MBA申请者为什么自己动手写信？

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MBA申请者为什么自己动手写推荐信？

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MBA申请者为什么自己动手写推荐信？

　　克里斯托弗的推荐信到达某所顶尖商学院的招生办公室时，它们几乎堪称完美。

　　推荐人盛赞申请者的领导才能和团队技能，极力夸奖他的首创精神、好奇心和积极性。推荐信中包含许多细致入微的事件叙述，衬托出申请者栩栩如生的形象。

　　问题是，他的推荐人从来没有写过这些褒奖之词。相反，这些信是申请者自己写就的。

　　克里斯托弗(本文作者更改了他的名字，以保护其隐私)并没有为自己亲手撰写推荐信而道歉，他也不相信哪家商学院有什么好办法改变这种行为。

　　“谁会知道啊?”克里斯托弗最近刚刚从一所位居美国前三强的商学院毕业。“收到的申请书那么多，学校不会比较推荐信和申请书的写作风格。显然，要是他们认真比对的话，我也就上不了商学院了。”

　　克里斯托弗的“手艺活”并不是一个孤立的案例。国际研究生入学顾问协会(AIGAC)最近公布的一项调查显示，38%的申请人被要求撰写自己的推荐信。然而，大多数入学顾问相信，真实数据要高得多——每10封攻读MBA学位的推荐信中，有多达6封是申请者本人所写。

　　不过，即使这样的调查结果也已经让许多招生主任惊讶不已了，因为他们认为各自的学校一直在对MBA申请者进行相当公允的第三方评估。“我们知道有些申请者被要求撰写自己的推荐信，但我从来没有料到这种行为竟然如此普遍，”达特茅斯学院(Dartmouth College)塔克商学院(Tuck School of Business)招生主任唐娜•克拉克说。“我不介意学生坐下来与推荐人交流，但我现在正尝试着埋头研究推荐信的真实性。”

　　然而，在几位MBA申请者和入学顾问看来，真实性或许难以企及。美亚咨询集团(Amerasia Consulting Group)的亚当•霍夫承认：“商学院申请人经常被推荐人告知，‘你自己写吧，我署个名就行。’4年前头一次涉足商学院咨询领域时，我就被惊呆了。我简直不敢相信有这么多申请者自己在撰写自己的推荐信，然后还把这些信件拿到入学顾问面前，帮忙做进一步的加工。”

　　接受采访时，克里斯托弗要求不要透露母校的名称，因为“一旦他们知道这件事，就会拼命追查这个人是谁的。”随后他对自己的行为进行了一番辩护：顶头上司的英语不够流利，“根本就不知道推荐信的结构，” 他这样解释道。“因此，我用合乎体统的英文写了一封信，而且让它给人一种我是一位好员工的感觉。我的确是好员工，我并没有美化自己，他也觉得这样做没什么问题。”

　　这位雇主在信上签了字。但许多推荐信甚至没有获得这枚象征嘉许之意的图章。一些MBA申请者的推荐信是自己写，自己签名，最后也是自己递出去的。“MBA申请者最关心的事情是如何跨进商学院校门，他们可不想把这个前景交给某个人拍脑门写就的一封评价信来决定，”克里斯托弗解释道。“要是你搞砸了之前的工作，那可不是好事——特别是如果上司自己邮递推荐信的话，你都不知道他们写了些什么。”

　　当然，在一般情况下，获得一封给予MBA申请者强有力支持的推荐信是一个需要高度协作的过程。供职于HBSGuru.com的入学顾问桑福德•克赖斯伯格说：“谁都不喜欢写推荐信。这有点像出任陪审员的义务。没人想干这件强加在自己身上的工作。这种事对他们没什么好处，所以往往需要申请者和推荐者进行合作。”

　　入学顾问对客户推荐信的介入之深也可能会让一些招生官员感到惊讶。克赖斯伯格声称，他对推荐信质量的重视程度跟他对申请书的关注度相差无几。

　　“许多申请者都可以提前看到他们的推荐信，在入学咨询界，这是一个公开的秘密，”MBA入学咨询公司mbaMission创始人兼总裁杰里米•施恩瓦尔德说。“我们不会坐在那里对推荐信进行编辑修改，但我们会做一个健全性检查，以确保信中不包含可能有害的内容。”

　　安娜•艾维咨询公司(Anna Ivey Consulting)创始人、国际研究生入学顾问协会会长安娜•艾维相信，虽然国际研究生入学顾问协会的调查没有深入挖掘自己撰写推荐信的学生究竟有多少，但这个比例可能非常高。人们通常指望入学申请者会要求他们的顶头上司写一封推荐信，但如果老板推脱或直接拒绝的话，事情或许会变得非常棘手。

　　“甚至那些试图维系诚信操守的申请人也有可能陷入这种困境，”她说。一些商学院建议，如果老板推三推四的话，申请人可联系一位本职工作之外的管理者。“那么，如果他们在周末带领一帮童子军(Boy Scout)参加某项活动，他们是不是应该使用童子军领袖的推荐信呢?”艾维问道。“实际上，我并不觉得这是解决问题的办法。”

