Congratulations! Sort of. You weren’t rejected; unfortunately, you weren’t accepted either. You’re in that peculiar purgatory known as the wait list. How long your stay there and what steps, if any, you can take to shorten it will depend not only on the school that wait-listed you but on the unpredictable characteristics of the applicant pool you’re competing against. Truth be told, a great deal will simply be beyond your control.
But that doesn’t you mean you must simply passively wait and hope. You must adopt a positive and proactive attitude—there’s really no alternative. First realize that the wait-list offer means you qualified for admission. You passed. You may have been wait-listed because the school has already admitted applicants with your profile or they found your qualifications impressive, but found someone else’s even more so. The point is that they believe you can handle their program; they just ran out of room. Finally, remember that most schools do not rank their wait-listees, so who gets pulled off may well come down to subjective factors such as demonstrated enthusiasm.
What can you do to enhance your chances of being plucked off the list when a space opens up? For the resourceful and strategic, even purgatory represents an opportunity. Do you have what it takes to convince the school that you really belong there more than anywhere else? All else being equal, it is the motivated applicants—the ones who create and execute a sustained and enthusiastic wait-list campaign (for schools that permit such campaigns)—who get in more often than any other. Viewed in these terms, the wait list is the school’s way of testing that enthusiasm. So pass the test.
The wait list is simply an administrative yield management tool that enables schools to achieve their targeted class size by offsetting the applicants who’ve turned down their offers of admission by letting in wait-listees. Naturally, business schools with high yields (say, 85 percent) will need to rely on the wait list less than will schools who matriculate only half (or less) of the applicants they admit.
Typical Business School Wait-List Notification |
Your application to the University of Chicago Booth School of Business has received the careful consideration of our Admissions Committee. While we are impressed with your application, we are unable to provide you with a final decision at this time and will place you on our waitlist for future consideration. I want to assure you that being placed on the wait list signals our sincere interest in your candidacy. |
This year, our admissions process was highly competitive. While Chicago Booth is grateful to have so many talented students seeking to join us in Fall 2010, we are simply not able to admit all of our most qualified candidates at this time. |
During the coming months, the Committee will review wait list candidates for admission as a part of our Round 3 evaluation process. Decisions will be released as part of our Round 3 process on May 12th. While we hope to enroll as many wait-list candidates as we can at that point, the possibility does exist that some students will continue to be on the wait list into the summer months. |
You are more than welcome to visit Chicago Booth at any time, though this is not necessary and will not directly impact your admission decision. In the meantime, we ask that you stay in touch should you choose to make other plans and no longer wish to be considered for a spot in the Class of 2012. |
As we continue with the Admissions process for Fall 2010, please contact our office directly via e-mail regarding any questions you may have (admissions@chicagobooth.edu). We appreciate your patience during this process and wish you the best. |
Sincerely, |
Some schools assign each wait-listee to a specific admissions staffer who becomes his or her point of contact throughout the process (in these cases, it obviously behooves you to treat this person courteously). Other schools assign no specific name at all, requiring applicants to submit updates to an anonymous e-mail address.
Some schools may review their wait lists frequently; others will wait until the end of a round or some other natural breaking point. Some schools periodically remove wait-listed candidates who they no longer believe have a chance of eventually gaining admission. Final wait-list decisions can be made by the admissions director or by the admissions staff as a whole. They typically occur in the late spring or summer (though sometimes as late as the first day of class) when schools finally know who will be accepting and who won’t.
Seize the initiative and launch a wait-list campaign. Unless the school completely discourages further contact, take a proactive approach. Plan a strategy of regular, but not annoying, contacts designed to demonstrate your enthusiasm for and your fit with the school’s program and culture. The exact particulars of your campaign will vary depending on the school (Booth, for example, will let you submit a 90-second update video) and exactly when you were put on the wait list, but it can include update emails, an additional visit to the school, and letters of recommendation or support or a phone call from others.
The following general steps can help maximize your chances of eventually gaining admission, but you should always follow to the letter the instructions provided by your school.
Follow closely the instructions provided by the school on its wait-list procedures. Promptly accept the offer of wait-list limbo, in whatever manner is required. Indicate that you will be following up with a full-scale wait-list update soon. If the school’s notification letter says, “Jump!” and you want to go to that school, you should think and respond, “How high?”
