MBA Requirements for International Students
After making the decision to leave Kuwait to pursue your MBA in the US, it is now time to find out what is required of you as an international student. This article intends to make it easy for you to find out everything you need to know to become an MBA student in the United States.
There are a set of prerequisites that you are expected to achieve prior to acceptance onto an MBA program. Assuming that you have a bachelor’s degree, you have already leaped over the first hurdle to land you a place in graduate school.
As an international student, you will need to provide evidence that you are proficient in the language in which the course is conducted. This is determined through your performance on the TOEFL, which is the acronym for “Test of English as a Foreign Language.” The most important test you are going to have to take is the “Graduate Management Admissions Test,” (GMAT). The test is conducted worldwide; if you want to find available GMAT test dates in the Kuwait, you can contact a local test center for assistance or visit mba.com.
High math and reasoning scores will give you a competitive edge during the application process. If you do not fit the criteria in this area, it might be a good idea to pursue some additional courses to boast your chances of being accepted into a graduate school. I can hear a reader asking the question, why is math so important? MBA studies are comprised of very intensive studies in math, and if this is an area of weakness, you will either want to enhance your skills, or consider taking another educational route, because you will struggle on an MBA course.
There are several graduate schools that require you to have a certain amount of work experience before embarking on an MBA program. Many of the top universities require that you have been employed for more than two years in your chosen field.
Get some volunteer work under your belt. Community involvement is valued highly by graduate schools, and will give you an advantage during the admissions process.
Now that we have provided you with advice on what is required of you, let’s take a look at the things that you should avoid during the application process.
Regardless of the graduate school that you are applying to, you are required to write an admissions essay. This letter is analyzed in depth, and there are several points that you should refrain from incorporating into your essay.
Do not regurgitate your resume, the admissions committee is looking for more than details of your employment achievements. They want you to demonstrate your ability to think critically, and your ability to apply what you have learnt during your academic studies to real life practical situations. They want to get to know what motivates you, as well as your core belief system. You will have to open up and get personal, yes, that means you are going to have to talk about yourself, your family, your hopes and your dreams.
Do not provide recommendation letters written from inappropriate references like your grandmother, or from someone who doesn’t know you at all, as in, they were your supervisor for 2 days! The admissions committee are looking for references from people who have extensive knowledge of your character, level of integrity, and your moral standing within the community.
Make sure that you are well versed on the faculty that you want to study at. A study on graduate school application failures, published in the Teaching of Psychology magazine, described how one member of the admissions committee read an application from a candidate who stated that they were looking forward to working with a dead faculty member!
Flattery is good; however, when it is overdone can create the perception that you are trying too hard to impress your audience.
As a candidate for graduate school admission, you may possess the right educational background for acceptance onto an MBA program, but your lack of knowledge concerning the culture of the school that you wish to attend can lead to a rejected application.
It is advised that you utilize every available resource available to you to assist in the application process, such as academic advisory services, mentoring, and courses that prepare you for life as a graduate student.
Your success is dependent upon you. The more time that you invest in making certain that all of your basis are covered, the more likely it is that you will get accepted into the graduate school of your choice.
