Really appreciate your feedback.
Resh16 wrote:
Hi Linda, please find the answers below:
1. Did you work full-time at all as an architect?
While pursuing Curiosity kills the cat, I worked as an architect on a project basis for a cumulative period of 1.5 years.
It was on a part-time basis.
2. What do you plan to do post-MBA? It's not clear to me from your post.
A. Curiosity Kills the cat started with a focus on illustration. I exhibited and sold the artwork at over 50 events such as Comic cons across India & Singapore over the course of the 4 years. This helped build my interpersonal, managerial and sales skills significantly.
As the brand grew, I realised that an understanding of how to scale the business would have been very resourceful. In general, better client interaction, hiring the right people and knowing where and when to invest in order to make the brand grow would have helped me achieve more success with my venture.
The venture also brought a shift in my outlook and interests. While the brand started because of an interest in art, over the course of 4 years as I became involved with the ops and management, my interests shifted to handling the business side of things rather than being the artist behind it.
Overall, it was a great learning curve, and I’m keen on building the skillsets I’ve acquired by way of running a brand.
B. My professional experience post curiosity kills the cat has gravitated towards startups. During my short stint at a branding studio where I handled project management and brand strategy, I was able to set into place efficient work allocation systems for the designers which increased the efficiency of the studio and allowed us to accept more projects.
The nature of the projects led to my involvement on a campaign-level of the brands, so I made the decision to move to a startup where I was in the thick of things; involved with brand ideation, strategy & communication - in a sector I was passionate about
Clubbed with my startup experience in these 3 fields and the holistic-business thinking I will be exposed to through an MBA, I’m hoping to work in a strategical capacity at a tech/impact startup post graduation.
3. How long have you been at SocialStar?
I have been working at Socialstar since May 2019.
4. How long have you been working full-time? When did you graduate?
I graduated in July 2014.
Feb 2014 - June 2018:
Curiosity kills the cat + Architecture
August 2018 - Jan 2019:
Project management & Strategy at a branding studio, LOCAL
Jan 2019 - March 2019:
Pursued a project involving the recycling of billboards
May 2019 - present
I’ve been working at Socialstar
Thanks in advance!!
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Hi Resh16,
thanks for the additional information. Stanford would I think find your experience intriguing, but your stats are low for Stanford. Were your grades on the U.S. 4.0 system or did you translate them? If the latter, what was your percentage ? And then there's the GMAT. If you get around 700, that's low, especially for an Indian at Stanford. If you get 720 or more, it's in the ballpark.
So I think Stanford is a stretch, but it would be a great program for you if you got in. I would encourage you to apply to it, but also apply to programs like UCLA, Marshall, UT Austin, UNC, and Duke Fuqua. These are schools with strength in entrepreneurship and where you will be more competitive.
You might be interested in joining me tomorrow for a webinar I'm presenting
"Get Accepted to Stanford Graduate School of Business.". It's offered at two different times on Wednesday. You can register at the link I just provided.
Best,
Linda