If you have not visited the school, do so. Ask for a tour, attend a class (or two), and meet with students. The greater your distance from the wait-listing school, the more impressive your gesture of a visit (or revisit) will be (but don’t put undue financial strain on yourself). If you have visited, consider doing so again. Develop a practical plan for visiting the school, and carefully and courteously inquire whether you can also set up an appointment with a member of the admissions committee. It may be possible (albeit unlikely) to meet one of them unannounced during a campus visit, but gaining a prearranged appointment, while improbable, is far more preferable.
If you didn’t interview and an opportunity to interview still exists, seize it. If you interviewed already but only with an alumnus, try to schedule a face-to-face on-campus tête-à-tête with an admissions official. This official may not offer you a formal interview, but find a way to get to campus anyway and speak with a professor (or two) or meet students. If they won’t set something up for you, then reach out informally to students on campus. Learn what you can. Then after the visit send a thank-you to whomever you spoke with. In the note, reiterate your interest in their school and show how the visit was valuable in confirming that interest.
Within a few days of your initial acceptance of the school’s wait-list offer, send out a concise update email. You have already shown that you are qualified to attend the school. Now give the adcom additional reasons to admit you. Address the message to the wait-list contact person designated by the school. You may also want to send a copy to your interviewer to keep him or her in the loop (you never know who can help).
The wait-list message may have five parts, discussed in the following sections.
Explain that you are writing to formally accept wait-list status. Thank the adcom effusively for continuing to keep your life and future suspended in uncertainty. Ruthlessly expunge any notes of disappointment or ambivalence. This introduction should establish a positive, optimistic, grateful tone. It should also directly and succinctly state the topics to be addressed in the message, namely, your reaffirmation of your fit with the school, your updates on developments in your career and life since you applied, and your efforts to compensate for weaknesses in your application. (if you feel sure enough about what those are to address them). Your introductory paragraph might also let them know that you’ve included an additional letter of recommendation from a new recommender who will add a fresh perspective on your candidacy, if the school permits this.
Reinforce your commitment to and interest in this school’s program but do it in an original way. For example, feel free to mention how the school’s culture matches your educational preferences and goals but don’t just cut and paste from your essays. Reword your original material, or better yet, cite new examples of resources that illustrate this philosophy or approach. For example, demonstrate how your recent visit confirmed and deepened your interest in the program. Perhaps you sat in on a class (Which one? Who taught it? What were your impressions?) or chatted up three second-year students in the cafeteria (What were their names? What did they say? What impressed you about them or what they told you?). Or perhaps your work or research interests have recently led you to explore a faculty member’s work or touched on the mission of one of the school’s institutes. If so, deliberately and specifically flesh out the bridge between your work or research interest and that faculty member or institute. Admissions committee members want to know if there are real affinities between you and their program.
Inform the school of new achievements, initiatives, and developments in your life. Show the adcoms that you’re an even stronger applicant than you were five months ago. This could include promotions, new leadership roles at or outside work, or technical skills acquired on the job. Have you led a project or organization? Volunteered? Have you taken your department, business, or club in a new direction? Have you earned a patent? Launched a business? Received a promotion or assumed additional responsibility?
In short, mention any recent accomplishments that you did not discuss in your application and ideally tie them back to some of the themes or experiences you presented in your essays. If you don’t have promotions or even particularly notable achievements, don’t fret. Basically, anything new that has occurred in your professional or community life since you applied can—if you analyze it—be presented as a development that has strengthened your candidacy (though never try to exaggerate a nonaccomplishment into an accomplishment).
Demonstrate that you are “new and improved” since you initially applied, and you’ll increase your chances of successfully surviving the wait list.
Read the school’s wait-list notification message for any hints of deficiency in your profile. Some schools will tell wait-listees of their concerns or issues in the wait-list notification, for example, recommending explicitly that they retake the GMAT. Some schools will simply invite you to contact them, and your contact person will supply sometimes quite specific and helpful advice. Of course, other schools will leave you entirely in the dark. But even in these cases it’s usually possible to arrive at some idea of what’s holding you back, particularly if you’re working with an experienced consultant like myself. For example, it’s easy enough to find out if your GMAT score is below the school’s average—if so, consider retaking it. The vast majority of application deficiencies involve poor numbers (GMAT and/or GPA), vague career goals or weak work experience, insufficient community or extracurricular involvement, poorly demonstrated interest in the school, or inadequate emphasis on what makes the applicant’s profile or potential contribution unique. Evaluate your application closely to see whether any of these deficiencies pertain.
