Cutts Graduate Reviews,     (505) 281-0684,     10am-10pm, 7 days 

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The Complete Guide to Your Admissions Plan

How solid is your plan of attack?

Step 1.  Where are you on this chart?

Step2.  Check out your plan.

Are you pretty sure what career you want to go into?   Yes     No. Still have some concerns.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

You know your career.

Good.  You're confident of your career.  Here's  how you can squeeze some extra brownie points for your application:


In your Personal Statement the school wants to see that:

  1.  you have a strong motivation to pursue your field
  2.  you have a realistic sense of what the field is about.
To convince them of this, you need some facts.
  1. What are current issues that people are working on in the field?
  2. What are the realistic job opportunities?
  3. What can someone getting your degree realistically accomplish?


If you know this info, it will show them that you are serious enough to have done the research.  If you don't know this info, you may inadverently say something that they know is unrealistic or naive.

 Tell more about careers   Take me to the next question.   

I'm done. What's the Admissions SuperForum?
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Not sure of your career?

It's good to deal with those concerns now.  First, you will need to speak intelligently about your career in your personal statement.  Second, you can save yourself a lot of time and headaches by getting a clear idea now of what you want to do.


In your Personal Statement the school wants to see that:

  1. you have a strong motivation to pursue your field
  2. you have a realistic sense of what the field is about.
To convince them of this, you need some facts.
  1. What are current issues that people are working on in the field?
  2. What are the realistic job opportunities?
  3. What can someone getting your degree realistically accomplish?

Career Issues

The following questions have to do with your personal goals and values in a career.

  1. Pay.  What are realistic salaries in this field?
  2. Options for growth.  How much creativity does this work include?  How much variety?  What are the options for growing in different directions in the future?
  3. Working conditions.  What are the personalities like of people in this field?  How much or little pressure is there in the work place?  How much flexibility in schedules?
  4. Location.  Will I have to relocate to get a job?
  5. Reality Check.  What do people in this field actually do?  Are my goals for what I'd like to do realistic, ie is it the kind of thing that people are doing now?  What kind of companies do they work for?  Are there any jobs?
You might feel a little lost addressing these questions.  Here are some hints.
  1. Find people who are doing the kind of work you'd like to do. Search nationally.  Find the best.  Ask them about some of these issues above.
  2. Talk with professors nationally teaching in your field, especially those whose interests are similar to yours.
  3. Take some time to visit some of the most interesting companies, organizations or individuals doing what you'd like to do.  Travel nationally.  Spend a few days or so at each.  Ask questions and observe.
  4. Visit the  Admissions SuperForumto ask questions and see what others have to say.
  5. Work with a professional career counselor.  Look in your local yellow pages.  We have also referred many students to  Jane Finkle  , who works with clients nationally.
If you haven't yet decided on your field, it will probably make sense to put everything else on hold for now.

 Continue       I'm Done for Now























Next Question. Do you know when you will start business school?    Yes    No.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Not Sure When to Start School?

What issues do you have to resolve to figure out when you would start business school?

To start at the soonest time, you might need to meet some deadlines that are coming up.  So, this is the critical question you should focus on now.  If  you need some help on this, email  Mr. Cutts   or call him at (505) 281-0684 or toll free from outside Albuquerque at(800) 353-4898, day or evening.  Also visit our Admissions SuperForumto see what other people are doing.
 
 

Do you know which schools you want to go to?  Yes.      No.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Not Sure Where to Apply?

Each school has different deadlines and different requirements for the GMAT.

Until you can decide where to apply, it will be hard to know when you have to have everything in and how well you need to do on the GMAT.  Here are some questions to consider in deciding on schools:
  1. Do I need to go to a prestigious school in order to get the kind of job I want?
  2. What are the schools that would give me the best training in my specialty?
  3. Where can I afford to go?
  4. What climate do I want to be in?  Where would I feel most comfortable with the people and culture?
  5. What schools would I love to go to even though they might be a stretch?  Where could I get in for sure?
If  you need some help on this, email  Mr. Cutts   or call him at (505) 281-0684 or toll free from outside Albuquerque at(800) 353-4898, day or evening.  Also visit our Admissions SuperForumto see what other people are doing.
 

 Continue     I'm Done for Now
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Do you know the admissions deadlines for materials and for the GMAT?     Yes.   No.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Not Sure of Admission Deadlines?

Deadlines can vary widely.

