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

yqx73

Hello Jon,

I was admitted to a top 20 program in the US, sent my request for a deferral after only paid the 1st deposit. And I got the reply from the director saying that although they understand my situaction, their policy is not grant deferred admission. Instead, they offered my an expedited process for next year, only a few additional materials needed, the enrollment fees I paid will apply to my account if re-admitted. But I will be considered against the following year’s applicant pool.

I wonder what is the probability that I'd get re-admitted next year. And is there anything I can do to guarantee this seat?

Look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks!

JonFrank

Hello Jon,

I was admitted to a top 20 program in the US, sent my request for a deferral after only paid the 1st deposit. And I got the reply from the director saying that although they understand my situaction, their policy is not grant deferred admission. Instead, they offered my an expedited process for next year, only a few additional materials needed, the enrollment fees I paid will apply to my account if re-admitted. But I will be considered against the following year’s applicant pool.

I wonder what is the probability that I'd get re-admitted next year. And is there anything I can do to guarantee this seat?

Look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks!

-- by 会员 yqx73 (2011/6/9 11:03:13)

Hey there!  Sadly, there is no way to predict what happens next year.  All we know for sure is that your application is at least slightly LESS strong as last year.  Why?  Because they now have one more important piece of information about you: they know that you’ve turned them down once already.  This isn’t ideal.  So you will have to IMPROVE your application and make a very compelling case the second time around.  This time, it will be harder, not easier.  After all, they don’t think you are serious about the program.  Hope this helps my friend, be careful here.  You are playing with fire…


Jon Frank

zzvincent

。。。

JonFrank

Hi Jon,

can you help me to evaluate my profile for 2012 MBA application?

BS of computer science, Top 15 school in China, GPA 3.2-3.3 ( our school is known for low GPA ), class rank 2/71, leadership expericence in some student union department, numerous awards for academic performance and extra curricular activity, excellent graduate of province ( 4%)

MS of computer science, TOP 4 school in China, GPA 3.3, 4 research papers ( 2 of them are top tier international conferences ), some awards for academic excellence, volunteer experince for an internationl conference in shanghai

Master in computer science ( Quitted my phd program in second year ), a well-known campus of university of california ( not Berkeley or UCLA ), GPA 3.97 , one research paper,  teaching assistant, School fellowship,  China earthquake Relief effort volunteer

so far, 2 and 8 months working experience in headquarter of a world leading finanical software company in NYC ( No.1 brand in industry) , software engineer and project manager for critical projects in our department, fast promotion, excellent award certificate for "siginficant contributions" to company (  5% ), CFA level 2 candidate

GMAT: 740+5
GMAT: 1460+4.5 ( expired )
TOEFL: 647+5 ( expired )

since my current salary is higher than average salary of first-year top MBA graduate ( you know IT engineer is overpaid in USA ), I would only try top 10 schools. If I can not get into top schools, I will staty in my current company.

However, I have very obvious weakness:

1) age: almost 30 now ( almost 31 when I start my MBA study )
2) two master degrees ( I need to explain why I quitted my phd program , otherwise I am at risk of being considered as a degree collector )
3) tech background not welcomed by top schools
4) no volunteer experience after I came out of school ( plan to add some volunteer experience this year )
5) working experience ( 2 and 8 months so far ) is not long compared to other applicants

My career goal is to become an executive in an IT comany or return to China to start my own company  in a couple of years. Jon, can you give me some suggestions on my application ? Should I also try harvard/stanford or just focus on other top 10 schools ? Thanks.

-- by 会员 zzvincent (2011/6/12 0:39:03)

Hello my friend.  To be honest, you don’t seem to need much guidance from us—you know all the answers already!  J  You have identified the challenges in your candidacy: age, IT industry (which is tough from China), limited extra-currics, and the two degrees.  I am not worried about your 3 years of work experience.  And we will address the two degrees in your Optional essay—that will be critical.  But so that leaves the age issue, which we will have to address (carefully, and subtlely) in your essays.  You DO have a chance here—and as you apply, don’t focus exclusively on “top ten” programs.  Why?  Well, did you know that CMU is the second best IT program in the US?  And that UT Austin is also in the top five?  Same with Stern…so as you look at schools, don’t get too stuck if you would on the “top ten” aspect.  The world of IT is unusual, and the best management programs are not always the best programs for IT…