If your nonquantitative courses in college brought down your GPA, then consider taking a class in writing for business or business communications. If your grades in calculus, statistics, accounting, or economics were mediocre, enroll this minute in an evening course in these topics or at mbamath.com—and let the school know about it. Especially if you’re from a liberal arts background, take calculus and statistics. If you’re still on the wait list when you earn an A in one of these classes, get that transcript in their hands as soon as possible. If you are not admitted, those classes will help you when you reapply in the fall. If you are admitted, they will help you in your classes.
In other words, whatever your perceived shortcomings are, address them—without highlighting them. For example, if you enrolled in Toastmasters to improve your English, inform the school that you joined Toastmasters two months ago, that you won the extemporaneous and most-improved awards, and that the whole thing’s been an enjoyable experience because of the friends you’ve made and the confidence you’ve gained. But don’t say that you also did all this because you were concerned about your low TOEFL or substandard verbal score. The school will get the drift.
Note: You don’t need to reaffirm school fit, discuss recent developments, and address concerns in that order. A wait-listed applicant who believes that the school is mostly concerned about her level of interest in its program might want to position her “reaffirm fit” section first. An applicant who’s made good progress offsetting glaring weaknesses might want to lead with that section. Also, it’s very likely that you can combine parts of your “recent developments” section with your “addressing concerns” section. For example, if you had a weak history of community involvement but were recently named to the board of your local charity, this constitutes both an accomplishment and successful damage control on your application’s weakness.
Whichever particular organization your update message takes, keep it short and sweet. Don’t succumb to the temptation to rewrite or even summarize your life history or essay(s). Stay focused on what you have accomplished since applying, the school fit issue, and your perceived weaknesses.
Your conclusion should repeat the gratitude and enthusiasm themes of the introduction without using the same language. You could also, space permitting, briefly recap the three or five contributions or uniqueness factors you believe you can bring to the school. If you are certain that you would attend this school, make it clear that it is your first choice and that you will immediately and enthusiastically accept an offer of admission. If you are not enclosing an additional letter of recommendation but one is on its way, let the school know who will be sending it and perhaps even what aspects of your application he or she will shed light on. Perhaps assure the school that if there is anything you can do to improve your candidacy, you will be happy to do it. You may want to express your willingness to provide any additional information the committee needs. Definitely thank the committee for its time.
As important as it is, your wait-list update email is just the beginning. As soon as you learn you’re on the wait list you also need to dust off any unused letters of recommendation (only those that shed new light, however) and consider which ones to attach or send separately (if the school permits this, of course). If you have none, you should begin identifying people who can add new insights on your professional, community, or even personal life and can do so with enthusiasm.
You need, in other words, to enlist your fan club. You could seek additional letters of recommendations from former or current supervisors on and off the job, assuming they didn’t write one of the letters of recommendation included in your application. Since your wait-list status is evidence that your application may have a flaw, these additional letters of recommendation offer you a perfect opportunity to have a third party do damage control on this weakness by emphasizing offsetting facts or skills. Remember, these wait-list recommendation letters do not have to be as lengthy as your original letters of recommendation, nor do they have to written by someone who knows you as well as your original recommenders.
You could also consider soliciting the help of contacts among current students and alumni of the school that wait-listed you. If your relationship with them is strong enough, ask them to call the admissions office on your behalf and/or write brief letters of support (as distinct from full-fledged letters of recommendation). Bear in mind that this highly proactive and somewhat unorthodox tactic is explicitly frowned upon by some schools and can backfire at other schools that may see such organized, last-minute endorsement campaigns as manipulative. Other schools may actually applaud your initiative in “organizing a support campaign.” If you are wait-listed by schools such as Harvard Business School, which explicitly instruct you not to send in new information once you’ve been wait-listed and also explicitly frown on letters of support, follow their instructions.
At schools that do not discourage such fan letters, these notes can talk about your recent professional or community developments for you, and they can and should emphasize your fit with the wait-listing school. They are best if they come from students and recent alumni. A bigwig can help but he or she must know you and have something substantive to say about you.
Whether you enlist the help of traditional recommenders or last-minute inside supporters (or both), try to synchronize their efforts so that their letters arrive at the school, say, two weeks apart. A batch of enthusiastic letters arriving all at once is a waste of goodwill. Save your ammo. And, again, observe the school’s wait-list instructions as well as online forums where admissions officials clarify them. Some schools draw the line at submitting two additional letters of recommendation—you should know this!
How soon after your initial update message should you begin sending supplemental letters of support? Generally speaking, three to four weeks later is appropriate. If you are still on the wait list, consider also sending a new update or wait-list message. Even if you have very little new to relate, do your best to emphasize the new and create a sense of momentum. How many wait-list messages will it take? Stanford GSB has been known to pull wait-listees from purgatory after as many as seven updates.
