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

tanht

Hi Frank, very glad to write to you and may I ask your thought about the possibilty that I can go to the top 20 schoool of US?
T&G:
T 103, G is on the way and my target is around 730
Education Background:
Bachelor Degree of Insurance and Actuarial Science, Wuhan University,top 10 in China.
Working Experience:
2 years in Chartis of AIG, underwirter of Property and Engineering.
1 year in local insurer as the reinsurance manager
3 years in an Italian General Insurance Company, underwirting and reinsurance manager
1 year to now, AVP, the number one insurance broking and risk consulting firm of US.In this company, we got NYU and Ross MBAs working as the senior officer of China office, should I ask them for the reference letter or from my direct boss without MBA degree?
International Exposure:
Business training and working for several months in London, Hongkong and Singapore.
Very frequent contact with colleagues in US, London, Singapore and Hongkong for business.
GPA: around 80/100
Target: Wharton, Tuck, Booth, Duke, Johnson,Yale.
I am looking forward to hear from you.
Thanks a lot and cheers!

sosad369

jon:
here's my background:
having worked in family business( an engineering consulting firm) for 2.5 years, quite well GMAT of 760 and TOEFL of 108( I will try to get another score higher than 110 next month), completed my bachelor's degree in another country; Additionally, I've managed some engineering consulting projects in developing countries such as Ecuador and Laos.  however, my GPA sucks( 3.02 with 1 fail grade in year 1; maybe 2.8 in other ways of GPA calculation)
Career goal: expand network in MBA and get back to the firm after graduation
1. Is it possible for me to get admitted to those most prestigious schools such as HBS, MIT or Yale?
I know that HBS and Sloan are quite stretch for me..
2. Should I write an additional essay to explain my poor grades in undergraduate study?( simply because I was too young and too foolish in my university life...)

JonFrank

APPLICANTS FROM SMALLER COUNTRIES

Question:

I’ve attended a couple of the webinars and I hear you guys talk a lot about the challenges for applicants from China and India. What about those of us coming from smaller countries? Countries like Uruguay, where I was born?

Answer:

Great question, buddy. You’re right, there are many countries out there. We talk about China and India a lot because they’re huge countries and have literally THOUSANDS of students applying to U.S. bschools every year. But that doesn’t mean that your chances are any lower than theirs. In fact, if you are not from India and China, you will be in GREAT shape this year.

Why, you may ask? Well…because most countries other than China and India are UNDER-represented in the applicant pool. Let’s say 1,000 people apply to HBS from other countries (total hypothetical here). Maybe 500 of those apps come from China and India, but maybe only 2 come from Trinidad. Makes those two really stand out from the crowd right off the bat. So, being from a smaller, lesser known country is AWESOME for you, and can be a big asset when treated cleverly in the apps.

Schools are looking for people who will make a unique contribution to the school’s rep. So coming from a less-often represented country gives you a one-up in this field. For example, what MBA program wouldn’t want someone who would return to Mauritius and take on a major role in government there? Or an applicant that’s looking to revolutionize the banking industry in Ghana?

Other countries are aplenty, but are relatively under-represented in MBA apps. If you’re already a strong candidate, hailing from an exotic or little-known nation could just put you over the top. Approach it smartly and make the most of this advantage!

Good luck out there,

– Jon Frank

JonFrank

jon:
here's my background:
having worked in family business( an engineering consulting firm) for 2.5 years, quite well GMAT of 760 and TOEFL of 108( I will try to get another score higher than 110 next month), completed my bachelor's degree in another country; Additionally, I've managed some engineering consulting projects in developing countries such as Ecuador and Laos.  however, my GPA sucks( 3.02 with 1 fail grade in year 1; maybe 2.8 in other ways of GPA calculation)
Career goal: expand network in MBA and get back to the firm after graduation
1. Is it possible for me to get admitted to those most prestigious schools such as HBS, MIT or Yale?
I know that HBS and Sloan are quite stretch for me..
2. Should I write an additional essay to explain my poor grades in undergraduate study?( simply because I was too young and too foolish in my university life...)

-- by 会员 sosad369 (2012/7/26 18:20:45)

Hey good sir,
I like how straightforward you are “however my GPA sucks”. It made me laugh. But don't worry about your GPA. Everybody has a weakness in their profile, and if your other stuff is good (and it is, and very) then it’s all right. Maybe your GPA is something you can address in your optional essay too.


