Adivce on Applications from a Chinese faculty
美國(guó)教授對(duì)MBA申請(qǐng)的一點(diǎn)建議
As a professor at a leading US university, I have some advice for those of
you
who are applying to doctoral programs at top 50 B-schools (NOT for other
programs).
Some important tips:
Generally, you cannot make any mistake. One bad recommendation can kill you.
This is important to those of you who are studying in US: if you only know
an
American professor for a few days, DO NOT ask him/her to write a
recommendation! -- even if you think you have really impressed him/her.
Secondly, you must have something that stands out. Usually doctoral programs
only admit fewer than a handful of students a year. Every faculty member is
asked to pick their one or two top choices and only those candidates are
discussed at the faculty meeting. So you must be top on someone's list,
otherwise even if you are generally strong, you may not even be included in
the picture!
Third, contact faculty members. If you are in US, visit local schools and
call
schools (of course visit is better if you can afford it) in other cities.
Even
if you are in China, emails and calls are always important.
About components in your file:
GMAT: at least 700 to be considered; there are exceptions, but that's VERY
VERY rare, almost inapplicable to any Chinese students. I'm talking about
NOW,
not a few years back. Now competition is very keen. GRE is okay, though not
that comparable. If you use GRE, every part should be 90% higher. Again,
GMAT
is important. And a GMAT of >750 can be the one thing that makes you stand
out.
Education & experience: A master's degree, or Work experience after you got
Bachelor's, is helpful. Where you get your bachelor's matters a lot.
Undergraduate GPA is not critical, but if too low, it can still kill you.
Years of relevant experience are a big plus.
Research experience or publications: not everyone has it and if you do, it
is
certainly a big plus. By publication I mean publications in English,
especially in journals. But don't worry if you don? have any.
Statement: As you all know, it is very important. Some Chinese students make
the mistake of writing like a Chinese high school student. Some sentences
seem
really weird in the eyes of American professors and they ask \what is he/she
going to say\ -- though of course I understand it comes from some bad habits
formed in high school. A moving statement can be really impressive, -- one
applicant from India won everyone in my department simply by her statement -
-
but that is very rare. And I suggest you don't try it. Play it safe and
write
in plain English. Most American applicants write in very plain style and
that's okay! It seems that Chinese and Indian students like to \write
articles\ -- zuo4 wen2 zhang1, maybe because of cultural reasons. But Indian
students had their education in English and have their advantage.
More about statement:
1. The only thing matters in the statement is that: you should make it clear
that you love research and you are capable of doing research! Anything you
say
should support this.
2. Be specific about the research areas. You can be admitted if your
research
interests have a perfect match with one or two faculty members. You should
give good reasons why you have such interests (because of work experience or
you think it is important ...)
Recommendations: recommendations from unknown persons do not count and
people
from a US professor or a high level executive in a well-known company, it
sure
helps A LOT -- it can be the one thing that stands out. If you are not sure
what an American professor/employer will write, then you may not want to
take
the risk. But if you are studying at a US school, you are kind of expected
to
get at least one letter from your professors. Otherwise it is a bad sign. If
you are still in China, basically they don't count that much, but long,
strong, neat and well-written letters give a good impression.
I have said in the beginning that you should contact the departments you are
applying for. It's not in your file but it is important! One Chinese student
is the case that she is strong in everything but nothing stands out. But she
contacted me and other faculty members and we spoke for her at the meeting.
One guy is really strong but has never contacted us and we think he is not
interested in us and we can't take the risk to give him financial support.
That's what I can think of now. Good luck!