Our recently featured webinar titled 3 Steps to Helping Your Recommenders Write Strong MBA Letters of Recommendation illustrated all the key factors of a convincing Letter of Recommendation (LOR) for MBA admission to your school of choice. As one of the most essential MBA requirements, an MBA LOR plays a principal role in garnering the interest and approval of the admissions team while setting the tone for your educational success and future career prospects.
As MBA admissions consulting specialists, it’s our pleasure to highlight the do’s and don’ts of an MBA LOR and ensure your letter advances those unique qualities and characteristics sought by admissions officers in high-ranking and prestigious business schools (M7s and T20 MBA programs). While no single element is a determiner for approval, there are certain fundamental steps to consider when writing an attractive MBA letter of recommendation that firmly warrants acceptance.
How to prepare for a letter of recommendation
Through our webinar, viewers have the opportunity to fully prepare their recommenders for a LOR that does exactly that — and clearly articulates their experience and achievements while positioning them as strong future leaders that can communicate across disciplines.
When reviewing your LOR, the admissions team is seeking an alternate perspective to your own in regards to your achievements and response to feedback. To achieve this, they form prompts that typically follow the GMAC Common Letter of Recommendation, constituting two questions that prompt recommenders to:
Compare the applicant’s performance with other well-qualified individuals based on examples
Describe the nature and results of constructive feedback which they offered to the applicant
It’s important to note that not all schools follow the GMAC format, and may present a combination of GMAC and their own questions. For example, NYU Stern admission features an EQ/IQ question that requests a compelling example demonstrating the applicant’s emotional intelligence. In a different example, Kellogg asks the recommender to explain how they’ve witnessed the applicant living the values of being inclusive and encouraging of others with different perspectives and backgrounds.
For the reasons above, it’s important to be mindful of which school you are applying to and which questions will be asked before approaching your potential MBA recommender.
How to choose your MBA recommender wisely
The webinar also highlights the importance of being selective in choosing your recommender and that they’re fully qualified to respond to admission prompts in detail. The candidate should be someone who’s had a supervisory role in your life, has witnessed your work, and is able to provide feedback in detailed, specific examples. Taking a creative approach to identifying a potential recommender is sometimes necessary and can prove beneficial.
Letter of Recommendation DON’TS
Viewers also had the chance to learn about some major mistakes that applicants make and why it’s important to avoid them.
The best MBA admissions consultants are in agreement that an LOR helps the admission team understand your impact from a corroborative narrative and shared opinion of your value. We strongly advise not writing your own letter of recommendation for the following reasons:
It’s a huge missed opportunity to have a supportive narrative of yourself from an objective, outside perspective
It’s not possible to be objective about your own experiences in a genuine way
You won’t have the same enthusiasm speaking about yourself that someone who wants you to succeed and has their own thoughts and feelings about you will
The voice and tone of your LOR will sound suspiciously similar to your essays, resumes and other written work. Admissions officers expect letters of recommendation to be written by the recommender — and are on the lookout for LORs written by the applicant, which may be accordingly discarded as a result.
It’s equally important not to be passive when guiding your recommender in the contents of the letter. While your recommender may be fully supportive of your accomplishments, they may not remember all the details and have the materials necessary for presenting ample context for those achievements. Make sure you have a good idea about the things your recommender can recall while giving them plenty of time to craft your letter — at least 1 month in advance of the school’s due date or longer.
3 Steps to helping your recommender
By engaging the best MBA admissions consultants prior to application, you’re already taking the right approach to being fully prepared for the next stage of your education.
Step 1: Being an active participant
In this step, we explain the importance of the applicant’s active role in the letter. The recommender will be asked to provide several examples and narratives demonstrating your qualities and how you were able to implement feedback. Don’t hesitate to openly discuss those examples in detail with your recommender.
Step 2: Demonstrate MBA-readiness
Through a LOR, your recommender will be demonstrating your MBA-readiness and providing contextual examples of your hard skills, soft skills, collaborative skills, and mission-driven attitude. These examples are best presented as elements that are woven into the letter in a storytelling style that supports your candidacy.
Step 3: Character fit
Your recommender will be creating context for your personal character fit for an MBA and the leadership aptitude it demands. While presenting you as a capable future leader, it’s important for the examples of your experiences to position you as someone who is eager to learn and grow given the opportunity.
Please view the webinar in full for a comprehensive summary and contact us anytime with any questions or to receive a complimentary consultation.