PrepCast

PrepCast covers admission to business school and master's programs through one-topic conversations between a host and an admissions consultant. Its titles read like questions an applicant might ask: how to pick the right school, what to do when the goal seems impossible, how to stay authentic. Maria, who introduces herself as representing PrepAdvisor, leads several recent episodes, and Martina, who calls herself the host for the day, leads others. Ellen Lawless, founder and CEO of Ellen Lawless Consulting, is a recurring guest who thanks the show for having her back. For a first listen, '#053 How to pick the right school' is the most practical place to begin. Its guest describes a strategy phase with a meeting given over entirely to schools, weighing culture, salary projections, majors, instruction style and location. Applying as a couple, the guest notes, brings its own challenges, and a school's average GMAT score has to be read against the applicant's profile. Essays get the same close attention. In '#052 The 4 types of stories you should prepare for your MBA essay', Ellen Lawless recommends the STAR format of situation, task, action and result. Her model is a client's essay about being pulled over by police, an experience that started him on an activist campaign, told in vivid detail and without exaggeration. Her counterexample is a story borrowed from a sample essay. The authenticity episode, '#050 How to stay authenthic when applying to a business school?', advises against volunteering weaknesses unless a school asks, pointing to INSEAD's question about a greatest failure. Challenges, by contrast, are welcomed, since they can show leadership, resilience and determination. PrepCast also treats the applicant's state of mind as part of the work. In '#051 What to do when your MBA goal seems impossible?', Ellen Lawless argues for flexibility: a rigid, narrow plan may never happen, while a goal allowed to adapt becomes a matter of time. She adds that her firm has not seen clients quit for lack of motivation; those who postponed did so for a new job, a family or a relocation. Dr. Don Martin, a returning guest, brings a similar outlook to '#049 How to stay motivated after you succeed?', where he talks about jobs left behind and programs withdrawn from, and about owning one's part, self-forgiveness and rebuilding. Susan Berishai, founder of CEA Admissions Consulting, supplies the trends view in '#048 The Newest MBA Application Trends for 2023/2024'. Common themes such as contributing to a community may not set an applicant apart, she says; depth does, and ChatGPT cannot supply it, at least not yet. Her advice is to name what an applicant stands for and show what they have done about it. The conversations are warm and encouraging, and several close by pointing to the guest's consulting site, a reminder that the advice comes from people who work in admissions consulting.