Advice for European MBA Applicants
The primary focus of the top business schools in the United States is creating a robust and dynamic classroom experience. Diversity is necessary to achieve this goal; therefore, international candidates make up a significant percentage of each cohort.
To put this in perspective, international students make up 31% of the MBA Class of 2025 at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. That figure is even higher—39%—at Harvard Business School. Meanwhile, over at Columbia Business School, international students represent a whopping 47% of the Class of 2025. Today, we’re sharing advice for European MBA applicants eying business schools in the United States.
Curious about your chances of getting into a top B-school? Contact us to talk strategy with a free 15-minute advising session with an SBC Principal Consultant.
Why target schools in the US?
Whether you value the academic experience, immersive opportunities, available resources, or brand power, top U.S. schools have it all. One exciting prospect about earning an MBA at a well-ranked school in the States is the variety of settings available.
Naturally, you can find several options in big cities such as New York, Boston, Los Angeles, or San Francisco. However, you can also study in smaller towns that offer a quintessential American college experience. Think Duke Fuqua in Durham, North Carolina, or its nearby rival, UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School. Another top-ranked option is Dartmouth’s Tuck School in Hanover, New Hampshire.
Many prospective applicants want to use the MBA degree to change course in their career. The two-year MBA common in the U.S. is an ideal format to achieve that goal. You’ll have the chance to do a summer internship to try out a new industry or job function. Then, your second year will provide the time you need to crystalize your career path.
Plus, you’ll also have more time to get involved with clubs and other activities to broaden your interests and experiences. Having more time to spend with your classmates deepens the relationships and connections that will form your lifelong professional network.
Finally, the boom in STEM-designated MBA programs in the U.S. is making it even easier for European and other international students to extend their work experience after graduation by up to 36 months.
Targeted advice for European MBA Applicants:
- Back home, a stellar academic pedigree may be enough to clinch your admissions chances. Top MBA programs in the U.S. want to see more than strong stats. Remember, you are not just your resume. You are the white spaces in between.
- Show that you have done your homework on the program. Don’t overlook school culture when creating an MBA shortlist.
- Get ready to rewrite your resume. The typical European-style CV needs serious modification to become a winning MBA resume.
- Boost your volunteering efforts if needed. While admissions requirements in other countries place less importance on volunteering experience, U.S. business schools care a lot about your community involvement and extracurriculars.
- Learn how to strengthen your MBA candidacy through your LinkedIn profile. It can bolster your candidacy while providing a fuller, multi-dimensional view of yourself to the admissions committee as well as future recruiters.
Connect with current European students
Our advice for European MBA applicants is to contact current students or alumni from your home country or region at your target schools now and ask for their honest feedback about the school, resources, and environment.
Business schools often have official programs that connect applicants via email or Skype with current and former students of similar backgrounds and profiles. These individuals can offer the inside scoop on student life and what makes their school unique. Participating in online information sessions and virtual webinars allows all applicants to get a better sense of the school’s culture.
Both options provide a great introduction to a program and can help you narrow down which schools to focus on for your MBA. Don’t worry if there’s no such formal program in place. Most admissions officers will happily put candidates in touch with an alum or current student if asked.
In the end, our advice for European MBA applicants reflects what we tell all of our clients. Get to know the programs that interest you. Share your enthusiasm for the school throughout your application. Above all, find ways to differentiate yourself from seemingly similar applicants.
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SBC’s team of stellar consultants can help you favorably position your candidacy at elite business schools as a European MBA applicant. Get in touch today for a complimentary analysis, and let us help you reach your U.S. MBA degree dreams.
Here’s a snapshot of the caliber of expertise on our SBC team.
Ashley
Ashley is a former MBA Admissions Board Member for Harvard Business School (HBS), where she interviewed and evaluated thousands of business school applicants for over a six year tenure. Ashley holds an MBA from HBS. During her HBS years, Ashley was the Sports Editor for the Harbus and a member of the B-School Blades Ice Hockey Team. After HBS, she worked in Marketing at the Gillette Company on Male and Female shaving ...
×Pauline
A former associate director of admissions at Harvard Business School, Pauline served on the HBS MBA Admissions Board full-time for four years. She evaluated and interviewed HBS applicants, both on-campus and globally. Pauline's career has included sales and marketing management roles with Coca-Cola, Gillette, Procter & Gamble, and IBM. For over 10 years, Pauline has expertly guided MBA applicants, and her clients h ...
×Laura
Laura comes from the MBA Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS) and is an HBS MBA alumnus. In her HBS Admissions role, she evaluated and interviewed hundreds of business school candidates, including internationals, women, military and other applicant pools, for five years. Prior to her time as a student at HBS, Laura began her career in advertising and marketing in Chicago at Leo Burnett where she worked on th ...
