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FightMBA

Hi Jason

I've just spent one morning reading through all your posts. They're very helpful! Thank you for all the time invested!

I believe application to MBA is one of the processes that helps me figure out how I want to proceed towards my goals. So it's important for me to evaluate MBA until the moment I accept an offer.

So far I've done Equity Research for 3 years, I want to be a Portfolio Manager in mutual fund or hedge fund in short-term and I want to set up my own fund in the long-run. Per my direct supervisor, there is no obvious reason for me to leave my position because I'm doing great at it and this can lead to what I want eventually.

At this moment I think the value MBA brings in is a chance to restructure knowledge system, more exposure outside investment industry and inspire more personality out of me. I'm still very young because I went into this industry directly after undergraduate.

It's hard to compare the gains vs the loss. I choose MBA application JUST following my heart.

Do I need to dig more into the unspeakable part of "following my heart"?

How do you view this personally and from the aspect of a Wharton-MBA?

Thanks!

cannedpineapple

I would say don't do it. The MBA is a means to an end. If you can achieve that ends without the MBA, then why waste time and money?

Besides, as you mention you are still young. Even at age 40+, 50+, people can still do EMBAs. If your goals change later, it's not too late.

Like any investment (which is exactly what the MBA is), do it with a goal in mind.

sheilaring

Jason has given me some feedbacks on the whole wharton package and I would like to thank him for his precious time first.

I come from a non-tradtional background and I take it for granted that what I am writing is also intelligible for those outsiders. Obviously I made a limited screening scope by letting professionals in my industry to review my essays. This has made most of the writing that relates to my work ambiguious to outsiders to understand, but clear to insiders. Without Jason, I would still be trapped to write in this direction.

So here is my learning for the whole package:
If you are a non traditional applicant, it is better to specify your job duties
Explain all the doubts you may raise in your head, if you hesitate, the reader hesitates as well.
Do not jump to actions, you need to explain why the actions come out that way. do not let the reader guess. Aslo, my writing left logical blanks and this should be spelled out.

For essay 1
I did not state why I want my objective mine and I did not explain how the abilities I have will help me to achieve my career goal. This is my biggest problem…
For essay 2
I did not explain why some changes take place and what I wrote just like it happened all of a sudden, thus making it less convincing and raising Qs
For essay 3
Be specific. While using summary, it is better to elaborate a bit.

This is all about what I learnt in an hour. I believe when I rewrite and consider Jason’s Qs, more will come out.

FightMBA

I would say don't do it. The MBA is a means to an end. If you can achieve that ends without the MBA, then why waste time and money?

Besides, as you mention you are still young. Even at age 40+, 50+, people can still do EMBAs. If your goals change later, it's not too late.

Like any investment (which is exactly what the MBA is), do it with a goal in mind.

-- by 会员 cannedpineapples (2011/10/7 11:18:04)

HI Jason, thanks for the reply!


Then I have another common saying, "MBA will help you achieve your goals faster". As in my case it'll take five or more years to shift to the position. But I can have a chance to get into the industry right after MBA, say, two years.


How do you see this? Many many thx~

cannedpineapple

That is a chance you'll have to weight yourself, since I really don't know your industry. Just bear in mind that when you get the MBA, there'll be others who may have more experience than you (since you mention you're rather young) trying to get the exact same job that you might want.

Nothing is certain. In the end, as a worse case, you might end up going back to what you did, to 'get more experience' to look more competitive against your counterparts with MBAs.

The MBA is typically best for people who have a specific learning goal/ career path that cannot be achieved without the MBA. For instance, wanting to join a Consulting Firm or Investment Bank without relevant experience.

FightMBA

That is a chance you'll have to weight yourself, since I really don't know your industry. Just bear in mind that when you get the MBA, there'll be others who may have more experience than you (since you mention you're rather young) trying to get the exact same job that you might want.

