Take a deep breath!
If the application process can testify on one thing about the applicant, it is his or her dedication and commitment. Above all, the application process requires your total commitment, personal and mental, as well as the full support of your family, friends and significant other. In many ways, it is the American equivalent for the long and tedious training program that people, who want to join elite units, have to go through.
The good news is that if you really want it, no matter what your advisors say or what your grades are, you have a good chance to fulfill your wish. You need to calculate your time and to commit yourself to the application process. Remember to identify your benchmark group in the eye of the admission committee and try to work from there.
So how can you score it?
We have established a web forum for this purpose alone. The IIMBA forum provides a unique inside information, edited to suit the Israeli profile. Additionally, on designated dates, the IIMBA forum will host chats with professional advisors and MBA alumni and students for the benefit of prospective MBA students. Moreover, there are several books and various professional advisors that will walk you through the application process and elaborate on the various “dos and don’ts”. However, always take those books’ and consultants’ advice in proportion.
At the end of the day, the application process is simply a marketing challenge. Taking it in this perspective makes it a lot more rational. You are merely asked to market yourself in the best way to an audience you do not know, do not speak its language, do not fully understand its culture and do not know to whom this audience compares you. This is quite a challenge, but one that can say something about your managerial and business skills.
Another trendy word from the marketing dictionary that might help you in this process is “positioning”. You need to position yourself (i.e., your application) to catch the eye of the admission committee’s members. You can do it in many ways – high GMAT score or “Cum Laude” award on your undergraduate diploma are great, but remember the diversity you display within your application is the critical of them all. Business schools are looking to diversify their classes and you, being an international student, are there to enrich your colleagues with your unique experiences and culture. Diversity is your ticket to a top MBA program.
Therefore, to sum it up, the application process requires you to sell yourself to this admission committee.
Good luck, and… take a deep breath.