People always wonder about the importance of extracurriculars for MBA applications. Amidst the hype surrounding GMAT scores, academic credentials, leadership experience, stellar resume, letters of recommendation, etc, extracurriculars or ECA are forgotten. But beyond a separate component, what value do they hold in determining our chances of admission to premium business schools? And more importantly, how should one write them to maximize their impact?
Let's dive into
- Are Extracurriculars Compulsory for MBA Applications?
- Why Do Extracurriculars Matter For MBA Colleges?
- How to Position Extracurriculars in MBA Application? The MASI Formula
- Key Tips on Writing About Extracurriculars in MBA Applications
- Don’t Have Any Extracurriculars? Here’s The 2-Step Strategy
- Are All Extracurriculars Equally Important For MBA Applications?
Are Extracurriculars Compulsory for MBA Applications?
No and Yes.
Though extracurricular activities are greatly valued in the MBA admissions process, MBA applicants should not despair if they do not have any ECA to show. This holds true especially if they are young parents, have family or other responsibilities which made their engagement difficult or nearly impossible.
However, if an applicant does not have a good explanation for the lack of their ECA, it tends to work against them. If you dream of an Ivy league or an M7 college, then having a multidimensional personality is extremely important! Thus, while it is not absolutely necessary to have a profile rich in ECA, it is definitely a key component with the power to boost your chances. Impressive ECAs improve an applicant’s MBA candidacy by highlighting key skills that ad-coms look for.
Why Do Extracurriculars Matter For MBA Colleges?
Admission committees look for exceptional achievers in all spheres of their lives – academics, work, and yes, extracurriculars. Thus, do not underestimate the importance of their personalities outside their professional realm. Here is what makes this aspect crucial for admissions officers across the globe:
- Reflection of personality:
The readers of your application want to analyze if you have explored domains outside academics and professional responsibilities? Are you passionate about an activity or cause? Do you follow your heart or passion and seek to make something out of it? B-schools look for evidence that a candidate has a vision beyond work and possesses a multidimensional personality.
2. Skills crucial for business schools:
Business schools are fast-paced and require impeccable time management, teamwork, dedication, leadership, resilience, multitasking, and people skills. Perusing your experience with college clubs, and activities outside of school and work helps them understand whether you possess these skills that are imperative for thriving in the business world. If you have demonstrated these skills in the past, it is understood by the ad-com that you will translate the same qualities into everything you do.
3. Contribution to the b-school:
Business schools hunt for those who will do more than excel in class. Will you be involved in myriad activities and initiatives on campus to engage with students across the campus? Or will you be merely flitting from the classroom to your accommodation and vice versa? Will you enhance campus experiences for those around them for the next two years? Do you want to leave a unique imprint on the campus and take up multiple roles after graduation? Are you eager to lead clubs and build lasting bonds with your cohort? Are you the kind of leader who can inspire the next batch or start a new club? Your ability to contribute to the college in these ways is extremely important for the ad-com.
4. The deciding factor in similar profiles:
While extracurriculars are never the sole deciding factor, if multiple applicants have similar GMAT scores and academic and professional backgrounds, ECA becomes an important differentiator and the distinct ingredient of the winning application. How you spend your time beyond work and academics matters because it shows the kind of student and alumni you will turn out to be.
How to Position Extracurriculars in MBA Application? The MASI Formula
If you have participated in multiple activities, then the question arises – how to write about extracurriculars in an MBA application in the most impactful way? While mentioning any activity, remember to structure it around the MASI (Motivation, Accomplishments, Skills, and Impact) formula:
- Motivation:
Why do you love the activity? What drew you towards it? While discussing your motivation for devoting hours to a certain activity, avoid superficial reasons like ‘it is fun’. Instead, introspect before writing your answer. For example, write that you are passionate about football because it unites people irrespective of any differences between them. Your motivation, sense of purpose, and commitment should clearly come through.
2. Accomplishments:
If you have been involved in something, write about the awards, certificates, or recognition you have received in the course of your journey. However, accomplishments need not just be limited to trophies; In case you were engaged in community service, quantify your accomplishments. For example, discuss how you helped over 45 students in qualifying for middle school. The key here is to show impressive achievements in the domain, given the year(s) of your engagement.
3. Skills:
ECAs inculcate critical abilities in people over time – be it decision-making under pressure, persuasive communication skills, empathy, working long hours, or others – it is important to dive into what have you harnessed from your engagement. For example, it is obvious and expected that sports will help you build stamina and strength but what has your ECA helped to inculcate in you on a deeper level? In the example above, write how football helped you sharpen your concentration, enhance discipline, improve your team spirit, and build resilience and persistence.
