The Best MBA Admissions Tips for Consultants
In a recent episode of the B-Schooled podcast, host Chandler Arnold sat down with Will Bachman, a former McKinsey consultant and co-founder of Umbrex, to discuss MBA admissions tips for consultants applying to business school. The conversation was chock-full of practical advice, from differentiating yourself in a competitive applicant pool to time management and personal development strategies.
This first post explores how current consultants can strengthen their applications and stand out in a crowded field. Next week, we’ll flip the conversation and discuss how MBA students can successfully transition into consulting careers.
Applying to an MBA program as a consultant comes with unique challenges. While top business schools value the problem-solving skills, analytical thinking, and leadership experiences that consulting provides, the sheer number of applicants from this field makes it difficult to stand out. Admissions committees see plenty of McKinsey, Bain, and BCG resumes—so what makes you different? What will set your application apart?
Stay Positive When Your Coworker is Also Going for an MBA
To boost your admit odds, leverage these MBA admissions tips for consultants. In particular, you’ll want to develop specialized skills, showcase leadership beyond your day job, and maintain a strong personal and professional network. Admissions officers want to see applicants who excel in their roles and bring a unique perspective to the classroom.
Will shared actionable insights on how consultants can make their applications more compelling by focusing on skill development, networking, personal wellness, and creative leadership outside of work. His advice extends beyond MBA applications, offering strategies for long-term professional success. Below are some of the most valuable takeaways from their discussion.
Why Consultants Need to Stand Out in MBA Admissions
Business schools attract a significant number of applicants from top consulting firms like McKinsey, Bain, and BCG. Given this high volume, consultants must find ways to differentiate themselves. Will’s advice? Stop focusing solely on what looks good on an application and start engaging in meaningful activities that genuinely interest you.
“Do things that you are not doing just to get into business school,” Will said. “When I was in high school applying to college, my friends and I called them ‘TEDs’—transcript enhancement devices. Don’t do stuff just to check a box.”
Instead, he encouraged applicants to develop new skills, build relationships, and create something beyond their day job. This kind of initiative makes for a more compelling MBA application and leads to a more fulfilling career.
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.
Four Key Areas to Focus On
To help applicants think strategically about how they stand out, Will outlined four major areas where young professionals should invest their time and energy:
1. Build New Skills for a Stronger MBA Profile
Consultants gain strong analytical and problem-solving skills at work, but those aren’t the only competencies that matter. Will recommended identifying gaps in your skill set and taking deliberate action to fill them.
“Maybe you’re not getting a lot of sales experience. Go sell something,” he suggested. “Maybe you don’t have exposure to digital marketing—take a class, but then implement it.”
He emphasized that the key isn’t just learning passively but applying new skills in real-world situations, whether through a side project, freelance work, or a startup venture. Business schools look for applicants who show intellectual curiosity and a commitment to personal development.
2. Invest in Relationships and Expand Your Network
Your professional network can be one of the most significant assets in your career, but only if you actively maintain and nurture it.
“You just graduated from college a year or two ago. Those relationships are still somewhat fresh, but I will tell you they have a half-life,” Will warned. “If you’re not investing in maintaining those relationships, they decay.”
He encouraged applicants to go beyond superficial social media interactions and find meaningful ways to reconnect with old classmates and colleagues. Relationship-building should be an ongoing effort, whether through annual meetups, personal mentorship, or simply picking up the phone. Business schools highly value applicants who demonstrate strong interpersonal skills and collaborative leadership.
3. Prioritize Personal Wellness for Long-Term Success
The long hours and intense demands of consulting make it easy to neglect personal well-being, but Will urged applicants to take their health seriously.
“It’s not a sprint—it’s a marathon,” he said. “Think of yourself as a business athlete. Stay physically fit, eat right, get your sleep. Perhaps you have some kind of meditation practice or some other spiritual practice.”
Good health and well-being improve quality of life and contribute to sustained success in business and beyond. The MBA experience is demanding, and schools look for candidates who have the resilience and energy to handle the rigorous academic and networking environment.
4. Create Something Beyond Work to Demonstrate Leadership
Consultants excel at executing structured tasks, but top business schools also look for applicants who demonstrate creativity and initiative. “Doing something beyond what is assigned to you—demonstrating agency—is essential,” Will emphasized. “That might be starting a side business, creating a podcast or newsletter, or organizing in-person events.”
SBC’s Chandler reinforced this idea by sharing his own experience: “A wise mentor told me to form a personal board of directors—a group of friends and acquaintances with different life experiences who can challenge and support you.”
Creating something unique strengthens an MBA application and helps build leadership and entrepreneurial skills that will serve applicants throughout their careers. Business schools prioritize candidates who take initiative and bring diverse perspectives to campus discussions.
MBA Admissions Tips for Consultants: Time Management Strategies
A common challenge for consultants is finding time for activities beyond their demanding jobs. Will shared two key strategies to make it work:
Plan Big Commitments in Advance
“If you don’t plan ahead, big things—like taking two weeks off to travel—will never happen,” he said. He credited his wife for making sure they booked annual trips in advance, even when he was at McKinsey. “Just put it on the calendar and tell your firm in advance. They’ll figure it out.”
Build Micro-Habits Into Your Routine
Will strongly advocates for early-morning routines: “There’s a real superpower in waking up early before everybody else.” For him, this means waking up at 4:30 or 5:00 a.m., taking a two-minute cold shower, drinking coffee, and reading something serious for 30 to 45 minutes.
“If you spent 30 minutes every day reading Shakespeare, you could read almost every play in a year. It’s the compounding effect of small, consistent habits.”
He also recommended replacing passive phone habits with intentional learning. “Instead of opening Twitter or email, make your default action opening Kindle and reading one page of a book. That small shift adds up over time.”
Turn Advice Into Action: What’s Next?
Will’s advice is clear: the best way to stand out as a consulting applicant isn’t by checking boxes—it’s by developing skills, building relationships, maintaining wellness, and creating something unique. Not only will this help in the MBA application process, but it will also lead to a more fulfilling career.
Beyond these great tips and suggestions, Will was kind enough to share a free Consulting Skills Self-Assessment with our podcast listeners. He developed this module with other Umbrex consultants, which helps you rate your consulting skills across more than 50 areas.
Finally, this episode is just the beginning. Next week, we’ll continue the conversation with part two of this series, where Will shares valuable insights for MBA students looking to land a consulting internship or secure a full-time role in the consulting industry after graduation. Stay tuned!
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Did you know Stacy Blackman Consulting is the only MBA admissions firm with former AdCom officers from all M7 business schools and beyond? We offer multiple services to meet your MBA application needs, from our All-In Partnership and Interview Prep to hourly help with essay editing, resume review, and much more! Contact us today for a free 15-minute advising session to talk strategy with a Principal SBC consultant.
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 ...
×Erin B.
Erin has over seven years of experience working across major institutions, including University of Pennsylvania, Columbia Business School, and NYU's Stern School of Business. At Columbia Business School, Erin was an Assistant Director of Admissions where she evaluated applications for both the full time and executive MBA programs, sat on the admissions and merit scholarship committees and advised applicants on which program might be the best fit for them based on their work experience and pro ...
×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. ×
Kate
Kate served in the MBA Admissions Office at Columbia Business School for over five years. In her capacity as an Associate Director, Kate advised applicants daily and reviewed hundreds of applications per cycle. She was also an applicant interviewer, a liaison to other offices within the School, and a CBS representative at events around the world. Kate managed several recruiting and operational projects for the Admissions Committee. After Columbia Business School, Kate transitioned into cam ...
×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 ...
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