My sister, a recent MBA from Columbia warned me not to do it.  She said “it’s called suiciding for a reason.”  

What I wanted to do was apply to only four schools – the only ones I’d be truly thrilled to go to.  And if it didn’t work out, I’d just apply next year to a broader list of programs.  This is an approach that’s really unique to the MBA process for two reasons.  

1) There’s no real set time to get an MBA.  Unlike most graduate programs, which generally start as soon as you graduate college, there’s no ONE time to get an MBA.  Yes, the average entering age is 27 or 28, but if you’re 23 you’re not considered wildly young, or wildly old at 31.    You likely wouldn’t suicide—wait, can we use a more sensitive term here?  Let’s go with “Narrow Field Testing.”  Cumbersome, but less strikingly offensive.  Anyway, as I was saying, you likely wouldn’t Narrow Field Test your law school apps because your career path sort of demands that you go soon after college. 

2) MBA programs often actually LIKE reapplications.  It shows that you really are interested in them (what I’ve referred to elsewhere as the Cheap Trick “I Want You To Want Me” Effect).  So why settle for your safety school when you have a chance to get into your dream school a year later?  Again, this is unique to the MBA program.  If you were to re-apply to a law school, they might look at you sort of funny.  “We JUST rejected you.  You’re coming back for more?”

A friend of mine actually just lived the other side of this coin.  He got rejected from most of his top choices in his first year of applying but did get into UCLA, his safety.  Now he’s packing up and moving to LA, which he’s none too happy about (as good a school as it is).  And to make matters worse, he’s only 24.  Why settle when there’s more time ahead of you to get into your first choice?

There can be a lot of reasons that the time for your MBA is NOW and not next year: a spouse or significant other needs to make plans for their job; your career progress deems it necessary; perhaps you don’t want to be the oldest kid in the class.  There are many respectable reasons for making that decision.  Just make sure you’re considering the long-term future in addition to what you want to be doing next year before you consider whether to sui . . . er, Narrow Field Test or not.  
 

Popularity: 9% [?]

Share This

The highs and lows of the application process have come and gone. Writing and editing the essays, the GMATs, searching for the “right” recommenders, wow, it all seems like so long ago. So does the extreme panic I felt on decision day and the impossible to describe relief/happiness/thankfulness that overcame me upon my acceptance.

Soon after, the focus shifted towards getting ready for school. I took a required finance and accounting course (at U of Phoenix no less). My wife and I traveled to Boston and found an apartment. We crossed the Ts and dotted the Is and wrapped up everything that needed finishing up in New York.

And so now with a month left before we head up to Boston there really isn’t that much left for us to do. Sure there are a couple of books that are recommended reads before school starts, and a couple of logistical requirements that still need to be processed. But in the whole, it feels like the quite before the storm.

One of the things that I am really trying to do over the next month is introspect and mentally prepare myself for the next two years. There are so many things I want to accomplish and two years just isn’t enough time. I want to take advantage of this lull to get a better sense of what I want to do with my life and plan accordingly. I want to take full advantage of every opportunity that will present itself in business school, but I want to remain focused on the ends goals. This might be naïve and impossible in the face of the constant constraints placed on the lives of business school students, but at least ill give it a shot.

What are some of the things you want to accomplish in Business School?

Popularity: 6% [?]

Share This

The process of applying to business school is significantly more complex and all encompassing than just about any other post-college program. Not only are grades and standardized test scores critical, as they are for Law School, but so are experiences, leadership skills, volunteer work, essays, recommendations, awards…all in all, applying to business school is like painting a picture of who you are through multiple perspectives, and presenting a compelling case of why the painting deserves to be a part of the gallery.

When I first started the application process I took inventory of everything that made me unique, and thought about how each of these qualities related to each other. I did this exercise in free-flow style just writing down all of my thoughts. I then thought about everything I had already achieved. I explored the path I had taken to get there and any unique qualities that might have emerged from these experiences. I did the same for my failures. I wrote about my dreams and ambitions and what I wanted to do in life, and how I planned to get there. Finally, I wrote about the contributions that I could make to the business world.  

With the 5 or 6 pages of mostly disjointed self-assessments that emerged, I took to analyzing any interrelating themes. I found that most of my successes were entrepreneurial in nature, and that I relied on my international outlook to spot hidden opportunities to pursue.  It flowed that my general management ambitions tied nicely back to what I had done. The painting that was to be my application began to emerge.

Knowing what my application was going to look like, I then took to discovering what each school would appreciate in my candidacy so that I could gear each accordingly. For Harvard I emphasized the leadership qualities inherent in entrepreneurs, for Stanford I emphasized the community oriented nature of the business that I had created, and for Columbia I spoke passionately about New York and my previous successes.

