Targeted MBA Advice for Couples
Does the couple that studies together really have more fun? This Valentine’s Day, we’re sharing MBA advice for couples considering applying to business school.
For some professional couples, there comes a time when both partners realize that pursuing an MBA degree is the key to exploring new career paths. However, the MBA admissions process is challenging enough for one person. Couples face additional considerations as they figure out their priorities and application strategy.
Finding an MBA program that meets your needs must also mesh with your partner’s preferences. This is one of the hardest parts of applying jointly to business school. You’ll want to avoid any unwelcome compromises or resentments that might damage your relationship.
The pros at Stacy Blackman Consulting can help you and your partner successfully navigate the application process and chart your course for career growth together. Contact us today for a free 15-minute advising session to talk strategy with a Principal SBC consultant.
MBA Advice for Couples: School Selection
No two candidates – even couples – are alike regarding test scores, leadership experiences, professional background, or extracurricular interests. Before applying to b-school, make sure each application is competitive. Unfortunately, the strength of one candidate won’t compensate for an unqualified partner.
Start by making a list of target programs where you both will be thrilled to study. In addition to applying to the same set of schools, couples can expand their options by focusing on cities or regions where both would thrive. You can also consider applying to schools in the same area.
For example, you might apply to NYU Stern and Columbia in New York City or the Wharton School in nearby Philadelphia. West Coast fans can consider Stanford Graduate School of Business or UC Berkeley Haas in the Bay Area.
Other possibilities include Harvard Business School or MIT Sloan School of Management in Boston. In the Chicago area, options include the Kellogg School of Management or Booth School of Business. Meanwhile, you have UCLA Anderson School of Management and the USC Marshall School of Business in Los Angeles.
A smart strategy for couples open to this option is applying to identical schools in Round 1. Then, expand to nearby schools in Round 2 as a backup plan. Jenna, a former NYU Admissions Officer on the SBC team, says,
“Stern normally does consider the applications together if they applied as partners. I had a SBC client who was able to leverage this in order to have CBS match a scholarship where her partner was also a scholarship recipient, but in that case they were equally competitive.”
Campus visits and info sessions are also essential for couples. Take the time to get a good feel for each school and connect with current married or partnered students who can provide insight into their application experiences. These resources can give you a better sense of how accepting the school is of joint applicants.
MBA Advice for Couples: Timing Your Applications
It may go without saying, but you should apply in the same round. Knowing whether you both got in will make the decision much easier.
Also, if possible, apply in the first round to leave some wiggle room if needed. The MBA application process can become all-consuming. With two people balancing full-time jobs with test prep and essay writing, you might find that one of you is struggling and needs extra time to pull together the best possible application.
A different approach for couples who know the region or city they ultimately want to work in is to stagger their MBA enrollment. One person continues to work while the other attends business school. Then, once their partner graduates, the other enrolls in an MBA program.
MBA Advice for Couples: Loop in the AdCom Upfront
Admissions committee members are compassionate human beings, not mere number crunchers. If both applicants are qualified to attend and fit well with the program, the admissions committee will usually try to keep couples together.
Some schools explicitly ask in the application if you’re applying jointly with a partner. But even if they don’t, sharing that information with the admissions committee is essential. This is crucial if the rejection of one applicant means the partner wouldn’t attend if accepted. Both you and your partner should use the supplemental essay to explain that you’re part of a package deal.
“Every year more partners are applying together, and some of them don’t mention that they’re a couple,” said Yann Tissier, an AdCom member at HEC Paris. “We actually prefer it when they do, because it adds another interesting family dimension to their application.”
Inform the admissions team as early as possible of your intentions to submit a joint application. When attending events on the road or campus, contact representatives to explain your situation and show them why you and your partner would be an excellent fit for their program.
Your relationship status will likely be considered if the admissions committee hesitates about just one of you. If the school feels that one candidate is outstanding and knows they will only attend if the partner also gets in, chances are good that both will receive admissions offers.
Enjoy the Ride
An MBA is an emotionally intense and enriching experience. One of the best things about attending business school as a couple is witnessing each other’s growth in this unique environment. That, and taking pride in each other’s accomplishments.
“Our time at HBS has brought us closer together,” said Kate Kingen and Patrick Garrison in this Harvard Business School blog post. “We met while working after college, so we did not know each other as students. Having the opportunity to learn, grow, travel, and meet a whole new set of people has been a wonderful new chapter in our relationship together.”
For Chicago Booth couple Holli and Cat, who met during orientation, empathy and understanding are the foundation of their relationship. When advising couples on balancing school, work, and relationships, “We want to stress the importance of being able to support your partner through the peaks and valleys of the intense yet rewarding period that comes with pursuing an MBA,” they say.
“Our journey at Booth has been a cornerstone moment, helping us to grow both as individuals and as a couple. We feel very lucky to have met during this time, and believe taking on the MBA experience together has been an epic start to our story.”
Meanwhile, when asked their advice for other couples considering business school together, married Kellogg MBAs Gauri Gupta and Mitch Jones offered this perspective:
“Lean on each other’s strengths and always be willing to compromise. We both experienced a lull around the halfway point of our MBA journey and were questioning our decision to take it all on together, but with a little encouragement from each other, we pushed through and are incredibly proud of what we have accomplished.”
From the support you can give each other during the application process to coming home at the end of each day during the degree process to share and debate your respective classroom experiences, going to business school with your partner may turn out to be the best decision you’ve ever made for both your career and personal life.
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Stacy Blackman Consulting offers 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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