What’s good, folk. While working my way through my backlog of reader emails, I came across three messages that I was able knock out pretty quickly, so this entry will be followed by two other pretty short entries. Each of these entries will be all-text (i.e. no videos), but I may mix in some videos to make more progress in getting through my old emails. I’m SO far behind in that respect.
The email below is from a Round 1 applicant to the GSB and HBS who had a question about how to best submit supplemental recommendations for her B-school applications. Given that Stanford and Harvard sent out their Round 1 decisions two weeks ago, I pretty much missed the ball on this one. She sent her email in September and I’m just now having a chance to see it at the end of December. I feel bad for not getting to her message in time, but I wanted to send her a response anyway. This is one of those instances where I wish there were 30 or 35 hours in each day because I need more time to get everything done…
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JZ wrote:
“Hey Marquis,
I’ve a follower of your blog and soaking up your advice on the MBA application process. Been a bit shy to reach out but I’ve got a question which would really appreciate your thoughts on. I’m applying to Stanford and HBS in R1 and lining up supplemental recs but the school’s policies seem to deter them. Would it be detrimental for me to have my supplemental recommenders send their one page recs to the schools directly? What are your thoughts on how best to approach this?
Many thanks!!!
Best, JZ”
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My response:
JZ,
I should start by saying that I’m SO SORRY that it has taken me so long to respond to your email. The past couple of months have had me swamped and the current holiday season is the first chance I’ve had to dig through my Inbox to respond to people in a long time. Given that you were applying in Round 1 for the GSB and HBS, it looks like my response is getting to you too late to have been on any assistance to you.
I hope you don’t mind me sending you a response to close the loop on your question. Regarding the supplemental recommendations, I always advise applicants to serve as the central clearinghouse for sending materials into the the Admissions Offices and not have the writers of their supplemental recs send their materials directly to the schools. I don’t know if it is necessarily “detrimental” for the supplemental rec writers to send them in themselves, but doing so could result in those recs not making it into your application package. Schools get thousands of applications in Rounds 1 and 2 and I’d imagine that keeping track of the many pieces of paperwork must be really difficult when each applicant sends in his/her stuff. Just imagine how much more difficult it could be when the Admissions folks receive additional materials for an applicant that hasn’t been submitted with the original application submission…it can’t be easy to keep all of that information straight. Don’t get me wrong, B-school Admissions teams are professionals and likely wouldn’t let anything fall through the cracks, but, as the applicant, I’d say that it’s just easier for you to manage the process of gathering and sending off materials as much as possible.
Again, I apologize for dropping the ball on this one. Take care and I hope that you received the good word from both Stanford and HBS. Happy holidays.
Marquis
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