Leland+ for MBA

MiM, Masters and MBA Essays, Dissected: Same Four Questions, Almost Everywhere [10/7/2026] (Recording)

Most essay advice is a list of tips. This is the version I give paying clients, using a real submitted essay and the rebuilt one next to it. I did a Master in Management (MiM) and have spent 8+ years in strategy and finance across six countries. I have mentored clients on their MiM, Master in Finance and MBA applications across the US, Europe and Asia. I have read a lot of drafts that were competent and forgettable, which means I can tell you what a reader actually sees. In 1 hour, I will cover why fifteen prompts across five schools are really only four questions, and why that changes how much work this is. What each of the four is actually asking underneath the wording, and the word split I would recommend for each. Why most why-this-school paragraphs survive having the school name swapped, and what to write instead. The five things your goals answer needs, and the one sentence almost nobody includes that makes it read as considered rather than hopeful. The four angles on the contribution question, including the one schools care about more than applicants realise. What the personal question is actually testing, and the tone mistake people make while believing they are being self-aware. Where AI helps you, where it quietly sinks you, and the completely honest mistake that gets applicants flagged as dishonest. And the order I actually work in with clients, which starts nowhere near a first draft. This is for anyone writing essays for a MiM, Master in Finance, MBA or specialised master's, whether you have a blank page or a draft you are not happy with. Forty five minutes of content, then live Q&A, hands or chat. Bring a question about your own draft. Everyone who attends gets the Essay Ideation Workbook by email afterwards.

CV and LORs (Recommendation letters): Two documents to get right first [10/15/2026] (Recording)

Most people write their essays first and ask for recommendation letters last. That is backwards, and this session is about why. I did a Master in Management and have spent 8+ years in strategy and finance across six countries. I have mentored clients on their MiM, Master in Finance and MBA applications across the US, Europe and Asia. In this session I will take a real submitted CV and rebuild it in front of you, two pages down to one, and then do the same with a recommendation letter. In 1 hour, I will cover why your CV is read before anything else in your file and what a reader actually sees in the first thirty seconds. The eight problems on a real application CV, marked up live, including the one that has nothing to do with your experience and everything to do with the order of your sections. Two tests you can run on your own CV tonight in ten minutes. Why your referee writes from your CV, which is the reason these two documents belong in the same conversation. How to choose a referee, and why the most impressive person who will say yes is usually the wrong answer. What separates a letter that helps from one that quietly does nothing, using a real example that looks perfectly good until you know what to look for. And the three questions that turn a vague letter into a specific one, which is the only part of this document you actually control. This is for anyone applying to a MiM, Master in Finance, MBA or specialised master's, and it is most useful if you have not yet asked anyone for a letter. Forty five minutes of content, then live Q&A, hands or chat. Everyone who attends gets the Recommendation Workbook by email afterwards.

Using AI Tools for Masters / MBA Applications

What schools actually say about AI tools, the five legitimate uses, and the failure modes that catch honest applicants, including the translation trap that gets genuine work flagged as machine-written.

Know Yourself Before You Apply

The profile work that has to happen before you write anything. Why remembering and writing are two different jobs, and the five categories of experience people wrongly dismiss.

How many schools for Masters/MBA and Which Test (GMAT/GRE)?

How many schools, in what tiers, and why there is no such thing as a safe school. Plus choosing between the GMAT and the GRE on percentiles rather than on how the questions felt.

Masters Application Decision- What's Next?

Why the decisions arrive staggered and what that does to you. Handling a rejection, converting a waitlist through the admissions call almost nobody asks for, comparing offers against purpose rather than ranking, and how reapplication actually works.

The Year In Between: A Planning Workbook for Reapplicants

For anyone going again next cycle. Built backwards from one question: what will make the difference essay writable in twelve months. Includes an honest test of whether you should reapply at all.

Choosing Your Destination

The four variables that decide where you should study: language, cost, post-study stay rights, and the market itself. Walks the main destinations in Europe, the US and Asia against all four.

Master in Management vs MBA Dissected

What the Master in Management (MiM) degree is for, how it differs from an MBA and from a specialised master's, and the five reasons people actually do it. Includes the eligibility window most applicants discover too late, and how to read a school's employment report.