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DECEMBER 2003 MBA JOURNAL: ADMISSIONS & ORIENTATION Darius Brown: Admissions, Pre-Term, and Orientation "You should never have a 'did-I-write-that?' surprised look on your face when the interviewer asks you for more detail regarding something they read in your application. Take some time to refresh yourself on what you've written.;"
Welcome back to the second installment of my MBA journal journey. It is a bit surreal to look through the same Web site I was using as a research tool just a little over a year ago and to see a picture of myself; a picture that was actually placed there with my approval. The good news is that this is a Web site I can actually tell my parents about; unlike that time I went to Rio for Carnaval. I mean they put the black bar over my eyes, but my mom would have still known it was me. I don't want to keep you all in suspense for the entire journal, so let me take a second to say that the lovely fiancé/editor from my first journal entry is now my lovely wife/editor. Kimberly and I were married on September 28, as planned. For you consultants and ex-consultants in the crowd I'll rephrase: We went live on time and on budget. Kimberly and I had a great time and based on some of the photographs we saw, so did all of our guests! We actually got married in the same hotel that Andersen Consulting took me for my first recruit lunch eleven years earlier. With that Lion King/Circle of Life reference under my belt, let's move on. So ya' STILL wanna' go to B-School? In my initial journal I gave you some idea of what I went through to get here. Let me give some additional bullets that you might want to ponder as you go through the application process: • Don't lie - To paraphrase Mr. Mackey from South Park ™ "Lying on your application is bad, mmmm'kay?" 'Nuff said. • Follow the directions on the application – For example, if the application asks for a 1,000-word essay, use the word count feature. I'm sure everyone reading this and thinking about applying has a 3,000-word story that they feel is gripping and riveting. That might be but if you are asked for 1,000 words then write 1,000. When it comes to explicit instructions like word counts and page lengths, my completely non-admissions based opinion (hereafter referred to as M.C.N.B.O) is that limits are a test to ensure that you can express yourself within defined parameters. If you feel that you MUST go over the limit, you can always ask the school and see what they say. However, be sure to keep a copy of that 3,000-word version (more on this later). By the way, super mini-margins, wacky fonts and 8 pt. font size should never enter your mind as a way to get more space. • Engage a battery of editors for your essays – I've mentioned the help my wife gave me more than once but know that I had a whole host of editors on my side. Some I used to review the entire set of essays. Some editors were used for a paragraph or two. You want as much critical, honest feedback on your essays as you can get. Just keep in mind that your editors are critiquing your essay, not you (something I had "issues" with when I first started). Be able to step back and partially detach yourself from what you've written. If you think of every word you've written as a "child", "an intimate piece of your core" or a "reflective representation of your impossibly complex inner soul", you'll never be able to edit the essay appropriately (see previous bullet above). • If your school has an online application option; use it - For those of you who travel a great deal, Web-based applications allow you to work wherever you can get an Internet connection. For you born procrastinators, online applications allow you to work right up to the last minute when submitting applications. For example, I know of at least one person in my EMBA-Global class who finished his application at a little Internet café right off of the Porto da Barra beach in Salvador Bahia, Brazil. I won't embarrass him... so we'll just call him: "Zarius Brown". • Don't write your own recommendation – More than once in my consulting career a supervisor would say something truly inspiring like: "write up your evaluation and then I'll review and sign it". If any of the people you ask for a recommendation suggest you be the primary author, kindly thank them for their time, exit their office and quickly run as far away as possible. Someone who agrees to write your recommendation should not see it as an undue burden that could be lessened by getting you to do the work. In addition, acknowledge the skills of the people in admissions who scrutinize massive amounts of applications each year. They will very quickly be able to pick up similarities in word usage and writing style. You don't want to be on the wrong side of that analysis. • Choose good recommendation writers – Unless a personal or peer recommendation is explicitly asked for, be sure the people you ask for recommendations have (at a minimum): 1) managed you in a work environment; 2) can speak to your strengths and growth opportunities and 3) can speak to how you negotiate and conduct yourself in a professional environment. Okay, I think I see the next question coming: Do I ask for and send in more recommendations than are required? M.C.N.B.O is no. However, again, if you feel strongly ask the school and see what they say. • Remember, those who are willing to write have lives - You're probably asking very busy people to write a recommendation. Be respectful of their time and make the process as easy as possible for them. Write up a brief summary of your accomplishments and let the recommender know what aspects of your relationship should be included. Give them a time frame and follow up in a timely and thoughtful manner. Give your recommendation writers a good base to work from and they'll do an awesome job for you. Lastly, don't forget to send a thank you card letting them know the results. Okay, since my last three bullets dealt with recommendations, this seems like a great time to give a little insight as to how I chose my recommendation writers. The first thing I did was to simply review the EMBA-Global recommendation form. Schools are usually pretty clear as to what type of interaction they want your recommendation writer to have had with you. If there is some uncertainty as to whether someone meets the specified requirements, then ask the admissions staff their opinion. Based on the school's requirements, I then thought of people who could not only speak to the points EMBA-Global wanted to know about but also would be willing to take on the task of writing the recommendation. My first pick was Archie Martin. Why? In addition to being my current manager, Archie and I just have a great working relationship. In addition, Archie was extremely supportive throughout the entire application process. However, I wasn't sure that a few months of excellent performance was enough; especially because at the time I applied for the EMBA-Global program I had been at Pitney Bowes less than a year. I asked the admissions staff if I could send in additional managerial reference and they agreed that my circumstances warranted additional recommendations. My second pick was someone who had actually written some recommendations for me when I was running the full-time application gauntlet: Harold Gray. Why? Harold managed me during a particularly trying engagement while we were both working for Andersen Consulting. If anybody could speak to my strengths, areas for growth, and how I handled stressful situations, it was Harold. As rough as it was, that project has turned out to be a sort of B-school "proving ground." Out of the five other junior consultants on the team; one went to Columbia and two went to Wharton. Harold and I developed a great friendship as well as a strong mentor/"mentee" relationship over the years. In fact, Harold was celebrating and showing off his dance moves at the wedding, so I have plenty of video and pictures of said dancing for subsequent blackmail opportunities. The third pick was also someone who had written a recommendation for me whilst I was on the full-time B-school quest: Bill Clark. Why? Bill was a natural selection because he is a former client and was the U.S. Director of ERP Implementations for the project on which Harold and I worked. There is no greater praise than positive client feedback. You might also consider what points you are going to talk about in your essay before deciding who to ask to write a recommendation. One of my major essays had to do with the project that Harold, Bill, and I were on. Being able to get their input added depth to the experiences I was describing and tied key pieces of my application together. While we're all recommendation-focused, you're probably asking yourself; "Do I waive the right to read these recommendations?" I have no idea what if any impact that may have on an admissions decision; so let's go to M.C.N.B.O. If you're worried about what is going to go in your recommendation letter, you might want to consider rethinking whom you've asked to write that letter. I ended up waiving my right because I felt very comfortable with my recommenders. Quick aside - I can't personally speak to a situation where you may not able to ask your immediate supervisor for a recommendation. But going back to M.C.N.B.O, I would recommend asking the admissions staff of the school what to do if you find yourself in this predicament. However, before you do that, I would have read the recommendation thoroughly and understood what the school wants. Have a short list of 1-3 "alternates"; people who might be able to provide the answers needed.
  Feel free to email Darius at: emba_global_bw@att.net.
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