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

JonFrank

Hi Jon,

I know we should submit the application in earlier round if possible, such as round 1 is better than round 2. Duke has the Early Action submission, which is even earlier than round 1.  Do you think if I am ready to submit, Early Action even have advantage than round 1? Any disadvantage regarding the acceptance if I submit early action? I know early action requires candidates drops other schools application.  But just consider the acceptance rate, is early action better than round 1?

Duke also have Open Interview,  is it better to schedule open interview instead of just waiting school send out interview invitation?

What kind of things we need to pay attention if we are re-applicants to a school?  Is re-application has advantage or disadvantage regarding the acceptance possibilites?

Thank you very much.

-- by 会员 chengya (2011/8/24 0:12:52)

Hello my friend.  Yes, the earlier you submit the better.  Submit for ED if you can, since some slots (especially some of the coveted international slots) will be taken quickly.  The earlier the better for sure.  Get your interviews done as quickly as possible, for the same reason as above.  And in the reapplication game, things get…very complicated indeed.  J  The reapplication is an art form, to be sure.  But while we cant get into all of those complications here of course, one thing is for sure—the key is to show improvement over the last year. Last year I didn’t oversee any projects.  This year I oversaw 20.  Last year my GMAT score was X.  This year it is X+50.   Last year my essays sucked; this year, I have AMAZING essays.  You get the idea—improvement is the key to the reapplication for sure.  Good luck! Reapps are very tricky…


Jon Frank
HBS 2005

gelukkig

Dear Jon, I have a question here about the recommender selection:

I used to work for a company for 4 years, and in the essays I will definitely mention some stories from this company, i.e., setback, growth, big achievements…etc.

Now I am working for a new company, and I believe recommender from this new company can write something very positive about me and they know the more “updated me”.

The former company many leaders left, and now I can only think of a Sales manager knowing me for 4 yrs, but “control” her from some distance is a hard job,

Would you plz advice shall I use 2 recommenders from current company or 1 from former 1 from current, the only worry here is the one from former company may not provide the most updated view on my professional development.

Many thanks for your advice,

JonFrank

Dear Jon, I have a question here about the recommender selection:

I used to work for a company for 4 years, and in the essays I will definitely mention some stories from this company, i.e., setback, growth, big achievements…etc.

Now I am working for a new company, and I believe recommender from this new company can write something very positive about me and they know the more “updated me”.

The former company many leaders left, and now I can only think of a Sales manager knowing me for 4 yrs, but “control” her from some distance is a hard job,

Would you plz advice shall I use 2 recommenders from current company or 1 from former 1 from current, the only worry here is the one from former company may not provide the most updated view on my professional development.

Many thanks for your advice,

-- by 会员 gelukkig (2011/8/31 19:38:25)

Hello there—this is an easy one my friend.  You should have TWO companies covered in your letters of recommendation.  Go with 1 and 1—and ideally, the first recommender (from a few years ago) can show you what he/she has written.  It is okay that he/she has a slightly outdated perspective, as long as he doesn’t say anything negative.  Two perspectives is DEFINIETLY better than one…


Jon Frank
HBS 2005

JonFrank

Thanks for your reply Jon. I got a question about the age as well: is it normal for a top school such as HBS or Wharton accept an applicant over 30 year old (while applying)? I always heard that they preferred young talents under age 29, so wonder whether 30+ will bring any negative factors? Thanks!

-- by 会员 haiwen (2011/8/24 8:44:46)

Hey there.  Yes, HBS and Wharton will both accept people who are older than 30 years old.  However, it is HARDER to get in if you are that old.  HBS especially is trending younger.  Wharton less so, but you will DEFINITELY be on the older side of the fence, applying at that age.  Not a deal breaker, but it will not work in your favor.  You will need to work twice as hard in your apps to show that you are NOT at a dead end job, and that you ARE just as eager and willing to roll up your sleeves and WORK HARD as your younger counterparts.  There is an art form to explaining in your apps that you are NOT too old to get in.  but you will be fine, if you can play that aspect correctly.  Good luck!


