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

JonFrank

To m1nt :Hey there, feel free to send me e-mail at jfrank@mba2005.hbs.edu , looking forward to it man

m1nt

To m1nt :Hey there, feel free to send me e-mail at jfrank@mba2005.hbs.edu , looking forward to it man

-- by 会员 JonFrank (2012/8/13 21:41:13)

oh, ok
thought i was on your black name list, lol

JonFrank

To m1nt :Hey there, feel free to send me e-mail at jfrank@mba2005.hbs.edu , looking forward to it man

-- by 会员 JonFrank (2012/8/13 21:41:13)

oh, ok
thought i was on your black name list, lol

-- by 会员 m1nt (2012/8/19 18:44:44)

Hahaha, NEEEEVER my friend

JonFrank

Question:

For post-MBA goal, should Chinese applicants avoid saying that they’re immediately going back to China, because Admission Officers prefer to have applicants contribute to U.S. economy? Is bridging the U.S. and China “overused” in application essays?

Answer:

Solid question, buddy. This is a question that we get all the time, so let’s dig into it now, shall we? That is, “Is it good or bad for Chinese applicants to say they want to go right back to China, in their immediate post-MBA goals?” The answer, sadly, is that “it depends.” But as this is a yes-or-no question, you will fall into one or the other camp. So, for YOU, there will be one clear answer.

Confused yet? Hope not, but let me explain. Where you say you want to end up (US or China) will depend on the plan itself, particularly depending on the job market in your field in either country. If you have laid out a very hard-to-achieve goal in the US, like Private Equity etc., then it may be VERY tough for you to get that job in the US. In that case, especially if you don’t have a GREAT background in US private equity, say you’ll go to China. That’s your best chance to get a J-O-B, for sure.

But if you have a good background, say in marketing, and you DO have some international experience, it IS reasonable to assume that you may get a job at a BIG marketing firm in the US. Why? Well, once you get trained, they’d looooove to send you back to China, of course, to help them open up the market there. Also, they simply hire more people than PE firms do. Same with consulting, by the way–they hire a bunch of peeps out of US schools every year, they sponsor loads of international kids, etc. To say you want to get one of THOSE jobs? Very reasonable.

But to say you want to get one of the super hard-to-get ones, one that involves, for example, a ton of networking, leaps of faith, etc etc., forget it. Get THAT job back in China. That’s your only good chance, really.

– Jon Frank

deardee

Hi Frank!  I have a question regarding the CBS essay 2: Describe a personal experience and how it has influenced who you are today. This essay should have a personal rather than a professional focus. (Maximum 500 words)

Should this experience only from the recent years, say 5 years ?  do you think any formative experiences from childhood can be used here?

Thanks a lot!

妄以帷

Hi Jon,

This is Vera. First of all many thanks for being here on CD and offering advises.

Here I have some trouble in defining my target schools, and below are some brief info. of mine:

- GMAT 700
(just… almost there, I know, however it has been hard, to squeeze time from frequent OT work to practice, to apply any annual leave to be well prepared before the test, and to keep it as a secret from all colleagues around...)

- TOEFL 107
(expired score in 2008, will attend a new round soon)

- GPA appx. 3.2
(hmmmm, also not quite good... if it helps, my U - one of the 211 - should list on the top in fields of finance/accounting/economics in China)

- Working Experience 3+ yr ( i am 25 now)
1 year auditor in one of the big 4 accounting firms
2+ year financial analyst in a F500 European company - costing, budgeting, transfer pricing
( Candidate for CICPA, CIA, plan to obtain AICPA in during MBA )

- Extra curriculum
3 yr NGO (a global student organization) experience during university, including a 2-month volunteer oversea for non-priviledge kids, sensitive to multiple culture environment, helped establish new committee in L2 cities of China
Keen business sense, ranked top in a few national-wide case competitions, traineeship in HK
Expertise on one of the Chinese traditional music instrument
Out-going and competitive, used to be tennis champion of my U and the company
Now sponsoring the education of a kid in inner-Mongolia

- Career plan
Corporate finance in short term
NGO/Charity in the long run


Given that none of my academic statistics stands out, is it still reasonable that I choose below B-schools as target (would 9 be too much?), what is the possibility of me getting there, and is there any other comment/recommendation? Thanks!


University of Virginia (Darden)
Cornell University (Johnson)

Emory University (Goizueta)

University of Southern California (Marshall)
University of California--Los Angeles (Anderson)

Boston College (Carroll)
Boston University

University of Rochester (Simon)
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey--New Brunswick and Newark

lostkid123

Hi Jon,

Can I ask some questions about reapplicant?

I plan to apply for same schools as I did last year. Is it better to maintain my career goal or to have new career goal? If I have new career goal, do I need to explain it in the essay of reapplicant?

