Ask Jon Frank- P69-Q&A:WHY MBA? 7 OVERLOOKED REASONS TO GET AN MBA

solartorch

Hi Jon,

My initial plan for 2011 fall master application was focusing on Engineering Management, which is a relatively new programme designed for engineers who want to learn critical business knowledge.
However, when I explored the available programme I found MBA maybe a better choice since...since it is more competitive and provide more opportunities to improve myself.
I only have GRE score now, but I saw majority MBA starting to accept GRE score. Verbal 690 (97%) + Quantitative 800 (94%) + writing 3.5 (26%)  Except the writing I think my score is competitive enough.
I have 2.5 years semiconductor manufacturing company experience as an Engineer (recently promoted to Senior Engineer) in Singapore. My undergraduate study was also taken in Singapore and I graduated with first class honours (GPA ~ 3.57/4), major in Electrical & Electronic Engineering.
Would like to ask do you think people with Engineering background is suitable for MBA study? I'm interested in cooperate strategy and operations management and want to join consulting firm after graduation. In that case which schools do you think are suitable for me?
I am in a mess and hurry right now since I just made up my mind the day before yesterday and the composing of essays seems so hard to start. I'm currently interested in Sloan (since its technical emphasis) and Yale (since I kinda like non-profit too, and I like Yale, the name, and you can tell from that I'm a layman~).
I really need your advise since now I still hesitate about my decision. I'm afraid I'm not ready enough to present the best of me for MBA programme. Thank you very much!

Bella

taiwaneseg

Hi, Jon,

This is J from Taiwan.
I got 7-year full time employment. (2 years in army and 5 years in a leading pharmaceutical company)
My test scores: GMAT 700; TOEFL: 106.
I would like to apply for MBA programs with healthcare management concentrations.
Can you suggest some schools that you think I might have good chances to get in?

Thanks for your time!!

Best regards,
J

肥熊

楼上。。。你觉得那价钱可能是RMB吗。。。

honeybutter

Do schools do background check e.g. employment history and referrences check after admission?

honeybutter

Hi Jon, Out of curiosity, do you have a profile on linkedin I can take a look?

-- by 会员 honeybutter (2010/12/14 5:57:30)

Hey there!  Sadly no, I don’t do Linked In.  But I can walk you through my resume quickly.  I graduated from Brown University in 1999.  From there, I worked with ING Real Estate in NYC for two years, before going out to Cincinnati to work for a real estate development company out there.  I built about 1,000 units of new construction across the US during those two years, before going to HBS.  After graduating from HBS, I worked at Trammell Crow Residential for 2 years.  It was there that I founded , but I still worked another job for three more years, after I moved to Chicago working for another RE Development firm, Village Green.  When grew so quickly (about 18 months ago) I quit my real estate job (I had been promoted to Vice President), bought a few multifamily buildings here in town (which I redeveloped and now manage) and now I run full time—and we just got back from doing a speaking tour in China!  Feel free to drop me a line if youd like more info about me…


Jon Frank

-- by 会员 JonFrank (2010/12/14 19:08:49)

great self-intro. I am impressed. very glad to see your company growing so fast. You are right on this: this area has a lot of business to do now and in the future. It's better to take a large market stake and set up branding now than later, IMHO.

honeybutter

Another question: do you have guarantee policy in your service? e.g. you revised the paper work package and make sure people to get in their dream schools, if they don't, their money back or at least some of it.  Or do you just get the work down but care less for the result?

I know some agencies in China provides such guarantees.

honeybutter

Hi, Jon

Here is another question for you from my friend.  How to do the explaination of work gap for a housewife for more than one year if she decides to go back to school and gets her MBA? She had almost 4 years w/e in finance industry and two master degrees both in science and finance before her off work. Any extra infor needed to answer the question? Thanks.

-- by 会员 honeybutter (2010/12/13 13:53:18)

Hey there!  This is…a bit hard to manage.  But if I were you?  I would be…100% honest about it.  I took time off to raise a family.  And this is a benefit to my class—I learned work life balance, I learned AAA and BBB.  Now, beyond just the work life balance stuff, I would also make a point that you did other stuff during this time too.  Like…taking classes?  Learning a language?  What did you do to better yourself during this time?  Hopefully, you have soooomething that you can point to here.  In that way, you can split your answer into two.  Family stuff, and then work-ish stuff.  Not ‘worl’ in the traditional sense, but ways that you were bettering yourself while you stayed home.  Hope this helps!


Jon Frank

-- by 会员 JonFrank (2010/12/14 0:21:34)

Hi Jon, If I show I learned photography, travel, fashion and cooking during the year which are all not workish or job related, will diversified hobbies imply the applicant is distracted?  Will too many hobbies hurt?

BTY, I doubt any housewife will sharpen her excel or financial skills daily.

