MBA Decision

Making Guide
personalmbacoach.com [email protected]
Table of Contents 03 About Personal MBA Coach

04 Comprehensive Packages Overview

05 4 Signs Now Might Be Time for an MBA

06 Choosing the Right MBA Option

09 Our Thoughts on MBA Rankings

10 How To Use MBA Rankings

11 6 Tips For Business School Selection

13 Testimonials
A B OU T P E R S O NA L M B A COACH W H AT S E T S P E R S O N A L M B A CO A C H A PA R T

Personal MBA Coach has helped hundreds of applicants around Founded by Scott Edinburgh, a Wharton MBA, member of
the world get into top MBA, EMBA, part-time MBA and graduate AIGAC Board of Directors and industry veteran with 16 years
programs including HBS, Stanford, Wharton, Chicago Booth, of admissions consulting experience
Kellogg, Columbia GSB, Dartmouth Tuck, MIT Sloan, London
Business School, INSEAD, Yale SOM, UVA Darden, Duke Fuqua,
Berkeley Haas, NYU Stern and many more with a 96% success Scott presents globally and was invited to present to
rate. Last cycle our clients earned $10M in total scholarships. admissions directors at GMAC conference

Personal MBA Coach was founded in 2008 by Scott Edinburgh,

Prior corporate experience to inform your essays and goals,
a former management consultant and industry strategist with
including consulting, banking and strategy
an MBA from Wharton and a BS from MIT. With a boutique and
personalized approach, Scott helps turn analytical, general
management and client services experiences into the powerful
and convincing stories that admissions committee members are Former M7 admissions directors and M7 MBA interviewers
on our team
looking for. Personal MBA Coach helps clients through all aspects
of the application process, including application strategy, pre-
application planning, GMAT/GRE/EA prep and school selection. Flexible scheduling and fast turnaround times
Scott is on the Board of Directors and is a Committee Chair
of AIGAC (Association of International Graduate Admissions
Consultants: an organization that meets annually with admissions
Personalized and customized GMAT/GRE/EA tutoring
directors of the top 25 schools globally). Learn how Personal MBA
Coach can make your dreams a reality by walking you step by step
through the entire process.
One point of contact
S E R V I C E S O F F E RE D

• Comprehensive Packages
• GMAT/GRE/EA Tutoring Direct, honest feedback
• Interview Preparation
• Waitlist Support
• Gut Check Internal network of former clients at all top schools
• Early MBA Planning
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Comprehensive Packages Overview

1. Develop Your Story

The boutique one-on-one approach begins day 1. With a kickoff call or
meeting, Scott will learn all about you and your aspirations. Together you
will select target schools, articulate your DISTINCT story and fine-tune your
goals. ​

2. Resume Review
Virtually all professional resumes need to be tailored for business school
applications. Your resume will be updated from top to bottom, as many times
as it takes to bring it to perfection.

3. Essay Brainstorming and Unlimited Essay Editing

Building from YOUR personal story, we will brainstorm topics and review
award winning essays. Send your essays back for detailed edits and feedback
as many times as it takes to get them right, with fast two-day turnaround and
direct and honest insight.

4. LOR Support
Don’t underestimate this crucial step. Scott will guide you through selecting
the ideal recommenders and preparing them so your LORs shine and align
with your overall application.

5. Interview Preparation
Seal the deal with detailed interview guides and mock interviews with former
M7 admissions interviewers, followed by written feedback. For Wharton/Ross,
we will conduct group mock interviews and for HBS we include post interview
reflection support.

6. Waitlist Strategy and Post Acceptance Support

Our
Our relationship does not
relationship doesn’t endend
when when yousubmit.
you hit hit submit. Whether
Whether you areyou are or wait
accepted
accepted or waitlisted, Scott will continue his personal support. Find
listed. Scott will continue his personal support. Find out how and when to reach out out
how
to getand when
off the waittolist
reach out to get
and receive off on
advice thewhich
waitlist andbest
school receive
suits advice on which
your goals. He will
school best suits your goals. He will connect you with former clients at your
connect you with former clients at your future school as you join
future school as you join the small Personal MBA Coach alumni family and
the small Personal MBA Coach alumni family and attend Personal MBA Coach
attend Personal MBA Coach alumni networking events.
alumni networking events.
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 4 Signs Now Might Be Time for an MBA

Every year Personal MBA Coach works with clients who know they want to
pursue their MBA but are not sure whether now is the time. To help you answer
this question, below are four signs that it might be the right time to consider an
MBA.

