B-Schooled: Get Your MBA Admit

This replay of a two-part series of episodes outlines 12 things that admitted MBA applicants should do between now and matriculation. This week's Part 2 covers budgeting for your MBA, planning to relocate, and figuring out how to best spend your time between now and matriculation (when you aren't attending to all of the other to do's!). As a reminder, last week in Part 1 (episode 201) we discussed how to head off possible issues with your background check after you're admitted. If that's something that concerns you, be sure to check out SBC's MBA PreCheck service (on our website under "Work With Us").

This replay of a two-part series of episodes outlines 12 things that admitted MBA applicants should do between now and matriculation. Part 1 covers To Do's related to an applicant's current and future networks, as well as other important actions to take before leaving a job. We also discuss how to head off possible issues with your background check after you're admitted. If that's something that concerns you, be sure to check out SBC's MBA PreCheck service (on our website under "Work With Us").

Four our special 200th podcast episode we are sitting down with an early SBC client – Stephen Frayne, Jr. -- who worked with SBC almost 20 years ago. Chandler and Stephen talk about a number of important topics of interest to any MBA applicant, including: How to think about the value of investing in working with an MBA consultant, The ways in which an MBA consultant can serve as a mentor, Advice from a re-applicants who don't get in the first time… but ended up getting into his dream school the second time, Lessons learned from that same applicant who ended up TURNING DOWN his dream school for reasons he never would have expected, Suggestions for MBA applicants interested in the intersection between entrepreneurship and intellectual property, Lessons learned from standing up for yourself early in your career, The benefits of asking for help and coalition building, The power of taking a "portfolio approach" to life, Keeping a "beginner's mindset" throughout the course of one's career, and The perils of thinking small. Special thanks to Stephen for this very honest and candid conversation.

Podcast discusses the importance of authenticity, boldness, and planning in MBA applications. Topics include articulating goals, career planning in business school, and pressure testing career plans with industry experts.

For the past two years our co-host Chandler has ended each of his podcasts with the same 9 words: "Be authentic, be brave, and have a solid plan". In many ways, these words summarize so much of Chandler's entire MBA application philosophy. In this three part series, he will dive deep into authenticity, boldness, and career planning—and how each of these relate to MBA applications. In this episode Chandler talks extensively about how to be bold in your MBA applications. Among other things, Chandler talks about why top business schools are looking for bold applicants and how to: Be bold by centering your passion and being specific, Incorporate bold elements into your career goals, Think about what you want to do with your life, Talk about your accomplishments without sounding like you are bragging, Talk about the elements of your application you are the most nervous about (and why this is a very good thing), Write the essay that scares you, and Decide how personal is "too personal" for MBA essays and interviews.

For the past two years our co-host Chandler has ended each of his podcasts with the same 9 words: "Be authentic, be brave, and have a solid plan". In many ways, these words summarize so much of Chandler's entire MBA application philosophy. In this three part series, he will dive deep into authenticity, boldness, and career planning—and how each of these relate to MBA applications. In part one, Chandler talks extensively about authenticity and aggregates a great deal of free resources related to this critically important topic. Among other things, Chandler talks about how to: Channel your most authentic self when writing your MBA essays, Highlight what you've learned and how you've grown, and Deal with self-doubt while on your MBA journey Chandler concludes by challenging listeners to use authenticity as a way to reframe doubts into boldness. By turning your deepest fears on their heads, you might just discover the fuel you need to take your application to the next level.

Are you in the extraordinarily enviable position of having to decide between two or more MBA programs? Are you nervous about your choice or unsure of how to go about making such a huge commitment? This episode pulls together advice from the entire Stacy Blackman Consulting staff on how to approach this decision and what factors to consider (both short-term and long-term).

Today's guest is Hanson Li, Founder and Managing Partner of Salt Partners. Salt Partners is a restaurant industry focused investment and operating company. Since 2014, Salt has been involved with of 8 significant restaurant companies—including 4 restaurants with Michelin stars. Salt Partners has also invested in 15+ technology and branded companies in the food and beverage industry. Prior to Salt, Hanson spent 10 years as Managing Director at The Hina Group, a China focused private equity firm and investment bank. Born in Hong Kong, Hanson grew up in Asia and Rochester NY. He graduated from Stanford Graduate School of Business as both a Siebel Scholar (awarded to top 5 graduates) and an Arjay Miller Scholar. He also holds a BA and MA from Stanford. Finally, Hanson currently sits on the board of Golden Gate Restaurant Association, Center for Asian America Media, and the advisory board of OpenTable. In this episode Hanson and Chandler talk about a wide range of topics, including: Advice for applicants who grew up outside of the United States, Suggestions for those interested in the fields of PE and investment banking, Advice for entrepreneurs hoping to start their own enterprises, and Suggestions for anyone interested in "non-traditional" MBA careers (generally) or those with a passion for the food and beverage world (specifically), Hanson also offers suggestions that will benefit any MBA, including: The best decision he made in business school, The one thing he wishes he'd done differently while in business school, and Important lessons he's learned from failure.

Explore the personalized nature of HBS MBA interviews and the importance of professional help. Learn about preparing for intense questions and engaging endings. Discover tips for reflecting enthusiasm and embracing authenticity in HBS MBA interviews.

In this episode we sit down SBC's test prep expert Anthony to talk about critical reasoning questions on the GRE and GMAT, with a special focus on the one logical fallacy that every test taker should be prepared for. In this episode, Anthony shares: General tips for critical reasoning questions, Specific advice about one critical reasoning question type that trips up many test-takers, and Suggestions for how to tackle these problems so that you won't be caught off guard on test day. In this episode we will be reviewing to actual GMAT questions. For those of you following along we have included the full text of those questions here: QUESTION ONE: Asthma, a chronic breathing disorder, is significantly more common today among adult competitive swimmers than it is among competitive athletes who specialize in other sports. Although chlorine is now known to be a lung irritant and swimming pool water is generally chlorinated, it would be rash to assume that frequent exposure to chlorine is the explanation of the high incidence of asthma among these swimmers, since __________. young people who have asthma are no more likely to become competitive athletes than are young people who do not have asthma competitive athletes who specialize in sports other than swimming are rarely exposed to chlorine competitive athletes as a group have a significantly lower incidence of asthma than do people who do not participate in competitive athletics until a few years ago, physicians routinely recommended competitive swimming to children with asthma, in the belief that this form of exercise could alleviate asthma symptoms many people have asthma without knowing they have it and thus are not diagnosed with the condition until they begin engaging in very strenuous activities, such as competitive athletics QUESTION TWO: It is widely assumed that people need to engage in intellectual activities such as solving crossword puzzles or mathematics problems in order to maintain mental sharpness as they age. In fact, however, simply talking to other people—that is, participating in social interaction, which engages many mental and perceptual skills—suffices. Evidence to this effect comes from a study showing that the more social contact people report, the better their mental skills. Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the force of the evidence cited? As people grow older, they are often advised to keep exercising their physical and mental capacities in order to maintain or improve them. Many medical conditions and treatments that adversely affect a person's mental sharpness also tend to increase that person's social isolation. Many people are proficient both in social interactions and in solving mathematical problems. The study did not itself collect data but analyzed data bearing on the issue from prior studies. The tasks evaluating mental sharpness for which data were compiled by the study were more akin to mathematics problems than to conversation. Anthony scored in the 99% percentile on the GMAT and has numerous perfect GRE scores. Not only is he one of our favorite guests, he is also available for one on one test coaching. To learn more about Anthony, visit please visit https://www.stacyblackman.com/testprep/ or check out his SBC bio here.