It’s nice that you’ve found something you feel strongly about and you should definitely pursue it, MBA or no MBA. However, as far as your b-school applications go, here is some advice I wanted to offer you.
I think that the first thing you need to realize is that schools don’t care about your dreams just as they are. They want to see how your dreams are a part of your life and what have you done till date to suggest that you have a reasonable shot at achieving those dreams. They want to see that you’ve done something real towards achieving that goal and ideally have some sort of entrepreneurial or leadership thing going on in that field as well.
I know that it’s difficult to do this while working full-time but on the plus side, you have another two years to do something about it. I would recommend that you take atleast 2 years doing something to show that your interest in the digital media/sports realm is genuine and not just a passing phase because you’re going through a slump at work. You’re 26 (25?) at the moment and even if you were matriculating at 28 (29 even), that’s not a bad deal at all. Although a lot of schools are going younger, 28/29 is still fine with most schools.
Also, you need to spend a lot of time researching exactly what you want to do. You may have two or three options in mind but still you need to have a clear understanding of the career path each option involves and how each school will help you achieve this. Ideally you want to see who the big companies in this space are and where they recruit. That will probably be a better way to short-list your schools. Sometimes, these companies may not recruit on-campus and this is where your school’s pedigree/network comes into play.
Having said that though, I think you’ve done a good job of short-listing your schools. I would probably cut out USC and replace it with Stanford as a long-shot. Despite the odds, Stanford is probably a lot more likely to take a chance on someone like you if you’ve done something spectacular to show your interest in your field of choice. If you're not going to take the trouble then stick with USC.
The funny thing is, you may realize that you don’t need an MBA at all. It’s all about knowing the right people. Given that you’re in CA, you should talk to people who are doing something similar and see what’s the best way to go about this. For inspirations, you can read a little more about how Mark Cuban made it big. I’m sure he has a biography somewhere
.
The ‘doing something different’ career goals are a double-edged sword. On one hand they help you differentiate yourself from people with the usual MC/IB/PE/VC/HF career goals but on the other hand, schools will question your chances at landing that kind of job in the first place. This is where you need to showcase your network within your industry of choice.
If you’re going to be lazy about it and not do much to prove you have a genuine interest in your field, then I suggest a more traditional MBA goal with a slight niche. For example MC within the company’s media practice. Once you're in, you can do anything you want but it's unlikely that you'll get in otherwise.
To answer some of your other questions:
Don’t mention anything about your unique situations. It’s just a distraction and takes the attention away from your application.
Your GPA is low but your GMAT helps offset it to some extent. Your split is fine. 47Q is exactly what people think of when they want the 80-80 split. Besides, your engineering background shows that you have a strong quant background. I would have been more concerned if your V was below the 80th percentile.
Most top schools are brand whores but the lower ones (schools not named Stanford and Harvard) are lesser brand whores because they know what it’s like to not be the top brand. Besides, you can’t do anything about where you work unless you could go back in time or something.
Lastly, you definitely need to show a lot of interaction with clients. Try to spin your project management experience into some leadership experience. You could even talk about how you worked on a project in which you interacted with people in your desired field and learnt more about it and realized that you had found your calling
. Also, make sure that you have one essay that shows you’ve done something outside of work. This will help you appear more balanced.
Well, that’s about all the advice I have right now. Hope this helps.
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03 Feb 2009, 14:35
