THE internal culture of business schools differs widely and they are commonly understood to seek a variety of types. You will hear that “for Stanford, intellectual ability comes first. Northwestern puts the emphasis on teamwork, Harvard looks for leaders”. This is true, but school-specific criteria make up a tiny part of admissions decisions.

Mostly programmes apply very similar criteria, asking the same kinds of questions, making the same demands and competing for candidates with similarly balanced profiles and demonstrated skills. The 22 attributes that all top MBA programmes look for are:


1 Intellectual ability

2 Quantitative orientation (someone who isn’t afraid of numbers)

3 Analytical mindset

4 Record of success

5 Professionalism 6 Leadership

7 Ambition and motivation

8 Career potential

9 Perseverance and mental toughness

10 An extrovert personality

11 Active orientation (someone who gets things done)

12 The killer instinct

13 Personal integrity

14 Community orientation

15 Team player

16 Diversity contribution (someone who brings something interesting)

17 Intercultural experience and tolerance

18 Creativity and innovation

19 Communication ability

20 All-rounder

21 Recruitability

22 Likeability

It is no accident that these are the qualities of a successful CEO. This all points to a fundamental insight in application strategy: to create the right kind of impression, you should apply the way a chief executive would. If you can imagine yourself in that position you will generate the kind of senior presence that sets your application apart.

Having said this, be aware that nobody has all of the attributes. You don’t have to be perfect to get into a top business school. As long as the general picture is good and you can show a few areas of strength, it is OK to have blemishes — as is clearly the case with most successful chief executives.

Precis from MBA Admissions Strategy, by A. V. Gordon (£13.99).

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