No formal leadership roles

A southern California native, Kate had always dreamed of attending USC. When she wasn’t accepted there for undergrad, she was devastated, but vowed to get there someday.

As she researched MBA admissions requirements, she was bummed to see that the #1 thing admissions committees look for is leadership potential. She had only been in her job a few years, at an old-fashioned company that didn’t believe in giving young people frequent promotions or project management roles.

Yet Kate still knew she had it in her to be successful in business. How could she prove that to the admissions committee?
  • Our solution: The ApplicantLab lessons on how “leadership” is defined by AdComs, along with the associated brainstorming exercises, helped her realize that she had in fact demonstrated a LOT of the “raw materials” of leadership: both in her current job, as well as in a job she held for several years in college.

    Our essay guidance helped her tell these stories in a powerful way, and her recommenders knew exactly what parts of her performance to focus on (and which parts to leave out!). The resume module helped her describe her accomplishments in an impressive way, by guiding her to delicately explain some of the internal political hurdles she was up against.
  • Result: Kate is thrilled to be attending USC as a Trojan!