　　对于非美国裔申请者来说，找人写推荐信可能是一件更加让人头疼的问题。这项(基于337位MBA申请者反馈意见的)研究报告发现，国际申请者被要求自己撰写推荐信的可能性是美国申请者的两倍。比如，有高达61%的日本申请者表示，他们有过被要求自己撰写推荐信的经历。

　　即使国际推荐人的英语非常棒，一封内容扎实的推荐信也有可能会迷失在异国语言之中。MBA入学咨询机构Expartus公司CEO、国际研究生入学顾问协会董事基奥玛•伊斯阿丁索表示，不同的文化推崇不同的品格，推荐信往往会体现出这种倾向。“美国人的推荐信通常带有一丝夸大成分，每个人都才气过人，令人惊叹，不可思议。德国人则直截了当，‘汉斯的工作没话说，棒极了。’”但她还表示，大多数入学申请咨询团队都能够洞察文化的细微差异。部分责任落在申请者的身上，即帮助推荐人了解每所学校的价值观，以及这些学校为什么适合他们自己。

　　MBA申请者自己撰写推荐信的压力也因行业而异。约有一半具有金融或会计背景的MBA申请人被要求撰写自己的推荐信，而在具有技术背景的申请者中，仅有约28%的人被要求这样做。“试想一下，申请人可能是一位身处乡村小镇的雇主。但更常见的情形是，申请人是顶尖公司的咨询师，银行家或私募领域的专业人士——这是文化的一部分，”伊斯阿丁索这样说道。她曾经担任哈佛商学院(Harvard Business School)的招生官员。

　　此外，男性被要求自己撰写推荐信的可能性远大于女性——43%比27%。

　　大多数情况下，商学院都不愿承认招生工作中存在这样一个问题。有些招生官员声称，他们不知道还有这档事。对于这种态度，入学顾问表示难以想象。克赖斯伯格说：“这种看法真是太天真了。”

　　即使有些商学院承认这一问题，其中大多数也很难采取行动。“这种事情肯定有，这项调查证明了这一点，”哈佛商学院二年级学生亚历克斯•克莱纳说。“我从来不会心情舒坦地做这种事。但如果你是一位招生主任，我真的不知道你应该怎样对付这种局面。你或许可以更加明确地表示，‘如果被我们发现了，你的入学申请将被自动拒绝’。除了态度非常强硬之外，我觉得没法阻止这种行为。”

　　许多学校更愿意掩饰这个问题。学生们也采用了这种“不问不说”的应对之策。前MBA学生克里斯托弗表示，沉默的动机显而易见：“你可能会因为学术作弊被踢出局。不过，一旦真正被录取了，没人会在乎这件事。”

　　然而，入学顾问和一些顶级商学院正在提出一些想法，以遏制这种由申请人自己撰写推荐信的行为。斯坦福大学已经明确表示，“申请人自行起草或撰写推荐信——即使是应推荐人的要求——是一种违反申请程序要求的不正当行为。”

　　入学顾问安娜•艾维建议商学院采用统一的推荐表，以显著减少推荐人的工作量，从而使他们不大可能推脱为MBA申请者撰写推荐信的请求。“一些推荐人不得不写比申请书还要多的文字。如果用这种工作量乘以3、4、5，那种感觉就像是推荐人自己在申请商学院，”她说。“这种要求确实有些过于苛刻。”

　　原文

　　When the letters of recommendation for Christopher arrived in the admissions office of a top-ranked business school, they were just about perfect.

　　The recommenders raved about the candidate's leadership abilities and team skills. They praised his initiative, curiosity and motivation. And they did so in unusually detailed anecdotes that allowed the applicant to come alive.

　　Problem was, his recommenders had never written those favorable words. Instead, the letters were drafted by the applicant himself.

　　Christopher, whose name has been changed to protect his privacy, makes no apologies for writing his own recommendations nor does he believe that a school can do much about it.

　　"Who's going to know?" Christopher recently graduated from one of the top three business schools in the U.S. "With the number of applications coming in, schools aren't going to compare writing styles between the recommendation letters and the applications. Obviously, if they did that, I wouldn't have been in business school."

　　Christopher's handiwork is not an isolated case. A recently published survey by the Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants (AIGAC) found that 38% of applicants were asked to write their own recommendation letters. Most admission consultants, however, believe the number is much higher -- with as many as six out of 10 letters written by MBA applicants.

　　Still, even the survey results surprised many admission directors because they believed their schools were getting fairly candid, third party assessments of MBA candidates. "We were aware of the fact that some applicants are asked to write their own recommendations, but I wouldn't have guessed it would be that high," says Dawna Clarke, director of admissions at Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business. "I don't have a problem with a student sitting down and talking to a recommender, but I am trying to wrap my head around the authenticity of the recommendations now."