1. You already have 4-5 years of pre-MBA experience.

The average applicant for most schools has approximately 5 years of pre-MBA
experience. Once you have 6+ years, your chances of acceptance begin to
decrease slightly each year. Similarly, your odds of acceptance do not increase
considerably between 4 and 5 years unless your role significantly changes. You
should also consider the possibility that you may not be accepted the first time
you apply. The longer you wait now, the more likely that you will run out of time
to give your dream school one more shot by reapplying. At this stage in your
career, there are few compelling reasons to wait. So, consider shooting for the
stars now and applying to your first-choice schools for round 3.

2. You have reached a plateau at work.

Have you stretched yourself as much as possible in your current role? Are you
bored at work and feel that you have learned all you can in your current role?
MBAs open entirely new horizons through coursework, interactions with peers,
new experiences and networks. If you feel you are close to plateauing, now
might be the time to apply. If you are at all at risk of losing your job during the
recession, now is an even better time.

3. You are ready to switch careers.

Switching careers while writing your business school applications can be tricky.
While it works for some to change industries or functions pre-MBA, for most
people post-MBA is a better time to switch careers. But if you know you want
to move from banking to consulting or consulting to product management, why
wait? In many ways the MBA is the great equalizer and post-MBA students often
start at a similar level to each other. If this is you, think about applying today.

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4 Signs Now Might Be Time for an MBA (cont.)

4. Your personal situation makes it a good time to become a student.

Do you want a break from work? Is your partner going back to school and it will be
easier to study together? Going back to school full time is a major lifestyle change,
and your personal circumstance should be a key factor in your decision on when
to apply. If your circumstances feel right, consider it fortuitous.

Choosing the Right MBA Option

Getting an MBA does not necessarily require taking two years off from work. For
many, the traditional 2-year program might be your best bet. But for others, there are
an increasing number of alternative options you can consider based on your personal
circumstances and goals.

While all programs teach the same general curriculum, often by some of the same
faculty, full-time MBA programs tend to have more students who are looking for a
career change and interested in a more intense program with a heavy networking
and social component in addition to the academics. That said, many part-time MBA
graduates go on to seek new employment and/or change industries completely.

Additionally, the part-time (and especially the Executive MBA) programs tend to cater to
students with more varied years of experience vs the traditional 3-7 years for most full-
time MBA programs.

Wondering which program might be right for you? Here are some of the factors tipping
the scale toward each program.

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Choosing the Right MBA Option (cont.)

Executive MBA

Executive MBA programs are geared toward higher level executives and
members of senior management. Entrepreneurs who run their own business
also can fit well into EMBA classes. EMBA students tend to have more leadership
experience than part-time MBA students, though the experience required varies
greatly by school. We send applicants with as little as 5-6 years of experience to
some schools, whereas others are looking for 10-12+ years of work experience.
At MIT Sloan, for example, applicants have an average of more than 17 years
of experience. Successful candidates also often have international leadership
expertise, though this is not required for admission.

EMBA students are generally not immediately looking to change roles, though
recruiting is certainly possible from the program. Much of the recruiting happens
through internal networking (often with fellow EMBA classmates).

Part-Time MBA
Part-time MBA programs are geared toward professionals in the early/middle
part of their careers who want the experience of an MBA without taking time off
work. Students usually are less than 37 years old and are trending younger, with
the largest majority ages 27-32.

By enrolling in a part-time program, students are able to reduce the overall cost
of an MBA because two (in most cases) years of salary do not have to be forgone
in order to earn the degree.

Programs are either at night, over the weekend, or both and can be completed in
different amounts of time depending on the school and how busy a schedule the
student wants to have / how many courses the student decides to enroll in each
year.

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Choosing The Right MBA Option (cont.)

One-Year MBA
For those students who want to dedicate themselves full-time to their studies but
do not need an internship, this can be an attractive option. If you are not switching
industries or even roles, the standard recruiting process may not be necessary.

One-year programs provide fewer networking, recruiting and community

building opportunities but for those candidates who can’t afford to take two
full years out of the workforce, they can be a good choice. As of now, Cornell
Johnson, Duke Fuqua, Kellogg and Michigan Ross are among the schools that
offer one-year MBA programs.

