The mbaMission Podcast

Send us your admissions questions! The old deal with work is broken. Leaders today are looking for a way to get their company’s culture back, but an expert in the consulting space argues that rather than returning to old ways, we should be reinventing work from scratch. In this episode of The mbaMission Podcast , mbaMission Founder Jeremy Shinewald and Executive Director Jessica Shklar sit down wi...

Send us your admissions questions! In this episode, listeners learn how to optimize the formatting of their resume, strategically handle issues with their transcript, and make their short-answer responses effective. Host and mbaMission Founder Jeremy Shinewald talks with Executive Director Jessica Shklar and Managing Director Rachel Beck about how admissions committees evaluate applicants’ profess...

Send us your admissions questions! What is the case method, and how does it work at Harvard Business School (HBS)? Plus, what should MBA applicants know before they enroll? In this episode of The mbaMission Podcast , host Harold Simansky and mbaMission Executive Director Jessica Shklar sit down with HBS professor Joshua Margolis—a member of the program’s Organizational Behavior Unit and a faculty...

Send us your admissions questions! Is real estate a feasible career path for MBA students? And how can one break into the industry? In this episode of The mbaMission Podcast , host Harold Simansky and mbaMission Founder Jeremy Shinewald speak with Frank Cohen, a Boston-based real estate developer, co-founder of Sheridan Road Properties, former senior director at Tishman Speyer, and a Kellogg MBA,...

Send us your admissions questions! Are any MBA applicants truly “nontraditional” applicants? In this episode of The mbaMission Podcast , Harold Simansky is joined by Jeremy Shinewald, the founder of mbaMission, to examine a common notion in MBA admissions: that of the “nontraditional” applicant. Drawing on more than two decades of experience, Jeremy argues that applicants should not focus on wheth...

Send us your admissions questions! What role do informal letters of recommendation play in business school admissions decisions?  Host Harold Simansky is joined by Melissa Blakeslee, an experienced MBA admissions consultant and former admissions director, to clarify what these endorsements are and why most programs discourage them. In this episode, Melissa shares firsthand insight into how admissi...

Send us your admissions questions! How can MBA applicants and business school students network effectively? In this episode of The mbaMission Podcast , host Harold Simansky and Jessica Shklar, mbaMission Executive Director, speak with Jeff Yolen, CEO and founder of Career Connector, about how to network effectively to advance your career. Jeff explains why cold applications so rarely lead to offer...

Send us your admissions questions! How do you figure out what your post-MBA career goals should be when you only know you want change but do not yet understand what that change entails? In this episode of The mbaMission Podcast , Harold Simansky speaks with Melissa Blakeslee, an mbaMission Senior Admissions Consultant, and Rachel Beck, an mbaMission Managing Director, about how business school app...

Send us your admissions questions! Many successful MBA applicants were not accepted the first time they applied. In this episode of The mbaMission Podcast , host Harold Simansky is joined by mbaMission Executive Director Jessica Shklar and Senior Admissions Consultant Melissa Blakeslee to discuss what MBA reapplicants can do to strengthen their candidacy and improve their chances of admission. The...

Send us your admissions questions! What does it really take to make partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and stay with the firm for more than three decades without losing yourself? Debbie Lovich, BCG managing director and senior partner, joins host Harold Simansky and mbaMission Executive Director Jessica Shklar for a candid conversation about her path through consulting. Debbie became BCG’s f...

Send us your admissions questions! In this milestone 100th episode of The mbaMission Podcast , host Harold Simansky and mbaMission founder Jeremy Shinewald reflect on more than two years of MBA admissions insights. They share favorite moments, discuss what sets applicants apart, and explore how AI and evolving trends are shaping the application process. They also highlight the long-term value of a...

Send us your admissions questions! Think product management is just a Silicon Valley thing? Think again. In this episode of The mbaMission Podcast , Managing Director Rachel Beck and host Harold Simansky break down one of the most in-demand post-MBA career paths that most applicants overlook: product management. Rachel defines the product manager role as that of a “mini CEO” who sits at the inters...

Send us your admissions questions! What does the future of business school look like? Harvard Business School Professor Joshua Margolis joins host Harold Simansky and MBA Admissions Executive Director Jessica Shklar to explore how AI is reshaping the MBA experience. Joshua Margolis is the James Dinan and Elizabeth Miller Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and the Unit...

