Introducing The Precision Essay Guide to Elite MBA Admissions. Inside, you’ll find a crash course in the MBA Admissions landscape, helpful concepts and techniques for crafting compelling applications, a survey of the major essay topics, and more. For more information, CLICK HERE.

So that’s really the question then, right? You have three MAJOR categories to deal with:

1. No MBA at all, ever.

2. An MBA from a school that ISN’T top 10, maybe not a household name internationally.

3. An ultra elite school that will turn heads at the mere mention of the name. We know what those are. Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, and a handful of others.

Let’s just agree that Option 3 is a great one, for just about anyone yes?

K, this blog is really intended for those debating whether or not to apply to any schools OTHER than Harvard, Stanford, Wharton (or other Top 10 badasses like Kellogg, MIT, etc.). We’ve heard allllll the arguments. Boiled down, it goes something like this: “An MBA from anywhere other than H/S/W won’t be worth anything in my industry.”

And that may very well be absolutely true and valid. But at least consider this. IF you were to apply to a “less competitive” school without the luster of a Harvard/Stanford/Wharton… say, Haas or Ross or Darden or Fuqua, etc etc… and you were to GET ACCEPTED, you can absolutely make the determination at that point in time that the name of School X just won’t be worth the cost in money and time. Fine, such is your right.

But, an undeniably WORSE predicament would be to get dinged from those ultra elites, and be left without a single option OTHER than falling back to whatever you were doing previously. A lot can change in your life between the time you decide to apply, through to the application, through to the acceptance or denial. And to screw yourself out of the OPTION of accepting an MBA invitation, to us, is just unwise. The outlay in cost is peanuts, and the value gained from increasing your chances in admission is well worth it.

Give yourself an option. You lose NOTHING. You can still say no when the time comes—but at least have the ability to make that determination and haven’t backed yourself into a corner.

A sad situation indeed… but not nearly as bad for your admissions as you might think. We’ve seen plenty of unemployed clients get accepted.

Two strategies you can take:

The Ballsy – Look the problem in the face. “I have been unemployed.” Lay out your reasons, and what this has led you to decide. This is not a bad one if you are laid off for market reasons. After all, shit does happen.

The Safe but Intelligent – This one’s a bit trickier, as it has some prerequisites. You had to have been doing at least something during your unemployment time (looking for a job doesn’t count): could be going to night school, taking a GMAT course, starting a start-up, volunteering full-time, a combination of any and all of the above, or anything that shows that you have some thrust. That external circumstances aren’t the boss of you. That even when the market goes through a calamatous downturn, you cruise into some kind of Plan B.

You can also choose a strategy that lies somewhere on the line between these two.

But it’s not always in the cards, and if that’s the case, don’t give up so easily. It might be an interesting idea to have a look around at some of the interesting real estate MBAs out there that can also help you make your dream of building that chain of casinos in Vegas come true. (And when you do, we expect solid comps.)

First off, some of the better-ranked and well-known real estate programs.

Columbia has their The Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate which is always highly considered: http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/realestate

Wharton’s Real Estate program is quite nice as well: http://www.wharton.upenn.edu/faculty/real-estate.cfm

Secondly, its probably not a bad idea to also have a look at the list of Master of Real Estate (MScRE) programs here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_Real_Estate

If you are really motivated and love to work hard at school, you might even consider going for a double degree. USC Marshall, for example offers a very nice double degree program: http://www.marshall.usc.edu/fbe/realestate/dualjoint-degrees.htm as do our friends up in Ithaca at Cornell: MBA/MPS in Real Estate http://www.johnson.cornell.edu/prospectivestudents/dualdegree/realestate.html

So take advantage of the moment while Investment Bankers are THE most feared and loathed folks around (yep, you guys are only second on that list), and do your research to make sure you aren’t just shooting for prestige, but for something that will meaningfully get you closer to your future goals.

And it’s a good one. Technically speaking, there is no such thing as too old, and there are of course exceptions to every case, but it is definitely something you should consider when applying to Business Schools. Make it a part of your strategy. Harvard is trending younger (mean age – 26), the ripe old age of thirty-three doesn’t mean you wont get in, but it DOES mean that you cannot ignore the issue. 33 and Harvard may be a real stretch. (Military folk, different story.)

So step one when considering schools is to check out the average age of their intake. Fold this into your strategy. Overall, European schools are more ambivalent about age than American schools.