-- by 会员 honeybutter (2010/12/14 4:03:05)

Ha!  I am quite sure you’re right, although my mom always was responsible for balancing the check book every month.  J  I wasn’t suggesting that a mom would be doing financial analysis—only that if we can show some targeted passion—perhaps pursuing a modest arts career on the side, leading some community activities, etc.  THAT is the stuff that we would like to talk about.  In the instances where we have worked with housewives successfully, there has always been something beyond “just staying home” to discuss.  Some projects to speak of.  Not a bunch of hobbies, but one or two targeted ones.  Something that she has accomplished.  That would be ideal, anyway…

-- by 会员 JonFrank (2010/12/14 19:04:44)

Thanks for clear this up in my minds.  If I did a lot of cooking in one year and really interested in cuisine etc. of couse I will write all as projects as you suggested.  Do you think if I set my career goal to become next Martha Stewart in China will be more eye catching and unique? I have thought this dream more than once truly in my mind. Do you think adcom will like the idea a woman with 3 years financial services experience suddently switch gears decided to turn her hobbies into an entrepreneureship unconvincing? Or is it more reasonable to set my goal as IB associate as everyone else? Thank you.

cte1231

Hi, Jon

Thanks for your time and effort paid to our forum. I have a question here.


I graduated from Peking Univ in 2004 and had 6 years working experience,3 yrs in PwC and 3 yrs in an alternative investment company. Now my career meets a bottle-neck, so that I want to enroll in an MBA course. My GMAT is 710 and I just got my TOEFL score 96, which did not meet the line of 100. Although some B-schools say that they do not have a minim requirement of T score, I still think T plays an important role. Now I have 2 solutions.The first one is to apply in the near 2nd round and well prepare with the essay. I WISH the school will value me based on my whole package rather than to filter the scores. The second one is to re-take the exam and put-off the application in the last round.The advantage of this strategy is a better score and more choice of the schools, while the shortcoming is that the last round application is really tough for international applicants.  Could you help me about your preference? I really appreciate for your help.

JonFrank

Hi Jon,

My initial plan for 2011 fall master application was focusing on Engineering Management, which is a relatively new programme designed for engineers who want to learn critical business knowledge.
However, when I explored the available programme I found MBA maybe a better choice since...since it is more competitive and provide more opportunities to improve myself.
I only have GRE score now, but I saw majority MBA starting to accept GRE score. Verbal 690 (97%) + Quantitative 800 (94%) + writing 3.5 (26%)  Except the writing I think my score is competitive enough.
I have 2.5 years semiconductor manufacturing company experience as an Engineer (recently promoted to Senior Engineer) in Singapore. My undergraduate study was also taken in Singapore and I graduated with first class honours (GPA ~ 3.57/4), major in Electrical & Electronic Engineering.
Would like to ask do you think people with Engineering background is suitable for MBA study? I'm interested in cooperate strategy and operations management and want to join consulting firm after graduation. In that case which schools do you think are suitable for me?
I am in a mess and hurry right now since I just made up my mind the day before yesterday and the composing of essays seems so hard to start. I'm currently interested in Sloan (since its technical emphasis) and Yale (since I kinda like non-profit too, and I like Yale, the name, and you can tell from that I'm a layman~).
I really need your advise since now I still hesitate about my decision. I'm afraid I'm not ready enough to present the best of me for MBA programme. Thank you very much!

Bella

-- by 会员 solartorch (2010/12/14 22:10:44)

Bella!  Hey there.  Jon Frank here from , happy to answer your questions of course.  The fact that you’re an engineer is not bad at all—in fact, we work with a bunch of engineers (from all over Asia) each year, and it is an EASY sell to bschools.  You wanna move from being technical, to MANAGING the technical folks.  That’s not your problem.  Your problem is gonna be your test scores, and your writing skills.  After all, youll find yourself between a rock and a hard place with your essays.  If you write AMAZING essays, the adcom will wonder how you did so, given your low AWA score.  But if you write poor essays, they will…not like them of course.
So.  What to do from here?  You apply.  ick three schools and write AMAZING applications.  The writing cant be too polished of course, but it should cut to the core of who you are.  Sure, Yale is a good spot.  Sloan may be a bit of a stretch, but if you put out three GREAT apps you should be in great shape.  And we will be pulling for you!  Good luck!


Jon Frank

JonFrank

Hi, Jon,

This is J from Taiwan.
I got 7-year full time employment. (2 years in army and 5 years in a leading pharmaceutical company)
My test scores: GMAT 700; TOEFL: 106.
I would like to apply for MBA programs with healthcare management concentrations.
Can you suggest some schools that you think I might have good chances to get in?

Thanks for your time!!

Best regards,
J

-- by 会员 taiwaneseg (2010/12/14 23:02:32)

Hey there! Yes, it would be our pleasure to list a few schools where you have a good shot of getting in, and where there are great healthcare-related programs.  I like Tuck, Duke, Vanderbilt, and Ross.  J  Of course HBS and Wharton have great programs as well—but as you can tell, we tend to be conservative.  Consider these four programs, and you will be in business this year.  All GREAT options for you my friend, and a well-rounded group of schools…


Jon Frank