The point is to never give up until you absolutely have to. The wait list is the ultimate test of your passion for attending a particular school. The upside of that test is that schools may respond if that passion is sustained and genuine—and you’ve got a bit of good luck.
1. Fail to follow directions. Again, read the school’s wait-list instructions very carefully. If they say, “Don’t call,” then—guess what—don’t call.
2. Whine or moan. Regardless of how you may actually feel, your wait-list communications should avoid any trace of desperation, complaint, special pleading, or anger at the sheer injustice of it all. Be professional and positive.
3. Repeat information they already have. Never use anything verbatim from your original application. Don’t send a new letter of recommendation if the recommender simply rehashes experiences and virtues that a previous recommender has extolled. Keep it fresh and new. If a point bears repeating, rephrase it thoroughly.
4. Include a promotion or development as an “update” in your wait-list letter when it actually occurred before you submitted your application.
5. Tell the school that because it is your first-choice school you will immediately and enthusiastically accept its offer of admission if, in fact, you would choose another school over it. There are other ways to express strong interest in a school’s program short of claiming it is “number one” when it isn’t.
The following case studies are actual former clients of mine who were waitlisted at the University of Michigan and Chicago, respectively, before gaining admission. Only the proper names, industries, and dates have been changed to protect their privacy.
Sanjay B. was an outstanding applicant. He had a good GPA (3.4) at a Big Ten university; work experience that included three blue-chip firms, General Motors, Dell, and GE Capital; significant international experience including assignments in Paris and Singapore; unusually strong leadership exposure for someone so early in his career; and well-articulated goals. His was the profile of a fast-rising, tireless, make-it-happen future manager. But Sanjay also had huge weaknesses: a GMAT score of 580, roughly 100 points below Michigan’s (then) average, and only one and a half year’s of full-time work experience at the time of his application. What’s more, he had no deep extracurricular involvements or unusual personal or cultural profile to offset his glaring negatives. The fact that Michigan wait-listed him bordered on the miraculous (and said something about the strength of his essays). But how could such a “marginal” candidate realistically hope to survive the end-of-season wait-list weeding?
Sanjay did it by launching a sustained guerilla wait-list campaign that included regular update letters detailing substantial professional advances and enthusiastically discussing specific features of Michigan’s program. Here is Sanjay’s first draft of his Michigan wait-list letter (with my annotations indicating its many weaknesses).
Dear Admissions Committee,
I am writing to thank you for consideration into your MBA program. [←Not grammatical English.] Unfortunately, as it stands now, I am on the wait list. [←Striking negative note is unhelpful.]
I would like to update you on some events that I have experienced since I first prepared my application packet several months ago. I am proud that my reputation as a peak performer has convinced GE Capital to continually choose me for its most challenging assignments. [←Vague, flabby statements. Should cut straight to the “meat.”→] Most recently, I was selected to a four-month assignment in Brazil. I will be managing and training a group of new Investment Analysts that will serve our GE Capital Sao Paulo office. This will be my forth [sic] international assignment and will further expose me to just how business benefits from diversity. I look forward to sharing these experiences with the diverse student body at the University of Michigan.
In November 2007, one of our clients was underperforming. [←Transition into new example is too abrupt. Context needed.] I was chosen to lead a team of seven Investment Analysts spanning three U.S. cities in a modified scope analysis of the client. [←Good use of specific numbers for concreteness.] The work we were performing was not typical—GE picked me to lead the team because of my past performances in high-pressure environments. Our team was brought in to perform a liquidation analysis to determine how much we could collect in a worst case scenario. While performing our work I discovered that our client had not been paying its vendors. The company’s financial situation was much worse than GE had anticipated. Our team needed to act fast. I contacted the appropriate people at GE to privy [sic] them to our findings. This came as a shock to them. GE Capital’s position in the deal was that of an agent. Therefore we were the lead financier amongst a group of banks. Management at GE informed me that this new information would have to be brought to light in a bank meeting. Our team needed to supply a report of our findings, so that the bank committee would be properly informed. I was proud because this feat had not only put myself [sic] in the spotlight, but also our Investment Analyst group as a whole. [Good story, but Sanjay takes too long telling it.]
