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May 0507:00 PM EDT
-08:00 PM EDT
In this live 60-minute masterclass, How to Get Ahead of MBA Recruiting Now, we’ll walk through the four biggest mistakes incoming MBAs make and how to avoid them so you’re not scrambling to catch up once recruiting begins.
May 0710:00 AM EDT
-10:30 AM EDT
Sia Admissions Founder Susan Berishaj is covering this live on YouTube, May 7: how admissions committees actually evaluate goals statements, who is in the room, and why the goals statement most applicants submit wouldn't survive that conversation.
26 Nov 2019, 21:08
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Meet Peter, an academic researcher from China. He had a 700 GMAT and was targeting top B-schools in the U.S. northeast.
The Challenge
Peter had essentially NO business experience. He had never worked in a corporate position, started his own company, or managed any operation of any enterprise. Peter’s entire career was spent in school and in the lab, doing chemistry. He now wanted to go directly from his PhD into an MBA, something very few people do. To add to this challenge, he was near the bottom of the GMAT range for his target schools. We had to convince the adcom that Peter was serious about business, even though he had little evidence of prior interest in the field.
Possible Approaches
Despite his nontraditional background, Peter did have some leadership experience. He led a few interdisciplinary research teams, and was eager to make this the focus of his essays. The argument would have been something like “I might not have ever managed a budget or product, but I know people. My time leading research teams made me realize I like this aspect of my work the best, so I’m seeking an MBA to pivot to a more people-focused role.” Sounds fine! But the problem with this approach is that leadership at school or in the lab is very different from leadership in a profit-making enterprise. Peter was dealing with students who had volunteered to work in his lab—he didn’t have to negotiate salary, motivate interest in his project, manage a budget, cut costs, deal with HR issues, etc. In effect, the university administration was handling half the leadership role.
The Admissionado Approach
We recommended that Peter focus instead on how his scientific work related to his desire for an MBA. Unlike most newly minted PhDs, Peter had already earned a patent for a potentially very important advance in the material sciences. The technology had the potential to make a lot of money—if he could bring it to market. Fortunately, Peter was an Advanced Planning client. What was initially just a patent and some papers, could have become the nucleus of a business in the time between our first consultation and Peter’s target application season. So, we pounced. We recommended he start laying the foundation for a company based on his tech. By attending conferences and applying for grants, Peter was able to make a compelling case that his tech was ready for the business world. Now he had a clear NEED for an MBA.
The Result
Peter was admitted to Yale, among other schools.
The Challenge
Peter had essentially NO business experience. He had never worked in a corporate position, started his own company, or managed any operation of any enterprise. Peter’s entire career was spent in school and in the lab, doing chemistry. He now wanted to go directly from his PhD into an MBA, something very few people do. To add to this challenge, he was near the bottom of the GMAT range for his target schools. We had to convince the adcom that Peter was serious about business, even though he had little evidence of prior interest in the field.
Possible Approaches
Despite his nontraditional background, Peter did have some leadership experience. He led a few interdisciplinary research teams, and was eager to make this the focus of his essays. The argument would have been something like “I might not have ever managed a budget or product, but I know people. My time leading research teams made me realize I like this aspect of my work the best, so I’m seeking an MBA to pivot to a more people-focused role.” Sounds fine! But the problem with this approach is that leadership at school or in the lab is very different from leadership in a profit-making enterprise. Peter was dealing with students who had volunteered to work in his lab—he didn’t have to negotiate salary, motivate interest in his project, manage a budget, cut costs, deal with HR issues, etc. In effect, the university administration was handling half the leadership role.
The Admissionado Approach
We recommended that Peter focus instead on how his scientific work related to his desire for an MBA. Unlike most newly minted PhDs, Peter had already earned a patent for a potentially very important advance in the material sciences. The technology had the potential to make a lot of money—if he could bring it to market. Fortunately, Peter was an Advanced Planning client. What was initially just a patent and some papers, could have become the nucleus of a business in the time between our first consultation and Peter’s target application season. So, we pounced. We recommended he start laying the foundation for a company based on his tech. By attending conferences and applying for grants, Peter was able to make a compelling case that his tech was ready for the business world. Now he had a clear NEED for an MBA.
The Result
Peter was admitted to Yale, among other schools.
