At this initial stage, Ascend gets to know you by reviewing the background information you provide in the Applicant Assessment. This includes your academic history, professional background, personal values, and any unique or pivotal life experiences that have shaped you as a person. These last pieces—the values and life experiences—will require some introspection and reflection on your part, and while it can be challenging, the exercise will provide the starting point and foundation for your application.

Once your story has been excavated, Ascend helps you crystallize and coherently express your professional, educational, and personal goals, and then articulate how an EMBA will help you reach them. Together, we’ll pinpoint individual strengths and relative weaknesses, and then develop the key themes you’ll use in an essay, recommendation request, or interview.

Based on what you share in the Discovery phase and what’s uncovered in Narrative Development, Ascend helps you identify your target program(s) and offers strategic entrance exam advice if needed. Based on your program(s) selection, we’ll map out action items and deliverables, and create a mutually agreed-upon calendar, depending on start dates and your personal schedule which includes both professional and personal commitments.

Recommendations are an important part of your admissions portfolio and deserve commensurate attention. This step involves reviewing your list of potential recommenders, discussing the benefits/drawbacks of choosing a specific person, and developing a plan to approach and guide your chosen recommenders through that process.

As an experienced professional, you know a resume alone cannot convey everything about you, but as a part of your application portfolio, it needs to shine. A resume audit can help identify missing or underdeveloped parts of your background. Guidance on revisions and a final review ensure that what you submit is as encompassing, organized, well-written as possible.

This step in the process tends to be the one that many EMBA applicants find most overwhelming. Ascend helps you select essay topics, brainstorm the approach to each question, and develop a structural blueprint for each essay. Once you’ve provided your drafts, Ascend provides feedback on the content and in an iterative process, assists you in revising and fine-tuning what you’ve written. You can be assured that what you’re submitting is the best expression of who you are, and that the writing itself is as compelling (and error-free!) as possible.

It can be difficult to manage all the details in an application so before you hit the “Submit” button, Ascend Admissions inspects the final version to identify anything that may have been overlooked.

If you’re applying to more than one program and need assistance in assessing multiple offers of admission, Ascend can act as a sounding board for your thoughts and provide recommendations on what program best fulfills your educational, professional, and personal goals.