There are other considerations as well. A thirty-two year old Software Engineer with 12 years of experience in coding will look far less attractive than a thirty-two year old who did two years of mandatory military service before attending medical school.

Thirdly, consider Executive MBA programs. If you have a good leadership background, this might be a better choice for you anyway. You could reasonably cover in one year what would take someone less experienced two full years.

Want to get a start on your MBA application but don’t know what to do with yourself?

As I’m sure you know by now both Harvard, Columbia, Duke, Wharton and scores of others have released their questions for the 2011 September intake. But if you happen not to be applying to one of these schools you might be beside yourself with anxiety to get started.

Well, there are plenty of ways to put all that good energy to use. Stuff you can actually do to prepare your essay application.

1) Do your research! – What do you know about Stanford, other than the fact that it’s ranked one of the top three MBA programs preeeeetty much every year? Do you know their percentage of international students? Have you ever heard of the “touchy-feely” class? Have you read the book of the professor who is likely to be your most interesting contact there? Well, now’s a good time to get cracking. Research makes you rich. When you talk about the school, your familiarity will show. Always a good thing. You will need a LOT of info about each and every school you apply to, from courses to programs, to names of the cafeteria, to special school trips, to companies in your industry that hire from the school.

2) Contact current student/alumni – It boils down to this:

a. There isn’t a better place for the real scoop about the school that’ll help you decide whether you really want to go or not, in case you’re on the fence. Usually, it exposes your true leaning rather than actually nudge you one way or another.

b. It’s a good place to get insider tips about school offerings that you might not know about on a cursory search on a website, attending an info session, etc.

c. Good to know people for name-dropping in your essay (it won’t get you in, but it won’t hurt your application either).

3) Prepare your resume – How long has it been since you’ve dusted off that… thing you used to get that job from… years ago? You should be preparing a résumé that focuses on aspects of you and your work and life experience that will help to promote your application! It may not look exactly like a job resume, (but it’ll be pretty darn similar). Here, you’ll wanna foreground your Work Experience (this reigns supreme in an MBA application resume). Then your Education. Then Community Service. And finally, awards and achievements which could also be peppered throughout… and your personality, which should believe it or not shine through some way or another. (More about these things in a future blog.)

4) Practice, practice, practice – You’ve already done the above three and you STILL have time?! You are amazing… but there’s still work for you. Think about taking last year’s questions and writing out full essays for them. Like everything else, you will learn best by doing, and even if ALL the questions change entirely this year (which happens) you will have at least gotten the hang of what essay writing is like. But more importantly, thought through all the important issues like focusing your career goals, identifying leadership experiences, etc.

Lot’s to do, always. And the more you do, the smoother it’ll be when you’re ready to officially crank on your essays, for whatever round you’re gonna hit.

Put differently, Precision Essay-style, here are 5 ways to avoid being a Schmuck:

1) DON’T tell the school something they don’t need to know – You were fired from your last job? Never lie obviously, but do as any good lawyer would, and… focus on all the good stuff. Worst thing you can do is be defensive. Defensiveness is like chum to Jaws. Talk about the good stuff and be prepared to address if asked, but let ‘em ask you.

2) DON’T be arrogant – You were top of the class? Fastest promoted manager in work? Highest salary for someone your age? Congratulations! But keep the ego at bay. There’s a difference between confident and arrogant. Few things are a bigger turn-off in an application than a tone that is arrogant. So how can you tell what’s confident and what’s arrogant? Have folks read it who won’t pull punches. Doesn’t have to be a consultant, but make sure your reader isn’t afraid to say “Dude, you sound like an asshole here. Tone it down, big guy.”

3) DON’T blame others – Blaming others in your essays feels cheap. It feels cry-babyish. And worst of all, it makes it seem like you lack control. Be a leader. Take responsibility. In fact, taking responsibility for stuff that wasn’t EVEN your fault shows a sense of ownership and pride. Blaming others wins you ZERO points.

4) DON’T say bad stuff about the boss – Disrespect and irreverence shown to a governing body is not likely to get you very far. No matter how “in the wrong” he/she might have been. Registering a difference in opinion can be strong, but it will be even stronger to demonstrate your respect for the position, the title, the way the pieces need to snap together to make things run, IN SPITE OF a difference in opinion, or a bad relationship. In the wise wise words of Ron Burgundy, “Stay classy.”

5) DON’T contradict yourself – If you write a story, stick to it. One of your great weaknesses is difficulties with public speaking? Okay. Don’t tell us about performing in front of millions in American Idol in the very next essay. (This happens a lot, and it’s an instant red flag.)

