Authenticity in MBA Applications in the Age of Chat GPT
Chat GPT celebrated its first anniversary in November 2023. When the AI tool first launched, news headlines went into overdrive, predicting how soon/well the technology would supplant the essay writing process for university admissions. Admittedly, the tool is beneficial across many settings. But from our perspective, we’ve seen how Chat GPT and its ilk can negatively impact authenticity in MBA applications.
Merriam-Webster named “authentic” its Word of the Year in 2023, noting that it’s “something we’re thinking about, writing about, aspiring to, and judging more than ever.” Forbes even called authentic the word of the year for college and MBA applications.
The best MBA essays, at their heart, explore the applicants’ personal experiences. They also include unique insights gleaned from talking to current students or alums at target programs. Sure, Chat GPT might be able to spit out a list of facts about a particular university. That generic response will not impress an admissions committee looking for authenticity in MBA applications.
Business schools want to know why you want an MBA from their program, so specifics are vital. Is there a certain professor you admire or a course you want to take? Perhaps there’s a unique resource at the school that would expand your professional toolkit. Only by researching each MBA program in-depth will you come up with the aspects that most excite you.
No Substitute for Lived Experiences
“MBA applications are narratives of where you’ve been, where you are, and where you want to go,” SBC consultant Christina explained when she dropped by the B-Schooled podcast to chat about authenticity in MBA applications. “MBA programs look for candidates who share and connect those dots in honest, thoughtful, and self-aware ways.”
Schools ask about past challenges to understand how the candidate might rise to the occasion in the face of adversity. “A perfect application essay describing a flawless human being with a spotless record is simply not very interesting,” Dr. Marlena Corcoran writes in Forbes. “It gives admissions officers little opportunity to distinguish this applicant from others.”
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“While ChatGPT is great at creating very general content that can be found on websites, it doesn’t offer the specific examples you’ve experienced in your personal and professional life,” Shelly Heinrich, the associate dean of MBA admissions at Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, tells Find MBA.
“So, our admissions essays now ask for details that are specific to your personal life experiences, which requires information that only you can answer.”
Use Chat GPT Without Undermining Authenticity in MBA Applications
Besides your ability to handle the rigors of an MBA program, emotional intelligence counts for an outsized amount these days. The so-called “soft skills” surrounding communication, the ability to motivate others, and leadership are attractive qualities to the admissions committee. Your MBA essays are the ideal vehicle for conveying those traits.
Chat GPT can be helpful in the MBA application process in specific, limited ways. For instance, its use as a grammar checker can be a terrific benefit so long as the user ensures the AI output hasn’t changed the underlying meaning of the content.
“There is no doubt that our MBA applicants use it for their essays, but ultimately it comes down to how it is used,” Charlotte Russell-Green, head of MBA recruitment and admissions at the UK’s Cambridge Judge Business School, tells Find MBA. “If it has been copied and pasted with no proof reading, editing or personalization then it’s very obvious to us – we can spot it a mile off.”
“However, if used correctly, it can provide a solid format for your essay and assist you in bringing together what you’d like to say in a clear and concise way,” she adds.
Use it to Brainstorm
Brainstorming broad ideas using AI when an applicant is stuck can also be effective. “A lot of my clients struggle with the writing part—they have the data but they lack the skills to put it together,” notes SBC consultant Margaret.
“If there’s a writing tool that helps people take their research and construct tolerably readable essays out of it, I don’t see why they shouldn’t take advantage of it. After all, that’s what they’re going to be doing post-MBA when they’re business execs.”
We had one client—a former professional baseball pitcher—use ChatGPT to ask what pitching and business have in common. AI-generated some ideas that he adapted and explored during his engagement with his SBC consultant.
Meanwhile, Yvette on the SBC team shares this perspective on the AI tool. “As someone who is not a native English speaker, I view Generative AI tools as a great equalizer,” she explains.
“It can help talented people with weaker writing skills be as competitive as those who may dominate language but not other skill sets. This makes me very excited about this new era and excited AdComs and industries see this as well.”
Proceed with Caution
Our own essay writing experiment with Chat GPT was not impressive. We soon discovered that every AI-produced essay had the same problem: it had no meaningful and personalized content. Sure, the essays were grammatically solid. But all had the same vague and repetitive output.
They also lacked specific knowledge of the culture or curriculum of MBA programs. Plus, they had no insight into the intrinsic motivations of the applicants. We believe AI-produced essays will be high-risk dealbreakers that will land applicants in the reject pile.
For further proof, see this affidavit applicants must sign found within the 2023-2024 Harvard Business School MBA application:
“The point of an application is to help the admissions team understand who you are as a person and to demonstrate what makes you a competitive candidate,” Georgetown’s Heinrich says. “Using ChatGPT for your essays won’t help us understand your unique attributes; instead, it will make you more similar to other applicants and make it more difficult for us to discover who you are and why you’re interested in our program.”
Chat GPT may be able to provide a well-written answer to an application prompt. But authenticity in MBA applications is the name of the game. Therefore, we urge B-school aspirants to focus their efforts on doing the introspective work that is the foundation of a strong application.
SBC consultant Sherry sums it up nicely: “I guess I am just old-school, but I’d rather my clients write from their hearts/guts and with passion—not rely on AI.”
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Stacy Blackman Consulting offers multiple services to meet your MBA application needs, from our All-In Partnership and Interview Prep to hourly help with essay editing, resume review, and much more! Contact us today for a free 15-minute advising session to talk strategy with a Principal SBC consultant.
Here’s a snapshot of the caliber of expertise on our SBC team.