In December 2007 the fruits of my labor with respect to recruiting came forth. [Transitions too abruptly to new example; wording is awkward.] I was the lead recruiter for the Investment Analyst position at GE Capital. As the lead recruiter, I was accountable for the budgeting and conducting information sessions at the undergraduate universities we recruit at. Additionally I was responsible for coordinating and conducting on-campus interviews of undergraduate candidates. This task was a challenging one. Students who are interested in our Investment Analyst program are also interested in similar programs at Investment Banks. Although GE Capital has a strong brand name and reputation, it was still difficult to compete with the salaries that the investment banks were offering. It was my job to convince these students that the experiences they will endure [sic] at GE Capital would far outweigh that of any investment bank. The results of my recruiting work—1) 11 out of 14 offers accepted, the highest acceptance rate in the history of our group and 2) the lowest cost per acceptance in the history of our group. I was able to work smarter and (more importantly to GE) cheaper than my predecessors. [Excellent, concrete results, but example is wordy.]
I will not be shy to point out that the University of Michigan is my first choice. The University of Michigan is a perfect fit for me for several reasons. Through my research of MBA programs I found that many top tier schools have a disproportionate percentage of graduates working in investment banking and consulting. Michigan, on the other hand, does not “pigeonhole” its graduates into banking or consulting careers. I want to join a manufacturing firms [sic] financial management development program for MBA graduates. All the firms that appeal to me (General Electric, Ford Motor Company, Microsoft, Intel, IBM, and Dell) have such programs for Michigan MBA graduates.
The fact that Michigan’s program is flexible by design will allow me to customize my MBA to meet my future career goals. As noted in my essays, my long-term goal is to become the Controller or CFO of a large company. I know to reach this goal I will need to obtain my CPA certificate. As a Michigan MBA student I will be able to customize my second year courses to take advantage of accounting courses that will help prepare me for the challenges I will have ahead on my path to the CFO’s office. Additionally, I would take advantage of two examples of Michigan’s innovative curriculum—“Electronic Commerce on the Internet” and “Network Infrastructure in e-Business.” [Convincing, detailed reasons for claiming Michigan as his first choice.]
If I am given the chance I know I can make a strong contribution to the excellence and richness of Michigan’s program through the quality of my leadership in the classroom, in the workplace, and in the community. I ask you for that chance. [Nice, from-the-heart touch.]
Thank you for your consideration,
Sanjay B.
Sanjay’s first draft was solid, but its abrupt transitions, sloppy writing, occasionally overly general statements, and overall wordiness needed work. Sanjay’s final draft addressed all these concerns.
Dear Admissions Committee,
I am writing to thank you for considering my application to the University of Michigan’s MBA program. I am honored to still be in the running for a place in this fall’s class. In this letter I would like to update you on some substantial recent developments in my career that may impact the Committee’s perception of my candidacy.
Since I prepared my application packet several months ago, GE Capital has decided to award me my fourth international auditing assignment, this time for a four-month engagement managing and training three new Investment Analysts for GE Capital’s Sao Paulo office. I am proud that my reputation as a peak performer has convinced GE Capital to continually choose me for its most challenging assignments. I know this experience will give me further firsthand exposure in just how much business benefits from diversity, and I look forward to sharing my experiences with my diverse Michigan classmates.
Shortly after submitting my application in November 2007, GE gave me another unusual vote of confidence when I was chosen to lead a team of seven Investment Analysts in analyzing how much GE Capital could collect from a critical, under-performing client in a worst-case scenario. Chosen to lead the team because of my past performance in high-pressure environments, I soon discovered that our client’s financial situation was much worse than GE knew. Quickly contacting the appropriate managers, I was told to prepare a report on our findings, and GE’s bank committee soon had all the information it needed to control the crisis. I was proud of this high-visibility assignment because it not only put me in the spotlight, but brought much-deserved attention to our Investment Analyst group as a whole.
In December 2007 GE also decided to make me the lead recruiter for its Investment Analyst position, which meant I was responsible for the information sessions we hold at colleges as well as coordinating, budgeting, and conducting the on-campus interviews for undergraduate candidates. GE Capital has a strong reputation, but we were competing with the higher salaries offered by the investment banks. My challenge was to convince these students that GE Capital could offer them more meaningful work experiences than any investment bank. My work resulted in the highest acceptance rate (11 out of 14 offers) and the lowest cost-per-acceptance in the history of our group.
I will not be shy in stating that the University of Michigan is my first choice. Although the graduates of many top-tier schools often choose careers in investment banking and consulting, Michigan’s flexible, broad-based MBA program will make me a strong candidate to join the financial management development program of one of the manufacturing firms that appeal to me most (GE, Ford, Microsoft, Intel, IBM, and Dell). I will need my CPA certificate to realize my ultimate goal of becoming the controller or CFO of a large manufacturing firm. Michigan’s program will enable me to take accounting courses in my second year, while I take full advantage of such innovative courses as “Electronic Commerce on the Internet” and “Network Infrastructure in e-Business.”
