Foreign applicants to US schools
Being a foreign applicant to US schools brings its own set of advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side, you are exotic. You don’t have to work too hard to explain how you add diversity and experience to the program.
The kinds of things you have done, the cultural differences you bring, the foreign places you have worked and the languages you speak will work in your favour, particularly if you link them to the program in specific ways: ‘My experience working in Brussels on EU agribusiness regulatory issues will be relevant to my fellow students at Kellogg because . . .’
There are, however, other obstacles to negotiate:
GPA
If your college degree were from Michigan State, the admissions committee would easily know what to read into that and would draw conclusions (rightly or wrongly). But if it’s from the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, chances are they won’t have a clue how that rates, and you could get the benefit of the doubt. Programs generally have experts that ‘translate’ foreign STRATEGY FUNDAMENTALS 35
transcripts into the American GPA system – do not attempt to do it yourself (there is rapid grade inflation in the US and you will probably short-change yourself). Alternatively, ask your university for a transcript addendum that gives your rank in class (first, second, third, etc.) or rank in percentage terms (top 5%, top 10%, etc.).
Gmat
Part of the reason why the Gmat is so important to the admissions committee is that, while colleges vary wildly, the Gmat is a national and international standard for assessing the academic potential of allcomers. The Gmat carries more weight in an international file because the value of the foreign GPA and other parts of a foreigner’s scholastic and professional background are harder to assess. If you crack the Gmat, pretty much all of the other ‘indecipherable’
parts of your academic past will be forgiven.
English
One aspect of a foreigner’s application that always attracts special attention is English ability. Don’t think the MBA program is all about numbers – spoken and written English is critical to managing the reading and academic workload and also to functioning in teams and extramurally. English ability will continue to be a key component of success in recruitment and in your professional life.
Therefore, the TOEFL, the Gmat verbal score, the analytical writing assessment and your essays will all be scrutinized by the committee looking for reassur- ance on this matter.
Do not underestimate the negative effect that incorrect or clunky English has on your application. Your readers are almost all mother-tongue English speakers. Many of them will have an active interest in people, writing, commu- nications, language and literature. They can tell the subtleties of good lan- guage use from bad, and they care about it. It may not be fair, but admission readers don’t have the time or the patience to decide whether a mistake is non-native phrasing or whether it is carelessness, inarticulacy or stupidity.
Anything less than fluent will give the perception that you are not as good as the next person.
Even foreign applicants with English as their mother tongue cannot take their communications for granted. Americans, particularly those in the business world, live in a culture with high expectations of self-expression and many specific acronyms and local coinages. The US cultural preference for blunt messages and sound-bites is not easy to reproduce, even for the foreigner with English as their mother tongue.
Separating schools
Foreign students normally have to work harder to appreciate the subtle differ- ences between different US programs. Applying ‘to an American MBA’ is not 36 STRATEGY FOR THE ADMISSIONS PROCESS
enough. The schools want to know why them particularly and in detail. It takes extra-carefully focused research and the acquisition of significant cultural knowledge for the, say, Chilean applicant to be able to distinguish between Chicago Business School and Kellogg, for example. For locals, this knowledge will not only be easier to get, but it will be more immediately culturally comprehensible.
Understanding competitiveness
Without cultural experience of the US, foreigners don’t always appreciate the career and life-changing difference implied in getting into a good business school. Therefore, they don’t understand the immense competitiveness they face or the ability of the admissions committee to make extraordinary demands and expect candidates to jump to fulfil them to the letter. Americans are culturally more used to the bitterly competitive, tightrope-walking nature of the application process: one foot wrong and you are in the ravine.
US applicants to foreign schools
American candidates going abroad face a different spectrum of issues. While the status of their undergraduate program or command of English will not be factors, other problems arise. Foreign programs almost all value international experience highly and will look carefully at the ability of the American appli- cant to operate outside of his or her milieu.
Rule number one is to show commitment to an international career. Don’t make it seem like America is the only place where people know how to do business, raising the suspicion that the only reason you are thinking of coming over to London is that you were rejected from Duke last year. Show a willing- ness to take other education systems, other cultures, and foreign recruiters and workplaces seriously, even if they are different and make less sense (to you) than those you are familiar with. Foreign languages are a significant demon- stration of positive intent.
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