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

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

JonFrank

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.

-- by 会员 lostkid123 (2012/8/22 10:27:25)

Very good questions here my friend! Let’s see what we can do to help you out…

So first, regarding your goals, you totally CAN change your goals, and if you had inappropriate ones last year, you might want to. If you do, though you for sure gotta explain the logic as to why… otherwise some folks might be scratching their heads…

If the school does not change essays, usually it’s a better idea to find a new story (if you have to answer the questions), because otherwise it may look like laziness… and of course we don’t want that! So do your best to use your imagination!

Finally, for the recommendation letters, I’d suggest using at least ONE new recommender. No need to use two… but one new one is good, because it brings fresh air into the application.

In general, schools will evaluate you first of all in comparison with your peers, and secondly, they will check to see how much you have progressed from last year, so SHOWING concrete progress is the KEY to getting in this year!

So go get ‘em!

Jon Frank

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

-- by 会员 m1nt (2012/8/19 18:44:44)

Hahaha, NEEEEVER my friend

-- by 会员 JonFrank (2012/8/20 18:41:15)

well, my "friend" i knew you got my email, you just didnt wanna reply
should have known that, and sorry, i dont think it is nice

deardee

Hey Jon, thanks for your insightful opinion!

One question regarding the recommendation letter. My supervisor wrote a fair and strong letter for me to apply all the schools. However this letter does not cover all the questions nor not in the right format required by some schools. After communication, he insisted not make any changes to the letter.

Should I find other supervisors who will provide less strong recommendation letter but follow all the school instructions?

Thanks!

JonFrank

Hey Jon, thanks for your insightful opinion!

One question regarding the recommendation letter. My supervisor wrote a fair and strong letter for me to apply all the schools. However this letter does not cover all the questions nor not in the right format required by some schools. After communication, he insisted not make any changes to the letter.

Should I find other supervisors who will provide less strong recommendation letter but follow all the school instructions?

Thanks!

-- by 会员 deardee (2012/8/25 8:37:17)

Hey, actually the content in recommendation letters is not all that vital. Meaning, it’s totally okay if the school asks one question and your recommender answers something totally on the side. The important thing is that it be a good, strong, excited, recommendation. And if that’s the case, then you don’t need to change recommenders. Hope this helps man, feel free to reach out it there is more i could help with



Jon Frank

darkdoug

Hi Jon,This is Doug. First I would like to thank you a lot for your tremendous contributions in this post. It takes me 4-5 hours to go through them (and also your other post) and find them greatly beneficial.


I would like to ask for some evaluations for my profile and some suggestions to my application strategy. I put it here rather than email you personally just because of my "non-typical" background, which I think may be also helpful for other students with similar profiles. In short, I think my profile is "non-typical" mainly for 3 reasons: Age, Degree and Working-experiences.

• Basic
  
  • Male, 33 years old --nontypical #1
    
• Education:
  
  • GPA, 3.1 or so, normal 211 university in China (not top10 overall but the best in my major)
    
  • Ph. D. degree in Engineering -- nontypical #2
    
• G/T
  
  • GMAT: 740, considering retake for top10 schools.
    
  • TOEFL: not taken yet, estimated around 110.
    
• Working experiences
  
  • 7 years in the headquarter of a dominating state-owned company, a titan with huge scale but maybe not well-known out of China.-- nontypical #3
    
  • 4 years in technology R&D department, work on technical strategies, roadmaps and specifications. Promoted as team manager with 8 members. International experiences in 4 years regular global standardization works and a regular corporate project with a foreign giant company.
    
  • 3 years in planning department, work on company investment planning and strategies, involving billions dollars per year.
    
• Career Goal: (actually not determined yet...)
  
  • Hi-tech Corp.: General Management, Planning and Strategy...
    
  • PE/VC in high-tech areas in China
    
  • Consulting.
    
• Target
  
  • Tier1: Chicago, Kellogg, INSEAD
    
  • Tier2: Ross, Duke, UCLA, Cornell
    
  • Tier3: 20-30 schools, no research yet.
    

So, I am eager for your advice especially on the following questions:

1. About my Ph.D degree. Is it an advantage or a flaw in my application? How should take this as an advantage in my application? Which kind of school like students with such backgrounds (older age and Ph. D degree in engineering)?  I guess Chicago maybe because it represents high quantitative skills. Also Cornell 's 1 year program suit for Ph.D. students.
2. About my company. It is a household name in China and absolute Fortune 500 or ** 100 in the world. But will it be unfamiliar to American B schools? I'm really worried about it. Any suggestion to make it up during application?
3. About career goal. Which career goal above fit me the most and will be most convincing for B-schools?  I guess it will be better to fit my degree and age.
4. From your point of view, is that possible for me to reach my Tire1 target schools? Do you have any other suggesting  schools which I may have a better chance?


