Passion, experience key to success
ENTRY into the world's best MBA programs is extremely competitive. Each year, the top 20 MBA programs in America recruit about 150 applicants from China's mainland. Who are those lucky stars to get the honor?
Going against popular belief, the top MBAs are not privileges belonging only to those who graduated from prestigious colleges, with three to five years working experience from a Fortune 500 company, and with high GMAT and TOEFL scores.
In 2006 alone, eight trainees from BeBeyond MBA Application Workshop were admitted into Wharton (University of Pennsylvania) business school. Their profiles varied dramatically. The youngest girl had three years' working experience as an auditor for a big four accounting firm plus two years' management trainee experience with a Hong Kong bank.
The eldest, Dan, was in her late thirties and graduated with a Master degree in applied linguistics from a college in Shandong Province. She received an offer from Wharton for her passionate engagement on a wide range of interests, including hiking, book writing and antique collections. So why could they get in while others failed?
In the past, we've met a large number of applicants who had extremely shinning backgrounds but failed in getting into top MBAs. This can often create a false perception that getting into top MBAs is a game of luck. But it is not true.
MBA application is not a game of competition on superficial hardware either. Instead, admission decisions are made on an overall evaluation of the applicants' qualifications. We often hear the criteria listed as "academic excellence, leadership potential, working experience and communication skills." However, those are often vague terms because, for example, working in a big international company is not necessarily more valuable or meaningful than working in a local or small company.
That's why at BeBeyond, we tell our trainees that quality of working experience is much more important than the quantity of years of working experience, or the levels of position. An understanding of the work is even more important than quality of work.
Whether an applicant can present herself together with her understanding in a Western-style way of thinking and communication makes a huge difference.
In 2005 and 2006, the fact that a third of top-20 US MBA admissions (from China's mainland) are from the BeBeyond MBA Application Workshop is not difficult to comprehend.
At a BeBeyond MBA Application Workshop trainees learn to explore their unique value and special selling points, and to brand themselves using Western style of communication.
MBA application quick facts:
Average age: 27
Age range: 23 to 38
Average years of work experience: 5.6 years
Basic requirements:
Degree: Bachelor degree holder (normally)
TOEFL: 600
GMAT: 680 for Top 20 US or Top 10 International MBA
Normally, three to four years' working experience is required. No requirements on undergraduate major or working industry.
Application deadlines
First round: From mid-October till early November (schools vary)
Second round: From early January till February 1 (schools vary)
Unless schools have four rounds of application deadlines, otherwise, international students are suggested targeting the first and second round.
Application checklist:
Application forms
Transcripts and degree certificate
Official GMAT and TOEFL score report
Essays (topics and lengths vary from schools, normally three to five pieces)
References (normally two references, sometimes up to three)
Interviews
For more information, please visit www.bebeyond.com.cn
Going against popular belief, the top MBAs are not privileges belonging only to those who graduated from prestigious colleges, with three to five years working experience from a Fortune 500 company, and with high GMAT and TOEFL scores.
In 2006 alone, eight trainees from BeBeyond MBA Application Workshop were admitted into Wharton (University of Pennsylvania) business school. Their profiles varied dramatically. The youngest girl had three years' working experience as an auditor for a big four accounting firm plus two years' management trainee experience with a Hong Kong bank.
The eldest, Dan, was in her late thirties and graduated with a Master degree in applied linguistics from a college in Shandong Province. She received an offer from Wharton for her passionate engagement on a wide range of interests, including hiking, book writing and antique collections. So why could they get in while others failed?
In the past, we've met a large number of applicants who had extremely shinning backgrounds but failed in getting into top MBAs. This can often create a false perception that getting into top MBAs is a game of luck. But it is not true.
MBA application is not a game of competition on superficial hardware either. Instead, admission decisions are made on an overall evaluation of the applicants' qualifications. We often hear the criteria listed as "academic excellence, leadership potential, working experience and communication skills." However, those are often vague terms because, for example, working in a big international company is not necessarily more valuable or meaningful than working in a local or small company.
That's why at BeBeyond, we tell our trainees that quality of working experience is much more important than the quantity of years of working experience, or the levels of position. An understanding of the work is even more important than quality of work.
Whether an applicant can present herself together with her understanding in a Western-style way of thinking and communication makes a huge difference.
In 2005 and 2006, the fact that a third of top-20 US MBA admissions (from China's mainland) are from the BeBeyond MBA Application Workshop is not difficult to comprehend.
At a BeBeyond MBA Application Workshop trainees learn to explore their unique value and special selling points, and to brand themselves using Western style of communication.
MBA application quick facts:
Average age: 27
Age range: 23 to 38
Average years of work experience: 5.6 years
Basic requirements:
Degree: Bachelor degree holder (normally)
TOEFL: 600
GMAT: 680 for Top 20 US or Top 10 International MBA
Normally, three to four years' working experience is required. No requirements on undergraduate major or working industry.
Application deadlines
First round: From mid-October till early November (schools vary)
Second round: From early January till February 1 (schools vary)
Unless schools have four rounds of application deadlines, otherwise, international students are suggested targeting the first and second round.
Application checklist:
Application forms
Transcripts and degree certificate
Official GMAT and TOEFL score report
Essays (topics and lengths vary from schools, normally three to five pieces)
References (normally two references, sometimes up to three)
Interviews
For more information, please visit www.bebeyond.com.cn
