They wake up early to get a head start on the day.
From the committed GMAT studiers who wake up at 6am to get in two good quiet hours of studying before work, to the former college athletes who seem to naturally get up early and take 7am calls with me, my successful applicants seem to own the day rather than letting the day own them.
They don’t give up.
I had a particularly memorable client who took the GMAT 8 times, and many who continue testing after application deadlines. I had another who was a bit of an underdog with a lower GPA who ended up on a school’s waitlist. He tracked them down at a local MBA fair, and showed up to meet the admissions committee face to face. The applicants who won’t stop until the goal is achieved are the ones who hit it.
They are not shy.
My successful clients are not afraid to ask professors for help, or senior managers to write recommendations, or track down old high school classmates who happen to attend their dream school. They cold email admissions committee members or student club leaders. A few recent clients come to mind who worked up the courage to approach a professor about a challenge they were having, and that interaction led to an internship or research opportunity. I have also had many clients who were afraid to “bother” a recommender, and nearly always, that person was more than happy to support them. You never know if you do not put yourself out there.
They know when to take a calculated risk, and they own their decision.
I have had multiple clients who started businesses, either in parallel to their day job, or instead of. I have also had many who made career switches. I have also had clients who moved around the country, or around the world for various reasons. My clients are brave enough to take the right risks for themselves, and they also have the confidence to explain their reasoning openly to admissions committees.
They know when to walk away and do not stay in the wrong environment just to avoid being a “quitter”.
This may sound like the opposite of #2. The point is knowing which things are worth chasing and which are not. There is a difference between leaving and quitting. Leaving a toxic work environment is not giving up, it is taking care of yourself and believing that something better is waiting for you on the other side. I have had multiple clients who, before I met them, began graduate degree programs and then realized they were not on the right path, so they left in order to pursue a degree that is aligned with their true passions and interests. Leaving can be scary, but it often clears the path for something much better.
They aren’t afraid to be vulnerable and openly discuss their weak spots.
A low GPA, family challenges, an embarrassing moment at work. All of these taught the applicant something and offered an opportunity to grow into who they are today. Schools should see these factors that have shaped the applicant, and they should also see the context behind their achievements or profile gaps.
They recognize that who they are personally influences who they are professionally.
I have had a few clients recently whose family health struggles inspired their career goals, like the applicant who dreams of better tech systems to catch mental illness earlier, or the one who wants to do prevent health issues through developing wearables. Or, I have had clients whose personal hobbies influence what type of leader and strategist they became at work. Volunteering with animals made them a better leader, playing basketball or lacrosse made them a stronger team player, and knitting and baking helped them learn to break down a problem.
They enjoy learning from others.
My successful applicants are curious and ask questions. They do not feel they need to know everything, and are not embarrassed when they don’t. I see this a lot in the Wharton mock group interviews, when people are not afraid to be open about what they do not know, and ask other participants questions so they can learn. I have also had clients who do pro bono consulting projects for other organizations so they can learn about new topics, like the client who worked with a startup so she could learn from their SEO marketing expertise, to an applicant from the military who shadowed at an investment firm to learn valuations, to one who helped a friend launch a local sports company so he could get familiar with the pitch deck and fundraising process.
They know who they are and draw on what makes them unique, rather than trying to fit a mold.
I have had quite a few applicants, when I ask about hobbies, say things like “I don’t think this is relevant to admissions committees, but…” and it is almost always relevant. We should see your unusual hobbies, your upbringing, your unique culture, your uncommon career path, and highlight what those mean to you. You lived in another country? Tell us how it shaped you. You build furniture? What do you enjoy about it? You taught yourself to dance recently? You cooked your first Thanksgiving dinner? Your name means something unique? These all can show sides of you that your work experience alone cannot.
They do not let the noise get to them.
Some of my favorite conversations with clients are the ones where they tell me the “advice” they read on online message boards from other applicants speculating about the admissions process, or even well-intentioned yet misguided admissions advice they receive from students. Successful clients know how to tune out that noise, and think critically about what is real and what is not. They know it is not productive to simply follow a resume or essay approach just because they happen to know one person who did it that way, or to listen to the voices on the internet saying that they would have some sort of advantage by rushing to submit their application in an earlier round.
They enjoy the process.
The most successful applicants lean into the application process. It is not a chore, though it is indeed a lot of work. They seize the opportunity to figure out who they are and why they are here. They are proactive, they do not procrastinate, and they seek to fully embrace and maximize this opportunity to go to a top business school.