Send us your admissions questions! Business schools ask about your activities outside of work but what are they really looking for? In this episode, host Harold Simansky is joined by MBA Admissions Executive Director Jessica Shklar and MBA Admissions Managing Director Rachel Beck to break down how MBA admissions committees evaluate extracurricular activities. They explain why who you are as a pers...

Send us your admissions questions! Getting rejected from business school can feel discouraging but it’s often a signal, not a setback. In this episode of The mbaMission Podcast, host Harold Simansky is joined by Senior MBA Admissions Consultant Nisha Trivedi and MBA Admissions Managing Director Harshad Mali to break down the most common reasons applicants get rejected and what they can do differen...

Send us your admissions questions! Harvard Business School and Stanford Graduate School of Business sit at the very top of the MBA world—but the experience at each school can be dramatically different. In this episode of the mbaMission Podcast , Harold Simansky and Jeremy Shinewald welcome MBA Admissions Executive Director  Katy Lewis , a Harvard JD-MBA and former Stanford GSB admissions evaluator...

Send us your admissions questions! What should you do if your first MBA application cycle did not go as planned? In this episode of The mbaMission Podcast, host Harold Simansky is joined by mbaMission Founder Jeremy Shinewald and MBA Admissions Managing Director Debbie Choy for an in-depth conversation about the MBA reapplication process. Together, they discuss what it really means to be a reappli...

Send us your admissions questions! How do you choose the right MBA admissions consultant, and what separates experienced advisors from newcomers to the industry? In this episode of The mbaMission Podcast, host Harold Simansky is joined by mbaMission founder Jeremy Shinewald and Senior MBA Admissions Consultant Nisha Trivedi to discuss what truly defines expertise in MBA admissions consulting. They...

Send us your admissions questions! Private equity often dominates the MBA admissions conversation — but finance is far broader than PE alone. In this episode, host Harold Simansky is joined by mbaMission Founder Jeremy Shinewald and Senior MBA Admissions Consultant Julie-Anne Heafey to explore how finance applicants from investment banking, venture capital, equity research, and investment manageme...

Send us your admissions questions! West Coast MBA programs offer more than just proximity to tech. In this episode of The mbaMission Podcast, host Harold Simansky is joined by MBA Admissions Managing Director Debbie Choy to explore the distinctive culture, career pathways, and hidden gems across leading West Coast business schools. From innovation-driven classrooms and entrepreneurial ecosystems t...

Send us your admissions questions! DEI may be under scrutiny, but diversity hasn’t disappeared from MBA admissions — it’s evolving. In this episode of The mbaMission Podcast, host Harold Simansky speaks with Senior MBA Admissions Consultant Nisha Trivedi and MBA Admissions Managing Director Harshad Mali about how diversity, equity, and inclusion are being reinterpreted in business school admission...

Send us your admissions questions! What makes the Stanford GSB interview so different from every other MBA interview? In this episode of the mbaMission Podcast, Harold Simansky sits down with Senior Admissions Consultants Christine Patel and Julie-Anne Heafey to unpack Stanford’s structured behavioral interview. They discuss how GSB evaluates candidates, why authenticity matters so much, and how a...

Send us your admissions questions! In this week’s episode of the @mbaMission podcast, the team takes a deep dive into Executive MBA (EMBA) programs and how they compare to part-time, full-time, and mid-career MBA options. Jeremy Shinewald and Harold Simansky are joined by Senior MBA Admissions Consultant Julie-Anne Heafey to unpack who EMBAs are designed for, what makes their admissions process un...

Send us your admissions questions! The U.S. MBA visa process can feel overwhelming for international applicants—but it’s far more navigable than many assume. In this episode of the mbaMission podcast, Harshad Mali, Harold Simansky, and Jeremy Shinewald break down the full U.S. MBA visa journey, from F-1 student visas and STEM-designated OPT to the H-1B lottery and longer-term pathways. They discus...

Send us your admissions questions! Timing your MBA application can be just as important as your credentials. Applying too early—or too late—can affect everything from your testing strategy to your chances in a competitive applicant pool. In this episode of the mbaMission podcast,  hosts Harold Simansky and Jeremy Shinewald are joined by mbaMission Senior Consultant Nisha Trivedi to unpack when the...