Are you reading ChiBus ?

This is for all future GSB applicants. If you arent reading ChiBus, you definitely should. Because you can get some great clues/fodder for your essays there.

Like this post by Dean Stacey Cole. She says :

You will hear from Dean Ted Snyder, who will describe Chicago GSB's approach to management education as a combination of challenge, adherence to values, and change. His goal is to "sustain and strengthen the GSB culture of critical thought, and build a more aligned GSB, focused on internal and external relationships that enhance the professional development opportunities for students and alumni." To that end, Chicago GSB has one value system, not one for faculty and another for students. Intellectual rigor, critical thinking, and constant questioning characterize the academic life at the GSB. Faculty members believe that outstanding research enhances the classroom experience and adds to the richness of collaboration that occurs between them and their students. It is this training in how to think that will matter most when you face "moments of truth" in your professional life.

If you have read the GSB brochure and the website thoroughly, you will realise that some of the above is repetitive. Which should tell you how important these key philosophies are for Chicago GSB. You could remember to use this knowledge for the part where you explain why you fit with the GSB.

Then this another note by a graduating student. She talks about the few events where you could socialise with your classmates, seniors etc. For some of you out there, this might be an important thing - after all, we all want to maintain our lifestyle while having a great education ;-)

The point(if you arent getting it yet) of this post is that the web has so much information that you should ideally not feel short of material. One of my friends once asked "How do I research a school?". For me, it has largely been reading the school website, the blogs (of both applicants and students) and browsing the business week boards. Which is what I advised him to do. But there's a catch here.

There is lot of info available on the website(and other web resources). First you will have to filter out the good from the bad, and secondly and more importantly, you need to read between the lines. Like, it is widely known that Chicago GSB fosters a questioning culture - one where you challenge existing facts. This gives me the cue to evaluate myself vis-a-vis Chicago GSB with an eye to look for instances in my life where I questioned something written in stone. If such instances have happened regularly, I get the confidence that I can feel partially comfortable at the GSB - the fit thing, remember! I also take away a bullet point that I can use a few of those experiences to "SHOW" (and not just state) how I fit into the GSB spectrum, how I can easily blend in, and how Chicago GSB's thing is my thing, and because it is so, I will be my own, and be able to contribute back to the community there in the best possible way.

If you read the website with a eye for evaluating what the school has to offer vis-a-vis what you are and what you want to do, you will definitely get great solid information, information which will help be very personal in why you love a certain school, otherwise your Why School part would just be a collection of points drawn from various parts of the website/brochure. Any other applicant could replicate that without much effort.

Of course, there are many other modes of gathering info about the school you want to attend, like visiting the school, talking to alums, attending the school reception etc. All these help you get some facts, learn about others experiences, but again, you will still need to personalise the info you get, to an extent where it reads as your story, and not a cursory attempt to list points(big club names, leadership program names, superlative professor and their classes etc) to impress the adcom.