NEW HERE? LEARN MORE
closeclose
Last visit was: 24 Apr 2024, 21:51 It is currently 24 Apr 2024, 21:51
Decision Tracker
My Rewards
New posts
New comers' posts

Close
GMAT Club Daily Prep
Thank you for using the timer - this advanced tool can estimate your performance and suggest more practice questions. We have subscribed you to Daily Prep Questions via email.

Customized
for You

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History

Track
Your Progress

every week, we’ll send you an estimated GMAT score based on your performance

Practice
Pays

we will pick new questions that match your level based on your Timer History
Not interested in getting valuable practice questions and articles delivered to your email? No problem, unsubscribe here.
Go to My Error Log Learn more
Close
Request Expert Reply
Confirm Cancel

Career Switcher help

SORT BY:
Date
Kudos
User avatar
B
Music2mba
Intern
Intern
Joined: 21 Aug 2018
Posts: 31
Own Kudos [?]: 22 [0]
Given Kudos: 20
Location: United States (IL)
Schools: Booth '21 (D) Duke '21 (D) Insead Sept19 Intake (D) Kellogg '21 (I) Ross '21 (I) CBS '21 (A)
GMAT 1: 710 Q47 V41
GMAT 2: 750 Q49 V44
GPA: 3.45
Send PM
Career Switcher help [#permalink] New post   21 Aug 2018, 14:32
Hi All,

I'm new here, so if I'm posting in the wrong place, let me know.

I have spent my career in the classical music performance field. I've been very successful throughout the years, traveled and performed all over the world, taught lessons both privately and as a Professor at a university, and have enjoyed my time as a performer through the 10+ years I have done it. Now, I am looking to pivot fields into something more traditional and would like to apply to business school.

About me - I am 35, have taken practice GMATs and while I want/need to work on my Q score - I am around 700+.
Schools - Went to a top 25 university - GPA - 3.451 - Honors in Music. 2 Grad schools - Masters GPA 3.70 at Hopkins, and Diploma (unfinished because I began to travel and perform) at Yale 3.90 GPA.

I am very solid in Verbal on GMAT and my essays probably won't be an issue, but I wonder if I will be completely locked out of most schools because of my strange working past and age.

Because of my age, I hope to be able to get a quick ROI at whatever school I attend, and would very much like to go to a top school - but I don't know if that is off the table.

Many thanks for any help.
User avatar
L
MBADecoder
CEO
CEO
Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Posts: 2585
Own Kudos [?]: 575 [0]
Given Kudos: 155
Send PM
Re: Career Switcher help [#permalink] New post   22 Aug 2018, 08:06
Expert Reply
Music2mba wrote:
Hi All,

I'm new here, so if I'm posting in the wrong place, let me know.

I have spent my career in the classical music performance field. I've been very successful throughout the years, traveled and performed all over the world, taught lessons both privately and as a Professor at a university, and have enjoyed my time as a performer through the 10+ years I have done it. Now, I am looking to pivot fields into something more traditional and would like to apply to business school.

About me - I am 35, have taken practice GMATs and while I want/need to work on my Q score - I am around 700+.
Schools - Went to a top 25 university - GPA - 3.451 - Honors in Music. 2 Grad schools - Masters GPA 3.70 at Hopkins, and Diploma (unfinished because I began to travel and perform) at Yale 3.90 GPA.

I am very solid in Verbal on GMAT and my essays probably won't be an issue, but I wonder if I will be completely locked out of most schools because of my strange working past and age.

Because of my age, I hope to be able to get a quick ROI at whatever school I attend, and would very much like to go to a top school - but I don't know if that is off the table.

Many thanks for any help.


Hi Music2MBA,

You are doing something really interesting. Going forward, what do you want to do after an MBA? You will need to present your short term and long term career goals to any b-schools where you apply. So at this stage, it would be pertinent to ask yourself whether your desired career requires you to do an MBA at all or can you get there without one?

B-schools would evaluate your career thus far. So your future career goals should have some connection (domain knowledge and transferable skills) with what you have done until now. Assuming that all your career has been around music, a suggestion would be to look for positions within the music industry where your experience as a performing artist and your insider's view of the industry will be valuable. Also, it will be important to demonstrate your business savvy.

Also, you should look at different MBA formats such as the eMBA, through which students have been able to successfully change careers. Given your substantial work experience, these would be more suitable for you.
User avatar
P
SiaAdmissions
Sia Admissions Representative
Joined: 04 Jan 2018
Affiliations: NYU, Yale
Posts: 682
Own Kudos [?]: 145 [0]
Given Kudos: 67
Location: United States (NY)
Send PM
Re: Career Switcher help [#permalink] New post   22 Aug 2018, 08:15
Expert Reply
Hi Music2mba,

Thank you for your post. You seem to have strong academics and an interesting professional background. I have worked with someone previously who had a similar profile. She was looking to combine her music experience with an MBA to pursue a career in management of the arts. Can you talk about what you are planning to do post-MBA?