If given the chance, I know I can make a strong contribution to the excellence and richness of Michigan’s program with the quality of my leadership in the classroom, in the workplace, and in the community. I respectfully ask you for that chance. Thank you again for your consideration.
Sanjay B.
Unfortunately, even this strong letter was not enough. Two months later, as June wore into July, Sanjay was still on Michigan’s wait list. From his São Paulo assignment, Sanjay watched as time and his hopes ran out. Fortunately, he had outstanding news—he was receiving a major promotion, incontrovertible new evidence of the fast-track profile he had hammered away at in his Michigan essays eight months before. Heartened, Sanjay crafted the following letter, and then drove its message home by arranging two enthusiastic, genuine, and knowledgeable reference letters from new senior managers at GE Capital.
Faced with a candidate who had deepened his impressive professional profile with a promotion and new overseas assignment, was clearly and consistently articulating his passionate commitment to their program, and was backing up his self-advocacy with two new glowing recommendations, Michigan decided to overlook Sanjay’s youth and undeniably weak GMAT score. A month later he was finalizing his move to Ann Arbor.
Dear [First Name],
When I last updated the Admissions Committee, I was embarking on my fourth international managerial assignment for GE Capital, this time in Brazil. In the past two months, I have enjoyed managerial growth and challenges that few second-year analysts ever have the opportunity to experience. But I have never lost sight of my real goal—gaining admission to Michigan’s MBA program and refocusing my career in corporate finance.
My unprecedented promotion to Manager of Underwriting and Business Analysis in June has presented me with the exciting challenge of being completely accountable for my team’s performance while I learn to adapt to the cultural and technical differences of doing business in a foreign country. Thankfully, the fantastic, diverse group of talented individuals who work for me have made that transition an easy one. I am the only American; one of my team members is from Australia, and the remaining five are from Chile, Brazil, and Bolivia. Many applicants say they embrace diversity, but in the past two months I have been given an opportunity to actually practice it by learning how to thrive as the minority member of a multicultural team. I was sent on this assignment to pass on my knowledge of our business, but I am the one who has truly been learning.
While here, I have been able to reflect further on my goals. No matter how I examine it, this fall remains the best time for me to earn an MBA from Michigan. My work in the States and my four international assignments have given me the equivalent of several years of intensive, high-level business experience, which I believe can benefit my Michigan classmates. Moreover, waiting another year to gain experience that won’t help me move into corporate finance would be counterproductive. I am fortunate to be on the fast track here at GE, but I know that I could make an even greater contribution if I were to align my career with my passion. Because of the accomplishments I mentioned in my April letter and my recent promotion to manager, I believe my experiences since my original application have strengthened my application significantly. Today, more than ever I know I can benefit from and contribute to the quality of the University of Michigan’s MBA program.
Because of the nature of GE Capital’s assignments, it is still uncertain how long I will be here in Brazil, though I believe I will be returning to the States in early August. If my hopes for the University of Michigan do not materialize I will need to begin positioning myself for my next assignment at GE Capital right away. Again, gaining admission to the University of Michigan is my number one priority—please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. I have attached an updated version of my résumé for your files.
Best regards,
Sanjay B.
John D. applied to the University of Chicago with a master’s degree in economics, a decent GMAT (690), an impressive title (director of import purchasing) in an unusual industry (hospital supply), and job responsibilities that included managing four people, overseeing a $35 million budget, and frequent travel around the world. Moreover, as a Ukrainian immigrant, he had a distinctive cultural profile and very clear and specific reasons for making Chicago GSB his number-one choice.
Alas, John had made the mistake of applying in the third round, and that fact, combined with a weak track record in extracurricular/community activities, landed him on Chicago’s wait list. He was determined and motivated, however. He immediately asked his admissions contact at Chicago for feedback. She advised him to submit a letter “reiterating your interest in the Chicago GSB, how you plan to contribute outside of the academic arena, and talk about anything that has happened since you applied.” He also showed his essays to Chicago Booth students who were willing to help. One student’s advice helped focus him on making the impassioned, concrete case that Chicago needed from him: “Write from your heart. Tell us why you want to sell your house and move family to this cold city for two years. Why is it so important that you do that?” Another sounded a gloomier note: “Not having any meaningful community service in the past few years is going to hurt you. … The GSB wants future CEOs, not just people who can analyze data. … Trouble is, if all you talk about are things you did years ago in college, it will look really bad.”
