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23 Jun 2019, 10:50
Kudos
Bookmarks
Background:
26, Asian Male
Academics:
Undergraduate: UCLA
GPA: 3.86 (Magna Cum Laude)
Major: Chemical Engineering
GMAT: 720 (Q: 48, V: 40, IR: 3, AWA: 4)*
*I plan to write an essay addressing my low IR/AWA scores. Key points for that essay are as follows:
- When I officially decided to go for an MBA (March 2019), my work was going through a work intensive maintenance window.
- I was working ~80 hours a week, 6 days a week, including days/night shifts for 12 weeks
- I tried studying while working 80 hrs a week, but the physical and mental fatigue made it tough (my work entails physical activity - climbing through equipment for inspections & technical analysis during this maintenance window).
- When the maintenance window ended, I had to transition from night shifts and had effectively 3 weeks to study.
- With verbal reasoning being my weakest subject, I choose to focus on that.
- With a relatively strong work experience and GPA, I felt that would help bolster my IR/AWA scores (and even my quant score).
- Instead of retaking the GMAT, I felt my time was better suited researching MBA programs, determining post-MBA career, & determining what I would do with my time at different MBA programs to achieve the post MBA career.
Work Exp:
4 years (currently) as a Process Engineer at a Fortune 50 petroleum refining company
A sample of major projects/achievements include the following:
- Leading interdisciplinary teams to remove equipment deficiencies & increase unit reliability
- Optimizing process unit to increase throughput & generate millions of dollar/year in profit
Extra curricular:
I am very big on mentorship so a lot of my extra cirriculars reflect this:
- Mentorship roles in a few engineering clubs as an undergrad. Help set up various events including: UCLA's Engineering Welcome Day, resume workshops, interview/internship prep, etc.
- Recruiting lead at UCLA for my company. This extends to being involved in our internship program as a supervisor & buddy. Also I have been involved with my local high school students (through my company) with discussions about college, STEM fields, career fairs, resumes, etc.
Goal:
Ideally, I hope to make a joint degree program that has exposure to tech to help switch in Tech as a product manager.
My current role has me communicating with a wide audience from engineers, operators (essentially our customers), and management, so I feel like this aspect translates smoothly. The reason I am pursuing and MBA to learn the business side of this role (different analytical tools/metrics, case studies, hands on experience, etc.) and also learn more about the tech space (joining clubs, learning how to code, etc.)
Target Schools:
MIT Sloan, Kellogg, Chicago, Wharton, HBS, GSB, Haas, Anderson, McCombs
I am planning to apply this fall for 2020 admit. I choose these schools based on the programs & the location. I still need to do more research into the culture/fit and other resources that would help my career goals.
Thanks! Please do let me know how realistic/unrealistic the goals are or if there are areas of my profile I need to address to make myself more competitive. Also, if there are other schools with a strong Tech MBA that I should be considering, please let me know.
26, Asian Male
Academics:
Undergraduate: UCLA
GPA: 3.86 (Magna Cum Laude)
Major: Chemical Engineering
GMAT: 720 (Q: 48, V: 40, IR: 3, AWA: 4)*
*I plan to write an essay addressing my low IR/AWA scores. Key points for that essay are as follows:
- When I officially decided to go for an MBA (March 2019), my work was going through a work intensive maintenance window.
- I was working ~80 hours a week, 6 days a week, including days/night shifts for 12 weeks
- I tried studying while working 80 hrs a week, but the physical and mental fatigue made it tough (my work entails physical activity - climbing through equipment for inspections & technical analysis during this maintenance window).
- When the maintenance window ended, I had to transition from night shifts and had effectively 3 weeks to study.
- With verbal reasoning being my weakest subject, I choose to focus on that.
- With a relatively strong work experience and GPA, I felt that would help bolster my IR/AWA scores (and even my quant score).
- Instead of retaking the GMAT, I felt my time was better suited researching MBA programs, determining post-MBA career, & determining what I would do with my time at different MBA programs to achieve the post MBA career.
Work Exp:
4 years (currently) as a Process Engineer at a Fortune 50 petroleum refining company
A sample of major projects/achievements include the following:
- Leading interdisciplinary teams to remove equipment deficiencies & increase unit reliability
- Optimizing process unit to increase throughput & generate millions of dollar/year in profit
Extra curricular:
I am very big on mentorship so a lot of my extra cirriculars reflect this:
- Mentorship roles in a few engineering clubs as an undergrad. Help set up various events including: UCLA's Engineering Welcome Day, resume workshops, interview/internship prep, etc.