Most importantly though for folks with family businesses such as yourself, is that you have a clear and precise idea of what you want to do in the future when you lead the family business. Meaning how EXACTLY will you expand. Obviously, the bigger and more important you can make your family business in your application, the more appealing your profile will be. I mean everybody wants the “heir apparent”  to a large company, so if you can show how big you are, how you are growing, and where you will steer the company, you should have chances at M7 schools. Hope this helps
Jon Frank

JonFrank

Hi Frank, very glad to write to you and may I ask your thought about the possibilty that I can go to the top 20 schoool of US?
T&G:
T 103, G is on the way and my target is around 730
Education Background:
Bachelor Degree of Insurance and Actuarial Science, Wuhan University,top 10 in China.
Working Experience:
2 years in Chartis of AIG, underwirter of Property and Engineering.
1 year in local insurer as the reinsurance manager
3 years in an Italian General Insurance Company, underwirting and reinsurance manager
1 year to now, AVP, the number one insurance broking and risk consulting firm of US.In this company, we got NYU and Ross MBAs working as the senior officer of China office, should I ask them for the reference letter or from my direct boss without MBA degree?
International Exposure:
Business training and working for several months in London, Hongkong and Singapore.
Very frequent contact with colleagues in US, London, Singapore and Hongkong for business.
GPA: around 80/100
Target: Wharton, Tuck, Booth, Duke, Johnson,Yale.
I am looking forward to hear from you.
Thanks a lot and cheers!

-- by 会员 tanht (2012/7/26 18:09:14)

It looks like with your long and deep work experience, in a very strong industry, you should be ale to get into a Top 20 program. Of course you still do have to hit that GMAT! J
What I especially like is your international involvement and experience. It’s something that not everyone has, and you can totally emphasize this in your application, I think it will help you out.For target schools, let’s wait and see what your ACTUAL GMAT is, cause it’s always a lot easier to some up with a strategy when we have the real numbers Finally, regarding your recommenders. It’s a very good question. Actually there area  lot of things to take into consideration when choosing your recommenders. Most important, I would say is that your recommender LIKE you. The difference between a recommender who super-loves you and who is willing to go to great lengths to help you out, and someone who is ho-hum about your application is enormous. Then there are other considerations like”  How well do they know your work? How much leadership have they seen? Etc. etc. That having been said, a recommendation from an alumni which goes to the school you are applying to, can be very nice indeed.
Jon Frank

tanht

Thanks lot Jon!
Will try may best to get the highest GMAT score I can. BTW, assume my GMAT is 730, may I ask your advice on my scholl chossing?

JonFrank

Thanks lot Jon!
Will try may best to get the highest GMAT score I can. BTW, assume my GMAT is 730, may I ask your advice on my scholl chossing?

-- by 会员 tanht (2012/8/7 17:42:01)

Sure! But that’s what I meant about waiting until you get your GMAT! If you do get a 730 then your school list is pretty good (I would suggest though adding one more school that is in the lower half of the Top 20, to cover yourself). If you get less than a 730, then we can reevaluate. Good luck!



Jon Frank

JonFrank

Question:

I’m working on my application essays, and I feel like the word limit is often pretty tight. Should I describe one thing very specifically, or touch on many attributes but with less detail?

Answer:

This is an easy one, my friend. You always need to write GOOD essays. And this involves SHOWING, and not just TELLING. What’s that mean? Well, here’s two examples to compare:

“I built a big boat, put my family and some animals inside, and survived a big flood.”
“I singlehandedly built the largest wooden boat ever made, loaded it with two of every animal from the land and air, and saved life on earth from a cataclysmic flood that wiped out everyone else on the planet.”
They’re both TELLING us the same story, but only one of them is SHOWING us what happened. So what does “showing” really mean? Details. Context. Accomplishment. Perspective. Scale. These are the things that give the reader insight into the situation and a sense of the results in light of the details.

So given the choice, if you can cover 3-4 topics by only briefly touching on them, versus 1-2 topics but really DIGGING INTO them, you should 100% dig deeper.  Fewer topics covered well are MUCH more valuable than more topics covered poorly. Imagine two stacks of cash. One has 100 one-dollar bills. The other has only 10 bills, but they’re $100 bills. You’d want the shorter stack. Why? Because it’s got WAY more value. Your essay topics work the same way. Fewer topics with more depth will ALWAYS be more valuable.

Worried you might not mention all the topics you want to? Don’t worry. After all, your resume will cover everything you’ve ever done.  So in the essays, focus on the few things that are worth digging into…and dig DEEP!

Make sense?

– Jon Frank

sbjqb

JonFrank! 你真是太牛逼了！

m1nt

hello, dude, i sent you 2 emails, not sure if you get, or you are not using the gmail account? how can i contact with you?