Expert tips on making a business school application stand out
Masters in Management updates
Sign up to myFT Daily Digest to be the initially to know about Masters in Management information.
The pandemic has enhanced the charm of a diploma that was by now well-known for the options it delivers to enter a broad wide range of industries and roles. With graduate occupation prospective buyers hampered by lockdowns and financial uncertainties, lots of students are opting to stay in higher instruction and study for a masters in administration. For graduates starved of possibilities to vacation, a MiM also retains out some hope of global mobility, visa legal rights and probable work.
“Students truly feel it is a worthwhile financial commitment in terms of career placement and small business instruction, specifically in situations of uncertainty,” states Sophie Dimich-Louvet, director of student recruitment at HEC Paris, which has noticed an 80 for each cent enhance in applications.
In Tomorrow’s Masters, a report published in the spring by instruction consultancy CarringtonCrisp and accreditation entire body EFMD, just more than half of respondents surveyed said they prepared to study for a small business masters simply because they were anxious that there were much less work opportunities for new graduates than before the pandemic.
FT Masters in Management rating 2021 — top one hundred

Discover out which faculties are in our rating of Masters in Management degrees. Discover how the desk was compiled and study the relaxation of our coverage at www.ft.com/mim.
That analysis follows the Graduate Management Admission Council’s Software Traits Survey, published in late 2020, which verified that applications for small business masters degrees throughout all faculties had risen fourteen for each cent year on year, when compared with 5 for each cent in the two prior years. Applications for MiMs were up nearly eighteen for each cent.
When some faculties are now inviting candidates to campus for interviews, other folks have made websites for virtual meetings and interviews. The increase in applications implies stiffer competitors for destinations, so how can candidates stand out? System and recruitment directors present their recommendations.
Do your homework early
Going to small business college marks the commencing of an experience and a new daily life, states EMLyon MiM director Sylvie Jean, who has just published Company College: Suivez le Guide!, which offers tips and realistic workouts (in French) on planning for small business college. “Business faculties are inclined to use marketing language and acronyms that are frequently tricky for students and their households to recognize, but you will need to be as knowledgeable and well prepared as possible,” she states.
Checking basic information, this kind of as course entry specifications, is crucial, but also think about optimising the range of ordeals and achievements on your application by having language courses or a summer months internship. This will need progress preparing, so it is a superior thought to start a year before graduating from your undergraduate diploma.
“Concentrate on having small steps each individual day, and before you know it, you will have gathered lots of information, insights and experience,” states Massimo Garbuio, associate professor of entrepreneurship at the College of Sydney Company College. “This will give you clarity and way for your MiM, but wanting additional in advance, it is also one thing companies want in their businesses.”
Emphasise your variations
Potent grades and admission exam scores will acquire you only so far, warns Dimich-Louvet. “Solid skilled ordeals and extracurricular involvement enhance a student’s possibilities of admission,” she states.
Learners from around the environment have comparable ranges of instruction and language qualities, which implies about two-thirds of applications are really comparable, agrees Céline Foss, director of the masters in administration in global small business programme at Grenoble Ecole de Management in France. “What impresses and stands out are examples of engagement and action with organisations this kind of as charities and neighborhood groups, and other proof of staying proactive and having a broad array of passions.”
Candidates ought to think about every little thing they have accomplished in their adult life and sift it for strengths and techniques that may well interest a long term employer, advises Roland Siegers, director of early occupations programmes at ESMT Berlin. “Good small business faculties will by now look at your long term employability, beyond typical educational indicators. Did you direct a club? Did you participate in a thriving undertaking? Nearly anything that is ‘off the crushed track’ can be related and appealing.”
Proof that candidates have explored and understood that the price of finding out for a MiM is much more than just the educational programme also counts. Applicants ought to reveal an consciousness of the school’s wider functions and initiatives, this kind of as its corporate social obligation engagement and the student clubs it supports.
Seek the ideal match
Possible students will want to demonstrate why a specific MiM and college are the ideal healthy for them. “Have a very clear vision of why you want to study this certain masters programme and how it can enable you,” states Maren Kaus, director of career expert services at Frankfurt College of Finance and Management in Germany. “It’s an workout that will get ready you well for the application and admission method.”
Applicants ought to imagine about what they would like to discover individually as well as skillfully, indicates Victoria Bressers, senior career and personal improvement adviser at Nyenrode Company College in the Netherlands. “Ask yourself, what can you convey to the desk as a MiM student and what can other folks discover from you?”
Dig further than the basic MiM information on a school’s internet site to discover much more about its pedagogical strategy and employability figures, for instance, advises Jean at EMLyon. “Sign up for the school’s webinars, follow its social media accounts and call some of its alumni on LinkedIn to get their viewpoints. By having a superior all-spherical awareness of the programme, you will be ready to place ahead convincing personal and skilled causes for your application.”
Rita Järventie-Thesleff, director of the masters in global management at Aalto College College of Business in Helsinki, advises: “Think about the content of the programme in relation to your individual values, learning and career aims.” She states that, over all, candidates ought to permit their personality and inspiration demonstrate via the entire method.