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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.
17 May 2010, 22:19
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hey guys, Lee here. It’s been a while since I posted on the forum – it’s good to be back. I took the GMAT in 2008 and I’m ready to apply for B-school next year, in 2011. As I get ready to prepare my application, I want to get your opinions on what programs I realistically have a shot at and how I should present my case. So, don’t be shy, show me some love and leave me a comment or three.
My statics:
GPA: 3.12/4.00
GMAT: 720 (quant and verbal both in the 40s, 1st attempt)
My background:
I was born in Shanghai and lived in the US since I was 11. After graduating from Virginia Tech with a BS in Consumer Studies in 2006, I worked as a researcher at research firm iSuppli for the past three years. I’m currently 25 years old, and through some growing pains, found that I would like to focus on entrepreneurship for my MBA.
At Virginia Tech, I joined the Corps of Cadets for a year. During that year, I lived in cadet dorms, woke up at 6am every day for physical training and morning formation, marched to football games, ran a bunch of miles, and crewed in the mud on Saturday nights. It was great training for someone who had little discipline throughout high school.
I left the Corps my sophomore year and joined a bunch of student organizations. My goal was to lead a student organization to glory (haha, it’s a funny way to say it, but it was exactly how I felt). Virginia Tech is not a very diverse school – over 85% of the student body was white. After I joined the Asian American Student Union, I started the first Asian American Heritage Month celebration. The event was my gem and the university devoted the entire month of May to Asian American culture awareness.
After my one year stunt with student organization, I decided to start my own business in what I really enjoy at the moment– partying. I went around to all the bars and nightclubs in town and pitched the managers the idea of allowing me to promote for their club on certain off nights. I really didn’t know what this party promotion venture would become, but I just wanted it to be great. I did this for a year, hosting sometimes 3 to 4 events a week. It was an exciting time and it paid my bills. Awesome!
After graduating college, I joined iSuppli in Los Angeles doing research and analysis work forecasting company revenues and segmenting market shares. It was really good experience and I had a blast. My recent project is with the European Commission. Waking up at 2am to do conference calls is hell, but knowing that I had a little to do with the shaping of Europe makes it all worthwhile.
I’ve been with iSuppli for 3 years and it’s time to make a move. B-School is my next stop and I want to get into the best school I can. I like Columbia, Chicago, and Northwestern, but I know those are really tough to get into.
Well, this concludes an episode of All About Lee. Now it’s up to you, YES YOU, to participate in a little question answering.
1. What schools should I apply to? Remember, I want to do entrepreneurship.
2. How should I present myself in the essays?
Thanks guys. Let me know what’s up will ya?
My statics:
GPA: 3.12/4.00
GMAT: 720 (quant and verbal both in the 40s, 1st attempt)
My background:
I was born in Shanghai and lived in the US since I was 11. After graduating from Virginia Tech with a BS in Consumer Studies in 2006, I worked as a researcher at research firm iSuppli for the past three years. I’m currently 25 years old, and through some growing pains, found that I would like to focus on entrepreneurship for my MBA.
At Virginia Tech, I joined the Corps of Cadets for a year. During that year, I lived in cadet dorms, woke up at 6am every day for physical training and morning formation, marched to football games, ran a bunch of miles, and crewed in the mud on Saturday nights. It was great training for someone who had little discipline throughout high school.
I left the Corps my sophomore year and joined a bunch of student organizations. My goal was to lead a student organization to glory (haha, it’s a funny way to say it, but it was exactly how I felt). Virginia Tech is not a very diverse school – over 85% of the student body was white. After I joined the Asian American Student Union, I started the first Asian American Heritage Month celebration. The event was my gem and the university devoted the entire month of May to Asian American culture awareness.
After my one year stunt with student organization, I decided to start my own business in what I really enjoy at the moment– partying. I went around to all the bars and nightclubs in town and pitched the managers the idea of allowing me to promote for their club on certain off nights. I really didn’t know what this party promotion venture would become, but I just wanted it to be great. I did this for a year, hosting sometimes 3 to 4 events a week. It was an exciting time and it paid my bills. Awesome!
