Why is an MBA Admissions Coach important?

Why is an MBA Admissions Coach
important?
An MBA is a life transforming experience. It is
one of the most important investments of your
life and the first step of your journey leading
to the realization of all your professional and
personal aspirations. The stakes are high with
fierce competition. The seats at top business
schools are limited. Your mind is surrounded
with doubts and hundreds of questions related
to your candidacy.
In India especially, the culture of education is
such that a child is dependent right from the
school stage. Parents nurture and help every
step of the way, until the under graduation
stage. In addition, there are counselors, tutors,
and helpful relatives and friends who advise on
the best course of action.
Even after a few years of experience, at the
MBA admissions stage, many young
professionals are confused. They desire an
MBA for it means lateral placements, great
hike in salary and an opportunity to explore a
new career track. However, they are clueless
about how to DISTINGUISH the unique aspects
of their profile, what their post MBA goals are,
how to select the best fit MBA schools and how
to approach the MBA Essays. Who can they
seek when they have so many questions at this
crucial juncture?
An MBA Admissions Coach is of crucial
importance here. A coach is literally like a
mother who will hand hold the aspirant every
step of the way. Once an aspirant has made a
firm decision regarding their MBA, the coach
can help them follow a strict study plan for
the GMAT and follow it through. Motivation is
a key component crucial in the admissions
process and right from the start, under the
mentorship of a coach, a candidate can
maintain their levels of motivation and charter
progress periodically to ace the GMAT and
enthusiastically prepare for the applications.
The MBA Admissions Coach also leverages their
expertise and know-how of the MBA
Admissions process to guide the applicant and
help them develop their profile and submit
winning applications to attract the attention of
the admissions committees.
Specifically, here is how the MBA Coach will
help:
• You will realize your true goal because
of the support and structure provided by your
coach.
• Under objective and practical step-by-
step coaching, you will realize the best strategy
true to your independent profile.
• You will brainstorm exhaustively with
your coach to dig deep into your life and come
up with your essay anecdotes which you will
write and then work upon. The result will be
that your application will represent you as YOU
are and MARKET you to the admissions
committee.
• A coach can identify the areas of
improvement in your personality which may
pose a problem during the interview phase and
work upon them until they are minimized.
• YOU will make your decisions
regarding your college selection and you will
be confident in them because you will have
shared them with an objective listener. ( your
coach)
• Because of the clarity you will obtain
through the coaching process, you will feel
more confident and relaxed and thus be in a
position to work upon your applications with
more conviction. As a result, you will rightfully
shine through as a very promising candidate.
It is almost a guarantee that with coaching you
will achieve small milestones and take action.
You will explore your FULL potential because
of the level of accountability and commitment
involved. So, it is never too early for hiring an
MBA Admissions Coach.
How to find the best one?
Selecting the right MBA Admissions Coach is
challenging especially in the face of the sheer
numbers of service providers in the market.
There are two main kinds of Admissions
consulting companies:
• Boutique Admissions Consultants: The
coaches work one on one with applicants and
generally work with only a selected number of
applicants every year.
• Test Preparation Companies which
offer Admissions Consulting as an added
service: They train a large number of GMAT
takers every season and with a strong sales
team, convert many of their existing test
preparation clients for the Admissions
Consulting service.
A candidate can be spoilt of choice especially
with such a disparity in the quality and rates
of services provided. Some people are
naturally drawn to the more popular
companies in the industry simply because of
their easy approachability and omnipresence.
In their mind, they relate this to Admissions
Success. Other applicants seek smaller outfits,
boutique admissions coaches if you like, which
pledge personalized attention. Whatever may
be the case, following a few simple guidelines
can help you finalize on the right person to
help you with the applications:
1. Research on different MBA Admission
Consulting Companies to find out the one
which suits you best. Every company has a
different work methodology and you need to
figure out which one will give you the best
value in terms of strategizing on your
candidature and helping you with the
application essays writing and polishing.
2. Insist on speaking to the person who
will be working directly with you. Ask them to
clearly define how they will help, their
qualifications, expertise, experience and
success rate.
3. If you choose a bigger company, it is
highly probable that application consultants or
MBA essay writers are hired on a freelance
basis. There might be inconsistency in the
level of expertise, and to avoid being stuck
with a relatively raw coach, insist on getting all
details of the consultant you are assigned to.
Also ask if you will be dealing with only one
person for all the applications, essays and
interviews help.
4. Make sure that you connect with your
coach. Pay close attention to the way your
prospective coach deals with you. Are they
easily accessible, empathetic, prompt and
quick to respond? Pay close attention to your
gut instinct. Mostly, it is right! If you have
doubts about your prospective coach’s ability,
look elsewhere.
5. More than the price you are paying
for the service, consider the value you will get
in return. Saving a couple of thousand rupees
will not help you at all if you do not achieve
your goals.