Jon Frank

JonFrank

Greetings and salutations.
Today I was chatting with a former client (and now a close friend) about interviews and interview prep. And there was a topic that he brought up that I thought might be worth discussing: non-verbal communication. Or rather, interview strategies...beyond just "telling the right stories."
Here are three way to make sure that you NAIL your interviews...beyond the answers that you have already prepped eight ways from Tuesday:
1. Smile, and be welcoming. Too often, interviewing applicants are so serious; so intense, so focused on the answers to the questions that they dont consider how they LOOK as they give the answers. How they express themselves, non-verbally. It is important to make your interviewer feel at home. Feel welcomed. Feel like youre a good dude. So smile, and be friendly. You want this guy to like you--to want to HANG OUT with you when you're done chatting. So dont be too serious, to focused on work. You already covered all that in your app. Here, make a personal impression.
2. Be engaging. Dont just read the answers you have prepared gang. Smile. Be engaged. Use your hands as you tell stories. Make sure that your voice modulates up, and down (especially for our ESL applicants out there, struggling with English a bit). Pause after statements for effect--in many ways this is a public speech. Rehearse your answers in front of a mirror--not so you can memorize the words, but so you can monitor how you LOOK as you DELIVER the words. No matter how exciting your stories are, if you dont deliver them in an appealing, EXCITING way, your interviewer may...fall asleep. And that is a bad thing.
3. Listen. Nobody likes a know-it-all. Nobody likes the guy who is too self-important to listen. When your interviewer starts to talk about himself, and alums especially LOVE to talk about themselves (I am no exception), LISTEN. This is important not only because he wants you to hear him and be impressed, but because he is offering you HINTS. He is showing you how he sees the world; so drink it in, listen to his perspective, and for the love of god allow that perspective to color yours. AGREE with him. Take his ideas to the NEXT level. Thank him for being the guy who "gets it," and "understands you," etc.

This will make him feel good. And the interviewer who leaves your interview feeling good, will recommend an admit.
Hope this helps gang, and good luck.

Jon Frank
HBS 2005

JonFrank

Greetings from sunny Beijing my friends.
Jon Frank here, your friendly neighborhood consultant. And the neighborhood to which Im referring, of course, is Chaoyang.
There was a great question one our shanghai seminar yesterday--and I wanted to share it. So my co-founder Raj was presenting a point about how important it is to present your stories cleverly. With "craft." After all, that is Rajs background (screenwriting in Hollywood.)
So one girl asks a great question: which is more important, the facts of your story, or how you tell it? Here is how we responded...
The facts, of course, are more important. That is, without the facts--the cool stuff that youve actually DONE in your career, you are dead in the water. It doesnt matter how great you are at writing--this isnt a writing contest of course. You NEED the facts to make your essays, stories, and work experience sing.
But here's the problem; everyone's got those kinds of stories. Or at least, everyone gunning for the BEST schools in the world has em. THAT is where the writing comes into play. The craft comes into play. Everyone has the great stories, so at THAT point (and not before) THAT is the part where you can make your stories, and your application stand out.
The facts--the experiences themselves are the first part of the equation. The part that you cant LIVE without. Then and only then, do we shift into the craft section of the application prep.
Hope this helps folks, and more from China shortly.

Jon Frank
HBS 2005

JonFrank

What is up guys. We are BACK from China, and ready to roll. Lets do this shall we? Here is a question we received from one of our friends in Taiwan (we have translated it into English of course...)
Hey Jon, I'm preparing to apply for MBA. I am working as an engineer in the semiconductor company and I have some question about applying B-school.
1.Recently I am thinking about how to tell my direct supervisors that I am thinking about applying for MBA and would like to ask him to write a letter of recommendation. But I am afraid if my director doesn’t approve or once he knows I am going to school and not focusing in working here, he might give those important / valuable things to other colleagues to do?
2. In addition, I am working more like a engineer. Its not easy to write on the leadership part of essay. I'm afraid that I don't have any "real" leadership experience...
==================
Hello my friend. Happy to answer your (great) questions.
1. Yes, this is a very common challenge that many students face. It isn’t Taiwan-specific—I faced it myself when I applied to HBS, Stanford etc. And…I got in everywhere.
Why? Well schools GET it. They understand that sometimes, it is impossible to ask your direct bosses for recs. All you need to do is mention it—either in the optional essay, or elsewhere in the apps. Explain why you couldn’t get one, and you will be juuust fine. Just be sure to find someone who can write about you, who knows you well. If not your direct boss, then someone else…
2. This is a question that we get often. And while you do need “some” management experience, remember: schools aren’t looking for 60 year old dudes who manage million dollar companies. They are targeting 25-30 year olds for a reason: they are OKAY with the fact that you guys don’t have a TON of management experience. What they want to see is management POTENTIAL. Making a couple key decisions, having the ability to manage a couple key people—just one or two critical stories that you can bring out. They know of course that you aren’t a CEO of a MNC.
And that is just fine—all they want to see if your potential….
Hope this helps, and good luck!

