Axolotl: The First Step to a Smart Application Strategy

December 10, 2019 :: Admissionado Team

Hey everybody. I’m Kyn, one of the Senior Consultants here at Admissionado… and also the guy teaming up with Axolotl for his 2014 apps. We just had our kick-off call to get this whole party started, and I realized 3 things:

(1) It’s a good thing we got started early
(2) We have a lot of work to do
(3) Axolotl’s current status as an applicant is probably VERY similar to many of you out there… so I figured it could be helpful to share some of my feedback that I gave to him with all of you to help you kick-start your own process.

Overall, Axolotl’s an awesome guy and a solid candidate for a top MBA program. He has most of the necessary boxes ticked, including coming from a top tier undergrad university, superb grades, a killer GMAT score, and great work experience. (Sounds pretty perfect, eh?)

….However, at this stage, even for a profile like his, it’s not enough to get into the best MBA programs.

Why?

Well, during our call, it became immensely clear that Axolotl doesn’t have a plan when it comes to his Short and Long term goals. So, this becomes our first major hurdle to tackle: figuring out what he wants to be when he grows up.

The entire approach to telling Axolotl’s story and differentiating him starts with understanding his future career plans. See, without a clear plan it’s impossible to explain why he even needs an MBA  (we can’t make career goals up on the fly because experienced adcoms can easily spot those)… and adcoms aren’t looking for candidates who simply want an MBA for the sake of having one. Without a plan laid out logically and clearly, Axolotl’s entire application will likely appear to be haphazardly put together.

The key is to identify a goal that:

(1) Axolotl is passionate about
(2) Is a subject matter in which he’s an expert
(3) Fits thematically with his career background.

The great thing is that Axolotl is starting early. There are still about 5 months until Round 1 applications are due, so we’re currently in brainstorming mode. His task now is to research a few areas that interest him, and we then chat about them over our next few calls until he’s comfortable with a direction. Once his goals are cemented, we will begin working on ways to make Axolotl stand out based on his accomplishments to date, and discuss areas he can improve upon in the coming months before application deadlines.

It’s gonna be a long road, but we’re both super pumped to dig in.

Make sure you follow our progress right here.

Cheers,
Kyn

*Not sure what you can do NOW for Round 1? Well, here are 5 very smart things.