After graduating college, I joined iSuppli in Los Angeles doing research and analysis work forecasting company revenues and segmenting market shares. It was really good experience and I had a blast. My recent project is with the European Commission. Waking up at 2am to do conference calls is hell, but knowing that I had a little to do with the shaping of Europe makes it all worthwhile.
I’ve been with iSuppli for 3 years and it’s time to make a move. B-School is my next stop and I want to get into the best school I can. I like Columbia, Chicago, and Northwestern, but I know those are really tough to get into.
Well, this concludes an episode of All About Lee. Now it’s up to you, YES YOU, to participate in a little question answering.
1. What schools should I apply to? Remember, I want to do entrepreneurship.
2. How should I present myself in the essays?
Thanks guys. Let me know what’s up will ya?
18 May 2010, 01:12
Kudos
Bookmarks
Lee!
I remember meeting you at one of my LA MBA Workshops. Strange we meet again here. I remember Tech and iSuppli. I hope all has been going well. Small world.
I have posted the following ad nauseum but I wanted to get this out in front of you as the what schools should I apply to really depend on specific short and longer term career goals. You have the background from my cursory examination, but your career goals have to pull you through the process, forming an air-tight continuum. Otherwise, you have cracks in the armor and run the risk of looking undifferentiated (best case) or fabricated (worst case).
I know I spoke briefly about this during the LA MBA Admissions Workshop but I wanted to bring up the high level framework I use to really put priorities in order. I call it the MBA Acceptance Equation (TM):
GMAT (at or near the school's mean) + GPA (undergrad performance and leadership activities) + Work Experience (current, past leadership roles) + Personal Passions and Philanthropic Pursuits (consistent history of extracurricular leadership) + Why MBA? (describe what the degree will do in general) + Why MBA from this program? (indicated by the school's pedagogy) + Why Now? (sense of urgency)= Short Term (tactical/immediately upon graduation) + Longer Term Goals (5+ years out and waxes philosophic)
You have to hit on the above to be a competitive candidate at any School X. Keep in mind that the GMAt is the first and highest hurdle to clear. It's like a bouncer manning the rope at a club on Sunset. It is the price of admission and a 720 keeps you in the game at any top program. As a general rule of 25, you want your GMAT to be within 25 points of the mean. The same goes with your GPA, which is a little low for top programs. I recommend taking a few CEUs in the core MBA courses. So log onto a local CC website and see if you can take anything online in Stats, Econ, Fin/Acct and make sure you get an "A". The adcom does not care about the name of the school, just that you gained credit and got the "A".
One you full clear the GMAT/GPA hurdle, you want to move onto your work experience. Your first question around W/E should be around the size/reputation of your firm and your leadership within it. How many other project managers or consultants waking up to take these 2 AM calls? Are you the Head Lee in Charge? That is, are a you a leader among peers? You need to stress your ability to wear many hats and work closely with C-level individuals and decision makers to get things done. Perhaps stress how your jack of all trades nature goes beyond title and formal authority within your essays.
Moving onto the next part of the equation: personal passions and philanthropic pursuits (P/P/P/P). I did not gain a clear understanding of this through your original post. Party people are cool but you need to bring it into the hear and now and turn it into something greater than fun. If you can restart this type of organizational activity and put a fundraising spin on it, I'm in for a drink. Take what you have a passion for and mold it into something for the greater good. In this way, you will begin to create a logical connection to your longer term goals. Remember, the adcom will know that you are a smart guy. Make sure that you are labeled as smart guy who utilizes it for the good for others to break any self-serving or not good in a team oriented environment image they could have in their mind. You need to break this stereotype with your P/P/P/P.
This brings us to the Why MBA? Why this school? part of the equation. Why MBA is fairly easy - it's related to the Peter Principle and it is customized to your specific case. I know that in analytical work, the MBA is a rite of passage. However, you have to put forth the case that you are maxing out your current skill set and to be as damn effective as you have in the past, you need the strategic skills that an MBA can provide.