Nothing is certain. In the end, as a worse case, you might end up going back to what you did, to 'get more experience' to look more competitive against your counterparts with MBAs.

The MBA is typically best for people who have a specific learning goal/ career path that cannot be achieved without the MBA. For instance, wanting to join a Consulting Firm or Investment Bank without relevant experience.

-- by 会员 cannedpineapples (2011/10/7 15:20:38)

That's true... Thanks!

cannedpineapple

You're welcome!

cannedpineapple

Thanks Sheila. Just to emphasise, I went to a Wharton event last night. There, the admissions officer told the audience to just 'tell Wharton who you are'.

What does that mean? It doesn't mean just telling Wharton "WHAT" you've done (we can see that from your resume), rather, focus on "HOW" and "WHY" you've chosen to do what you did. How did you go about analysing each and every decision before making your choice? Why did you choose A instead of B? There is ALWAYS a choice- how did you decide, and why did you decide this way? We don't actually care what you decided. We just want to know the logic behind it, so we can guess how well you'll make decisions again in future.

And as the admissions officer emphasised, she'd much rather prefer one example properly fleshed out (unless they specifically ask for >1), rather than 3 examples poorly expounded upon. When you just discuss one example, you tend to take the time to discuss 'why' and 'how'. When you choose 3, you invariably only talk about 'what'. It's like writing your resume again. What's the point?

cannedpineapple

Some of you have been sending me private messages asking me if they 'fit' this school or that.

There are three simple steps-

1) go check if your GMAT is within the 20-80% range of the school's average scores. Some schools also like balance. At Wharton, for instance, we like both scores to be above 80 percentile.
2) consider your average gpa. is it similar to the school's admitted profile?
3a) if you come from an industry that is 'well-liked' by business schools (IB, MC, HF, PE, VC)... do you REALLY stand out among your peers?
3b) if you come from an industry that is not 'well-liked' by business  schools, do you stand out among your peers, but also can show an aptitude for analytical business work?

That's all you need. Don't worry about your background. If you're good (and you know whether you're good, based on your performance at work, based on how well people hold you in regard), then your job becomes one of trying to communicate that to the admissions office.

Let me put it this way, my educational background was okay, but there are MANY other more brilliant students who were head of their student councils and had perfect scores at ivy leagues schools. I wasn't even that good. So how did I become the only student to ever make it to the Wharton/Lauder programme as an undergraduate?

I'm really, really good at understanding my strengths, and communicating that well in a total package that includes essays and recommendations. It's much easier for a very talented guy with a 'great background' to make it to a top school. When you got a background like mine, 'nothing remarkable', and with plenty of question marks (my interviewer even told me straight, "I don't think you have enough work experience." ... because I had none), then you better be very good at answering those questions.

But you know what, it can be done. Don't worry about what others tell you about whether you can get in or not. I wasn't a student president, I didn't start a business. I was an ordinary undergraduate who somehow made it into the Wharton/Lauder programme (also the only school I applied to) in R1.

You can do it too. But remember, focus on yourself, not on worrying about what the school wants!

As always, free essay advice. Send me a 站内信. If you're wondering why I'm doing this, it's because I find that understanding who you are based on your forum posts alone is difficult and often simplistic and misleading. You are not simply "GMAT 770, GPA 3.2, 3 years in IB and 1 year in non-profit." You are so much more than that, and I need to know how you think if I am to give you good advice.

tracytrace

Thanks, Jason.
Very instructive suggestions. You keep emphasizing the "why", "how" which in retrospect, I feel I find better approach to show/demonstrate myself.

In my point of view, the reason of Chinese applications keep talking "What" is the strong mindset. We (at least me) believe that the best (only) way to show I good I am is to show WHAT I have done. In fact, no one is that great (unless u r Steve Jobs and simply said I founded APPLE) and the real valid way to express is HOW and WHY. Thank you for the timely reminding. Some time, one is so indulged in his/her mind that he/she forgets the game role.