Happy to continue the conversation live (via phone). If interested, click here to coordinate a free 30-minute consultation.

Good luck!

Music2mba wrote:
Hi All,

I'm new here, so if I'm posting in the wrong place, let me know.

I have spent my career in the classical music performance field. I've been very successful throughout the years, traveled and performed all over the world, taught lessons both privately and as a Professor at a university, and have enjoyed my time as a performer through the 10+ years I have done it. Now, I am looking to pivot fields into something more traditional and would like to apply to business school.

About me - I am 35, have taken practice GMATs and while I want/need to work on my Q score - I am around 700+.
Schools - Went to a top 25 university - GPA - 3.451 - Honors in Music. 2 Grad schools - Masters GPA 3.70 at Hopkins, and Diploma (unfinished because I began to travel and perform) at Yale 3.90 GPA.

I am very solid in Verbal on GMAT and my essays probably won't be an issue, but I wonder if I will be completely locked out of most schools because of my strange working past and age.

Because of my age, I hope to be able to get a quick ROI at whatever school I attend, and would very much like to go to a top school - but I don't know if that is off the table.

Many thanks for any help.
User avatar
B
Music2mba
Intern
Intern
Joined: 21 Aug 2018
Posts: 31
Own Kudos [?]: 22 [0]
Given Kudos: 20
Location: United States (IL)
Schools: Booth '21 (D) Duke '21 (D) Insead Sept19 Intake (D) Kellogg '21 (I) Ross '21 (I) CBS '21 (A)
GMAT 1: 710 Q47 V41
GMAT 2: 750 Q49 V44
GPA: 3.45
Send PM
Re: Career Switcher help [#permalink] New post   22 Aug 2018, 08:16
Thanks for the reply! I would very much like to switch fields and not work in Music. A career has a performer leads to a lot of transferable skills - we basically have to act as our own boards/strategy teams/etc as we make decisions about our futures and where to drive our careers. I have lots of international experience, having lived in Europe for about 4 years.

I do not have a background in business, so that's why I had looked at a straight mba rather than emba.

As for mba goals, focusing in strategy, bizdev, or entrepreneurship sounds good to me. These could lead to a lot of options post graduation, no? As I said, I'd like to leave the music industry for now.

Thanks for any and all help.

Posted from my mobile device
User avatar
L
MBADecoder
CEO
CEO
Joined: 16 Jan 2012
Posts: 2585
Own Kudos [?]: 575 [0]
Given Kudos: 155
Send PM
Re: Career Switcher help [#permalink] New post   22 Aug 2018, 10:39
Expert Reply
Music2mba wrote:
Thanks for the reply! I would very much like to switch fields and not work in Music. A career has a performer leads to a lot of transferable skills - we basically have to act as our own boards/strategy teams/etc as we make decisions about our futures and where to drive our careers. I have lots of international experience, having lived in Europe for about 4 years.

I do not have a background in business, so that's why I had looked at a straight mba rather than emba.

As for mba goals, focusing in strategy, bizdev, or entrepreneurship sounds good to me. These could lead to a lot of options post graduation, no? As I said, I'd like to leave the music industry for now.

Thanks for any and all help.

Posted from my mobile device


We'd need to know the details of your work experience and your future career goals to evaluate further. However, you should have a shot if you can demonstrate an ability to manage and lead, and as I mentioned earlier, some business savvy.

When you say " we have to act as our own boards/strategy teams" - I hope you are talking about managing teams and not your individual career.

Regarding the goals, you will have to delve deeper into exactly what you will do - strategy or biz dev or entrepreneurship- and why.

While suggesting eMBA I did think you might want an immersive MBA experience because of your nontraditional background. Feel free to share more info about your work. We have worked with a musician who is transitioning to another industry after MBA, and so should be able to give you some valuable advice.
User avatar
B
Music2mba
Intern
Intern
Joined: 21 Aug 2018
Posts: 31
Own Kudos [?]: 22 [0]
Given Kudos: 20
Location: United States (IL)
Schools: Booth '21 (D) Duke '21 (D) Insead Sept19 Intake (D) Kellogg '21 (I) Ross '21 (I) CBS '21 (A)
GMAT 1: 710 Q47 V41
GMAT 2: 750 Q49 V44
GPA: 3.45
Send PM
Re: Career Switcher help [#permalink] New post   22 Aug 2018, 13:42
MBADecoder wrote:
We'd need to know the details of your work experience and your future career goals to evaluate further. However, you should have a shot if you can demonstrate an ability to manage and lead, and as I mentioned earlier, some business savvy.

When you say " we have to act as our own boards/strategy teams" - I hope you are talking about managing teams and not your individual career.

Regarding the goals, you will have to delve deeper into exactly what you will do - strategy or biz dev or entrepreneurship- and why.

While suggesting eMBA I did think you might want an immersive MBA experience because of your nontraditional background. Feel free to share more info about your work. We have worked with a musician who is transitioning to another industry after MBA, and so should be able to give you some valuable advice.


Thanks for your reply!

