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We offer a wealth of tips and strategies across a range of topics—from application advice on Harvard or INSEAD to acing the GMAT, writing essays, navigating MBA interviews and more.

MBA Admissions and Job Trends

Jul. 10th, 2014 | by: Matt Symonds

At Fortuna Admissions, our goal is to help you put together the very best MBA application possible. It takes a lot of time, effort and money to apply, and when you combine high school fees with loss of income, the opportunity cost of the degree is significant. But business school isn’t obligatory…so why do so […]

How to Get Noticed in just One Essay

Jun. 19th, 2014 | by: Matt Symonds

Hot off the press this month, in an effort to simplify processes and distil the core information it needs, Wharton has decided to move to a single admissions essay model. Wharton joins Harvard and UCLA Anderson in the single essay club. Many other schools have also reduced their essay requirements and word count. Last year […]

How to Ace the MBA Interview

Jun. 16th, 2014 | by: Matt Symonds

Former Harvard Business School Assistant Director, Malvina Complainville, one of our expert coaches at Fortuna Admissions was interviewed this week by the Financial Times to talk about the growing importance of the interview in the MBA admission process. The wide variety of interview options at the leading business schools now includes an application based interview […]

The Ideal Timetable To Do A B-School Application (featured in Poets & Quants 05/08/14)

Jun. 5th, 2014 | by: Matt Symonds

If it’s appealing to throw together your business school application the week before the deadline, think twice. Admissions can easily distinguish between last-minute applicants and those that have put considerable time and effort into their application. SCHOOLS OFTEN FILTER OUT THE LAST-MINUTE APPLICANTS Did you think it was an urban myth that candidates apply to […]

How ExtraCurriculars Can Make You Extra Special (featured in Forbes 05/07/14)

May. 22nd, 2014 | by: Matt Symonds

Admission teams typically receive more applications for a seat in their MBA program than they have places to fill. So how do they select who to interview among so many qualified applicants? An often underestimated way to differentiate your MBA application from the competition is through extracurricular activities. Why do business schools pay such close […]

How Parents Can Help (or Hinder) Their Children on the Road to Business School (featured in Forbes 01/28/14)

May. 18th, 2014 | by: Matt Symonds

So your child has just informed you that he or she wants to pursue an MBA. Questions immediately start racing through your mind. Which schools is my child considering? Can he or she afford an MBA or handle the challenge of a top business school? Does the decision make sense, given a career track and […]

The 12 Steps on How to Apply to Business School Series – Step 2: Plan Your Timing

Apr. 29th, 2014 | by: Matt Symonds

Step 2: Plan your timing Fortuna Admissions has been asked by The Economist to write a multi-part series explaining how to improve your chance of getting into a top business school. Our experts from Wharton, INSEAD, Harvard Business School, London Business School, Chicago Booth, IE Business School, Kellogg, and UC Berkeley Haas have contributed to […]

Is Your MBA Tax Deductible? (featured in Forbes, April 11, 2014)

Apr. 22nd, 2014 | by: Matt Symonds

When it’s tax time in the US, the idea of finding deductions to reduce the amount you end up owing to the IRS becomes a national pastime. So what about the tuition fees amounting to tens of thousands of dollars that MBA students fork out to develop their business skills? Even before you begin courses […]

5 Social Media Tips to Protect your Future from your Online Past

Apr. 4th, 2014 | by: Matt Symonds

Could there be some photos of you in a less than sober state on your Facebook? Are you tagged in a pic taken at a stag party where the pole dancing was clearly taking place somewhere other than Warsaw? After a frustrating day at the office did you lash out at your boss on Twitter? […]

Former Wharton Admissions Director’s Thoughts on Wharton’s New Ranking

Mar. 14th, 2014 | by: Matt Symonds

By Judith Silverman Hodara, Former Acting Director of MBA Admissions at Wharton Wharton- Harvard- Stanford in a trifecta! While applicants to business schools frequently mention these three powerhouses in one breath, the US News and World Report ranking has never accorded the three top honors in the same year. Wharton, in particular is understandably excited by […]

What Matters Most to you and Why? Stanford Wants to Know and So Should You

Mar. 10th, 2014 | by: Matt Symonds

This question seems straightforward; though coming up with your answer can be a lot more difficult. This infamous essay is at the heart of Stanford GSB’s MBA application, and typically ties applicants in knots as they try to come up with an answer that they hope is clever, striking, or even profound. Many business schools […]

50 Shades of MBA Admissions Grey

Feb. 28th, 2014 | by: Matt Symonds

It’s quite possible that you’re faced with the dilemma of what you ought to say in your MBA application versus what you should leave out. At Fortuna, we have often seen candidates with some element of their profile of which they’re not proud, and their first instinct may be to leave it out of their […]

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