John came to me anxious, even frantic: “I have been talking to at least three current students about my wait list and one GSB alumni. I do have lots of information and ideas, but meanwhile, I am lost, losing focus. That is the reason I ask for help from you to clear my thoughts. … If there is only one spot open, I need to take it! This is my goal!” John’s high motivation was a very good sign. The outline we crafted helped him “clear his thoughts” and write a strong wait-list letter that addressed exactly what Chicago recommended: further reasons why Chicago was his best match, details on his plans for community leadership to compensate for weakness in that area, and his latest professional accomplishments.
I. Lead:
A. Thank you very much for your letter of [date] notifying me of my wait-list status for the Graduate School of Business Fall MBA class.
1. Appreciate competitiveness of Chicago’s admission process
a. Honored, thrilled to be on wait list.
2. Writing to reaffirm deepening interest, how plan to contribute to Chicago GSB, update on significant recent developments.
3. Also submitting additional letter of recommendation, from colleague/former manager, to provide committee with fuller picture.
II. In essays, stated I believe Chicago offers resources aligned with career goal—international private equity finance—and unavailable from other programs:
A. Ability to concentrate in entrepreneurial, investment management.
B. Outstanding faculty like Kaplan, Schrager.
C. Variety of electives.
D. Past three months: explored Chicago’s program more closely—more convinced than ever of relevance, uniqueness:
1. Chicago’s research culture:
a. Leading-edge business knowledge taught, created here
2. Chicago tradition of analytical rigor, intellectual curiosity:
a. Ideal for transitioning into analytical profession like private equity
b. B school is way to make career change—also grow intellectually
c. At GSB: take real courses from demanding departments in every discipline
3. Expectation of maturity, self-knowledge, focus:
a. Flexible curriculum means those who know what they want benefit most
b. 6-plus year career: sharply defined my goals
c. Specialize in investment finance in first semester at Chicago to prep for private equity-oriented summer internship
E. Chicago best program for me 1. If admitted will accept.
III. At GSB: can use expertise to make contribution to community:
A. GSB’s location—Chicago, Hyde Park: many worthy community organizations to help.
B. GSB’s Giving Something Back group offers many opportunities:
1. Tutoring at Ray School.
2. Ronald McDonald House.
C. Expertise in hospital supply industry helps me have bigger impact on Habitat for Humanity
1. Volunteer at building sites.
2. Also use knowledge of logistics and hospital supply industry to supervise at sites, negotiate favorable contracts with suppliers.
D. Use bilingual skills to tutor Chinese immigrants in English.
E. Continue promoting intellectual, cultural exchange between U.S., Ukraine through Chicago office of Ukrainian Association of Professionals in Science and Technology.
1. Help create new international trade opportunities for Chicago business.
IV. Since applying continuing to develop professionally, impact my organization
A. Efforts as Director of Import Purchasing led to EuroHealth Supply Association award.
B. Deepened international business skills: trips to Spain, Mexico.
C. Proud now recognized as industry authority.
1. One of few experts asked to provide trend surveys for hospital supply industries of Spain, Italy, Mexico.
2. Led to nomination to board of directors of new hospital supply company in Arkansas.
D. Second time in 3.5 years helped startup get off ground.
V. Close: Ms. [Last Name], I want to contribute unique knowledge of my industry, unusually deep international experiences, multicultural skills to GSB class.
A. Wait list: GSB confident I can thrive at Chicago, make contribution to organization, community.
B. Let me demonstrate that confidence is well placed
Dear [Director of Admissions]:
Thank you very much for your letter of May 18 notifying me of my wait-list status for admission to the Fall 2008 entering class of the Graduate School of Business. I appreciate the competitiveness of Chicago’s admission process, so I am honored and thrilled to be among the talented applicants still under consideration. This letter is to reaffirm my deepening interest in the Chicago GSB, to elaborate on my plan for contributing to the Chicago community, and to update you on significant personal developments since I applied. [Straightforward introductory paragraph that officially accepts wait-list status while avoiding negative overtones, subtly compliments both the school and the applicant on their selectiveness, and informs Chicago that he will discuss the key points they want addressed.]
