gmatnoob wrote:
Thank you Paul for your insight. I'm currently using your book "Great Application Essays for Business Schools" and it's a great help.
I have one more question. I have heard from some other people that Stanford is sometimes into unique or spectacular candidates who show lots of ambition. That got me thinking if I should be shooting straight for corp dev/strategy then to VC or if the approach I took will be seen as a more well thought out and realistic "dream". I'd prefer not to aim for the moon but I'm not sure what Stanford prefers.
I'm also applying to UCLA and Berkeley. Which of these schools have the best connection for a VC future? I know that UCLA has a fellows program that seems to land a handful of people in that field. I haven't seen that kind of presence from Berkeley, although I know Berkeley is a great school, academically and professionally.
Thank you so much again for your feedback.
John
John,
When it comes to goals, you want to avoid the "unique" and "spectacular" in favor of the plausible, well-investigated, and feasible. However, I honestly don't know whether there is any downside to stating that you want to go directly into VC after the MBA rather than get some other experience first. I suspect that MBAs from schools like Stanford, Haas, and UCLA face no huge hurdles in entering the VC world directly after the MBA and so those schools would view that as a plausible path.
I also have to believe that Stanford and Haas would be better bets for breaking into venture capital than UCLA, as fine as their program no doubt is. Haas is renowned for its finance and technology management resources and is of course situated near Silicon Valley.
Good luck,