Early Admission / Deferral MBA

An increasing number of schools offer deferral programs where current undergraduate
students can apply during their senior year, with the intention to work after school for
a couple years and then enroll in an MBA program. This gives students the chance to
lock in a top MBA program before entering the workforce. HBS calls the program 2+2
and has students work for two years before beginning the MBA. Stanford has a similar
two-year deferral while Yale SOM has Silver Scholars, which allows students to study
in an MBA program immediately upon finishing college. After one year, students enter
the workforce for a year and then return to SOM for the third year to finish the MBA.
Due to these programs’ later spring deadlines, candidates can finish the undergraduate
recruiting process and secure full-time job placement (hopefully) before applying.

Successful applicants already have demonstrated considerable leadership through

internships and extracurricular activities, either on or off campus. They also have a
strong sense of their career goals (though this often comes only after working with a
consultant on the applications, and keep in mind that the goals can definitely change
over time). While these programs are competitive, they are a good option for high
achievers looking to get a jump on the MBA application process.

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Our Thoughts on MBA Rankings
MBA rankings are often top of mind for all MBA hopefuls (and even many graduates).
Personal MBA Coach would like to share our thoughts on the latest rankings, along with
how we advise our clients to use MBA rankings in general. Before we cover the biggest
changes in the 2023 US News and World Report Best Business Schools, we would like
to remind everyone of one of the most important points to keep in mind when evaluating
ranking guides: Average ranking over time is much more important than year to year
fluctuations.

So, what is the big news this year?

Wharton has regained the #1 spot (which it held in the 2021 rankings but lost in 2022),
sharing this top honor with Chicago Booth. This is a jump from 3rd place for Chicago
Booth. Stanford GSB fell in this year’s US News Best Business Schools rankings to #3
(it held the #1 spot for the previous two years), tying with Northwestern Kellogg. This
was a jump for Kellogg, which had fallen from 3rd to 4th in the 2022 US News Rankings.
Harvard Business School and MIT Sloan School of Management were once again tied for
5th place. Check out the complete details online.

Personal MBA Coach has a few key thoughts following these updates:

First, all schools in the top 20 are strong options and you should not lose sleep over the
fact that Harvard Business School is #5 this year, nor do we recommend that every client
apply to Wharton and Chicago Booth just because of their high placement. As noted, the
changes over time are most important, and these rankings change from year-to-year
and guide-to-guide.

Second, seeing schools move around in the top 10 confirms that there are an increasing
number of high-quality MBA options available. Many applicants are looking more
broadly than just Harvard, Stanford and Wharton. Our clients on average apply to 5 to 8
schools. And Ross, for example, has been getting a lot more attention in recent years.
Amazon (and other leading tech companies) hire a lot from Ross.

Third, beyond rankings, it is important to look at job placement. You often

can land your dream job after graduating from a number of similar schools. Depending
on your post-MBA goals, you also may want to pay more attention to some of the
specialized rankings. Just because a school is higher ranked overall does not mean that
it will do a better job at preparing you for your next job, especially if you are not going for
a more standard goal like consulting or banking. personalmbacoach.com 9
How To Use MBA Rankings
1) Look at MBA rankings to get an overview of the business school landscape.
If you are in the early stages of your MBA application journey, rankings can be useful to
get a general lay of the land. Use these rankings to see what schools are out there, where
they are located, and how they compare to one another.

2) Review statistics as an initial guide.

Statistics including acceptance rate, average undergraduate GPA, and average test scores
of enrolled students will give you some strong benchmarking information. That said,
these numbers should be used as only an initial guide since the whole applicant package
is far more important.

3) Consider average ranking over the years.

A school’s average ranking over time is important to consider when looking at MBA
rankings. When you are applying to jobs down the road, recruiters likely will not know
your school’s ranking when you applied, but they may look at its current standing.

4) Analyze general trends.

Of course, certain schools will consistently place in the top ten, but the general list will
vary from source to source. As mentioned with ranking over time, the general trend
across different ranking sources is the most significant.

5) Notice how rankings vary from one industry to the next.

While all MBA programs highlight strong general management education, each school
has different areas of expertise. Thus it will be helpful to consider how schools perform in
industry-specific rankings as well.​Think about your MBA goals and check out rankings
that pertain to these goals.

Important Facts To Keep in Mind

Average ranking over time is much more important than year-to-year fluctuation.
When you are courting that investor 10 years from now, they won’t pay attention to what
the ranking was when you applied but will look at what it is at the time. So pay closer
attention to general rankings trends.

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How To Use MBA Rankings (cont.)
The ranking of the overall university, not just the business school, matters.
Many potential employers or investors will not be familiar with the business school
landscape but will know about the reputations of the universities themselves. Often this
university ranking can carry almost as much weight.

