What to Do Between Now and Round 1 Deadlines

If you plan to apply to MBA programs this fall, you have a little more than four months until the first Round 1 deadlines hit. What’s one of the most important things you can do between now and then? Get a few more leadership experiences under your belt.

At work, seek out opportunities to manage projects or teams. When you have an idea for how to improve or streamline a process in your office or for a client, take the initiative to work on it in your spare time. If your manager is supportive of your plans to go back to school, ask what other responsibilities you could take on.

Perhaps you could mentor a junior employee or head up a company-sponsored volunteer event. All of these steps will likely result in additional accomplishments you can add to your resume, write essays about, or discuss in an interview.

Four months is also more than enough time to get involved—or get more involved—in a cause that’s close to your heart. Taking an active role in a community organization or nonprofit is an excellent way to differentiate yourself from the competition. If you’ve volunteered for a certain group before, see what else you can help them with that’s more high profile, or ask if there are any open leadership roles that would be a good fit.

While there are some aspects of your candidacy that are already set in stone—where you earned your undergraduate degree, your GPA, and your career choices up until now—there are other things that can certainly be improved over the next few months.

Think of it this way:

Until next time,

The team at Stacy Blackman Consulting