Ashley
Ashley is a former MBA Admissions Board Member for Harvard Business School (HBS), where she interviewed and evaluated thousands of business school applicants for over a six year tenure. Ashley holds an MBA from HBS. During her HBS years, Ashley was the Sports Editor for the Harbus and a member of the B-School Blades Ice Hockey Team. After HBS, she worked in Marketing at the Gillette Company on Male and Female shaving ...
×Kerry
Kerry is a former member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS). During her 5+ year tenure at HBS, she read and evaluated hundreds of applications and interviewed MBA candidates from a wide range of backgrounds across the globe. She also led marketing and outreach efforts focused on increasing diversity and inclusion, ran the Summer Venture in Management Program (SVMP), and launched the 2+2 Program during her time in Admissions. Kerry holds a B.A. from Bates College and ...
×Pauline
A former associate director of admissions at Harvard Business School, Pauline served on the HBS MBA Admissions Board full-time for four years. She evaluated and interviewed HBS applicants, both on-campus and globally. Pauline's career has included sales and marketing management roles with Coca-Cola, Gillette, Procter & Gamble, and IBM. For over 10 years, Pauline has expertly guided MBA applicants, and her clients h ...
×Geri
Geri is a former member of the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS). In her 7 year tenure in HBS Admissions, she read and evaluated hundreds of applications and interviewed MBA candidates from a diverse set of academic, geographic, and employment backgrounds. Geri also traveled globally representing the school at outreach events in order to raise awareness for women and international students. In additio ...
×Laura
Laura comes from the MBA Admissions Board at Harvard Business School (HBS) and is an HBS MBA alumnus. In her HBS Admissions role, she evaluated and interviewed hundreds of business school candidates, including internationals, women, military and other applicant pools, for five years. Prior to her time as a student at HBS, Laura began her career in advertising and marketing in Chicago at Leo Burnett where she worked on th ...
×Andrea
Andrea served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at Harvard Business School (HBS) for over five years. In this role, she provided strategic direction for student yield-management activities and also served as a full member of the admissions committee. In 2007, Andrea launched the new 2+2 Program at Harvard Business School – a program targeted at college junior applicants to Harvard Business School. Andrea has also served as a Career Coach for Harvard Business School for both cu ...
×Jennifer
Jennifer served as Admissions Officer at the Stanford (GSB) for five years. She holds an MBA from Stanford (GSB) and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Jennifer has over 15 years experience in guiding applicants through the increasingly competitive admissions process into top MBA programs. Having read thousands and thousands of essays and applications while at Stanford (GSB) Admiss ...
×Erin K.
Erin served in key roles in MBA Admissions--as Director at Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley and Assistant Director at Stanford's Graduate School of Business (GSB). Erin served on the admissions committee at each school and has read thousands of applications in her career. At Haas, she served for seven years in roles that encompassed evaluation, outreach, and diversity and inclusion. During her tenure in Admissions at GSB, she was responsible for candidate evaluation, applicant outreach, ...
×Susie
Susie comes from the Admissions Office of the Stanford Graduate School of Business where she reviewed and evaluated hundreds of prospective students’ applications. She holds an MBA from Stanford’s GSB and a BA from Stanford in Economics. Prior to advising MBA applicants, Susie held a variety of roles over a 15-year period in capital markets, finance, and real estate, including as partner in one of the nation’s most innovative finance and real estate investment organizations. In that r ...
×Dione
Dione holds an MBA degree from Stanford Business School (GSB) and a BA degree from Stanford University, where she double majored in Economics and Communication with concentrations in journalism and sociology. Dione has served as an Admissions reader and member of the Minority Admissions Advisory Committee at Stanford. Dione is an accomplished and respected advocate and thought leader on education and diversity. She is ...
×Anthony
Anthony served as the Associate Director of MBA Admissions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he dedicated over 10 years of expertise. During his time as a Wharton Admissions Officer, he read and reviewed thousands of applications and helped bring in a class of 800+ students a year. Anthony has traveled both domestically and internationally to recruit a ...
×Meghan
Meghan served as the Associate Director of Admissions and Marketing at the Wharton MBA’s Lauder Institute, a joint degree program combining the Wharton MBA with an MA in International Studies. In her role on the Wharton MBA admissions committee, Meghan advised domestic and international applicants; conducted interviews and information sessions domestically and overseas in Asia, Central and South America, and Europe; and evaluated applicants for admission to the program. Meghan also managed ...
×Amy
Amy comes from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania where she was Associate Director. Amy devoted 12 years at the Wharton School, working closely with MBA students and supporting the admissions team. During her tenure at Wharton, Amy served as a trusted adviser to prospective applicants as well as admitted and matriculated students. She conducted admissions chats with applicants early in the admissions ...
×Ally
Ally brings six years of admissions experience to the SBC team, most recently as an Assistant Director of Admission for the full-time MBA program at Columbia Business School (CBS). During her time at Columbia, Ally was responsible for reviewing applications, planning recruitment events, and interviewing candidates for both the full-time MBA program and the Executive MBA program. She traveled both internationally and dome ...
×Erin B.
Erin has over seven years of experience working across major institutions, including University of Pennsylvania, Columbia Business School, and NYU's Stern School of Business. At Columbia Business School, Erin was an Assistant Director of Admissions where she evaluated applications for both the full time and executive MBA programs, sat on the admissions and merit scholarship committees and advised applicants on which program might be the best fit for them based on their work experience and pro ...
×Emma
Emma comes from the MBA Admissions Office at Columbia Business School (CBS), where she was Associate Director. Emma conducted dozens of interviews each cycle for the MBA and EMBA programs, as well as coordinating the alumni ambassador interview program. She read and evaluated hundreds of applications each cycle, delivered information sessions to audiences across the globe, and advised countless waitlisted applicants. ×
