Getting admission in a MBA program is a frustrating journey.

The path is so tedious that it is often hard to keep your nerve in place. However, the fruits of a prestigious MBA degree are not avoidable. For instance, the starting salary is mostly over 80K. So, I hope that you are ready for a journey of a life time ;) Here are the steps that you should follow:

Choosing a Business School:

Obviously, the first step is to choose a business school and this is bewildering to many of us since there are thousands of business schools in USA. So how you will choose your business school? High ranked business schools have very high tuition fees so although you have a high profile, you will probably not spend a huge chunk of money for a prestigious MBA program. So, if you are going to a low ranked or mid ranked business school, you need to know some information about your desired business school:

Check admission requirements, tuition fees and scholarship options ( whether they offer full or partial waiver). Be confident that you will receive the scholarship. Information about scholarship is given below. Your Business school should be accredited Business school should have internship opportunities or placements Some Business schools offer work in abroad option which is definitely give you an advantage Some business schools have on-campus recruitment facility; various companies come to campuses to recruit MBA students Review your business schools at http://www.usnews.com/ Check the class size Check percentage of students receiving job after graduation Check starting salary after graduation Check acceptance rate

If your chosen business schools fulfill the above-mentioned criteria, make notes on them;for instance contact info ,deadline etc. After finding your right business school (make sure you choose at least 10-15 business schools), look at your budget and choose some affordable schools.

Admission requirements:
Lets have a look at the admission requirements; what business schools really want. For most of the business schools the requirements are kind of same.

CGPA should be at least 3 .If your CGPA is below 3 you have to contact with your desired business school about your chance (some business schools allow students whose CGPA is below 3, but they hold a strong overall profile) At least 2 years of work experience in a relevant field is a requirement for most of the business schools. However, few schools do not require work experience for admission; they accept fresh graduates. Although they do not require work experience, you still need some kind of work experience to improve your profile.

GMAT and TOEFL are mandatory for almost all of the business schools in USA (there are some exceptions). In our group, there is plenty of information about those two tests. A good score in GMAT and TOEFL does make a difference. IELTS is also widely accepted, but make sure that your business school accepts it. For some business schools extracurricular activities is a requirement so make sure you do join some local communities or club A current resume is must for every applicant. It has to be tailored according to the requirements of the business school. Make sure you do not have any grammatical error in your resume. If you are not sure, you can contact with some professionals to make it organized and error-free. Reference letter is also an important factor. A reference letter from a reputed institute or company will increase your chance. Normally you need two reference letters but sometimes business schools ask for three reference letter. It is better to submit one academic and one professional reference letter. You have to make sure that your reference letter includes your performance and responsibilities. You can make a draft by yourself first and you can ask your referee to include those information. Another important criterion for admission is essay. Different schools have different admission essays. For example, these questions were asked by a business school:

Essay 1: Attitude, skills and knowledge differentiate people. Elaborate with two examples on how you would differentiate yourself.(max 300 words)

Essay 2: Pick the most significant achievement (professional or personal) you have had and elaborate on the key learning you took away from it. (300 words max)

Scholarship:
Most of the students say that there is no scholarship in MBA and its almost impossible to get any scholarship in MBA. The good news is that this information is not true. There are certainly various scholarships available for MBA students. However, the main problem is that we Bangladeshis do not score well in the GMAT. So, usually we are not eligible to apply for those scholarships. The good news is that many business schools are now accepting GRE score so now you can write GRE instead of tough and frustrating GMAT test. To get scholarship you have to enhance your profile. How you will enhance your profile? Lets have a look. Joining Online forum:

First and foremost, join Beat the GMAT and GMAT club. Those two forums are comprehensive source of latest information about MBA degree. Links are given below http://www.beatthegmat.com/ http://gmatclub.com/ Extracurricular activities :

They will definitely give you a boost. You can be involved in different types of clubs and communities: local communities which work for different purposes such as environmental policies, helping poor indigents, fund raising etc Different clubs such as debating, reciting, fund raising etc Sports activities such as football, cricket, tennis etc Preparing for the GMAT or GRE:

Good news is that many business schools now accept GRE score. Since GMAT is much harder than GRE, it is advisable to take GRE test. However, first you have to contact with your graduate admission team to know about their preference. OK, so how to prepare for those test? There are various sources from where you can be benefitted. My suggestion is to start your GMAT journey from here:
http://gmatclub.com/forum/gmat-study-plan-how-to-start-your-gmat-prep-80727.html

In addition, look at our file sections; you will find abundance of information. Now lets talk about scoring. If you are looking for a top ranked MBA school then your GMAT score should be 700 +. If your CGPA is low then with a 700 + score, you will most probably get admission in a mid ranked MBA school with scholarship. If you have a good CGPA and a moderate GMAT score, 600 +,dont be frustrated, you will still able to manage some sort of scholarship in low-

ranked business schools. Below is a conversion scale which you can use if GRE test is taken instead of GMAT:
https://www.ets.org/gre/institutions/about/mba/comparison_tool

Work Experience: Work experience in a relevant field is important to receive graduate assistantship position. The more you are experienced the more is your chance to get GA or TA position. If you are a fresh graduate, try to get some work experience in any field. For instance, do some volunteering or join the local communities. Business schools really want to see those activities in a student.

Still I know some students will say, its really hard to get scholarship. For those, below is a requirement for Graduate Assistantship Position offered by a low ranked business school: Eligibility Be admitted and fully matriculated in a master's or doctoral program (advanced certificate students are not eligible for this program). Provisionally accepted, conditionally matriculated, and Bridge students are not eligible to apply until the successful completion of their provisional, conditional, or Bridge requirements. Have submitted official documentation of GMAT scores and all previous transcripts. Have submitted a complete resume which indicates years of work experience and details that experience Be a full-time student registered in graduate level courses during each semester of the appointment Give evidence of excellent communication skills, either through GMAT AWA or TOEFL scores Have a strong undergraduate, and where applicable, graduate academic background.

In determining eligibility for scholarship, we take prior managerial work experience, GMAT scores (minimum 550, minimum TOEFL score of 100) undergraduate and graduate grade point average (minimum of 3.0 required), letters of recommendation and communication skills into consideration. And, if you fulfill the requirements they will offer you the following: For the fall and spring semesters: 10 hours of work - $1,275 for one semester - 6 credits tuition each semester 20 hours of work - $2,550 for one semester - 12 credits tuition each semester So, as you can see that how important is your profile to get a good scholarship in a business school.

Folks if you really crave a prestigious MBA program, you have to enrich your profile. A strong CGPA with a poor profile will not able to take you to a good MBA program but a very strong profile with a low CGPA might take you to a high-ranked MBA program with a scholarship. Check out this recent MBA ranking and salary of some top ranked business schools which will definitely inspire you..:)
http://gmatclub.com/forum/all-2013-mba-rankings-99812.htmlThank you everyone for reading the

article.