Blog:
Four Tips for Prepping Your Business School Recommenders
May 13, 2025
MBA letters of recommendation are a critical part of every business school application, but don’t panic! If you haven’t done so already, we at Stratus suggest that you start by reading our “Four Steps to a Five-Star MBA Recommendation.” Although recommendation letters are the part of your application over which you have the least control,…
Four Steps to a Five-Star MBA Recommendation
May 7, 2025
During my 15 years on a business school admissions committee, I read thousands of MBA recommendation letters. Every so often, in the best possible way, an MBA recommendation letter would STOP. ME. IN. MY. TRACKS. This kind of MBA recommendation letter had the power to change the trajectory of an applicant’s business school admissions journey,…
What Is an M7 MBA?
May 5, 2025
The M7 business schools are regarded as the pinnacle of excellence in MBA programs. Often referred to as the “Magnificent Seven,” they are top-tier choices for prospective MBA candidates, both in the United States and around the world. These institutions turn out prestigious alumni, including high-profile CEOs and global industry leaders. Graduates of the M7…
Five Tips to Build Your Quantitative Profile
May 2, 2025
Business school applicants are more diverse today than ever before. Throughout the last decade, business schools have worked hard to increase the range of industries represented in their classes. Last year, I worked with consultants, finance professionals, and engineers, but I also worked with applicants from nonprofits, sales teams, and conglomerated family businesses, as well…
Six Things to Do in May While You Wait for MBA Essay Prompts
May 1, 2025
As the weather gets nicer and you look forward to summer, it might be harder to focus on your business school applications. There’s so much you can be doing in May to make it easier on yourself in the coming months—so you can enjoy your summer and still be ready for R1 deadlines! Here are…
Top MBA Programs for Health-Care Careers
April 28, 2025
The business of health care is growing—and with it, the number of MBA programs that have strong resources in the industry. In this post, we at Stratus provide a comparison of MBA programs with strong health-care offerings across club, recruiting, entrepreneurial, and cross-disciplinary opportunities. The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania Wharton’s Health Care…
The Best MBA Programs for Investment Banking
April 23, 2025
Although investment banking is not as popular of a career choice for MBA students as it was a few decades ago, plenty still use the MBA degree to transition to finance careers including investment banking, corporate finance, and private equity/venture capital. Working as an associate in an investment bank provides a solid foundation in understanding…
Four Tips for Dealing with Imposter Syndrome When Applying to Business School
April 21, 2025
Applying to an MBA program is daunting for everyone. As you polish up your resume, wrack your brain for application essay content, and obsess over your standardized test score, feelings of self-doubt and imposter syndrome often creep in. You might start questioning if you really deserve a spot or if you can still hack it…
Six Tips for Business School Reapplicants
April 17, 2025
If your 2024–2025 MBA applications were not successful, don’t despair! Take a little time to absorb the disappointment. After all, you spent significant time and effort crafting these applications. As soon as you are able, however, focus on the future. Many MBA candidates are successful in their subsequent applications! Here are six tips to follow…
Five Things You Need to Know About Taking the GMAT/GRE
April 15, 2025
As MBA applicants know, standardized test scores are a vital part of the business school application process. For you, the candidate, it is important to understand the testing process, timelines, and differences between the GMAT and the GRE. This year, some of the test differences have changed as a result of the newly launched GMAT…
How Long Does It Take to Get an MBA?
April 14, 2025
If you are an aspiring MBA, you’ll be happy to hear that increasingly more program options are available. However, the challenge may be figuring out which one is right for you. Most people are familiar with the typical two-year full-time MBA. For these programs, prospective students generally apply between September and April of a given…
Top MBA Programs for Entrepreneurship
April 11, 2025
I chose to pursue my MBA because I knew that I wanted to start my own production company. My goal was to develop ideas for content in different forms of media and manage the business plans for those concepts on my own, without giving up that power to someone else. While looking for MBA programs…