Dear customer,

Welcome to the August edition of ICON+’s MBA Access Newsletter. You are receiving this e-newsletter because you inquired about our test prep and/or admissions consulting services.

This month, we focus on adressing strengths and weaknesses for MBA applications. 

ESADE Info Session
Sat 10th Sept 16:00-18:00
ICON+ Raffles Campus

SMU MBA Info Session
Sat 24th Sept: 13:00-14:00
ICON+ Raffles Campus

GMAT Trial Class
Sat 24th Sept: 10:00-12:00
ICON+ Raffles Campus

Contact vivian@icon-plus.com to register for the above

Dates and details of The 2011 MBA Tour in Asia

Ho Chi Minh MBA Conference

Monday September 12, 2011, 17:00-22:00hrs

2A-4A Ton Duc Thang Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

http://www.thembatour.com/events/hochiminh.shtml

Bangkok MBA Conference

Thursday, September 15, 2011, 17:00-22:00hrs

Shangri-La Hotel, 89 Soi Wat Suan Plu, New Road, Bangkok, Thailand

http://www.thembatour.com/events/bangkok.shtml

Singapore MBA Conference

Saturday, September 17, 2011, 11:00-18:00hrs

Marina Mandarin Singapore, 6 Raffles Boulevard, Marina Square, Singapore, 039594 Singapore

http://www.thembatour.com/events/singapore.shtml

When applying for your MBA at almost any business school, you will be asked to address your strengths and weaknesses during the essays or the interviews for individual schools. Naturally, many people can identify and articulate their own strengths; it is one’s weaknesses that are more difficult to come to terms with.

The first thing to do is to brainstorm potential strengths and weaknesses you would be happy to share with the admissions officers. Take your time with this exercise; think about your strengths in terms of actions you have taken, ways of thinking, personality traits, achievements, ideologies and so on. Some individuals find it hard to be objective when it comes to reviewing themselves; my advice is to ask colleagues, close friends and family what they believe your key strengths are. You can even go back and look at your past successful projects and performance record at work. Find out what area you have improved the most on in the last couple years.

At the same time, you need to be brainstorming your areas of weakness. Undoubtedly, weaknesses are what make us human. The idea of having to describe your biggest weakness is a concept many MBA applicants dread. In reality, the best MBA applicants are individuals who can openly reveal and discuss genuine weakness areas. This shows the admissions committee you are able to critically self evaluate and make self improvements. Try to be as honest as possible with yourself. A genuine weakness is something you struggle with and are actively trying to improve on. Steer clear of generic weaknesses that are really disguised strengths. The admissions officers can see right through these! Examples of these include stating you are a perfectionist or too hardworking.   Your task is to find a real weakness, state why it is relevant to you as a prospective MBA student, how you are currently addressing the problem and finally how an MBA will help you make it a strength. Good examples include having limited marketing knowledge, difficulty with organization, limited cross-cultural leadership experience or unrefined presentation skills.

To read the full article click here

Yes, that’s right! We have more women taking the GMAT than ever before. In 2010, the number of female GMAT takers reached an all time high. Over the past five years we have seen a continual increase in the amount of women taking the GMAT as well as women applying for business schools around the world.

More specifically, there has been a great increase in the amount of women taking the GMAT at a younger age. Today, it seems that nearly half of all female GMAT takers are under the age of 25. This corresponds with the fact that women are pursing MBA degrees sooner than are men. The climb in the number of female applicants to business schools reveals that more and more women are seeing advanced education as a priority.

To read the rest click here

The final task of your TOEFL exam is to write and complete an independent essay within a 30 minute time frame. By this point in the test you will be somewhat exhausted from the last three hours, and to make it worse, you are not given a choice of essay topics.

That is, you will only receive one option for the essay question.
With this one essay question you are required to write at least 250 words using your own knowledge and background. In my experience, TOEFL works around four key topics areas for the independent essay question.

People -

For example:

What factors make an effective leader?

For many people, genuine happiness is difficult to achieve in life. What do you believe true happiness means? In your life, what factors influence happiness?

Science -

For example:

Advances in sciences have been a great success for society. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Technology has greatly improved the way we communicate with our friends and family through social networks.  To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Social Concerns -

For example:

Education is a pillar stone for any society, what factors contribute to an effective education?

What are the requirements needed for a society to grow sustainably?

To read further click here