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certifications to increase chance of acceptance?

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certifications to increase chance of acceptance?

by tonywr » Wed May 04, 2011 5:44 pm
Hi, I have a question. Are there any certifications that can be gotten that will increase ones chances of acceptance at a top 15 mba program? There is one in particular that I am curious about, the CBM from APBM. Its expensive and covers a ton of material. Would that credential help?
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by Cindy Tokumitsu » Sun Jun 12, 2011 10:42 am
Hello,

Keep in mind that adcoms view applications holistically. Therefore, a certification could strengthen your application IF: (a) it shows strength in an area not otherwise apparent in your application; and/or (b) it appears to mitigate a possible weakness in your application; and/or (c) it is relevant to your goals. A certification just for its own sake without having some value to your candidacy wouldn't necessarily help (I can't imagine it would ever hurt!). If you plan to improve your candidacy by obtaining a certification, try to ensure that it is strategically relevant to you application as noted above.

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Cindy Tokumitsu
Senior Editor, www.Accepted.com
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by tonywr » Sun Jun 12, 2011 11:18 am
Thanks Cindy, I appreciate the feedback!

I am mostly interested in adding more 'weight' to my application. I had several quant classes at the undergrad level but made mostly B's in those. I took quantitative methods, statistics and several accounting classes. I was thinking of the CABM and MBA math to add more quant skills or a university level cert course in finance or lean six sigma (heavy in statistics and quant modeling). I really don't want to waste time on those if an adcom isn't going to see the effort or reasoning behind me taking them. I have another year and a half before applying to an emba program and trying to use my prep time wisely.

Any further advice would be greatly appreciated!
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by Cindy Tokumitsu » Wed Jun 15, 2011 12:17 pm
If you're doing it to add strength to the quant aspect of your profile, then you could either take a relevant course or pursue a certification. It would definitely help. Make sure you clarify in the application why you are doing it -- it's fine to acknowledge a weakness if they would notice it anyway and show you are proactively addressing it. For your purposes, it seems taking a relevant course might suffice as well.

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by tonywr » Wed Jun 15, 2011 7:50 pm
Would you suggest the cabm to help with my concerns? Its costly and time consuming but I'm willing to do it if it would help my application. I also have the option of a university certificate program in finance or lean six sigma. Both are great programs but not sure carries more weight?
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by Cindy Tokumitsu » Thu Jun 16, 2011 10:43 am
If you have B's in quant courses, that is not so bad! Perhaps you could take a calc course and/or microeconomics if you haven't yet. I'd suggest looking at your transcript, your work, and your goals to see which courses and/or certificate would give the most value. I think the CABM could help, but with the info I have I can't necessarily say it's the best path. Look at those factors together to determine which would add the most value to your candidacy.

Best regards,
Cindy Tokumitsu
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by tonywr » Fri Jun 17, 2011 7:54 pm
Thanks for the advice, it is well received!!
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