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Why do you need an MBA?

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autoexpect
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Good question why an MBA

I've been thinking almost a year about it and realised that it's the best way for me to challenge myself how well I can influence people..
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autoexpect
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It appears like a consensus that for most people, MBA is the aim-and the career position follows?

Just wanted to find out if i was alone in not having the career, but the MBA at the center of my quest.
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i dont think there's a wrong reason. Let's face it, not every applicant is gonna have the vision of being a saint in helping people. I know some people who gets it to advance in career which is a perfectly fine reason but one probably need to embellish it on the essays. Some people want to make more money in a post mba type job which again is fine imo but saying that in essay might not be a good idea. Most people who does mba probably want a better paying job/career or else it makes little sense to be unemployed with ~100k debt. Some might not admit it and might say something different in their essays - i guess you gotta play the admission's game.

for me personally I had the idea all along although it was not as specific as now. I started thinking about MBA after undergrad but i noticed the WE required so i laid low and focused on Master degree etc. I always had the idea of switch careers or at least make the management ladder on my field - i certainly DID NOT want to write software for the rest of my life!
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Someone should do a study on the success rate of MBA career goal essays. I was just reading an LBS' student's blog and she got in to LBS with the goal of moving from ibanking to non-profit work. Lo and behold post graduation she's back in ibanking. Honestly, I'm not sure why so much emphasis is given on career goals. I mean why does someone go to law school? Why do you go to med school? Do med school applicants need to know that their dream is to be a pediatrician? Isn't is enough to know that you want to be a doctor?

Maybe explains why Wharton trimmed their goals essay from 1000 words to 300. They want applicants to get to the point and give a concise summary of their professional objectives rather than blabber on how the MBA is going to lead them to their dream job.

My guess is not more than 20% of successful applicants live up to their short term goals in their applications. And probably less than 10% with long term goals. I know 3 people who have graduated from Kellogg, LBS and Booth recently and none of them envisioned they'd be doing what they are doing right now prior to starting their MBA.
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staind
Someone should do a study on the success rate of MBA career goal essays. I was just reading an LBS' student's blog and she got in to LBS with the goal of moving from ibanking to non-profit work. Lo and behold post graduation she's back in ibanking. Honestly, I'm not sure why so much emphasis is given on career goals. I mean why does someone go to law school? Why do you go to med school? Do med school applicants need to know that their dream is to be a pediatrician? Isn't is enough to know that you want to be a doctor?

Maybe explains why Wharton trimmed their goals essay from 1000 words to 300. They want applicants to get to the point and give a concise summary of their professional objectives rather than blabber on how the MBA is going to lead them to their dream job.

My guess is not more than 20% of successful applicants live up to their short term goals in their applications. And probably less than 10% with long term goals. I know 3 people who have graduated from Kellogg, LBS and Booth recently and none of them envisioned they'd be doing what they are doing right now prior to starting their MBA.


i agree. That's also the part of my head thinking people just tried to "get by" the essay and make a convincing story. And they will probably say they have "many goals" and they just wrote a very convincing goal that they will less likely to implement which doesnt make them liars.
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staind
Maybe explains why Wharton trimmed their goals essay from 1000 words to 300. They want applicants to get to the point and give a concise summary of their professional objectives rather than blabber on how the MBA is going to lead them to their dream job.

You might look at the career goal essay with a different angle. It s a very good tool to see if a candidate is able to position himself in the job market.
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staind
My guess is not more than 20% of successful applicants live up to their short term goals in their applications. And probably less than 10% with long term goals. I know 3 people who have graduated from Kellogg, LBS and Booth recently and none of them envisioned they'd be doing what they are doing right now prior to starting their MBA.

I think a lot of people simply write what they think adcom wants to hear. For the genuine people out their, their aspirations may change or the money is just too good in banking, consulting, etc. I think less than 10% of people in general - MBA or not - end up following their long-term goals.
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There's nothing wrong with not knowing for sure, but I'm not sure that's the point. Business schools want to know that you're able to at least articulate ONE career path. The fact that you'll probably choose something else isn't that big a deal to them. If you're able to research it, connect it back to your previous experience, and make it sound plausible, they at least know a good deal about you.

In addition, it kind of makes sure that every student at least has some idea when they go to business school of a path they could potentially take. With recruitment starting very quickly in business school, you don't actually have that much time to figure things out. Going in with some idea will help with that.

To my mind, I'd rather have someone who is able to talk specifically about whta they want to do, even though they're not really sure about it in their heart of hearts than someone who hasn't done the work to figure out one possibility.

Remember that essays are simply TOOLS for the adcomms. They serve no further purpose than to help sort people into admit and deny piles (or, if you want, "invite to interview, don't invite to interview" piles)
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Hello from the GMAT Club MBAbot!

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