From that point on it was just about tying everything together and making sure it all flowed. This probably isn’t the right strategy for everyone, but it was a great exercise in self-awareness and helped me get into my top choice for business school.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Share This

Well, that depends on whom you ask. Not long ago I was grappling with the decision of whether or not to pursue an MBA. Ultimately, I decided that the investment of time and energy into an MBA was worth it for me. Admittedly, I haven’t even started yet, so I’ll make sure to update this post again in a year, then again in two, five, ten and twenty years to let you know how it turns out! Regardless, I am sure that my decision is not optimal for everyone. Hopefully reading some of my considerations will help you make your own personal decision.

Pros: While there are many great reasons to attend school, my decision came down to the following:

1. Exploring new opportunities. When I graduated college, I had the opportunity to co-found an Internet start-up. Although our company didn’t exactly become the next Google and I left after a year and half to join the sad ranks of Investment Banking analysts, I always wanted to pursue a number of cool start-up ideas. Business school provides a break from your corporate job and incredible resources to help pursue interesting and unique opportunities such as writing a business plan and starting a company.
2. Learning. Everyone reaches a tipping point in their career in which what they know and are capable of doing becomes much more important than what they have on their resume. This is particularly true for entrepreneurs, but also for just about any professional with leadership aspirations. My time at school will be squarely focused on developing the skills and understanding which will serve as the bedrock of my future business success.
3. New path. Business school provides a chance to change career course. I-Banking was great for me, but my heart lies in working with and around world-changing web-based technologies.
4. Networking. Everyone knows there are times when what you know is less important than who you know. Business school nurtures incredible communities of intelligent, driven people – future business leaders of the world. Meeting and developing relationships with people from diverse backgrounds with bright futures and will undoubtedly prove invaluable throughout my career.
5. Degree. Hard to deny the fact that, in general, that piece of paper (i.e. the degree) will help my career. It may make the difference between landing a good or a great job, or it may just encourage a sense of trust and respect from those who work around me. Whatever the case may be, I am sure it will help.
6. Break from the stress of the “real” world. I don’t recommend emphasizing this fact in your applications, but the truth is hard to ignore. Going to school will allow you to take back some semblance of control over your life (or maybe that’s just for me coming out of a Banking program…) and live the grand life of a student once again (probably for the last time ).

Cons: Clearly, there are major costs associated with attending school; here are some of the ones I grappled with:

1. Money. You’re not making any. It is very difficult to walk away from a well paying job knowing you will not be able to live the way you’ve grown accustomed. Compounding the issue, not all of your friends are going back to school with you – they will still be paying taxes the way they were before – and you may not always be able hang with their standards of flowing money.
2. Money. Business school costs LOTS of money. A full-time program can run well over $70k a year (including room, board and spending money). Net-net, the swing in yearly intake is SERIOUS.
3. Time. You lose two years of career advancement and the learning that comes with it. Without question, learning on the job is as potent a learning experience as there is and you postpone that while attending school. Getting the MBA may also slow your career progress, particularly in careers where an MBA is not required for advancement.
4. Student once again. Though you no longer have stress of a job, the stress of a student, especially one as busy as your average b-schooler, can be pretty overwhelming. Some people don’t thrive in school environments and the adjustment to studying and test-taking can be difficult.

When weighing these factors against my career and life aspirations, I decided the benefits of an MBA were well worth the costs. I’d love to hear what considerations other b-schoolers and potential b-schoolers dealt with in making their decision to pursue (or not pursue) an MBA. Join the conversation!

Popularity: 13% [?]

Share This

T-minus six weeks, four days, and fifteen hours till we launch the next critical phase of our lives – business school.  The two short years spent in school promise to be amongst the most exciting and formative of our lives.  With opportunities abound to learn, share experience, and explore new passions, business school will certainly be an adventurous trip.   

Already somewhat overwhelmed by the vastness of all there is to do and accomplish during our tenure as students, we decided there was merit in opening up a platform in which current and former business school students (from here on out to be know as “bschoolers”) from across the globe could congregate to share perspective on their own unique adventures.  Our hope is that everyone who participates in this community – whether through blogging, commenting or simply reading – will gain useful insight from the successes, challenges, failures, and lessons of other bschoolers.   

Our decision to launch bschoolers.com as an “open” blog in which any current or former bschooler can become a contributing blogger was driven by our desire to produce the quantity and diversity of experience-based content to make this experiment useful.  We view this site as a participatory community and encourage you to actively join the discussion today.   

Welcome to bschoolers.com!

Popularity: 8% [?]

Share This