philosophy, and physics—to refine your analytical capabilities.
• Read the Wall Street Journal, Economist, and Financial Times to understand the business environment and learn about industries, careers, and organizations.
• Explore professional pursuits through challenging summer internships. Cultivate strong relationships with supervisors and mentors, and seek out opportunities to learn new skills and knowledge.
• Investigate different careers to refine your goals. Sites like WetFeet offer a wealth of information about organizations and professional fields. Talk to friends, or relatives who work in your field of interest.
• Even if you intend to enroll in an MBA program directly after graduation, participate in your college’s recruiting process to learn about careers, organizations and industries. It’s smart to have options.

Typical Early Career Profiles - Chicago Booth

Below you will find the suggested admissions criteria posted by Chicago Booth at http://www.chicagobooth.edu/. I will discuss this post and Stanford's post later in the week (Stanford's suggestions will be uploaded immediately following this post).

Chicago Booth
Early Career Applicant Profiles

Admissions Criteria for Applicants in Final Year of College

• Quality work experience (such as summer internships, full or part time work experience or an entrepreneurial spirit).
• Competitive GPA (3.3 or higher on 4.0 scale); while there is no minimum GPA to be considered for admission to Chicago Booth, it is important for the Admissions Committee to know that you'll be ready for the rigor of our classroom experience.
• Competitive GMAT score; Chicago Booth doesn't have a minimum requirement for the GMAT, but does use the results of the exam to evaluate your potential for success in a graduate-level business program, especially with regard to your quantitative and verbal skills.
• Strong extracurricular involvement or student leadership role(s) during college; Chicago Booth values community involvement, as well as leadership skills. A past record of involvement is a good indication that you'll get involved as an MBA student too.
• Intellectual curiosity as evidenced by courses taken in college; our belief is that diversity of education makes for a richer classroom experience and Chicago Booth welcomes students from all college or university majors. We're also interested in knowing if you ventured outside your “comfort zone” and challenged yourself by taking a rigorous course load.
• Strong personal and professional recommendations, including one from an internship supervisor and one from a professor (two letters are required, but three are preferred). These third party endorsements demonstrate your ability to work well in a team setting and can attest to your level of engagement in the classroom. They also serve to highlight your motivation and dedication, as well as comment on the decision to apply to an MBA program upon college graduation.
• Demonstration of the ability to question the status quo, engage in the process of learning, and thrive on an academic challenge. This can be seen in your course selection, letters of recommendation and the personal interview.
• Personal maturity as evidenced by recommendations, essays, and the personal interview.
• Ability to talk about why you want to get an MBA now. As an Early Career candidate, it is important to articulate why entering business school prior to obtaining full time post-graduate work experience makes sense for your career and life plans.

Admissions Criteria for Applicants with One to Three Years of Full-Time Work Experience

• Quality full-time work experience, including opportunities for promotion, supervision or other leadership in your company.
• Competitive GPA (3.3 or higher on 4.0 scale); if you've completed additional classes or certificates, be sure to add this to your application, highlighting your readiness to perform in a rigorous MBA program
• Competitive GMAT score.
• Leadership role(s) during college and/or in current outside organizations; use your application to highlight both your recent involvement (volunteer work, athletic clubs, etc.) and your most important college or university-related experiences.
• Intellectual curiosity as evidenced by your work, hobbies and by taking current classes or certificate programs.
• Strong letters of recommendation (one must be from a current or past supervisor who can talk about why entering an MBA program at this point in your career makes sense).
• Demonstration of the ability to question the status quo, engage in the process of learning, and thrive in an academically challenging setting.
• Top performance at work, getting noticed by supervisors as having above average potential. While this will mostly come from your letters of recommendation, be sure to highlight your own successes in your essays or resume.
• Personal maturity.
• Ability to talk about your desire to enroll in an MBA program now; this could include, but is not limited to, a natural break in your career path, as well as the desire to switch careers after a few years in an industry.

Why Do I Want an MBA?

After rereading my last post, I realized that I did not explain why I wanted an MBA degree, especially since I am in graduate school. First, let me discuss my academic background.

When I first entered college, I was a biology major. I was successful in the academics (4.0 GPA), but after completing an internship in the field my freshman year, I realized that a career in the sciences was not right for me; it lacked extensive creativity. After completing this internship, I began my first self-analysis of what made me happy (but, now looking in retrospect, I did not spend enough time on this task), and decided to pursue graphic design and advertising. I finished with a B.S. in Media Studies with Certificates in the Honors College, Writing and Advertising. From that point, and when reviewing my career goals, I realized I needed to pursue MBA and MFA degrees. But, I also knew I needed more experience within my field of advertising and marketing as well as the opportunities to show initiative and my managerial capabilities within the professional setting. So, I decided to pursue a M.A. in Communication and Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Organization Leadership and Management while occupying the role of Marketing and Assessment Graduate Assistant in the Office of Admissions. Also, being a mother of twin boys, I knew that pursuing an MA while working will show the Adcom that I am mature and can handle the rigor of a prestigious program.

