When: and What: Around April I was looking for a new challenge, started looking in the job market in Japan, spoke to several headhunters and friends and lots in internet research. The research showed that the market in Japan in my field is very domestically focused. Native language skills usually needed and asked for in the job postings, fluency in Japanese is not enough, even International companies in Japan such as Google, Apple, Yahoo were hugely domestically focused on the Japanese market and required native Japanese with fluent English (Fluent Japanese and Native English not enough). I wanted to move away from technical and into product managment and analysis as an initial step to my main goal.

Around mid-October i came across MBA`s... In the UK, MBA`s are not particularly sought after. Not as well recognised or established compared to the USA, but gaining momentum. A brief research into the MBA, and i realised that this was what i needed to complement my technical skills. So October was the start of the MBA process

Where First thing i discovered about MBA`s? Needed to sit a GMAT. Second thing i discovered... applications had already started. Third thing i discovered? Need to apply by early January for round 2 as round 3 is tough and international applicants are not encouraged to apply in the last rounds.

Holiday was already booked for mid december so that gave me 2 months to get everything done. School research took about a week!!!! -> Japanese unis rejected due to poor placement and value of an MBA. (in fact its difficult to find non-Japanese working in Japan with an MBA due to the nature of the job market here).
Job research showed that Multi-nationals were regionally focused in Singapore and Hong Kong, so these are my target job markets. So naturally, the schools in those countries were considered. UK, being my home country was resesarched... and i wanted an internship opportunity. Manchester became the natural choice.
USA schools were studied, Hult became a backup due to its short course, and high international acceptance.
Top schools were then researched, and Stanford, Kellogg and Cornell were selected for different reasons.

Schedule
My first practise exam.. i got 560 so I picked 4 schools which i believed i could get into and set the GMAT date for mid november to give me 1 month to write essays for application and 3 weeks to study ( in between working and babysitting)
After i got my score, i decided that it was worth a shot to apply to some top schools, afterall, you have to be in it to win it.
1 Month of application writing later, and just after i finished the Stanford app, i was accepted into Manchester (met rd I deadline ofNov 23rd)

The Decision
Hult was a backup, so i`ve withdrawn from that.
Manchester, HKUST and NUS are the next tier
Kellogg, Stanford and Cornell are the top tier for my selections.

After visting Singapore as part of my hols, the country is a place i could live and work in. Plus, the low fees means i can almost maintain an ex-pat style of life. Plus the wife can easily get work in Singapore or Hong Kong after her maternity is over. manchesters`s course is very very good, but very expensive. The wife can also find work there too however we don`t intend to stay in the UK afterwards.

The US schools, well, if i get accepted into one of them, it would be silly not to take it. Main issue is that the wife will be unable to work in the USA.

When:

I started looking into MBAs over two years ago, thinking I would get the degree to jump start a fledgling marketing career and get the credentials for top management. (I felt my undergrad degree wouldnt be sufficient)
I have a degree in business btw.

Shortly after communicating that plan to my gf, she became my ex-gf, I guess I wasnt really diplomatic about the whole: I am going to do it in the US-thing. (I am from Europe)


What:

See above. And I wanted to get an international degree, possibly with the chance to work in the U.S. for a while. I also knew, and am becoming more aware of the fact that I lack significant finance and strategy insights.

Over time my goals evolved - this was especially due to the fact that the company I started my career with went into bankruptcy after having been taken over by an Asian competitor, something that I felt was completely unnecessary and purely a result of bad management decisions for a number of years. I realized it could have been done better, and wanted to be in a position some day to do so. I decided that I wanted to go into consulting post-MBA. That's my current goal.

Where:

Haas has always been a dream school, because I love SF. Not so sure about it anymore, though.
Kellogg for its strong marketing program, and because I like the area.
-both of these programs have considerable international brand recognition-

Tuck, Ivy League, great in strategy, tight knit, campus feel (I really want to experience the campus atmosphere of an American school)
Ross - good general management program, good in rankings, no brand name recognition in Europe though

IESE, Spain. Great network in Europe, one of the very best two year programs in Europe. (next to LBS)

Most of these programs are relatively small.

Where, NOT:

Harvard. Case-method, assumed to have arrogant graduates, huge intake.
Wharton. Too competitive people, too finance focused, location, huge intake.

Stanford. I dont know why anymore. Have a +700 GMAT and could have gone for it. I chickened out.


Maybe where:

---

The decision:

Accepted at IESE, the American schools will hand out the decisions within the next few weeks and we will see.

love it - wonderful wonderful thread. +10 to everyone who contributed.

where where where?

It did require lots of courage to make this **** public

Excelent post helg. I haven't understood though, how IMD would be your backup, I fell that in Europe Insead is easier to get into than IMD, as IMD has a 80 intake.
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I thought that this irrational things happened with us, Latin people and not with Russians
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LOL

It's Switzerland, eh? Independence counts. The IMD people might not rush in to hug and kiss you, but in the end of the year these 90 become really interconnected. Remember also, that a 1-year program is more rigorous than a 2-year, so that adds additional strain.

I'm new to this application process. May be my ignorance, I think its not as bad as eperts here make it sound. Can you explain what was wrong with "Why Wharton" essay in Helg's last year's essay. Is it English or lot of keywords/jargon or is the focus on what Wharton could do for an applicant instead of how he can contribute to Wharton.

The Wharton School is the ideal place where my background and my vision can fuse to bring about my MBA dream. Wharton’s rigorous curriculum is internationally praised for its focus on the development of innovative thinking, deep knowledge of business processes and leadership, all integral features of a successful consultant. And the strong emphasis on general management fundamentals will provide me with the excellent foundation for my future professional growth.

Wharton’s impeccable reputation brings on campus world’s largest consulting companies, many of which have offices in Russia, so I will have many exciting opportunities for finding summer internship and future employment.

Finally, Wharton’s culture supports the growth of leaders with orientation on social aspects of the business, which is something that I have learned to value during my work in XYZ.”