Jon Frank
HBS 2005

longerlonger

Hi Jon, you are so impressive and popular here..I wonder whether you are too strong to need a sleep..cause it should be the night in USA..just kidding..

I want to seek for your advice on TOEFL. I just got a score of 101..I feel awkward between retaking TOEFL and focusing on essay..You know..if I retake it now, I would have less time to polish essay to catch r1; but if I use this score to apply, I am afraid it would be a disadvantage...

I prefer not to retake it cause the time is limited and I want to work more on essay..In addition I have been working for a famous American company for 6 years..the language I used during work is English..If I add these information to school..would it be better to make up the  TOEFL? What is your advice?

Thanks so much...

JonFrank

Hi Jon, you are so impressive and popular here..I wonder whether you are too strong to need a sleep..cause it should be the night in USA..just kidding..

I want to seek for your advice on TOEFL. I just got a score of 101..I feel awkward between retaking TOEFL and focusing on essay..You know..if I retake it now, I would have less time to polish essay to catch r1; but if I use this score to apply, I am afraid it would be a disadvantage...

I prefer not to retake it cause the time is limited and I want to work more on essay..In addition I have been working for a famous American company for 6 years..the language I used during work is English..If I add these information to school..would it be better to make up the  TOEFL? What is your advice?

Thanks so much...

-- by 会员 longerlonger (2011/9/3 17:23:26)

Hey there!  Yes indeed, we work very hard at .  We never sleep-not between September and January anyway.  J  Now, your TOEFL score will be good enough to get into a top-30 school…but not a top-ten score.  So it is up to you—if you want to apply to a GREAT program, you will need to retake the TOEFL.  If you don’t need to go to such a program, then you should be just fine.  Carnegie Mellon, for example, takes folks with TOEFLS in your range.  If you are okay with such a program, you should be just fine this year…


Jon Frank
HBS 2005

zzvincent

Hi Jon, thanks for your detailed analysis. Given my background in comptuer science and technical finance , what do you think should be my career goal in my essay that will help me to boost my chance of admission?

Product Manager in IT companies ( especially finance IT )

or Consultant in IT consulting companies such as Accenture

or business development in IT companies ( especially finance IT ).

Thanks

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

-- by 会员 JonFrank (2011/6/12 12:42:06)

JonFrank

Hi Jon, thanks for your detailed analysis. Given my background in comptuer science and technical finance , what do you think should be my career goal in my essay that will help me to boost my chance of admission?

Product Manager in IT companies ( especially finance IT )

or Consultant in IT consulting companies such as Accenture

or business development in IT companies ( especially finance IT ).

Thanks

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

-- by 会员 JonFrank (2011/6/12 12:42:06)

-- by 会员 zzvincent (2011/9/7 15:27:56)

Hey there—now THIS is an easy one.  Accenture, if you ARE focusing on top ten programs, is NOT the sexiest career path.  Go into product management dude—it wouldn’t even NEED to be in an IT path, could be something with just a hint of tech to it, and there could be a nice fit there.  But IT consulting is NOT what HBS, Stanford etc. wanna hear.  You’re gonna wanna avoid IT consulting, from their point of view for sure.  McKinsey recruits at HBS dude, not Accenture…


Jon Frank
HBS 2005

leosunic

Hi Jon,

Want to check with you about my application. Below is a quick re-cap about my background:

1. Top University in China, B.S. GPA: 3.4/4.0, M.S. GPA: 3.9/4.0
2. Work for Auto Big Three as a project engineer for 2 yrs
3. Move to U.S. for another M.S.: GPA: 3.86/4.0
4. Work for leading industrial company as an project engineer, just promoted to be a Senior engineer (Hard to move up in the career ladder as an engineer), 4 yrs exp
5. GMAT: 740 5.0.  

