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Laid off during the MBA application process

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Laid off during the MBA application process

by jg0064 » Fri May 10, 2013 7:26 pm
Hi All,

I am looking for advice regarding a particular scenario I find myself in. I have worked at an investment bank for the last two years and was recently laid off, after having already applied to several schools. To clarify, the entire West Coast office where I worked was shut down as a result of a change in strategy, so I was not handpicked or chosen as the weakest link.

I am currently waitlisted at several schools, and am considering informing adcom of my situation in order to relay the increased importance of gaining acceptance this cycle. I don't want to be misleading, but I also don't want to send a meaningless update and/or hurt my chances unnecessarily. Does anyone have an opinion as to whether or not it would be beneficial to inform adcom? As a 28 year old, I am very serious about getting my MBA and am fearful that if I do not get in now, starting a new job will at best significantly delay my ability to enroll in a program.

Appreciate the advice.
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by essaysnark » Mon May 13, 2013 5:53 am
jg0064 - wow that sucks!!!

And we have a bunch of different reactions for you. First of all, we've written about this situation on the EssaySnark blahg, albeit from the opposite perspective: many people are interested in HIDING this fact as they move through the application process, since they're worried it'll make them look bad. You're asking about a different angle which we can provide some advice on too - here's the first post in that series, since they may still be useful:
https://essaysnark.com/2012/06/is-it-ok- ... o-bschool/

It's great that you're on the waitlist, as that shows you did something right with your bschool apps - congrats on that progress! (As frustrating as it may be, since you're not actually in yet...!) The way you handle this situation depends at least in part on what school(s) we're talking about. But the factor you should keep in mind is, schools make admit decisions based on what's right for THEM.

Telling the adcom about your layoff may make them feel bad for you, but it's hard to see how they would see this as a FAVORABLE development.

Typically, we advise that waitlisted candidates only communicate positive changes to their profile. During the waitlist process you want to be convincing the school on why you're the BETTER candidate, the right choice for them. This doesn't do that. It just strikes us as unlikely that a school will admit you because they feel bad for you. They will admit you because you make sense as a way to fill out their class. It's not something we're comfortable in giving you the go-ahead on.

We had a client get laid off last year in September, right at the start of the application season. Granted, it's a very different situation from yours, but it was still unbelievably stressful for him. He was able to navigate the whole thing in a very positive way and he ended up making it into a top school (with a scholarship even!). So these things can definitely work out quite well.

But looking at it from the adcom's perspective... How would your now-unemployed status add value to your candidacy? Despite the fact that everyone was let go so it's not a reflection on your performance... it just isn't helping you in the admissions process.

Now, all that aside... Some schools would want to know about this, as it's a big change in your current situation. So you wouldn't be faulted for communicating it (again, this depends on which school we're talking about - they all have different policies). And your chances of getting in off the waitlist vary tremendously from school to school anyway. So this really depends on a whole lot of factors, one of which is simply, how strong is your underlying profile? Which we obviously know nothing about.

If you want some personal input into how to handle it, we have plenty of resources that you could look into - start here https://essaysnark.com/appassets/waitlist/ and see this: https://essaysnark.com/salespage/waitlist/ (or you could just ask us a question here: https://www.evisors.com/expert/880#tabs-3 )

Tough situation, no matter how you look at it - but we hope it turns into a win for you! Let us know if we can help you out with anything.

EssaySnark
EssaySnark has MBA application guides for HBS, Stanford, Booth, Wharton, NYU and pretty much any other school you can name - including a fully revised and expanded 2015 Columbia essay guide!
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by bingo » Sun May 26, 2013 8:36 am
Sorry to hear about the situation. Since you say it wasn't your fault, it seems like it can't hurt you, i'm just not sure how it can help.
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