Due to the storied success of companies like Apple, Google, Facebook – and the deluge of Silicon-valley based startups – top Business Schools in the U.S. have been investing heavily in the recruitment of budding entrepreneurs.
Indeed, although most individuals associate MBAs with future founders and business leaders – the reality is that less than 5% of applicants to top U.S. Business Schools matriculate with entrepreneurial experience or a stated desire to become an entrepreneur. Surely, the discrepancy between top business schools’ eagerness to recruit entrepreneurs and the dearth of such applicants creates a great opportunity for aspiring applicants to highlight their E-traits.
Source: GMAC.com
Entrepreneurship isn’t just a business school priority, but a university-wide priority. For example, the dean of virtually all of Harvard’s Graduate programs – from the law school to the architecture school to, yes, the business school – sit on the board of Harvard’s center for entrepreneurship.
Yale’s Entrepreneurial Institute runs programs throughout Yale – for undergrads and across all graduate schools, including but not limited to the business school. This week, Drexel University launched a self-standing School of Entrepreneurship. It likely will not be the last university to do so.
Indeed, entrepreneurship is synonymous with some of the most cherished values in American higher education – leadership, initiative, creativity, an enterprising spirit, and a willingness to question established norms.
So – what does the American obsession with entrepreneurship mean for you and your b-school application?
If you are an entrepreneur or are interested in entrepreneurship, you are in good shape! Make sure to stress your entrepreneurial experience and ambitions – you will likely have a receptive audience in the admissions office. Have you started a small company? Have you founded a non-profit? No matter how small, regardless of whether you’ve succeeded or failed, your entrepreneurial ventures may make the difference between your dream school and your safety school.
According to one admissions officer who worked at both Wharton (current as of our interview) and University of Chicago’s – Booth Business Schools: “entrepreneurship is among the most sought-after experiences in business school admissions…if you have experience as an entrepreneur, you have a serious leg-up in the admissions process.”
What if you are not an entrepreneur? Worry not! After all, entrepreneurship is attractive not simply as an area of concentration in business school, but as a mindset, skillset and attitude. That is why it is being embraced by all university programs and not just business schools. Make an effort to explain the myriad ways that your traditional MBA-applicant background is nonetheless demonstrative of a budding entrepreneur – are you planning on embarking on a venture of your own? Have you demonstrated a track-record of taking novel and creative approaches to the “same old” problems? If so – don’t be afraid to highlight your E-spirit even if it comes that expense of the traditional consulting/finance background.
So, in short, what makes an entrepreneur attractive as an applicant? You are a risk taker, bold and ballsy, willing to make mistakes and to seize opportunity. You are a self-starter and independent, but capable of working effectively in a team and leading. You know how to make things happen and are results driven.
Obviously, these are virtues that many great applicants, not just entrepreneurs, can and should be able to demonstrate. Whether you are applying as an entrepreneur or not, find a way to stress your entrepreneurial-side to succeed in this year’s applications.
