The Exciting Applications Adventure Known as the MBA
March 21st, 2007 by Larry
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Loading ...“You need to build a business mindset.”
How many times have I heard this sentence from my manager? The problem is, no matter how well ICS trains us to deal with users, there is certain terminology, skills, and analysis that computer science grads just can’t learn in ICS 121. This is not to say that we couldn’t learn these skills on the job. Further, we could take weekend courses, learn from our business minded peers, or learn from our “expert” co-workers and learn about how to work in Finance or Marketing and help them build a better tool to make their jobs easier.
Before I dive into the art of the application, I want to make one note: I’ve always known I would get an MBA yet I still pursued an ICS degree as an undergrad. I am so glad I went through the Klefstad training. He threw us into the deep end of the pool and we were able to tread water. Some better than others but the lessons we learned stuck with us. I feel I can approach a problem from a very high level with users down to a very low level with other engineers. This type of education cannot be replaced from any other field of study. I actually said this during my interview.
So why pursue an MBA?
If you can’t answer this question, you should not be applying. This is critical. I strongly believe an MBA is not for soul searching purposes. Further, I also believe an MBA should not be viewed as a passport towards a six-figure salary. Besides, I’m not even a half decade removed from school and a lot of my friends from the class of 2003 are going to be hitting that six-figure mark soon so an MBA for that purpose would be absolutely useless.
However, if you have a good idea of why you want to go, and you are ready to apply, hopefully you can learn from some of my mistakes. Hopefully, you can use some of my advice. So now you’re thinking, why does Larry think he has the answer. To be honest, I don’t. I don’t have any insight on admissions committees or business schools. But, I am on the path for an MBA and I welcome you to enjoy the journey with me.
Total Schools Applied: 12
Schools Accepted: Univ. of Oxford (Said), UCLA (Anderson), Purdue (Krannert): w/scholarship
Schools Waitlisted: Duke (Fuqua), Georgetown (McDonough)
Because I’ve had so many interviews, read so many books and magazines (I counted 10 full books on my shelf), it seems like business schools look for the following: work experience, GPA, GMAT, leadership experience, community service, and extracurricular activities. They also all seem to like diverse individuals who stand out among their peers. Basically, they want you to be the next CEO of a company. They also don’t want you to be the CEO of Enron 2.
Before I end up writing a book, I think the biggest factor applicants are lacking are the extracurriculars. We can’t help our GPA too much and everyone will have a competitive GMAT Score (600 for middle tier schools; 700 for top tier schools). Essentially, we all look the same on paper. The three places you can really stand out are on your extracurriculars, interviews, and essays.
I can’t stress enough how important your activities will be because they translate into great interview and essay topics. Seriously, if I look at your resume and I see Computer Engineer, Systems Analyst, DBA, etc. I don’t think an MBA interviewer is going to care what you do as long as you have a nice career progression. They’d probably be more interested in a part-time professional piano player who can stroke piano keys just as well as keyboard keys. I know I’d rather hear about how you charmed your clients through an evening of fine dining than how you implemented the Rational Requisite Suite for the 40th time on a project only to find out difficult it was to integrate overlapping and conflicting modules.
Find a passion, find an activity and really try to involve yourself in things outside of work. Be a leader in the community. Become a marathon runner. Help a high schooler find his way to his dream college. These impacts translate to your work and the admissions committee will see this.
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Haha, ditto on Klefstad’s class. I still get the chills.
Congratulations on getting into some top schools! I’m curious to hear how you managed your time between applying and your day job. Any advice you can share?
We all work pretty hard. In fact, we’ve probably been working hard since high school. We tried to get A’s, played sports or practiced music, we participated in community service or tried to become the next President of Key Club. Essentially, I’ve been doing that ever since.
On the weekends, when I have nothing to do, when I lay there in bed or lounge on the couch, I actually feel bad. I have this strange feeling that my peers are catching me and surpassing me, so I get a sudden moment of wanting to do something more to compete.
Most of the time, we stay sitting, letting this feeling take us over. I decided to not let that happen. I thought, if I traded in 1 full month of studying for the GMAT, the potential trade off could be a lifetime of tools necessary to start a company or enter into management. If this happened, I essentially traded in 1 month/150 hours of studying for a lifetime of money.
We all work really hard at work, and we all leave at different times. But I decided to not put in an extra hour at work, and always left at 6 PM. I would get home, eat dinner real quickly, and put together a 4 hour study session every night for a little over a month. During that time, I had planned a trip to Cancun. So what did I do? I did two practice tests on the plane ride. I enjoyed my cancun trip. While people were napping on the beach, I went back to the room, sat on the porch, and looked at some more questions. I was still able to enjoy the sun but I also had my eyes on the book.
It’s a sacrifice. But ask any business owner or billionaire and I guarantee you they made huge sacrifices early on. I just took the approach of a business owner.
Weekends, I would study 6-8 hours. And after a month, I took my test.
This was the exact same mentality I took when filling out the applications, when writing the essays, when practicing the interviews.
I wrote about 30 essays, perhaps 4 real revisions (9 in revisions in some cases). I practiced my interviews for 20 hours straight over a weekend period. Then additional hours in between. But if you put in a few months of effort, it could translate into a lifetime of benefit.
Good Luck Jesse.
Interesting about the MBA.