Football legend Pele once said, “No individual can win a game by himself.” In the metaphorical game of MBA applications, your team members are the different people you network with, who play a “behind the scenes” role in making you win in the fiercely competitive MBA application process.
Networking does not come naturally to most people. However, it’s a key skill needed all through your MBA journey and beyond. So, applicants should try to overcome their hesitation of networking during their MBA application journey and hone this skill for future benefits.
Why is networking important?
Connecting with current students and alumni over their b-school experiences helps you to get direct perspective from people who have been in the shoes you wish to soon wear. They can address questions about their B-school’s curriculum, extra-curricular activities and clubs, recruitments and career services, and the community environment in general. This is valuable information for developing an informed opinion about the B-school and understanding your fit.
Moreover, the insights you glean from these discussions can help you write more personalized essays. And, which adcom member would not feel delighted to read well-researched essays among a vast pool of generic ones?
Your networking effort will help you all the way up to your interviews and later, when you have to decide between MBA programs, should you be lucky to have multiple admits. During the interview, you will likely get asked if you connected with students and alumni. You may even be asked how you will contribute to a business school. The information you gather from your network can help you come up with a winning answer. Once at business school, you will need to build a professional network for bagging internships and job opportunities. How to go about this could be the topic of another blog article.
Who should be in your MBA admissions network?
Connect with current students, alumni, admissions team members and possibly, the career services staff. Talking to multiple people will help you learn about different elements of business school. Here’s solid advice from Vita Wu, an MBA student who wrote on the Darden MBA blog: “Try to talk to at least three students at the schools you’re considering. If possible, reach out to students who are different from each other (background, recruiting, involvement, etc.) but have a perspective you’re interested in learning more about”.
As all b-schools ask about your post-MBA career plans, you should gain clarity on them by talking to professionals who have a career trajectory that you desire for yourself. Network with these industry professionals to understand how their career has progressed, what is their job description, what is the eligibility for their role? Specifically, does their position require an MBA?
How should you network?
There are several ways you can network with B-school staff, students, and alumni.
1. Campus visits – Every year B-schools publish dates on which applicants can visit their campuses and get a real feel of the MBA experience. This is one of the best ways to get a first-hand view of the B-school. During these visits, you can participate in multiple activities – you can tour the main buildings, attend a class, go for a coffee chat, meet current students, and attend info sessions with the admissions teams.
Some B-schools let you select from a range of classes based on your interests and availability of the class. You may also be able to attend certain club events or industry conferences.
Applicants will benefit most from these campus visits if they have done some level of preparation. Now what could this preparation entail? Firstly, you should sign up for event alerts and continue checking b-school websites to ensure you don’t miss out on campus visit dates. Register on time as spots can fill up and you may also need to manage logistics like flights and hotels. Secondly, fix meetings with student ambassadors and other students. While contact details of student ambassadors can be accessed through the website, use LinkedIn to connect with and set up meetings with students whose profiles interest you. Making prior appointments will ensure you maximize your b-school visit.
While interacting with students, remember that no one likes to answer dull and basic questions. Do your prep about the program, life on campus, and job opportunities before your visit campus and ask students relevant questions for which their individual perspective matters. While students may have no say in your admission decision, they may agree to put in an endorsement if they have an engaging discussion with you and think you are someone who would be a good addition to their b-school. So, do set the right impression on them.
Are campus visits a must? While it’s desirable that you make the trek, adcoms understand that it’s not possible for every applicant, and they will not hold it against you if you can’t visit. Neither would they give you brownie points if you do visit the campus. More than anything, a visit will help you understand the business school and its environment.
There are other ways to network B-schools and so let’s move on.
2. Virtual events: B-schools regularly hold webinars and online info sessions. At the end of these is a Q&A session in which you can ask specific questions. Some of these info sessions have break-out rooms with a smaller number of prospective applicants, where you can ask personal questions. Sometimes b-schools also arrange for one-on-one sessions with applicants, and these are great for building a connection with the adcom members.
You can also attend virtual or in-person specialized events that cater to a group of applicants, such as those interested in a specific industry (for example- healthcare, private equity), have a specific background (for example- women, minority, veterans) or belong to one country (for example- India, Brazil). These events have a mix of students, career services team and admission committee members. Attending these will give you a starting point for building a network in your special area of interest. You can also connect with other MBA applicants through these.
3. Events in your city: Admissions committee members have the exciting opportunity to travel across the world and meet applicants in their countries. At the start of new application cycles, b-schools organize info sessions in different cities across the world. Here, you can expect a general info session followed by one-on-one discussions with adcom members. These events are an excellent way of meeting with people who matter the most (adcom) without the trouble of visiting campus. Sometimes, alumni also drop in for these events and you can exchange business cards with them.
4. MBA Fairs: Other than their own events, B-schools also meet students through MBA fairs organized by other companies. Here, you can meet with several B-schools all under one roof. When attending these, find out if b-schools are offering one-on-one sessions with adcom members and register yourself before spots run out.
5. LinkedIn research: What can be better than building your network through LinkedIn? Here, you can connect with students and alumni from your target B-schools. You can customize your network by connecting with MBAs who may be from your undergrad institute or whose career paths interest you. We recommend you reach out to 7-10 people on Linkedin. If you can have discussions with 3-5 people, it should provide you with a lot of information and different perspectives about your target B-schools. Here is more advice from a Darden eMBA blog: “Spend some time investigating target roles and companies (on LinkedIn, for example). Review the job descriptions and requirements. Do they say “MBA-required” or “MBA-preferred?” Check out the profiles of people in the kinds of roles that interest you. What is their background? Do they have an MBA? If so, from what school? This research can help provide some helpful market context to your more anecdotally oriented efforts”.
Note that certain MBA programs such as London Business School ask you through an essay if you have connected with their students and alumni. We believe that if you don’t have a solid answer to this question, it can negatively impact your candidacy.
To sum up, consider networking as an ongoing process in your quest to land the right MBA program. You will gain a skill for a lifetime.