By Linda Abraham

So you want to apply next Fall or Winter to a top MBA program. Perhaps you’ve been planning this step since graduating college. Perhaps recent layoffs are making you feel less secure in your job. Or maybe, you just want to enhance your skill set and move your career to a higher trajectory

Regardless of your motivations and despite the feeling that you have tons of time before you apply, there are many moving parts to a successful application.  Here are five key elements:

Let’s unpack these items and see if you really have work to do ASAP.

Goal Clarification

Question You Need to Answer: What will an MBA education, experience, and network enable you to do that you cannot do now and want to do both in the short term and in the long term?

Some of you know the answer to this multifaceted question. The rest of you have homework to do.

Start with the obvious: online research.  But don’t stop there. Also take the time to have coffee chats and informational interviews with people in positions that you find appealing.

When you can clearly answer the question in this section in terms of function and industry for an immediate post-MBA goal and with a logical follow-up for the longer term even if fuzzier, you will have a tremendous advantage when you complete your applications, are invited to interview, and even when you arrive on campus.

Academic readiness

Questions you need to answer:

  1. Does your undergraduate transcript and any subsequent academic work show that you can handle a demanding quantitative program that also requires strong communications skills?
  2. Will you need to take an aptitude test either because it’s required, because you want to enhance your chances of earning merit aid, because a potential employer may want to see it, or because you need a high score to show academic ability?

If the answer to #1 is “no,” please download the free Applying to Business School with Low Stats: What you Need to Know. You may need to take classes and earn A’s in them, and there is no time like the present to start.

If the answer to #2 is “yes,” and you haven’t yet taken the GMAT, GRE or if permitted the EA, then get cracking! Decide which test is best for you and start your test prep. Ideally you want to know your score before you decide where to apply. And you want the time to prepare well so that you earn a competitive score and don’t have to take it a second time. You also want to have the time to retake, if necessary.

School research

Questions you need to answer:

For most of the schools you apply to, the answer to both questions needs to be “Yes!” Sure you can apply to one or two schools where the chances of acceptance are lower, but most of your applications should go to programs where you are competitive.

Much school research can be done online using the schools’ websites, social media, and online events. However, if you can visit a school while it is in session, you will get a greater feel for the program. Whether you visit or not, reach out to current students and recent alumni either via the school or LinkedIn. Seek out people with similar goals or with similar backgrounds to you.

The spring is a great time for school research.

Evaluation of your fit with your target programs’ mission, values, and criteria

Questions you should ask:

While there are similarities in what top MBA programs seek, there are also differences and you need to understand them.

Some programs are wonderfully explicit about their criteria. Others are less so. Regardless, start with the website, attend online events, and watch admissions videos/webinars until you really understand what’s wanted by the schools you are considering..

If you meet the criteria and can show fit, great. If not, can you acquire the experience that will make you competitive? For example, if you don’t have as much leadership experience as a given school would like to see, can you assume a leadership role either on the job and/or in a volunteer capacity?

Distinctive Contribution

The question you need to ask: How are you going to add something special and distinctive to your class and the school’s community?

This distinctiveness or diversity factor is something that will allow you to contribute once you arrive on campus.  It can be an aspect of your identity. It can be unusual experiences either on the job or in your personal background – anything from challenges overcome to exceptional achievements. It can be an unusual (and constructive) approach to working with others and taking initiative.

It’s what makes you uniquely You.

Next Steps

I’ve been an admissions consultant for about 29 years. Trust me. Your competition has already started on some of those moving parts. They are going to benefit from less stress and a more thoughtful application.

Don’t be left in the dust. Don’t get rejected or only admitted to less desirable programs than you want.

Start now.

Here are three resources to help you as you move forward to acceptance:

By Linda Abraham, who has been helping clients get accepted to top MBA programs since founding Accepted in 1994. In addition, she co-founded AIGAC and served as its first president. She is the host of Admissions Straight Talk, a podcast for graduate school applicants and has been quoted by The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News, Poets & Quants, Bloomberg Businessweek, CBS News, and others.