A Cautionary Tale About MBA Letters of Recommendation
In general, letters of recommendation are rarely a dominant factor in MBA admissions. As discussed in How Much Do MBA Recommendation Letters Matter?, most MBA applicants have perfectly solid letters of recommendation; few applicants receive recommendations that are so mind-blowingly unique that they’ll power a marginal candidate into a top MBA program.
In other words: for most MBA applicants, letters of recommendation are less important than, say, their GMAT (or GRE®) scores, academic background, career vision, professional achievements, extracurricular achievements, or application essays.
But a number of years ago, we ran across a notable exception that’s worth keeping in the back of your mind as you prepare your MBA applications.
Can You Spot the Problem with This MBA Applicant?
Once upon a time, one of my all-time favorite GMAT students applied to about five MBA programs during the first round. She had a solid profile, with great work experience and interesting essays. Her GMAT score was unspectacular, but should have been enough to get an interview or two. Plus, she’s female, and that never hurts.
And guess what? She didn’t even get an interview from any of her first five target MBA programs. Ouch.
She tried again, applying to three schools in round 2 and a fourth program in round 3. This time, she scored interviews from three of the four schools, and was admitted to two. One of them even offered a partial scholarship. And I wouldn’t say that this second batch of schools was significantly less prestigious than the first.
What happened? We’ll never know for certain, but we could only identify one factor that differed between the two batches of MBA applications.
Angry Boss = Bad MBA Letters of Recommendation
Sadly, the only thing that changed was her recommenders. Most notably, her boss (at the time) wrote recommendations for the first five schools, but not for the last four. As luck would have it, my student was up for a performance review at work, sometime between her first five rejections and her subsequent acceptance to an elite MBA program.
And guess what? It turned out that her boss absolutely hated her, and gave her a vicious performance review. Again, we’ll never know for sure, but we strongly suspect that the boss wrote scathing (or at least indifferent) recommendations to the first five MBA programs, effectively sabotaging her candidacy.
There’s no moral to this story, really. You already knew that you should only ask trusted colleagues to write your MBA recommendations, right?
Um, right?
Frequently Asked Questions
Do MBA letters of recommendation really matter?
Usually less than applicants fear. We went into more detail here: How Much Do MBA Recommendation Letters Matter? But as the story above shows, a hostile recommendation can quietly do serious damage, even when the rest of your application is strong.
How do I know if my recommender actually supports me?
You can’t always know for sure, but warning signs help: a lukewarm reaction when you ask, or tension in recent reviews. If you have any doubts, pick someone who knows your work well and clearly wants you to succeed.
Should my current boss always write my MBA recommendation?
No. Admissions committees understand that some applicants can’t ask a current supervisor without jeopardizing their job (or, as in this story, their application). A former manager or trusted senior colleague who can speak to your work in detail is a far better choice than a reluctant or resentful boss.