4. Impact:
Your initiative, ownership, and leadership skills in their ECA should lead to impressive and measurable results. Highlight what was the overall impact you created, apart from awards or accomplishments. For example, organizing a weekly meditation session in your office for lowering the stress levels of your peers. Or as a college alum, choreographing your dance club’s performance for upcoming fests. Try and establish the overall and long-term impact on college, community, or workplace.
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Key Tips on Writing About Extracurriculars in MBA Applications
- Locate ECA within your broader MBA story.
Try and connect your involvement in ECAs within the storyline you build for your MBA application. For example, if one of the key threads you highlight is your people skills or your nature as a problem-solver, try and showcase how you demonstrated these in your ECA as well.
Additionally, extracurriculars that illustrate distinct skills and experiences linked to your career goals strengthen your narrative and depict your passion and commitment to the goal. If you claim an interest in the non-profit consulting or social sector, you should have adequate experience in working hands-on with a nonprofit organization.
This approach is also helpful in addressing any gap in your application. If you have not been able to demonstrate leadership experience in the workplace but have examples for the same in your ECAs, it helps establish you as a worthy applicant.
2. Quantify your involvement.
Avoid vagueness at all costs and use numbers wherever possible. If you choreographed dance sequences for college events, mention how many dancers did you train, and how many events did you choreograph for? Did any of those bag recognition or awards? Or if you taught underprivileged kids, then how many and for how long? It is always more impactful when you write taught 30 kids from the surrounding village for 3 years helping them qualify for primary school rather than ‘taught underprivileged children.
Essentially, these numbers should seek to highlight the depth of your engagement to show that it is much more than a hobby for you.
3. Provide more than just facts.
Apart from factual details, delve into the quality of your experience to show your passion. Discuss how your ECA helped you add value to your community or college, your unique contribution, learnings, and impact. Business schools seek agents of change and inspiring leaders and hope to find these traits through your ECA as well.
Secondly, it is vital to have demonstrable results. It does not reflect well if an applicant has been involved in certain activity without any result or achievement to show for it. Remember that one of the reasons you are including extracurricular involvement is to demonstrate your leadership capabilities and other exceptional qualities.
4. Highlight shared values with your target school.
While thinking about which qualities and learnings to foreground from your experience, research the core values of your target school. Does your target school focus more on community or leadership?
In the online statement of HBS, it is mentioned that they look for ‘A habit of leadership’. Consequently, it would be wise to particularly highlight the leadership experiences within your extracurriculars – how did the activities help you build or refine your leadership, and how did you channel these skills to create a deeper impact.
P.S. As with the rest of your MBA application, details matter; the nuance and depth that they add help the ad-com to get valuable insights into the kind of change-maker and leader you are.
Don’t Have Any Extracurriculars? Here’s The 2-Step Strategy
What should you do if you do not have any extracurriculars to write in MBA applications? If certain reasons kept you from engaging in college activities and you are hoping to get admission to one of the top business schools, you should get started with building a multidimensional profile IMMEDIATELY.
Step 1: Try finding a side project that you can complete before you begin your application. It could be fundraising, drives in the neighborhood, volunteering or partnering with a local non-profit, starting a course, or a mentorship program. Ideally, your initiative should connect with a past experience or have a strong motivation rooted in your past to justify your interest.
Step 2: Your next step should be to examine how can you connect it with your current profile or future professional goals. It is also important that your project should be completed by the time of your application. The aim should be to leverage your expertise and highlight how you utilized or built a skill vital for your career objectives. You should also seek to demonstrate impressive examples of your leadership, initiative, and investment in the community.
Other options include the following:
Are All Extracurriculars Equally Important For MBA Applications?
The simple answer is no. For any extracurriculars to enhance your MBA candidacy, they need to reflect genuine interest, prolonged engagement, initiative, and leadership. They should prove that you are someone who thinks about impact and consequence. Many MBA applicants participate in extracurricular activities only to show the long list of activities. However, this is perceived negatively by the admissions committee and you should steer clear of this. Remember this:
- The activity that is most important is one in which you have created an impact. While accomplishments matter, the impact holds greater value in comparison for MBA applications.
- If there is no significant accomplishment and engagement, it is taken to mean a hobby
- If you took up something a year before application after two decades of not doing anything, it is noticeable. If you had to resort to this, offer a convincing explanation for it.
Conclusion
Nearly everyone applying for b-school is a superstar and you need to do everything in your power to make yourself stand out. This is where your extracurriculars come in handy! The role your extracurricular activities play in the MBA admission process is multifaceted. It sheds light on who you are in addition to what you have done, and becomes an important differentiating factor. Therefore, putting the extra effort to stand out through ECAs is a prudent step.
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