Why I want an MBA?
Overall, I would like to be a serial entrepreneur with a final career of being a Dean of a Art + Business Hybrid Program. I am very much an artist and an advocate for art education and careers in art. Therefore, all of my careers have to do with this passion. My short-term career goals consist of starting  my non-profit, Artfessionals Institute, and for-profit, New Pencils Magazine.
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The purpose of the "Artfessionals Institute" is to train young aspiring artists from disadvantaged communities, and to provide resources to K-12 art classrooms. Many schools within low-income communities have eliminated art from the curriculum, ultimately, not providing students with a well-rounded education. Also, students that have a passion for art are deterred from following their desired career path because a career in art has been defined by society as a “deadbeat career.” “Artfessional Institute” will be the combating strategy against these accepted norms, and will include the principles of leadership, entrepreneurship and sustainability within the curriculum.
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My long-term goals consist of becoming the principal of my own graphic design firm, starting/curating a graphic design art gallery, university teaching in entrepreneurship and graphic design and committing myself to a one to two year research/artistic world tour to learn about international design and how they differ (potential for Fulbright). And, my fall back plan is to work as a creative marketer while developing my ventures to be self-standing.

I believe that entering a full-time MBA program immediately following the obtainment of another degree is the correct decision because the knowledge, technical abilities and network that I would gain from an MBA would benefit in my career progression and short-term career goals. Ultimately, a MBA would make me a more efficient serial entrepreneur, manager and business/art educator. Although my ideas and passions align with influential business leaders and philanthropists, I currently lack the skills and social network to turn these ideas into fruition; an MBA degree would assist in this.

In the next posts, I will discuss the guidelines set forth by Chicago Booth and Stanford GSB for early career applicants and how these requirements can be transferred to applications to other universities.

Welcome to Your Early Career Application Guide!

Okay. So you're probably wondering, "what is the purpose of this blog?" I have been doing my due diligence on MBA and MFA programs for over a year, and I have seen the same things:  work experience needed, we will accept you straight from your undergrad as long as you meet these requirements..., and early career applicants encouraged (particularly Stanford GSB, Chicago Booth and Washington University Olin). But, what I have not seen are strong support and examples for early career applicants to feel comfortable in applying. How do I make myself standout in a positive fashion compared to applicants that have work experience? How can I articulate my passion and potential success in their program? And, that is the purpose of this blog.

Arguably, Seasonable Applicant will focus on my applying to MBA and MFA programs. Although I have been out of undergrad for almost 2 years, I am still considered an early career applicant because of my lack of full-time work experience. I have a moderate to strong work background with internships every year since freshman year and some full year programs, but because none of it is classified in full-time experience, I am an early bird.

My goals for this blog are to provide tips, writing examples, school spotlights, personal insights and recommendations by admission committees and previous graduates. I want this blog to be your 24/7 resource guide. And, although I am the writer for this testament, I am not claiming to know all of the answers because I do not. I am just trying to provide FREE assistance to my fellow applicants.

When considering if I should wait to construct this blog (taken that I have yet to apply to any programs, and are beginning the application processes now), I decided that I wanted my constituents to follow my path with me. I want you to learn with me. I will be as transparent as possible when providing my highs and my lows, and, hopefully, my acceptance to MBA and MFA programs. I know myself, as well as others, feel that this is the right time to apply to these programs, but our job is to convince the adcoms of this revelation. We will assist each other in this process.

Additionally, the other focus of this blog would be the discussing of scholarship and fellowship opportunities, and how early career applicants should try to differentiate themselves from the other applicants when applying for funding. Coming straight from undergrad or, in my case, graduate school, we really do not have the funds to finance our post-graduate paths. So, we have to work 200% harder to finance our education. You will follow me on this path as well.

For future purposes, below you will find a list of the schools I am currently considering for my MBA program:

University of Chicago-Booth School of Business (http://www.chicagobooth.edu/); DREAM PROGRAM
Washington University in St. Louis-Olin Business School (through Consortium; http://www.cgsm.org/)
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor-Stephen M. Ross School of Business (through Consortium; http://www.cgsm.org/)
Loyola University Chicago-Graduate School of Business (http://www.gsb.luc.edu/)
Depaul University-Kellstadt Graduate School of Business (http://kellstadt.depaul.edu/)
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign-College of Business at Illinois (http://www.mba.illinois.edu/)

And, my very tentative list of MFA programs to which I am applying (in 2013) includes:

School of Art Institute of Chicago (http://www.saic.edu/); DREAM PROGRAM
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor-School of Art and Design (http://www.art-design.umich.edu/); Contingent on if I attend Ross for my MBA studies
Columbia College Chicago (http://www.colum.edu/)
University of Illinois-Chicago-School of Art + Design (http://adweb.aa.uic.edu/web/)

As you can see, I have a lot of hard work in store, and hopefully you will join me for the adventure!