Moss wrote:
I know that many schools want you to have clearly defined career goals in your essays, but then understand that a significant number of applicants show up to business school completely undecided on what they want, or simply change their minds throughout the process. I wouldn't necessarily be disingenuous in your essays, but as long as you have a thoughtful, well-planned, reasonable short-term career goal, you're going to be checking the box.
I think the idea is that if you can illustrate that you can map out an attainable plan in your essays, even if your specific goals change, you should still be able to apply that same reasoned approach to whatever your ultimate career path becomes.
If one of your goals was particularly competitive, such as something with the buy-side, I would possibly consider "playing it safe" with a different career path. This isn't even that unreasonable, as you may be forced to change directions either way with something so competitive. That said, media roles aren't exactly a sure thing, and you aren't playing to Booth's forte as a finance school. Either way, just go with what feels right -- you probably can't go wrong as long as you're thoughtful, you've done your homework, and you can clearly articulate why you're passionate about the particular goal. Best of luck!
Yeah - I guess the tricky part here is both goals are hyper-competitive, but what isn't nowadays. I saw buy-side as less of a risk because my experience is more suited to it and Booth is as well (relative to some other top 10 schools), but given the absurd supply/demand imbalance of course it still wouldn't be easy.
That said, I'm sure adcoms aren't shoo-ing away applicants just because they're seeking to go down a competitive path. The key as you say is finding the fine line between projecting confidence that it is achievable (which is accomplished with a clearly defined plan and credentials to support your eligibility) and stating the unreasonable (e.g. "I plan on getting into VC right after my MBA with no operational/deal experience") in your application.
In regard to the non-buyside path not playing to Booth's strengths, I have to assume, especially after hearing that the school is making concerted efforts to become more "dynamic" in the public's eye and shed the "just finance" image, that they would look favorably on candidates that are targeting non-traditional careers. Non-traditional for them, that is. Do you agree?