Chicago has always held a special attraction for me because of its extremely impressive faculty and superb academic reputation. No other business school has produced so many Nobel Prize winners. The knowledge and ideas of Chicago’s thought leaders has shaped business practices around the world. [This paragraph’s somewhat generic-sounding lead sentences are greatly offset by the concrete and impressive sentences that follow.] I was first exposed to the excellence of Chicago’s faculty as a whole during college when I studied Professor Milton Friedman’s classic economics text A Theoretical Framework for Monetary Analysis. Later, during graduate study at Florida State University, I came to know the works of Professor George Stigler and other members of the “Chicago School” of economics. Even now, my experience as a board advisor for GyroTech International benefits from the eHubs concepts of GSB Professor Steven Kaplan, whom BusinessWeek has named as one of the best entrepreneurship teachers in graduate management education.
Since applying in February I have explored GSB’s program more closely by speaking with Chicago students as well as GSB alumni. [←Ideally, he would have named them.] I am more convinced than ever that Chicago is the most appropriate school given my specific goals.
The GSB offers me a combination of resources that are not only closely aligned with my career plan but are also unavailable at other programs. First, Chicago’s tradition of analytical rigor is ideal for someone making a transition, as I am, into an analytical profession like private equity finance. In contrast to the “fluffy” approach of some schools, GSB’s disciplined-based program will help me focus on developing my critical, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities—the intellectual tools that will help me cope effectively with a constantly changing global business environment.
Second, I believe Chicago’s amazingly flexible curriculum most benefits students who know what they want. My six-plus-year professional career has enabled me to sharply define a career goal in international private equity finance. Moreover, because I already have degrees in business and economics, Chicago will enable me to build on my previous education while avoiding wasteful repetition. Specifically, I plan to begin specializing in finance during my first year at Chicago through courses like “Entrepreneurial Finance and Private Equity” and “Private Equity/Venture Capital Labs” to prepare myself for a private equity – oriented summer internship.
Third, the quality and size of GSB’s alumni network is impressive. Every alumnus or alumna I have interacted with has shared the same strong enthusiasm and loyalty for their alma mater. To me, this is the ultimate validation of the quality of the program.
Finally, the GSB will enable me to use my expertise to have a greater impact on my community than I could in other programs. GSB’s location on Chicago’s south side will afford me many opportunities to help Hyde Park and surrounding communities complete their exciting urban renaissance. I am very interested in joining the GSB’s “Giving Something Back” club and look forward to tutoring at the Ray School or volunteering at the Ronald McDonald House. However, I believe my expertise in the hospital supply industry will enable me to have an even bigger impact at Habitat for Humanity. In addition to volunteering my time at building sites, I also hope to use my knowledge of logistics and supply management in the hospital and health-care industry to play a supervisory role and negotiate favorable contracts with Habitat’s suppliers. [←Not only gets specific about the Chicago community activities he’ll get involved in, but makes it believable by showing how he’ll contribute his particular skills.] Furthermore, as a member of the Chicago office of the Ukrainian Association of Professionals in Science and Technology, I will continue to promote intellectual and cultural exchange between the Ukraine and the United States and help Chicago-area businesses find new opportunities for international trade.
Because the unique combination of all of these resources makes Chicago’s MBA program the best choice for me, if admitted I will definitely accept. [←Signals Chicago that he is one answer to their concerns about yield.]
Since applying I have continued to develop professionally and believe I am an even stronger candidate than I was three months ago. My efforts as Director of Import Purchasing for GyroTech led directly to the company’s receiving in May the Importer of the Year award from EuroHealth Supply Association. I have also continued to deepen my international business skills through trips to Spain (March), China (April), and Mexico (May). I am proud to be one of only a handful of international industry experts who are asked to provide trend surveys for the hospital and health-care supply industries of Italy, Spain, and Mexico. This industry prominence was rewarded in March when a business associate named me board advisor for Advance Treatments, Inc., a new hospital supply company in Little Rock, Arkansas. [Concrete, impressive new developments.]
Ms. [Last Name], I recognize that the knowledge and experience each of GSB’s students brings to the class are critical to the success of the program. I believe my unique knowledge of the hospital supply industry, my unusually deep international experience, and my multicultural skills will enrich the learning experience of the GSB Class of 2010. Once again, thank you for offering me this opportunity to further explain my reasons for accepting wait-list status at the University of Chicago GSB. I hope you will give me the opportunity to demonstrate that the confidence the admissions committee has shown in my application thus far is indeed well placed. Thank you for your time and consideration. [Maintains tone of gratitude and sincerity with a few personal touches thrown in.]
Sincerely,
John D.
Six weeks later, John’s eagerness to do everything he could to survive wait-list purgatory paid off when Chicago offered him admission.