Reapplying To Business School: What You Need To Know

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Tips For Reapplying to MBAs

Hi all! Today I'm talking about reapplication. So you're reapplying to business school, it's your second rodeo. Here are my top three tips to do it right. I'm Angela Guido, the founder of Career Protocol and this is MBA Monday.

It may surprise you to know that schools actually love MBA reapplicants. They love it when people show persistence, dedication and an ability to grow over time to achieve their goals. However, since it is your second rodeo, there are a few things that you're going to want to make sure to get right in your reapplication.

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1. Work On Your GMAT or GRE Score

Number one, be sure to work on your test score every year. I see extraordinary candidates fail to get into the schools of their choice because their GMAT or their GRE score is just not exactly right where they need it to be. And a really good way to calibrate what score you need is to just look at the average GMAT score of the schools you're applying to. Really easy rule of thumb. If you're at or above the average of that school, you're doing well. If your score is below the average of your target school, it's going to be a weakness for you. Now, that doesn't mean that you can't get in, and it doesn't mean that they won't take your reapplication seriously, even if your test score is below the average. It just means that if this was a weakness last time, ideally it's a weakness that you will ameliorate this time.

2. Diversify the Program Pool

The second thing to be sure to get right when you're reapplying to business school is to diversify your school mix. So you can feel free to reapply to any schools that you didn't get into last time but because of the fact that you just never know exactly how they're going to make their decision, you want to be sure to apply to at least a few new schools as well. And this will round out your risk profile. It's also really important to consider aiming a little bit lower this year than you did last year. So, for example, if last year you only applied to Harvard, Stanford and Wharton and you're going to reapply to those same three schools, I recommend you add two or three more schools that are also really amazing programs, but that haven't seen your candidacy yet and where you might be a little bit more competitive. This way at least you have the option. The last thing you want to do is apply to business school three years in a row. So be sure to round out your school set this year and ensure that you're getting into at least one program. You can always decide not to go once you get in, but give yourself the odds, stacked them a little bit more in your favor the second time around.

3. Demonstrate Career Growth

Hopefully you're going to have a much better test score to submit with this year's application. But that's not the only thing that schools are looking at when they consider your application. They also want to see that you've grown in your career, that you've expanded your community commitments, that you've challenged yourself and achieved goals in the interim. So regardless of the choices you make in how you're living your life and building your career, be sure that something meaningful has changed since you last applied. You got a promotion. You got to work on a new project that gave you more responsibility. You stepped up to a new leadership role. You ran three more marathons. You learned another language. Any number of other things that we could add to the list of ways that you're challenging yourself and growing your professional profile. Make sure that as many new things as possible have happened since your last application. And if it's even only one thing that's good, one thing is good. But if it can be more, even better. And then be sure to highlight those new things in your reapplication, they'll bring in last year's application and put everything on the table as they're evaluating you as a complete candidate. So, make sure that this year's application updates them on everything that's new and meaningful about your candidacy since you applied last time.

And if you do those three things, you should have a great second rodeo. Hopefully you're going to get in this time because like I said, the last thing you want to do is apply to business school three years in a row. It's so much work. Best of luck with your reapplications. I'll see you next time on #MBAMonday.