So then, why this school? This is something you left as a very open ended question that requires a large amount of homework on your part. Take the Acceptance Equation and line it up with what you learn about each program. Do you pass each school's GMAT/GPA hurdle? If so, do your goals align with what the program can offer? As an example, I explain more in a guide I wrote on Applying to HBS (https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/mba_r ... ite_paper/), you can download it via the link. This is how you should begin thinking about a specific program. If you have more questions, I can help you with this.
The above represents the left side of the MBA Acceptance equation. Parts of this have to be articulated in your essays (if you want a starting point on what you need to start writing about.) This have to sum logically in order to reach the right side of the equation and for you to not look like a half-baked applicant in the eyes of the admissions committee. To put it another way, all parts have to build on each other, so you look like you were preparing to enter the pearly gates of HBS (or School X) from the day you came into this world.
The right side of the equation is made up of your logically connecting short and longer term goals that build on the left side of the equation. This is what particularly concerned me about your original post. I did not see a mention of what you really plan on articulating as your short and longer term goals. As I mentioned earlier, these goals have to pull you through the process and make your story airtight. Unrealistic and shoddy goals are the 2nd most frequent reason for rejection (after a low GMAT).
It is critically important that your short term goals is actionable. Remember, short term goals are tactical so that the admissions committee can report to US News that 97% of their graduates are employed 3 months after graduation. No joke, you have to lay out a specific game plan irrespective of a 720 GMAT score.
The longer term goal is a career path that is 5+ years after graduation. Again, this has to build on your short term goal which builds on your current W/E. Again, no zigs or zags. MBA program are not a place to find yourself. The important part of a logical long-term goal is that it should be more philanthropic in nature. That is, it starts to incorporate elements of your P/P/P/P. So, in the longer term, you are going to be a person who actually gives back to society, a profession and a cause. Again, to beat this drum, the critical piece in the equation is going to be to show differentiation by really blowing out your P/P/P/P and showing a strong connection to your longer term goals.
See how this works? It's not a secret sauce but rather an applicant who has thought about what he wants to do and has his **** together. As base as this sounds, your differentiation is having your stuff together. This makes you a candidate with a fighting "chance."
In closing, I would like to offer up my resources beyond the LA MBA Admissions Workshop. I would like to speak to you over the phone for a consultation (pro grata). This conversation would probably last an hour to 90 minutes. Please PM me and let me know if this is something you would be interested in. I don't hard sell but I know that my comments above will open up more questions. Speaking over the phone would allow me to be as honest and forthright as possible.
Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti
I remember meeting you at one of my LA MBA Workshops. Strange we meet again here. I remember Tech and iSuppli. I hope all has been going well. Small world.
I have posted the following ad nauseum but I wanted to get this out in front of you as the what schools should I apply to really depend on specific short and longer term career goals. You have the background from my cursory examination, but your career goals have to pull you through the process, forming an air-tight continuum. Otherwise, you have cracks in the armor and run the risk of looking undifferentiated (best case) or fabricated (worst case).
I know I spoke briefly about this during the LA MBA Admissions Workshop but I wanted to bring up the high level framework I use to really put priorities in order. I call it the MBA Acceptance Equation (TM):
GMAT (at or near the school's mean) + GPA (undergrad performance and leadership activities) + Work Experience (current, past leadership roles) + Personal Passions and Philanthropic Pursuits (consistent history of extracurricular leadership) + Why MBA? (describe what the degree will do in general) + Why MBA from this program? (indicated by the school's pedagogy) + Why Now? (sense of urgency)= Short Term (tactical/immediately upon graduation) + Longer Term Goals (5+ years out and waxes philosophic)
You have to hit on the above to be a competitive candidate at any School X. Keep in mind that the GMAt is the first and highest hurdle to clear. It's like a bouncer manning the rope at a club on Sunset. It is the price of admission and a 720 keeps you in the game at any top program. As a general rule of 25, you want your GMAT to be within 25 points of the mean. The same goes with your GPA, which is a little low for top programs. I recommend taking a few CEUs in the core MBA courses. So log onto a local CC website and see if you can take anything online in Stats, Econ, Fin/Acct and make sure you get an "A". The adcom does not care about the name of the school, just that you gained credit and got the "A".