And finally, in a category all of its own, because its sooooooo fundamentally important in your application process:

Answer the question! – [We never get tired of issuing this command.] You’ve written your essay? Liking the way its been turning out? Go back and reread it, and at every phrase stop yourself and ask: Am I answering THEIR question?

Cool, cool. Keep these ideas tucked away somewhere and revisit them every so often for good measure.

Some characteristics of a good quote:

1) Obscure, Part 1 – The author him/herself is a complete unknown, and the quote sparkles. Neat. Shows us that you read stuff, or just know cool obscure stuff.

2) Obscure, Part 2 – The author is famous, but the QUOTE is incredibly uncommon. Shows some depth, some “extra” knowledge. Makes a good impression.

3) Doesn’t just state the obvious. We see it a million times. A quote that is so frickin obvious, we’ve learned nothing by hearing it from someone ELSE. “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Really? You’re gonna quote someone for THAT? Step it up. Make sure the quote resounds with… complexity. Or, just the opposite. Takes a complex matter and simplifies it in a cool way. But for god’s sake, avoid a quote that you can capture just as easily yourself.

4) Not always a famous person. Sometimes the quote can come from a friend, or a parent, or a teacher, or heck… yourself. Sometimes a quote can push a story along in a more compelling way than simple exposition.

Only use a quote extremely sparingly. Maybe once in an entire application. And if you have something killer, go for it. Otherwise, remember that you have very few words to play with. Why waste them on someone else?

Not sure. But maybe it’s a sign that we are hard-wired to enjoy the feeling of being transported. Being taken on a journey. We understand the world in terms of cycles that have beginnings, middles, and ends. Our minds explode when we try to conceive the “beginning” of time or “the end of the universe.” We like the three acts.

We like… stories.

If you accept the premise that Adcom members are humans, too, then guess what—they like a good story as well.

Of course you want to impress the school, and of course you want to show them your best side, and of course you want to present them with an airtight logical argument. But you have to package the thing in a way that the kid on the other end will listen… with interest.

Don’t think of the story principle exclusively for your essays. Of course your essays will benefit from all the things that make for a good story. But think of your entire application as the presentation of a story as well.

So when you write, push yourself beyond the rational, the logical, the statistical. Show the AdCom who you REALLY are. Take them on a journey.

Many stories write themselves. We’ve read essays where applicants have saved friends’ lives in dangerous rapids, folks who have saved the life of a circus bear, folks who have made giant company-saving deals. Did they get accepted? You bet.

Some of you might be gifted writers and some of you may NOT be. And that’s okay.

Think about the basic principles of good drama to help pull yourself through. Conflict and resolution. Establish the goal and then establish the challenges, the difficulties, the obstacles… Doing so creates tension because we are programmed to want to see that objective REACHED. Any threat to that (the challenge) will create an itch. And folks, the itch IS drama.

Master this one crucial principle, and good things will happen.

Harvard asks: What is your career vision and why is this choice meaningful to you?

Wharton asks: What goals are you committed to and why?

Here’s how they’re BASICALLY the same:

In both, you’ll deliver a clear path forward with respect to what you want to DO when you grow up. The open-ended feel of “vision” doesn’t get you out of that one! That’s the goals/vision aspect.

In both, you will tie aspects of your past to your career dreams, showing us not just where the itch comes from but far more importantly, demonstrating that that itch will lead to your ultimate success. That’s the “why meaningful” or “why committed” aspect.

But there is a subtle difference, too.

When you’re talking about your vision, you’re describing how the puzzle pieces to your life and career allllll fit together. The vision is in not just knowing what those pieces are (which is hard by the way—takes serious thought and clarity), but how they snap together to form a complete picture.

When you’re talking about your goals, you are describing the mission. “Here’s what I intend to accomplish.”

The only difference then, and don’t feel too compelled to stretch this toooo far, is that there is an art to conceiving and exeucting a vision, versus identifying goals and achieving those. With the vision and the career arc, you are truly demonstrating an ability to picture a complex timeline, and show that you understand how each node affects the next one. With the goals, you are mostly focused on those future nodes. Explaining why they’re there, and proving that you’ll nail them.

To sum:

Vision = (1) identify the puzzle pieces and (2) show how they snap together.

Goals = (1) think Mission: Impossible, identify the objectives and (2) explain the significance of achieving them.