I HAD BEEN IN THE admissions business for three years (Carnegie Mellon) when I moved to Cambridge to take on an assistant director role at Harvard Business School. From the open houses to information sessions to the countless phone calls that barraged the admissions offices every day, one thing was clear: applicants to business school were stressed out about their applications. Business schools, sensitive to the stress that surrounds the application, have made strides to create more admissions transparency and provide applicants with more opportunity to “connect” with the Admissions Board. But it is safe to say that with rejection numbers still in the 80 to 90 percent range, applicants recognize that they are up against significant odds to earn an admission spot at their top MBA program. Application numbers are not slowing down either; the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC) reported that two thirds of member MBA programs indicated an increase in the number of applications in 2006. The GMAT current trend indicates a 13.70 percent increase in worldwide test volume in January 2008 compared to the same time in 2007. The numbers are growing as well outside of the United States. GMAC reports that registration volume outside the U.S. grew by 27.58 percent in January of this year compared to the same time last year.

It is this sheer competition that drives applicant sentiment to a frenzied crescendo. In this high-stakes world, many intelligent individuals discard common sense for myths and hearsay. The folklore surrounding admissions to elite business schools is legendary and endless. Some of them include bets that applying in particular rounds can guarantee a favorable admissions outcome; others focus on the belief that recommendations from alumni are a shoo-in versus those from recommenders who do not have a brand name degree; others center around jumping on bandwagons that applicants believe are popular. The social enterprise bandwagon is one such example. While on the Admissions Board at Harvard Business School, I saw my fair share of the awkward social enterprise tack-on that was simply an attempt on the part of the applicant to say, “Look, I have my quota of social-conscious contributions.” Admissions Boards see right through such gimmicks quickly.

Of course one can't talk about the misconceptions of business school admissions without encountering the issue of legacy. Unlike undergraduate admission, where children of alumni get a slight bump, at the top MBA programs, legacy does not have much bearing in the admissions process. It is important for candidates to know ahead of time that they cannot count on having a parent who attended Stanford or Wharton to be enough to get them admitted.

One of the most popular myths surrounding MBA admissions is the perception that there is a certain profile or formula that leads to a coveted offer. I often hear candidates lament over the fact that they don't come from blue chip firms like Goldman, TPG, McKinsey, and Schlumberger. Others focus on the fact that they attended South Dakota State University and worry that they can't compete with the Ivy-educated applicants who saturate the admissions pool. This perspective could not be further from the truth. The reality is that there isn't a hidden formula that guarantees acceptance to a top business school. Certainly, you will find a good number of Ivy-educated candidates from name brand firms in the applicant pool. But you will also find a sizeable number of non-Ivy-educated candidates from firms that do not fall in the “usual suspect” category. The diverse backgrounds of admitted students show that there isn't a cookie cutter profile to the selection process.

But the process of selecting who gets admitted and who doesn't is a combination of science (the numbers) and art (the branding). The MBA Boards evaluate candidates on limited information (a few pages in an application and a thirty-minute conversation) to decide which candidates are a fit and have the most compelling stories. This is why it is very common to see two applicants with nearly identical backgrounds (as far as raw numbers and work experience) apply to the same business school but one receives a rejection letter while the other is admitted.

The difference in outcome is usually a result of how each candidate marketed himself or herself. We have all heard of the 750 GMAT, 3.7 GPA, Ivy-educated Wall Street superstar analyst who received interview invitations from Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, and Columbia, only to be rejected by all four schools. Clearly this candidate had the numbers, but having the numbers isn't enough to guarantee admission. It's how you position the data and what that information reveals about you that can make or break the application outcome. Successful applicants present a profile that is differentiated from others with similar backgrounds. It is this differentiation that tips the scale on who gets a congratulatory phone call and who doesn't.

These differentiated candidates often have one thing in common: they were memorable. I pondered what these candidates had that gave them an edge in the application process. It wasn't until after I left Harvard and launched my consultancy firm EXPARTUS that it dawned on me that the successful applicants to business school had figured out what many consumer goods companies know too well: the importance of selling one's value proposition to the customer. The 20 percent of applicants who are admitted to top business schools understood that the application process is a marketing exercise. These successful candidates have a strong sense of their personal brand (what sets them apart from their competition) and have been effective in communicating their uniqueness to the Admissions Boards.