Sorry to make it long ( I am also surprised for that...). Looking forward to see your analysis and suggestions. More or less will be appreciated!!!

JonFrank

Hi Jon,This is Doug. First I would like to thank you a lot for your tremendous contributions in this post. It takes me 4-5 hours to go through them (and also your other post) and find them greatly beneficial.


I would like to ask for some evaluations for my profile and some suggestions to my application strategy. I put it here rather than email you personally just because of my "non-typical" background, which I think may be also helpful for other students with similar profiles. In short, I think my profile is "non-typical" mainly for 3 reasons: Age, Degree and Working-experiences.

Basic

Male, 33 years old --nontypical #1

Education:

GPA, 3.1 or so, normal 211 university in China (not top10 overall but the best in my major)
Ph. D. degree in Engineering -- nontypical #2

G/T

GMAT: 740, considering retake for top10 schools.
TOEFL: not taken yet, estimated around 110.

Working experiences

7 years in the headquarter of a dominating state-owned company, a titan with huge scale but maybe not well-known out of China.-- nontypical #3
4 years in technology R&D department, work on technical strategies, roadmaps and specifications. Promoted as team manager with 8 members. International experiences in 4 years regular global standardization works and a regular corporate project with a foreign giant company.
3 years in planning department, work on company investment planning and strategies, involving billions dollars per year.

Career Goal: (actually not determined yet...)

Hi-tech Corp.: General Management, Planning and Strategy...
PE/VC in high-tech areas in China
Consulting.

Target

Tier1: Chicago, Kellogg, INSEAD
Tier2: Ross, Duke, UCLA, Cornell
Tier3: 20-30 schools, no research yet.

So, I am eager for your advice especially on the following questions:

1. About my Ph.D degree. Is it an advantage or a flaw in my application? How should take this as an advantage in my application? Which kind of school like students with such backgrounds (older age and Ph. D degree in engineering)?  I guess Chicago maybe because it represents high quantitative skills. Also Cornell 's 1 year program suit for Ph.D. students.
2. About my company. It is a household name in China and absolute Fortune 500 or ** 100 in the world. But will it be unfamiliar to American B schools? I'm really worried about it. Any suggestion to make it up during application?
3. About career goal. Which career goal above fit me the most and will be most convincing for B-schools?  I guess it will be better to fit my degree and age.
4. From your point of view, is that possible for me to reach my Tire1 target schools? Do you have any other suggesting  schools which I may have a better chance?


Sorry to make it long ( I am also surprised for that...). Looking forward to see your analysis and suggestions. More or less will be appreciated!!!

-- by 会员 darkdoug (2012/8/28 17:41:35)

Hey there Doug, thanks for writing us!
Well, looks like you have a lot of stuff going on in your post, and I’m gonna try and address every single one of your questions, and maybe even get a little more for ya ;)

So the first thing to think about is your age and experience. Let’s be straight here: For a regular MBA program in the US, you are a bit on the old side. Now, you aren't soooooo old to make it impossible (every class in every MBA has a few folks in the 32-36 range), but it does make it a bit tougher. Second thought, and I am mentioning this because you have listed INSEAD is to consider European programs. There are plenty of great ones out there, and they tend to take older candidates (and may be better for you because many are one year programs too). Also, as you have mentioned, you have accelerated programs such as Cornell’s which might fit in better for you. And finally, you have EMBA programs. I don’t know if you have looked into these, but they may be good for you. Of course you don't have to limit yourself to only one type of program. You can apply to some regular 2-year MBAs, some AMBAs, some EMBAs, a few in Europe etc…. they should just meet your goals.

So, next. You have a PhD. Great! You have a LOT more specialized knowledge than anyone out there? How can that be bad???! Lots of folks who succeed are EXPERTS in what they do, so use your PhD to your ADVANTAGE. Show how your PhD prepares you better than other candidates. And it can be a PLUS for you,

About your state-sponsored company. Okay, so maybe the AdCom doesn't know about it. Okay… we can deal with that! You need to TELL them. Focusing on universally recognized facts and statistics that will SHOW us how important the company is! For example is your firm “China’s largest manufacturer of consumer electronics? The WORLD LEADER in sales?” WOW!!! SHOW them what they don't yet know to make your company impressive.
For your career goal: In my eyes the ONLY one that will work for you is general management in High Tech. I mean you have YEARS of experience, a PhD in Engineering and management experience in your industry! All that is awesome! Why throw it all away to try for a VC goal which you likely won’t reach anyhow, cause you lack the experience and cause there are few places, and cause it’s crazy competitive!? Use what you have!
As for schools, I think with your list above you can make it in (including Tier 2 schools). A few more schools you may want to look into: Anderson, IMD, Tepper, Haas…
So, I hope this is helpful for you and all our other friends here on CD,
And best of luck to ya!


Jon Frank