One you full clear the GMAT/GPA hurdle, you want to move onto your work experience. Your first question around W/E should be around the size/reputation of your firm and your leadership within it. How many other project managers or consultants waking up to take these 2 AM calls? Are you the Head Lee in Charge? That is, are a you a leader among peers? You need to stress your ability to wear many hats and work closely with C-level individuals and decision makers to get things done. Perhaps stress how your jack of all trades nature goes beyond title and formal authority within your essays.
Moving onto the next part of the equation: personal passions and philanthropic pursuits (P/P/P/P). I did not gain a clear understanding of this through your original post. Party people are cool but you need to bring it into the hear and now and turn it into something greater than fun. If you can restart this type of organizational activity and put a fundraising spin on it, I'm in for a drink. Take what you have a passion for and mold it into something for the greater good. In this way, you will begin to create a logical connection to your longer term goals. Remember, the adcom will know that you are a smart guy. Make sure that you are labeled as smart guy who utilizes it for the good for others to break any self-serving or not good in a team oriented environment image they could have in their mind. You need to break this stereotype with your P/P/P/P.
This brings us to the Why MBA? Why this school? part of the equation. Why MBA is fairly easy - it's related to the Peter Principle and it is customized to your specific case. I know that in analytical work, the MBA is a rite of passage. However, you have to put forth the case that you are maxing out your current skill set and to be as damn effective as you have in the past, you need the strategic skills that an MBA can provide.
So then, why this school? This is something you left as a very open ended question that requires a large amount of homework on your part. Take the Acceptance Equation and line it up with what you learn about each program. Do you pass each school's GMAT/GPA hurdle? If so, do your goals align with what the program can offer? As an example, I explain more in a guide I wrote on Applying to HBS (https://www.amerasiaconsulting.com/mba_r ... ite_paper/), you can download it via the link. This is how you should begin thinking about a specific program. If you have more questions, I can help you with this.
The above represents the left side of the MBA Acceptance equation. Parts of this have to be articulated in your essays (if you want a starting point on what you need to start writing about.) This have to sum logically in order to reach the right side of the equation and for you to not look like a half-baked applicant in the eyes of the admissions committee. To put it another way, all parts have to build on each other, so you look like you were preparing to enter the pearly gates of HBS (or School X) from the day you came into this world.
The right side of the equation is made up of your logically connecting short and longer term goals that build on the left side of the equation. This is what particularly concerned me about your original post. I did not see a mention of what you really plan on articulating as your short and longer term goals. As I mentioned earlier, these goals have to pull you through the process and make your story airtight. Unrealistic and shoddy goals are the 2nd most frequent reason for rejection (after a low GMAT).
It is critically important that your short term goals is actionable. Remember, short term goals are tactical so that the admissions committee can report to US News that 97% of their graduates are employed 3 months after graduation. No joke, you have to lay out a specific game plan irrespective of a 720 GMAT score.
The longer term goal is a career path that is 5+ years after graduation. Again, this has to build on your short term goal which builds on your current W/E. Again, no zigs or zags. MBA program are not a place to find yourself. The important part of a logical long-term goal is that it should be more philanthropic in nature. That is, it starts to incorporate elements of your P/P/P/P. So, in the longer term, you are going to be a person who actually gives back to society, a profession and a cause. Again, to beat this drum, the critical piece in the equation is going to be to show differentiation by really blowing out your P/P/P/P and showing a strong connection to your longer term goals.
See how this works? It's not a secret sauce but rather an applicant who has thought about what he wants to do and has his **** together. As base as this sounds, your differentiation is having your stuff together. This makes you a candidate with a fighting "chance."
In closing, I would like to offer up my resources beyond the LA MBA Admissions Workshop. I would like to speak to you over the phone for a consultation (pro grata). This conversation would probably last an hour to 90 minutes. Please PM me and let me know if this is something you would be interested in. I don't hard sell but I know that my comments above will open up more questions. Speaking over the phone would allow me to be as honest and forthright as possible.
Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti
leeye84