I was not talking about managing teams, but my individual career - as such opportunities unfortunately do not exist in the classical music world. Most of my life was traveling from country to country to perform. Because I was in demand, my entire career has been spent as such with little down time to do much else. In addition, complex math makes sense to me quite easily because of the complex modern music I usually performed - though I know the two are not interchangeable in many eyes they have much in common.

That said, I also worked as a professor at a national university for a year in which I managed my own studio of musicians, lead projects at the school, organized concerts, and attended conferences as a representative of the university. Further, in my school years I was both president of the university choir (in charge of organizing trips and concerts) and president and treasurer of a smaller singing group.

I'm not sure if any of that would help with my application, but it's what I have.
User avatar
L
MBAPrepCoach
MBA Admissions Consultant
Joined: 24 Mar 2015
Status:MBA Admissions Consultant
Affiliations: MBA Prep Coach
Posts: 3699
Own Kudos [?]: 1424 [0]
Given Kudos: 570
Location: United States
Farrell Nelson: MBA
Schools: Insead Sept19 Intake HEC Sept19 intake IMD '20 Kellogg '21 CBS '21 LBS '21
Send PM
Re: Career Switcher help [#permalink] New post   26 Aug 2018, 19:04
Expert Reply
Music2mba I will say you are on the razor's edge in terms of age: do it now!

One program that is a good fit if you are interested in consulting; however do the homework on the ROI, I have only just recently found out about it
https://www.marshall.usc.edu/programs/m ... /ibear-mba

Beyond that, might want to focus on European schools as they are more accepting towards older applicants.
Think IMD, HEC, INSEAD. Maybe LBS. Will need to demonstrate how you have, in your career, demonstrated teamwork, leadership and problem solving to be successful IMO. They are open to career diversity if you can demonstrate these things, and show you can do the math.

700 is OK, but particularly interested in quant score, you want that to be at least 70%
If quant is not high do MBA Math program (mbamath.com) It will present you as someone who can do the work.)

Music2mba wrote:
Hi All,

I'm new here, so if I'm posting in the wrong place, let me know.

I have spent my career in the classical music performance field. I've been very successful throughout the years, traveled and performed all over the world, taught lessons both privately and as a Professor at a university, and have enjoyed my time as a performer through the 10+ years I have done it. Now, I am looking to pivot fields into something more traditional and would like to apply to business school.

About me - I am 35, have taken practice GMATs and while I want/need to work on my Q score - I am around 700+.
Schools - Went to a top 25 university - GPA - 3.451 - Honors in Music. 2 Grad schools - Masters GPA 3.70 at Hopkins, and Diploma (unfinished because I began to travel and perform) at Yale 3.90 GPA.

I am very solid in Verbal on GMAT and my essays probably won't be an issue, but I wonder if I will be completely locked out of most schools because of my strange working past and age.

Because of my age, I hope to be able to get a quick ROI at whatever school I attend, and would very much like to go to a top school - but I don't know if that is off the table.

Many thanks for any help.
User avatar
B
Music2mba
Intern
Intern
Joined: 21 Aug 2018
Posts: 31
Own Kudos [?]: 22 [0]
Given Kudos: 20
Location: United States (IL)
Schools: Booth '21 (D) Duke '21 (D) Insead Sept19 Intake (D) Kellogg '21 (I) Ross '21 (I) CBS '21 (A)
GMAT 1: 710 Q47 V41
GMAT 2: 750 Q49 V44
GPA: 3.45
Send PM
Re: Career Switcher help [#permalink] New post   28 Aug 2018, 07:37
Thanks for the info and the thought about Marshall - however I do hope to go to a program significantly higher ranked than that.

70% on quant is 49, it seems. That is what you think is necessary for such a program?

Many thanks!
User avatar
B
Music2mba
Intern
Intern
Joined: 21 Aug 2018
Posts: 31
Own Kudos [?]: 22 [0]
Given Kudos: 20
Location: United States (IL)
Schools: Booth '21 (D) Duke '21 (D) Insead Sept19 Intake (D) Kellogg '21 (I) Ross '21 (I) CBS '21 (A)
GMAT 1: 710 Q47 V41
GMAT 2: 750 Q49 V44
GPA: 3.45
Send PM
Re: Career Switcher help [#permalink] New post   28 Aug 2018, 12:50
MBAPrepCoach

Music2mba wrote:
Thanks for the info and the thought about Marshall - however I do hope to go to a program significantly higher ranked than that.

70% on quant is 49, it seems. That is what you think is necessary for such a program?

Many thanks!



Also, today I took my first CAT on GMAT Official prep and got 45Q 45V - 730. Will a score like this hurt my chances? Many thanks for any and all help!

Best wishes.
GMAT Club Bot
gmatclubot
Re: Career Switcher help [#permalink]
28 Aug 2018, 12:50

Powered by phpBB © phpBB Group | Emoji artwork provided by EmojiOne
Main navigation
GMAT Resources
Partners
MBA Resources
www.gmac.com|www.mba.com | | GMAT Club Rules | Terms and Conditions