The Road to MBA Land – fact and insight February 15, 2007
Posted by avjohn in Business, Education, MBA Admissions.add a comment
Its a bumpy ride – believe me, I’ve fallen twice, risen and moved on, nurturing bruises all the way. An MBA wasn’t ever a dream I saw even on most high spirited nights. Then geek existence of mine, all I wished (perhaps in too much earnest) was to write code !! I sat for 8 hour non stop interviews , tickled gray cell land all I could; to what end – landing a plush coding job ! Why ? I say – seeing the outputs of induced knowledge.
5 years into code land, 3 jobs later, I saw the light – yup, the end of the endless tunnel kind of one, which raises you to that weed like high.
The Why
The most right on reason – just not living for the status quo, the quest for new tricks when a whole bunch ceases to thrill.
Thrill seeking and the ensuing desire for change were my drivers through this process. I’m sure every admit has their ubiquitous yet unique drivers.
Ladies and Gentlemen, getting this right, is key. Sit down, stand up, do acrobatic yoga, listen to music (yes ! rock music) , get high – do whatever you have to get this right. Believe me its time worth your while.
Almost all schools are really intent on understanding your why – ever so evident from those essays – you wouldn’t believe how many ways these committees figure out to ask a simple question – Why ?
The When
Once you’ve got your why driving, its just a matter of deciding when to take the pit stop. The when, ever so conveniently, for me happened when it was time to get knotted down (I stick to the argument that I didn’t really rig the panel to get me off the hook from the impending lifelong commitment!)
The How
This is the most painstaking if not mundane part of the process. But hey there ain’t no skipping this biggy.
Get the schools right (you need to define right), understand their process in detail, track their deadlines, schedule the apping process ( so unlike me you don’t end up scrambling to write essays a week before the deadline !), starting with when to hit the GMAT to when to app, when to finish, who the reviewers should be – the whole shebang.
Here’s where you get to write treatises/give speeches on leadership, short term goals mating with long term goals to spawn success all the way. This is one of those on the pedestal moments – make good use of it.
Bottom line, getting through to B-School isn’t always a cake walk. Know what your getting into, and why, the rest is a mostly an expression of your why and your persona on paper.
Good luck to applicants – buzz me in case you think there are walls (one or more) keeping your MBA dream at bay. I’ll see what I can do to help!