Nearly every rankings scale will give different results.

Of course, certain schools will be in the top 10 in nearly every ranking, but the general
list varies considerably from source to source. As with historical data, the general trend
is most important.

Rankings vary by industry!

While all business schools focus to some extent on providing strong general
management education, each school has a specific area of expertise. Pay attention to
how the schools stack up in the industry-specific rankings as well.

6 Tips for Business School Selection

Picking the right business school is a complicated and personal process and a key
component of our services.

However, here are 6 tips to get you started:

1. Begin with the statistics.

Statistics such as acceptance rate and average GPA and GMAT/GRE of enrolled
students will give you some good benchmarking data; however, use these
numbers as an initial guide only. The whole applicant package matters, and
plenty of candidates with a lower than average GPA or GMAT/GRE will get in each
year and vice versa.

2. Go Broad.
Our average candidate now applies to 5 to 8 schools. Make sure that you have
some “reach” schools, some “more likely” schools and some “safer” schools,
especially if you want to secure an acceptance this year. All business schools
look to fill their classes with diverse candidates, and you cannot always predict
which school might need someone who fits your profile. Adding a broad range of
schools helps to balance this.
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6 Tips for Business School Selection (cont.)

3. Pay Attention to Culture.

Culture is more than a buzzword: It will be key to having a fulfilling MBA
experience and developing lasting long-term relationships. Do you want
a small close-knit campus where everyone lives and studies nearby? Are
learning teams important to you? Do you consider the entire city your campus?
As you talk to alums and visit schools (virtually), these are just some of the many
questions you should ask yourself while narrowing your list.

4. Look carefully at the curriculum and program.

Think about your post-MBA goals carefully and pay attention to whose offerings
are the best fit. For example, is a flexible curriculum important to you? Do you
thrive with more hands-on opportunities? Is the ability to study internationally
important? All schools vary in the degree to which they meet these needs, so do
your research. Not only will this help you determine which programs will be the
best fit, but this research will also be critical as you target your application.

5. Explore areas of excellence.

Similarly, explore emerging areas of research at each campus. This is
particularly important if you have a specific focus. Finding a professor who is
working on a project in your area of interest could be a key driver of both your
experience on campus and your chances of success during the application
process.

6. Consider location.
Sure, you can live anywhere after graduation and companies from all over the
world will travel to recruit. But for obvious reasons, it is much easier to recruit
at schools that are closer geographically. This does not mean you should only
consider city schools. Look at which schools your target companies visit for
recruitment, what local opportunities are available to candidates and which
speakers come to campus.

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TESTIMONIALS

When doing my initial search for an admissions consultant, I was first drawn to the big-name consulting
companies. Yet, after doing more research I realized that I did not merely want to be another faceless customer at
one of these big firms. I knew that I needed the personalized support that Scott at Personal MBA Coach provides
in order to get through the application process in one piece. The whole application process, from b-school
research to essay writing, is intensive, time-consuming, and stressful. I highly recommend Scott as the person
ripe for the job to get you through it—with success...Scott’s one-on-one support is exactly what I needed to
conquer this arduous process and engineer an admission to my dream school of Columbia.

CO LU M B I A B U I S N E S S S C H O O L

I couldn’t have made it to my dream school, MIT Sloan, without Scott and his team’s timely support and
guidance. The team was super responsive and to the point with their questions, prompts and edits. This
allowed me to iterate through my ideas and bring relevant information into my essays. The entire process
gave me clarity of thought, helped me identify my strengths and even made me a better writer by the end of
it. I am so glad that I had the Personal MBA Coach team by my side, and I couldn’t recommend them more. It
is one of the best decisions that I made to reach my goal.

M I T S LO A N

I reached out to Personal MBA Coach in mid-November after working with another consultant for 3+
months without making much progress on my applications. I wound up starting from scratch, but in spite
of the relatively late start, I was able to submit 6 complete applications (MIT, NYU, Wharton, Stanford, HBS,
Columbia) for round 2. Scott and his team were incredible, and as soon as I was on board with Scott the
progress was immediate and tangible...At the end of the day I got into one of my top schools. I really just
want to thank Scott and the whole Personal MBA Coach team for all of their efforts on my behalf.

W H A R TO N

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 L E T P E R S O N A L M B A CO A C H H E L P

Helping clients since 2008, our boutique one-on-one approach has led to a
96% success rate!

Call or email for a consultation with founder, Scott Edinburgh

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