- Recruiting lead at UCLA for my company. This extends to being involved in our internship program as a supervisor & buddy. Also I have been involved with my local high school students (through my company) with discussions about college, STEM fields, career fairs, resumes, etc.
Goal:
Ideally, I hope to make a joint degree program that has exposure to tech to help switch in Tech as a product manager.
My current role has me communicating with a wide audience from engineers, operators (essentially our customers), and management, so I feel like this aspect translates smoothly. The reason I am pursuing and MBA to learn the business side of this role (different analytical tools/metrics, case studies, hands on experience, etc.) and also learn more about the tech space (joining clubs, learning how to code, etc.)
Target Schools:
MIT Sloan, Kellogg, Chicago, Wharton, HBS, GSB, Haas, Anderson, McCombs
I am planning to apply this fall for 2020 admit. I choose these schools based on the programs & the location. I still need to do more research into the culture/fit and other resources that would help my career goals.
Thanks! Please do let me know how realistic/unrealistic the goals are or if there are areas of my profile I need to address to make myself more competitive. Also, if there are other schools with a strong Tech MBA that I should be considering, please let me know.
26 Jun 2019, 03:31
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi There,
I don't quite agree with your optional essay about the low IR/ AWA score. You have written that you were busy around March 2019, but eventually had 3 weeks to study for GMAT. I think you could have pushed the GMAT date if you weren't ready then and knew you had some areas to really study hard for. Eventually, a huge number of applicants make that judgment call about whether to retake GMAT or not. Some of them land up retaking close to R1 deadlines. So in this scenario, I think writing an essay on why you could not retake it is not justified, rather it sounds like an excuse. Either you go ahead with the current score, or you retake GMAT - but don't justify through the optional essay.
You'll have to make a strong case for why you want to move from ops in the oil and gas industry to a product manager role in a tech company. What transferable skills do you have that will make a recruiter hire you? Moreover, what is the motivation for and what is your personal experience with this new goal? I believe that just because a new career fascinates you is not reason enough to move into it, there has to be a stronger reason than this.
You don't need a double degree for becoming a product manager, most MBA programs can help you achieve this goal. The IT recruitments have increased steadily in US business schools over the years and many applicants vie for product manager roles after the MBA, so its not an uncommon career path. (On another note, your optional essay story is likely to rub the adcom the wrong way- double degree programs are hugely busy and you would not want to tell the adcom that the workload could be a burden upon you).
In terms of b-schools, you should also consider Ross, Duke, Kenan Flagler and Tepper for IT/product manager recruitments.
I don't quite agree with your optional essay about the low IR/ AWA score. You have written that you were busy around March 2019, but eventually had 3 weeks to study for GMAT. I think you could have pushed the GMAT date if you weren't ready then and knew you had some areas to really study hard for. Eventually, a huge number of applicants make that judgment call about whether to retake GMAT or not. Some of them land up retaking close to R1 deadlines. So in this scenario, I think writing an essay on why you could not retake it is not justified, rather it sounds like an excuse. Either you go ahead with the current score, or you retake GMAT - but don't justify through the optional essay.
You'll have to make a strong case for why you want to move from ops in the oil and gas industry to a product manager role in a tech company. What transferable skills do you have that will make a recruiter hire you? Moreover, what is the motivation for and what is your personal experience with this new goal? I believe that just because a new career fascinates you is not reason enough to move into it, there has to be a stronger reason than this.
You don't need a double degree for becoming a product manager, most MBA programs can help you achieve this goal. The IT recruitments have increased steadily in US business schools over the years and many applicants vie for product manager roles after the MBA, so its not an uncommon career path. (On another note, your optional essay story is likely to rub the adcom the wrong way- double degree programs are hugely busy and you would not want to tell the adcom that the workload could be a burden upon you).
In terms of b-schools, you should also consider Ross, Duke, Kenan Flagler and Tepper for IT/product manager recruitments.
27 Jun 2019, 17:04
Kudos
Bookmarks
MBADecoder, thanks for the input! Your response to my OE is the prevailing thought so I'm glad I reached out about it. Also great point about how that ties into how Adcoms will view this with joint degrees.