For essays,  if the school does not change the essays, is it better to write new story or just use the same one as last year?

For recommendation letters, do I need to find new recommender to put something new?

In general, I am not clear about how school evaluate reapplicant? Does school compare application package of last year with that of this year?

Thanks a lot.

asiankid

Hello Jon,

First I would like to thank you for taking the time to answer all the questions.  We feel so grateful to have you here. My question for you is regarding whom I should choose to write my second recommendation letter. I have two choices:

1. VP from my second last job with a top tier investment banking firm:  I worked with him very closes for a year and half as an Investment Banking Analyst.

2. Partner from my very first job with a boutique management consulting firm: I worked with him on a project for about 6 months. Then I left this company and joined the top tier investment banking company.

Both of them know me very well and are very willing to be my recommender. On one hand, I kindly prefer the VP since he is from a well known bank and I worked with the bank for a longer period of time. On the other hand, the Partner has a stronger writing skill and is VERY good at writing recommendation letters. But I am not sure about choosing him because I was only with his firm for 6 months and the firm is just a boutique consulting firm.

FYI, my targeting schools are the top tier schools including HBS.  If you could provide me some advice, that would be much appreciated.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,
A confused Applicant

JonFrank

Hi Frank!  I have a question regarding the CBS essay 2: Describe a personal experience and how it has influenced who you are today. This essay should have a personal rather than a professional focus. (Maximum 500 words)

Should this experience only from the recent years, say 5 years ?  do you think any formative experiences from childhood can be used here?

Thanks a lot!

-- by 会员 deardee (2012/8/21 0:13:23)

No problem, good fried… We are always here to help!

It’s a good question. And it depends.. I think that in general, try NOT to use questions that happen in high school or before.. it can be very hard for them to be relevant… Of course there are exceptions.. For example I’ve worked with a client who writes about his father going blind from a young age, and then writes about his volunteer experience with the blind etc…. and that worked out very beautifully. So you have to think what would be the strongest story for YOU! Hope this helps man, let me know if there is more i could help with aaaand gooooood luck !

Jon Frank

JonFrank

Hi Jon,

This is Vera. First of all many thanks for being here on CD and offering advises.

Here I have some trouble in defining my target schools, and below are some brief info. of mine:

- GMAT 700
(just… almost there, I know, however it has been hard, to squeeze time from frequent OT work to practice, to apply any annual leave to be well prepared before the test, and to keep it as a secret from all colleagues around...)

- TOEFL 107
(expired score in 2008, will attend a new round soon)

- GPA appx. 3.2
(hmmmm, also not quite good... if it helps, my U - one of the 211 - should list on the top in fields of finance/accounting/economics in China)

- Working Experience 3+ yr ( i am 25 now)
1 year auditor in one of the big 4 accounting firms
2+ year financial analyst in a F500 European company - costing, budgeting, transfer pricing
( Candidate for CICPA, CIA, plan to obtain AICPA in during MBA )

- Extra curriculum
3 yr NGO (a global student organization) experience during university, including a 2-month volunteer oversea for non-priviledge kids, sensitive to multiple culture environment, helped establish new committee in L2 cities of China
Keen business sense, ranked top in a few national-wide case competitions, traineeship in HK
Expertise on one of the Chinese traditional music instrument
Out-going and competitive, used to be tennis champion of my U and the company
Now sponsoring the education of a kid in inner-Mongolia

- Career plan
Corporate finance in short term
NGO/Charity in the long run


Given that none of my academic statistics stands out, is it still reasonable that I choose below B-schools as target (would 9 be too much?), what is the possibility of me getting there, and is there any other comment/recommendation? Thanks!


University of Virginia (Darden)
Cornell University (Johnson)

Emory University (Goizueta)

University of Southern California (Marshall)
University of California--Los Angeles (Anderson)

Boston College (Carroll)
Boston University

University of Rochester (Simon)
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey--New Brunswick and Newark

-- by 会员 妄以帷 (2012/8/21 2:32:51)

Hey there! Thanks for posting here on CD!

I really like your choice of schools. I think that you have a chosen a very solid mix of programs that at the same time are realistic. This means that you are aiming at the right height, and with good chances of coming out successful!

And I think 9 schools are great. Honestly, the more the merrier. Because the more schools you apply to, the more answers you will get, and the more options you will have at the end of the season, so you are very wise there….

In your note, the one thing that I think is maybe a little LESS wise is your idea for your goals: Corporate finance in short term, and then NGO/Charity in the long run. Your ST and LT goals aren’t really linked together, and this strategy seems weak. I’d say go with either one or the other… and from the experience you have, it seems like Corporate Finance might be the better one for you, cause you already have some good experience in it.

Best of luck to you with your applications! You have a lot of work ahead of you!

J