My target school is Sloan. Maybe Kellogg and Ross. Can you share with me some of your thoughts regarding my application? Appreciate it.

Leo

Hello Chase Dream!  This is Jon Frank, HBS Class of 2005.  As many of you know, I have started to post here on ChaseDream, and we are so delighted that many people have been following our posts.  I founded my company  in 2005, and ever since then we have been working with many MBA applicants to get them into the business schools of their dreams.  About 50% of our clients are international,and about half of our international clients are Chinese.  As you can imagine, Chinese are our fastest-growing demographic.  Last year, our Chinese clients attended Stanford, HBS, Wharton, and others!

We are an agency, and we work with hundreds of paying clients everyyear.  But here on ChaseDream, all of our advice and guidance is 100%free!  ?  We understand that many people can not afford us, which is why it is our pleasure to help everyone 100% free of charge here on ChaseDream.  A former Chinese client (now at Fuqua) recommended that we start to post here, and it has been a great idea!  So we have friends who help us with thetranslation, since my Chinese is so bad.  ? And we are always here to help you!  It is our pleasure to help.

So please, feel free to ask me questions on this board, and I will do my best to answer all of your questions.  We have interacted with many people here online, or through private emails to my HBS email address below.  And you can all find our company’s website by simply googling Jon Frank+HBS, and the name of our company .There is much more information—all great, free information, on ourwebsite.  And we update it daily.

Thank you again for your warm welcome into the fabulous ChaseDream community, and good luck to everyone!  I hope I can be helpful to many of you, this year.


JonFrank

-- by 会员 JonFrank (2010/9/18 13:02:13)

leosunic

Hi Jon,
I think I miss some info about my background:

Male/30/
Two years in Auto Big Three: Working location: China
Four years in Leading industrial company: Working location: US.

Look forward to your advice.

Hi Jon,

Want to check with you about my application. Below is a quick re-cap about my background:

1. Top University in China, B.S. GPA: 3.4/4.0, M.S. GPA: 3.9/4.0
2. Work for Auto Big Three as a project engineer for 2 yrs
3. Move to U.S. for another M.S.: GPA: 3.86/4.0
4. Work for leading industrial company as an project engineer, just promoted to be a Senior engineer (Hard to move up in the career ladder as an engineer), 4 yrs exp
5. GMAT: 740 5.0.  

My target school is Sloan. Maybe Kellogg and Ross. Can you share with me some of your thoughts regarding my application? Appreciate it.

Leo

Hello Chase Dream!  This is Jon Frank, HBS Class of 2005.  As many of you know, I have started to post here on ChaseDream, and we are so delighted that many people have been following our posts.  I founded my company  in 2005, and ever since then we have been working with many MBA applicants to get them into the business schools of their dreams.  About 50% of our clients are international,and about half of our international clients are Chinese.  As you can imagine, Chinese are our fastest-growing demographic.  Last year, our Chinese clients attended Stanford, HBS, Wharton, and others!

We are an agency, and we work with hundreds of paying clients everyyear.  But here on ChaseDream, all of our advice and guidance is 100%free!  ?  We understand that many people can not afford us, which is why it is our pleasure to help everyone 100% free of charge here on ChaseDream.  A former Chinese client (now at Fuqua) recommended that we start to post here, and it has been a great idea!  So we have friends who help us with thetranslation, since my Chinese is so bad.  ? And we are always here to help you!  It is our pleasure to help.

So please, feel free to ask me questions on this board, and I will do my best to answer all of your questions.  We have interacted with many people here online, or through private emails to my HBS email address below.  And you can all find our company’s website by simply googling Jon Frank+HBS, and the name of our company .There is much more information—all great, free information, on ourwebsite.  And we update it daily.

Thank you again for your warm welcome into the fabulous ChaseDream community, and good luck to everyone!  I hope I can be helpful to many of you, this year.


JonFrank

-- by 会员 JonFrank (2010/9/18 13:02:13)

-- by 会员 leosunic (2011/9/11 4:25:44)