Graduate Blog / Graduate Admissions

Rehearsing Your MBA Application

Dry runs are a great idea. I believe in drafts. I believe in visualizing the presentation, the talk. I live for the event walk-through. Most of the time, I can handle the unexpected if I feel that I’ve mastered the expected.

What do you expect from your application? You expect it to be a physical manifestation of your professional experience thus far, a compilation of your successes, ideas, hopes, and aspirations. You expect it to speak about your skills, your qualities, your strengths; to be eloquent, convincing. You expect it to persuade the Admissions Committee that you are qualified for a spot in the next MBA class. Right? So why risk being surprised at any point during the application process?

No matter whether you’re the type who stocks bottled water in your pantry or the type who drives from Phoenix to Fresno on a ¼ tank and no sunscreen, when it comes to your MBA application, please believe me when I suggest that reviewing ALL your applications from all the schools you are interested in, is a great idea, if not a prudent idea. By rehearsing your application, I really mean reviewing it, understanding what you need to submit by when, what is required, what is optional, and what questions are the essays really asking.

Why? Top five reasons to rehearse your application:

1. Not all apps are the same. The major parts may be—demographic info, essays, references—but every school has its own special flavor and requirements.

2. Apps require input from people other than you. Think references (more on references coming soon): You have to ask your references, get their consent, prep them, follow up with them. Think transcripts: You have to request them; often you have to request that multiple copies be sent to multiple institutions by a specific deadline.

3. Only you care than you are applying to five schools. Schools are only concerned about their application.

4. Remember your board of advisors that I talked about in an earlier post? They are your sounding “board,” editors, and cheerleaders, especially for your essays. Get them involved early.

5. Presentation matters. Don’t you want to submit the best application you can?

You can get started with the Babson MBA app right now. Our deadlines for all of our programs are posted, and our staff, particularly members of our Operations team, are always ready to answer your questions.

And now, another installment of  “Meet the Staff.”  I’d like to introduce you to Lisa Kokidko and Karen Nelson, members of the Grad Admissions Operations team who are on the front lines and, more than likely, among the first Admissions staff members with whom you will speak. Meet Lisa and Karen!

Good luck.  Think big.

Best, Barbara

Meet Lisa Kokidko!

1. How long have you been with Babson? 16 years   

2. How would you describe your job? In my role I assist prospective graduate students and applicants with their questions and concerns sent via phone or email.  I prepare applicants’ admissions files for our admission committee, implement and support all marketing initiatives, and help bring in the strongest classes possible.

3. What do you like the most about the Babson community? I like the vibrant and diverse student body and the caring, supportive and collaborative nature of our faculty and staff.

4. One adjective to describe our students? Accomplished

5. One (or two) fun fact. Finally, after 16 years, I decided to participate in the spring 2012 faculty/staff dance ensemble and performed in the student-run “Babson Dance Ensemble.”  It was so much fun to learn a dance routine and perform with other members of the Babson faculty and staff and to witness the incredible dance skills of our undergraduate students.

6. How do you define e-ship? E-ship is the ability to strengthen existing organizations by implementing new ideas and the ability to create new organizations which create job growth or improve the human condition.

Meet Karen Nelson!

1. How long have you been with Babson? I’ve been with Babson since October of 2011.

2. How would you describe your job? My job requires me to be the first point of contact for those inquiring about Babson’s Graduate Programs. Whether by phone or email I help people understand what Babson is all about and which program would be best for him/her. I also help them with the application process leading up to the submission of their application and following the submission, during the period of completing the application so it can be reviewed.

3. What do you like the most about the Babson community? What I love the most about Babson is the balance between community and business. Everywhere on campus I meet people, whether students, staff, or faculty, who seem to understand the value of community. It’s so important in the electronic age we live in to maintain that real life, person-to-person aspect of community. People at Babson understand that, and with that they maintain their ambition and dedication to the mission of this great institution.

4. One adjective to describe our students? Tenacious

5. One (or two) fun fact. I’m a Stella & Dot Stylist! I run my own part-time business as a Stylist with Stella & Dot, a fast-growing high-fashion jewelry and accessories company, to feed my entrepreneurial hunger. My business has been embraced by the Babson community and I’ve loved Styling on campus at fashion shows and trunk shows. It’s fun to see people enjoying the jewelry!

6. How do you define e-ship? Entrepreneurship is the idea that by combining the right concepts, motivation, and resources in a given market, whether new or old, within an established organization or through a new organization, one can create a sustainable product or service that will have a large and lasting impact on the intended market.