The most prominent question a school graduate has is - how to get into business school? Having a business degree from a top banking school is not only a nice stamp on your resume but a great factor that actually helps you in landing a high paying job from the employers. A business degree has an utmost importance in today’s competitive world. It allows you to get ahead on the ladder of success. But, taking the first step can be difficult and there’s a lot of information to process. Well, for your utmost convenience, we have put together some tips for getting an admission to the most esteemed business school. Below are some instructions on the business school admissions process and obligations used by most top-ranking business schools to help you prepare your business school acceptance plan.
Thinking about how to get into business school? Just read the tips and think for yourself:
1. Extempore Speech
Its purpose is to assess the body language, confidence, creative thinking, and clarity of thoughts, vocabulary, time management and command over language. For preparation, you need to work on two aspects; topics and their delivery. These two are the important factors on determining how to get into business school. You must read newspapers regularly and search for a few abstract topics as well those related to sports, business, current events, entertainment and politics. Practise speaking in front of mirror, family and friends and also get your video recorded on mobile, so that you may notice your mistakes later on. It is important that your speech is precise and relevant to the topic. Do not repeat the same idea as it will convey that you are short of content and knowledge. Avoid slangs, use of controversial or outdated information. Try to maintain your confidence and cool and take long deep breath to avoid nervousness. It is always better to assimilate your thoughts or sentences first and then begin rather than starting instantaneously and trying to recollect the contents later on. At times, if not comfortable or ignorant, asking for an alternate topic is better than starting with half-baked contents.
2. Written Ability Test (WAT)
Future managers are required to communicate extensively with their clients, colleagues and business partners. It is therefore vital that no wrong or misleading communication is passed on as the reputation of their organisation is at stake. Keeping this in mind, a few B-schools have introduced written ability test as additional screening stage.This test is the ultimate way of analyzing how to get into business school. WAT is generally in the form of essay but it could also be an e-mail or a business letter. The purpose is mainly to assess the writing abilities of the candidate. The sentences should be crisp and grammatically correct without any spelling errors. The use of flowery language may not be that significant but more emphasis should be on the use of words, punctuations, conjunctions, etc. so as to convey the right meaning related to the topic. Also, handwriting should be neat and clear and cuttings should be avoided. It is better if you pick some topics and write a few paragraphs on each one of them without any help. Later, get those checked by some language faculty or expert.
3. Group Discussion (GD)
Group discussion is one of the most foolproof way on how to get into business school. The GD is conducted to assess the leadership, oratory and team skills of the candidate as well as his knowledge of the current business environment and recent events. For preparation, you must write at-least 500 words on your own on each of the probable GD topics. This will help in framing your own ideas and assimilating them. For practice, it is always better to do a mock GD with a group of friends. One amongst you can make a video recording and act as a moderator. He can later provide the valuable feedback to each, on the shortcomings and mistakes. During GD, it is important to initiate the discussion but you should have valid points to begin with. If not an initiator, try to be among the first three speakers and do not expect others to give you the chance to speak. While maintaining the decorum, you must assert yourself to begin and remain in the discussion throughout. It is always better to keep adding some new dimensions to the topic so that discussion gets centred on you. When 2-3 candidates simultaneously start speaking and create a fish market situation, better wait for a couple of seconds. It is the most important factor to successfully ac the tips on how to get into business school You may also interrupt and politely ask them to speak one by one. Also your gesture, body language and facial expression should convey that you are sincerely and keenly participating in the discussion and taking interest in it. Never look at the moderator during the discussion.
4. Personal Interview (PI)
This is the most important screening process in which candidates are assessed on Subject Knowledge, General Awareness, Attitude, Etiquettes and Attire. While going for the PI, brush-up your graduation subjects thoroughly. You should have clear understanding of the popular theories or concepts related to the courses studied. Personal interview is something that can make you test yourself and clearly make you aware on the aspects of how to get into business school. You should also be aware of important events that have recently happened nationally or internationally. Also go through the application form that you filled up for that particular B-school. One question that is most commonly asked is ‘Tell us about yourself’ or ‘Introduce Yourself’. This is a tricky question as interviewer may pick a lot of weak spots from this introduction and may cross question you to make you nervous and confused. Your initial introduction should be brief and must mention mostly those aspects which are not mentioned in the application form. You can tell about the graduation stream, experience if any, internships or training programs and your interests and hobbies. You may be asked the justification for opting for management course instead of going for a job, PSU competitions or post-graduation in the existing stream. Follow these tips on how to get into business school for a successful attempt on the very first time and step your foot in the right direction.