More often than not, MBA applicants get so wrapped up in getting admitted in the school of their dreams that they often do not pay enough attention to what they want to achieve with the help of their MBA degree. Reputed schools often look for answers to such questions, because they are interested in candidates who have clarity in exactly what they want to do, as well as how they wish to get there. Some important questions that force the applicant to think about life after MBA are as follows:

· Why do you wish to pursue MBA as your master’s degree?

· What are you short-term and long-term goals after MBA?

· Why do you think that our institution aligns with your career goals in the long run?

· How do you think the course that you applying to will help you realize your career goals?

Of course, there are many more variants of the above questions that are asked by business schools the world over, but the general idea and the purpose behind the questions remains the same: to check whether the applicant is completely aware of what their career goals are, as well as why they believe that doing an MBA right now is the right thing to do.

Determining your career goals before you apply for schools is beneficial for you as well, because once you have your goals streamlined and sorted out, you know which schools are the best fit for you. This way, you save time and money by only applying to schools that align with your future goals. The right way to go about this process includes the following steps:

· Focused objectives: Reputed schools ensure that the candidates they accept have a coherent idea about their career path. Therefore, it is in your best interest to outline your career graph to the best of your ability to exhibit clarity.

· Contribution to the school: The schools not only look for clarity of thought in the candidate, but also try to gauge the kind of contribution that the student would be able to make to the school’s environment. It is no surprise that the alumni of all reputed schools are all very well-known people.

· Genuine interest: Another important thing that requires you to evaluate your career goals are your reasons for choosing the program that you are applying to. If you don’t know where exactly your course of choice would lead you, you could never convince the admission officer of actual interest in the same. Therefore, doing your research well in advance would definitely serve you well.

Paying close attention to these details help you to prepare your application in the best possible way, which sets it apart from the other applications in the pool. Clarity and coherency are of prime importance in this case, since no amount of research can make up for lack of focus and clarity while answering specific essay questions asked by the business schools in their applications.