　　Authenticity, however, may be fairly elusive, according to several MBA applicants and admission consultants. "Business school applicants are often told by recommenders, 'You write it, and I'll sign it,'" concedes Adam Hoff, of Amerasia Consulting Group. "When I first got involved in the business school arena four years ago, I was stunned. I couldn't believe the number of people who were writing their own letters of recommendation and who then brought the letters back to a consultant to help them with it."

　　Christopher, who asked that his alma mater not be named because "if they found out, there would be a witch hunt," explains that his direct supervisor was not fluent in English. "He had no clue how to construct a recommendation letter," he says in defense of his actions. "Because of that, I wrote the letter in proper English and made it sound like I'm a good employee, which I am. I didn't embellish, and he was fine with it."

　　The employer signed off on the letter. But many recommendations don't even get this stamp of approval. Some MBAs write, sign, and send off their own references. "An MBA's motive is to get into school, and they don't want that left to someone's whimsical evaluation," Christopher explains. "If you messed up at work the day before, then it's not going to be good -- especially if they mail it themselves, and you don't know what they've said."

　　In general, of course, getting a strong letter in support of a candidate's MBA application is a highly collaborative process. "People don't like to write recommendations," says admissions consultant Sanford Kreisberg of HBSGuru.com. "It's kind of like jury duty. No one wants to do it. It's imposed on you. There is nothing in it for them. Collaboration is the standard."

　　The extent to which admission consultants advise their clients on recommendation letters may also surprise some school officials. Kreisberg says he pays as much attention to the quality of a recommendation letter as he does to the application essays.

　　"It's an open secret in the admissions world that a lot of candidates get to look at their recommendation letters beforehand," says Jeremy Shinewald, founder and president of mbaMission, an MBA admissions consulting firm. "We're not going to sit there and line edit something, but we will do a sanity check to make sure there's nothing in there that can be harmful."

　　While the AIGAC survey doesn't dig into how many students actually write their own letters, the percentage is likely high, believes Anna Ivey, founder of Anna Ivey Consulting and AIGAC president. Candidates are generally expected to request letters from their direct supervisors, but if the boss pushes back or refuses to write one, things can get tricky.

　　"Even applicants trying to act ethically find themselves in this bind," she says. Some schools suggest contacting an extracurricular supervisor in lieu of a reluctant boss. "So if they're leading a Boy Scout troop on the weekends, are they supposed to use their scout leader's recommendation instead?" Ivey asks. "Realistically, I don't think that's the answer."

　　Letter writing can be particularly problematic for non-U.S. candidates. The study, based on 377 responses from MBA applicants, found that international candidates are twice as likely to be asked to write their own letters. A whopping 61% of applicants in Japan, for example, said they were asked to draft their own letters of recommendation.

　　Even if international recommenders are fluent in English, the art of writing a solid recommendation letter can get lost in translation. Different cultures value different traits and this comes through in the letters, says Chioma Isiadinso, CEO of MBA consultancy Expartus and AIGAC board member. "American recommendations are a bit over the top -- everyone is brilliant, amazing, and incredible. German ones tend to be very direct, 'Hans did a good a job.'" However, she says most admissions teams can pick up on cultural nuances. And part of the responsibility falls on the applicants to educate their recommenders about each school's values and why they're a good fit.

　　The pressure on MBAs to write their own recommendation letters also varies by industry. Half of the MBA applicants with finance or accounting backgrounds were asked to write their own letters, compared with only 28% in technology. "You'd think it'd be an employer in a small rural town somewhere, but more often than not, it's the consultants at top-tier firms or bankers or private equity professionals -- it's part of the culture," says Isiadinso, who previously worked as an admissions official at Harvard Business School.

　　Men (43%) are also significantly more likely to be asked to draft their own recommendations than women (27%).

　　For the most part, business schools are reluctant to admit there's a problem. Some admissions professionals claim they didn't know it was happening, a position that admissions consultants find hard to believe. "That's pretty naïve," says Kreisberg.

　　Even among schools that acknowledge the issue, most would be hard-pressed to take action. "It definitely happens and the survey proves it," says Alex Kleiner, a second-year MBA student at Harvard Business School. "It's something I would never feel comfortable doing. But if you're an admissions director, I don't really know how you combat that. You could be more explicit and say, 'If we find out your application will be rejected automatically. Other than being really tough, I don't think you can stop it."

　　Many schools prefer to push the issue under the rug. This don't-ask-don't-tell approach applies to students, too. Christopher, the former MBA student, says the motivation for silence is obvious: "You could be tossed out for academic dishonesty. Once you're in, nobody cares."

　　However, consultants and some top B-schools are toying around with ideas to curb self-written recommendations. Stanford already makes it explicitly clear that "drafting or writing your own letter of reference, even if asked to do so by your recommender, is improper and a violation of the terms of the application process."

　　Admissions consultant Anna Ivey proposes a common reference form, which could significantly cut the workload for recommenders, making them less likely to push the letter back on MBAs. "Some recommenders have to write more words than the applicants' essays. If you multiply that times three, four, five, it's as if the recommender is applying to business school," she says. "That's asking too much."

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