Sometimes they are almost a year before your classes start, sometimes a month before.  These vary from school to school and department to department.  Call them.  This is one fact they are usually very clear on.

When You Know Your Deadlines:

It's good to get your application in at least a month or two before the deadline.  However, if you need more time to make it as strong as possible, that's more important.  If you plan far enough ahead, you can both do a good job and get it in early.

If  you need some help on planning, email  Mr. Cutts   or call him at (505) 281-0684 or toll free from outside Albuquerque at(800) 353-4898, day or evening.  Also visit our Admissions SuperForumto see what other people are doing.

Next:  Do you know what GMAT scores you need to be competitive?

Yes.     No.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Not Sure What Scores You Need?

This info can be hard to determine.

Remember, this will vary from school to school.  To be competitive you need to consider both your undergrad GPA (not graduate) and the GMAT.  Ask your schools if there is a minimum score below which they will not accept you. Ask them what the average score is. Ask the admissions director what score you might need to be competitive given your GPA.

In general, scores below 500 will have a hard time being admitted.  Also, in general you can assume that the better you do, the greater your chance of getting accepted the first time.

If  you need some help on this, email  Mr. Cutts   or call him at (505) 281-0684 or toll free from outside Albuquerque at(800) 353-4898, day or evening.  Also visit our Admissions SuperForum to see what other people are doing.

Next: Have you taken a diagnostic test to see if you are close to the score you need? Yes.   No.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

You Haven't Taken a Diagnostic:

It is difficult to do a meaningful GMAT diagnostic. Commercial books may have software simulating the computer test but these scores are extremely unreliable. The GMAT people have a free copy of the PowerPrep software, which contains actual GMAT questions in the computer format. However, you may want to stay away from this now for two reasons. The first is that the PowerPrep score itself is proving not to be particularly reliable. Second, there are only two tests on it and I feel it is important to save those tests to work on your timing strategy toward the end of your prep process.

A more accurate diagnostic can be done with the paper questions in the Official Guide to GMAT Review. However, the book does not tell you which questions actually constitute a test. If you contact me, I can give you directions for doing a diagnostic out of the current edition.

You might not want to know the bad news, but it is much better to find out in advance where you stand.    It is important to do your practicing only with actual GMAT questions..  Almost all commercial books contain simulated tests, not actual ones, and often don't accurately represent the patterns of the GMAT.  Get the Official Guide mentioned above. Don't order from people claiming to have 100's of unpublished GMAT questions. You risk losing or wasting your money.
 

Next:  Do you have a prep plan?

Scoring consistently about 20 points higher than where you need to be? You can probably do ok prepping on your own with a couple commercial books for some guidance.

Scoring about or just below where you need to be?  It's best get above your goal, since people tend to drop a bit on the actual test.  If you have 6 to 8 months to prep, you may be able to get there on your own but more likely you will need some professional help to increase your score quickly and significantly.

10 points or more below your goal?  OR have less than 6 months to prep?  You can probably benefit from getting instruction on the hidden agendas and hidden patterns of the test which you would be unlikely to pick up from commercial books.

What's the best prep?  Most commercial programs have the serious drawback that you are working with an instructor who, though probably very bright with great GMAT scores, has very limited experience teaching the test.  Even if an instructor has taught for a season or two, this is still very part time.

Jay Cutts is one of the few, and possibly the only, full time, experienced (over 13 years) test prep specialist with whom you can work one on one.  He has designed the Cutts Personal GMAT Tutorial so that you can work in the convenience of your own schedule, can get expert one on one guidance regularly from him at your convenience and can work as long as you need to with him at an affordable cost.

See our home page for details or call Mr. Cutts directly, day or evening, at (505) 281-0684 or toll free from outside Albuquerque at(800) 353-4898.

How does the Cutts Admissions SuperForum help students succeed?

This is a web discussion board that puts you in touch with people around the country and world on issues related to MBA school admissions, the GMAT and career choices.  Ask questions.  Get answers.  Get the inside info on careers, schools, application strategies and other resources.  Share discoveries, concerns, frustrations.  Find other people whose plans are similar to yours.  Come visit.

The SuperForum is free.  Use it as your main source for planning your application. Visit the SuperForum

If  you need some help on this, email  Mr. Cutts   or call him at (505) 281-0684 or toll free from outside Albuquerque at (800) 353-4898, day or evening. 
 

(505) 281-0684

 

Cutts Graduate Reviews, 144 Sedillo Hill Road, Tijeras, NM 87059