Jon Frank
HBS 2005

JonFrank

Whats up gang--another great question...this time from TAIWAN. Enjoy.
=====================================================
Question about jobs after MBA
1,What should be the reason to go for MBA and what is the advantage to looking for a job after graduation? What kind of job can we get normally?
2.Do we learn more things form professor’s teaching or mostly from self-study and discuss with classmate?
3.What is the general background MBA students have? Will it make difficult to get along with people due to the rich working experience everyone have (when they are having discusses in class)?
4. I heard that the courses are all very heavy and hard, will that make it difficult to graduate?
5. I don’t have management experience, but have six years of working experience in International Trade. Is that bad?
======================================================
Hey there! Happy to offer up some thoughts here. Let’s go in order shall we?
Lots of reasons to go get an MBA. To meet interesting people, to get better jobs, to explore new fields, to take a couple years off from work…these are all great reasons. Many people who graduate from MBA programs go into management consulting—although many go into other areas, including banking and general management.
You will learn MUCH more from your classmates than from your professors. This is especially true if you go to a school which focuses on the case study method—that method MEANS that the professor’s job is to help the students teach one another.
The whole point of the MBA classroom is that everyone has DIFFERENT background. This doesn’t make it hard, it makes it AMAZING! That is how you will learn so much—by interacting with people from such different backgrounds.
Some schools are easier than others of course. But generally, your first year will be hard, and your second year will be much easier. It all just takes…some getting used to. I was up until 3 or 4 every morning during my first semester at HBS. But then…that passed.
Many people use the MBA to achieve a career switch. And it works well for them! But one word of warning—do NOT say that that is what you want to do in your apps! Career changes are VERY risky, and you will not want to focus on that in your essays. Tell them that you will go back into your current field; that way they will be assured you will get a JOB. That’s critical stuff. Once you’ve assured them of this fact, once you get to school, you can do whateeeever you want. : ) But avoid career changes in your app at all costs.

Hope this helps my friend, and feel free to reach out to me anytime.
AND good luck to everyone

Jon Frank
HBS 2005

Dharma001

Hi Jon,

Do you see top B-school enroll students with some management experience in industry (say a couple of years)?
Are those students well presented in the class or is it just some rare case?

Thanks a lot for your insights.

RS

.......
2. This is a question that we get often. And while you do need “some” management experience, remember: schools aren’t looking for 60 year old dudes who manage million dollar companies. They are targeting 25-30 year olds for a reason: they are OKAY with the fact that you guys don’t have a TON of management experience. What they want to see is management POTENTIAL. Making a couple key decisions, having the ability to manage a couple key people—just one or two critical stories that you can bring out. They know of course that you aren’t a CEO of a MNC.
And that is just fine—all they want to see if your potential….
Hope this helps, and good luck!

Jon Frank
HBS 2005

-- by 会员 JonFrank (2011/7/1 23:27:24)

JonFrank

Hi Jon,

Do you see top B-school enroll students with some management experience in industry (say a couple of years)?
Are those students well presented in the class or is it just some rare case?

Thanks a lot for your insights.

RS

.......
2. This is a question that we get often. And while you do need “some” management experience, remember: schools aren’t looking for 60 year old dudes who manage million dollar companies. They are targeting 25-30 year olds for a reason: they are OKAY with the fact that you guys don’t have a TON of management experience. What they want to see is management POTENTIAL. Making a couple key decisions, having the ability to manage a couple key people—just one or two critical stories that you can bring out. They know of course that you aren’t a CEO of a MNC.
And that is just fine—all they want to see if your potential….
Hope this helps, and good luck!

Jon Frank
HBS 2005

-- by 会员 JonFrank (2011/7/1 23:27:24)

-- by 会员 Dharma001 (2011/7/10 22:02:28)

Hey there—two years is the BARE MINIMUM for most schools.  Typically we see three instead, and back when I applied to HBS that number was 4 (in 2003).  As you get to fewer and fewer years of business experience, those candidates become more and more impressive.  That is, if somehow you can convince the adcom that you are mature and good enough to join Stanford’s class without ANY work experience—or even just a year or two—you will likely be VERY smart.  There were two people at HBS who came straight out of school into our class, and they were two of the smartest people IN THE ENTIRE HBS CLASS.  J  So yes it is possible, but you’d better be a stand-out…  Hope this helps my friend!


Jon Frank
HBS 2005