The Golden Triangle of MBA applications

I received an email from Luis Duran from Mexico, an applicant and hopefully future student, asking for advise on getting accepted into the McGill MBA programme.

I asked what my classmates thought. The general opinion is that the GMAT score is important but being a well rounded candidate is also important.

In their applications, many of my classmates demonstrated motivation. This could be from past experience or from this point moving forward. One classmate stated that he demonstrated that he had a plan of what he would like to do after graduation.

My classmates also thought that it was important to demonstrate an openness to diversity. A very large portion of our assignments requires that we work in teams. McGill MBA programme is very diversified with students from different ethnic, educational and experience background.

My own answer is a little more abstract. I call it the golden triangle of applications. In order to make a triangle, even  if one angle is small, if one or both of the other two are wider, a triangle can be formed.

Imagine my triangle with three corners, academic achievements, professional achievement and people skills. Even if one of these three angles are small, if one or both of the other two are larger, a triangle can be formed, and the weakness of the application can be balanced by the strengths...

Boon Hoh is a 2012 MBA candidate at McGill University. She completed her first year in the  McGill Tokyo program while she worked as an events project manager. She has executed projects for the governments of Germany, Spain, Italy, Canada, United Kingdom, United States and others. When not studying for her classes, she likes to study exchange rates of JPY/EUR to determine the factors that cause the changes. After graduation, Boon wishes to find work in marketing.

Read full article: Financial Post, November 4, 2011