I focus The Best Business Schools' Admissions Secrets on personal branding as it relates to the admissions process. After many years in the admissions business, I am convinced that the greatest mistake applicants to business schools make is that their applications lack a compelling brand. Most applicants pay way too much attention trying to “game” the system and figure out what the Admissions Boards want to hear instead of taking a step back to assess their own stories and to present them in an authentic, powerful way.

Developing one's personal brand requires significant introspection, something that is a make or break in the application process. Also, being extremely smart, with an 800 GMAT score and near-perfect GPA, isn't enough to guarantee admission to your dream business school. The applicant pool is teeming with candidates with precisely the same academic backgrounds. Being brainy can be a necessary but not sufficient prerequisite in the application process. Conversely, there are enough instances of successful candidates with academic data that are below the school's admission range. An interesting and compelling brand can land candidates into their dream schools, even when their academic numbers are not exceptional. Nonetheless, this is not an excuse to ignore the academic components of the application.

The Best Business Schools' Admissions Secrets will examine how applicants can use branding techniques to achieve admission success. I will begin by discussing why a candidate would even consider an MBA in the first place. I will also discuss the three main admissions criteria that candidates are evaluated on (academic ability, leadership track record, and uniqueness) and will provide specific insights on how to address each of them. I will provide anecdotes to convey the nuanced differences that lead to successful brand positioning. I will also devote a chapter to each of the application components (essays, resume, recommendations, and interviews). Wherever applicable, I will present a case to illustrate how an applicant navigated the application process.

The Best Business Schools' Admissions Secrets will also examine the common admissions mistakes candidates make as well as offer practical tips to help you avoid making the same application errors. I'll examine admissions outcomes and how to effectively manage each of them.

I often hear applicants raise the issue of financing the MBA, so I have also devoted a chapter to discussing financing resources and how to go about planning to fund the business education. I have also interviewed alumni of top business schools as well as a GMAT test provider and former Admissions Board member to present additional insights to help you navigate the challenging admissions terrain.

The idea of individuals as personal brands is a relatively new way of thinking made popular by personal brand guru Tom Peters. Personal branding is based on tried-and-true principles of traditional marketing. Robin Fisher Roffer, author of Make a Name for Yourself, describes the power of personal branding when she says, “Branding makes you an active partner in fulfilling your destiny in business and life.”

I have written The Best Business Schools'Admissions Secrets not only to help candidates gain admission to top business schools but also to help them develop a clearer sense of “who they are” and “what matters to them”—their brand. Books that have been the most meaningful to me often have every other page marked up, highlighted, or overrun with a lot of notes. I encourage you to write down your thoughts as you read this book. It should be a good reference even after you have read it once, and you should go back and revisit sections that are relevant when you begin working on your application.

While I don't expect that this book will answer every single question you have about the application process, I anticipate that it will answer the majority of the burning ones. I have written this book for anyone who is seriously considering an MBA and wants to maximize his or her chance of gaining admission to a top business school. I have focused the examples primarily on top business schools that are based in the United States. Many of the lessons learned here can be applied to any business school, however. This book will give you an inside perspective of how the nation's top MBA Admissions Boards think and how they evaluate candidates.

The Best Business Schools'Admissions Secrets is also designed to empower you to reach for your dreams and to begin to take the necessary steps to live a passion-filled life. It is more than simply getting into the school of your dreams. It is about finding fulfillment in your life, tapping into what matters most to you, and charting a plan to achieve those things that bring you meaning.

I believe that every individual has a God-given set of talents and passion and when you pursue your dream, you have no choice but to succeed. I ultimately believe that if you spend most of your time doing what you truly enjoy, you will become brilliant at it and will achieve success in other areas of your life. Getting into your dream MBA program is one of the steps along the journey of living a passion-driven life. I wish you great success along the way.