×Andrea
Andrea served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at Harvard Business School (HBS) for over five years. In this role, she provided strategic direction for student yield-management activities and also served as a full member of the admissions committee. In 2007, Andrea launched the new 2+2 Program at Harvard Business School – a program targeted at college junior applicants to Harvard Business School. Andrea has also served as a Career Coach for Harvard Business School for both cu ...
×Jennifer
Jennifer served as Admissions Officer at the Stanford (GSB) for five years. She holds an MBA from Stanford (GSB) and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Jennifer has over 15 years experience in guiding applicants through the increasingly competitive admissions process into top MBA programs. Having read thousands and thousands of essays and applications while at Stanford (GSB) Admiss ...
×Erin K.
Erin served in key roles in MBA Admissions--as Director at Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and Assistant Director at Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB). Erin served on the admissions committee at each school and has read thousands of applications in her career. At Haas, she served for seven years in roles that encompassed evaluation, outreach, and diversity and inclusion. During her tenure in Admissions at GSB, she was responsible for candidate evaluation, applicant outreach, ...
×Susie
Susie comes from the Admissions Office of the Stanford Graduate School of Business where she reviewed and evaluated hundreds of prospective students’ applications. She holds an MBA from Stanford’s GSB and a BA from Stanford in Economics. Prior to advising MBA applicants, Susie held a variety of roles over a 15-year period in capital markets, finance, and real estate, including as partner in one of the nation’s most innovative finance and real estate investment organizations. In that r ...
×Dione
Dione holds an MBA degree from Stanford Business School (GSB) and a BA degree from Stanford University, where she double majored in Economics and Communication with concentrations in journalism and sociology. Dione has served as an Admissions reader and member of the Minority Admissions Advisory Committee at Stanford. Dione is an accomplished and respected advocate and thought leader on education and diversity. She is ...
×Anthony
Anthony served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he dedicated over 10 years of expertise. During his time as a Wharton Admissions Officer, he read and reviewed thousands of applications and helped bring in a class of 800+ students a year. Anthony has traveled both domestically and internationally to recruit a ...
×Meghan
Meghan served as the Associate Director of Admissions and Marketing at the Wharton MBA’s Lauder Institute, a joint degree program combining the Wharton MBA with an MA in International Studies. In her role on the Wharton MBA admissions committee, Meghan advised domestic and international applicants; conducted interviews and information sessions domestically and overseas in Asia, Central and South America, and Europe; and evaluated applicants for admission to the program. Meghan also managed ...
×Amy
Amy comes from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where she was Associate Director. Amy devoted 12 years at the Wharton School, working closely with MBA students and supporting the admissions team. During her tenure at Wharton, Amy served as a trusted adviser to prospective applicants as well as admitted and matriculated students. She conducted admissions chats with applicants early in the admissions ...
×Ally
Ally brings six years of admissions experience to the SBC team, most recently as an Assistant Director of Admission for the full-time MBA program at Columbia Business School (CBS). During her time at Columbia, Ally was responsible for reviewing applications, planning recruitment events, and interviewing candidates for both the full-time MBA program and the Executive MBA program. She traveled both internationally and dome ...
×Emma
Emma comes from the MBA Admissions Office at Columbia Business School (CBS), where she was Associate Director. Emma conducted dozens of interviews each cycle for the MBA and EMBA programs, as well as coordinating the alumni ambassador interview program. She read and evaluated hundreds of applications each cycle, delivered information sessions to audiences across the globe, and advised countless waitlisted applicants. ×
Dana
Dana served as Assistant Director of Admissions at Columbia Business School for the Full-Time MBA program and has over 10 years of experience working in higher education. Known as a scrupulous file reader, Dana reviewed countless applications and assisted in rendering final decisions for the Admissions Committee at CBS. While leading information sessions at Columbia and on the road, Dana met and advised myriad applicants� ...
×Holly
Holly worked as a member of the NYU Stern MBA Admissions team for seven years and holds an MBA from NYU Stern. In her tenure as Director of NYU MBA Admissions, Holly worked closely with admissions teams from Columbia, Michigan Ross, UVA Darden, Cornell Johnson, Berkeley Haas, Yale SOM, and Duke Fuqua on recruiting events domestically and internationally. On the NYU Stern admissions committee, Holly conducted interviews, planned and hosted events, and trained staff on reading and interviewi ...
×Mark
Mark has been working in global higher education for nearly ten years, focusing on MBA Admissions at European programs including Oxford Said Business School and London Business School (LBS). At the University of Oxford’s Said Business School, Mark was the Associate Director of MBA Recruitment, leading the recruitment of all applicants to the Oxford MBA and 1+1 MBA programs. In this role, Mark advised countless MBA applic ...
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