{"id":10255,"date":"2012-02-13T22:30:47","date_gmt":"2012-02-14T05:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/?p=10255"},"modified":"2012-02-13T22:30:47","modified_gmt":"2012-02-14T05:30:47","slug":"ut-mccombs-current-mba-student-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/ut-mccombs-current-mba-student-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"UT McCombs Current MBA Student Interview"},"content":{"rendered":"

Accepted.com is continuing a blog series featuring interviews with current MBA students<\/a>, offering readers a behind-the-scenes look at top MBA programs<\/a>. We hope to offer you a candid picture of student life, and what you should consider as you prepare your MBA application<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a talk with Karla Juarez, a University of Texas McCombs<\/a> student who's passionate about IT, brand management, Latin America, and dance. Thank you Karla for sharing your thoughts with us!<\/em><\/p>\n

Accepted: First, can you tell us a little about yourself \u2013 where are you from? What and where did you study as an undergraduate and when did you graduate?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Karla:<\/strong> I was born in Managua, Nicaragua and raised in Miami, FL. After I graduated in 2005 from the University of Miami with a BS in Computer Engineering, I moved to Minneapolis, MN where I worked in Information Technology for six years.<\/p>\n

Accepted: Why did you decide to attend UT McCombs? Has the program lived up to your expectations?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Karla:<\/strong> McCombs has surpassed my expectations! When I visited UT in the fall before applying, I got to experience firsthand its unique and amazing culture. I felt the students were like me in that they were driven, smart, and competitive in all aspects of their lives (not just academics), but I also felt like no one wanted to leave any of their classmates behind. I saw a lot of unity during my stay. After my visit, I knew it was the right fit for me.<\/p>\n

Accepted: What do you think of Austin as a location for pursuing an MBA? Did local opportunities play a role in your decision to attend?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Karla:<\/strong> Because of my lack of strong preference, I was more concerned with culture vs. local opportunities. However, Austin is a great city for technology startups and small business in general. UT also has a strong oil and gas program. As far as a location for pursuing an MBA, it's terrific. Austin is #1 on the 2010 Kiplinger's Best City for the Next Decade list. It is a moderately sized city with an energetic feel and has tons of live music to enjoy. WITH great weather!<\/p>\n

Accepted: What's your favorite class so far?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Karla:<\/strong> My favorite class so far is Marketing Analytics. It gave me a great overview of how to quantify the importance of marketing through the use of mathematics. It was very interesting and educational to use statistical regressions to solve marketing questions.<\/p>\n

Accepted: Do you have an internship lined up for the summer? If so, what role did McCombs play in helping you secure that position?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Karla:<\/strong> Yes, I will be interning in brand management at Johnson & Johnson for the summer. I worked with an excellent UT communications coach before attending the NSHMBA conference in the fall. McCombs provides all MBA students with four hours of one-on-one time with a communications coach. This service was invaluable to me and I definitely noticed an enormous change in my interviewing skills. In addition to communications coaches, the school requires that students take a career class where we work on resumes, company research, mock interviews, cover letters, and other career-related tasks.<\/p>\n

Accepted: Your LinkedIn profile shows that you have experience in very diverse areas. How do you plan on using your skills in dance, IT, foreign languages and travel, and Hispanic\/Latin American ventures in your post-MBA goals?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Karla:<\/strong> My post-MBA goal is to work with the Latin American market in a brand management capacity. Technology is an ever-increasing part of marketing and will no doubt play an important role in my understanding of how to successfully implement and execute marketing initiatives. I am currently learning a new language (Portuguese) to prepare me for my planned study abroad in S\u00e3o Paulo, Brazil, which will in turn put me in a better place for a Latin America rotation later in my career (that will hopefully include travel). Lastly, dance is one of the ways I celebrate and enjoy culture and that is an important part of my life goal: share enjoyment of life with others and make a positive impact.<\/p>\n

Accepted: Do you have any advice for some of our applicants who will be applying to UT McCombs?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Karla:<\/strong> Come for a visit. The culture at top business schools is hard to describe and understand unless you've experienced it.<\/p>\n

Accepted: I see that you are a member of the Consortium<\/a>. What attracted you to the Consortium? How have you benefited from the program?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Karla:<\/strong> The Consortium's tuition fellowship is very attractive to a lot of students. However, the connections I made with Consortium students at other top schools, the pre-business school preparation I underwent with McCombs in preparation for the career conference, and the access I got to companies that recruit MBAs during the Orientation Program (before we even start business school) are priceless.<\/p>\n

Accepted: Can you share some application tips for other students applying to business school through the Consortium?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Karla:<\/strong> If you can, get the GMAT out of the way early. For your essays, do a lot of brainstorming and self-reflection before you dive into specific essays. I referenced a couple of business school essay books and they provided very good direction on the brainstorming\/writing process. Also very important: ask your friends to help you revise. It's usually a good idea to have at least one alumnus read your school specific essay.<\/p>\n

Please visit our UT McCombs B-School Zone<\/a> and Consortium Zone<\/a> for more McCombs- and Consortium-specific advice. For complete, soup-to-nuts guidance on the MBA admissions process, please purchase Linda Abraham's new book, <\/strong><\/em>MBA Admission for Smarties: The No-Nonsense Guide to Acceptance at Top Business Schools<\/strong><\/a> \u2013 now available in paperback and Kindle editions!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"Accepted.com\"<\/a><\/span><\/span>Accepted.com ~ Helping You Write Your Best<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on the <\/em>Accepted Admissions Consulting Blog<\/a>, the official blog of Accepted.com.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Accepted.com is continuing a blog series featuring interviews with current MBA students, offering readers a behind-the-scenes look at top MBA programs. We hope to offer you a candid picture of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,3,4,775,113],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mba","category-b-school-life","category-career-reviews","category-admission-consultants","category-applications","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10255"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10256,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10255\/revisions\/10256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gmatclub.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}