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

lzhao2

Thanks JonFrank!
your analysis is very helpful

JonFrank

Hey everyone! How's going??!!!

JonFrank

CAN MY CAREER GOAL CHANGE AS A RE-APPLICANT?

Question:

Can my career goal change as a reapplicant? My long-term goal has changed since the last time I applied. Is this okay?

Answer:

So, first thing to be aware of here: the reapplication process is different in a number of ways. Some schools will have you do the same essays as everyone else. Others will have a specific reapplicant essay. But the goal of the reapplicant app, no matter what version of the app you’re doing, is to show PROGRESS. Why are you a better applicant than you were last year?

Adcoms WANT to see some change in your application—if they didn’t admit you before, why would they admit you now with the same old application material? You gotta dust that old thing off and give it a nice polishing. If you’re sending in the same essays, the same work experience with no growth, the same test scores…you’re gonna experience some major déjà vu come admissions decision time. So it’s great to reevaluate your app. Show how you have more to offer. Show that you have a higher GMAT score. More responsibility at work. So that when the adcom compares this year’s app and your app from last year, it’s clear how much more awesome you are.

Which means you must have thought it through pretty seriously, right? So if it changes drastically within a year, that could raise some adcom eyebrows. It could make you seem flaky, or seem as if you’re just writing what you think the adcom wants to see to get you accepted. No no no no. It’s got to be for REAL.

Still, it is TOTALLY fine—and, sometimes, a good thing—to change your long-term career goal, as long as you explain WHY, and explicitly.

So for example: if you’re a pharma management consultant, and your long-term goal last year was to start a hospital group in rural India, but now you want to start a healthcare consulting company, that’s totally okay…as long as you can show WHY and HOW you’ve come to that conclusion.

Work something like this into your app: “After much consideration, I have shifted my goals this year to YYY, because I believe it is better for reasons AAA BBB and CCC.” Show how the experiences you’ve had within the past year have led you to this decision. Show how you’ve learned. Be straightforward, be clear, and show it as an IMPROVEMENT. That’s how you’re gonna make the long-term career goal change work FOR you.

And how you’re gonna end up with a BETTER result this time around….

Makes sense?

Jon frank

red1358

Hi Jon,

I have a question regarding to GMAT.
I took GMAT multiple times. The first time I got 710.
However it is not my target score so that I retake again.
But the score is dropped to 680. Then I took it the third tome, it was 660. I regret to take it so many times.

How does the admin officer view this? Will they look at the highest score in each session? I do have significant improvement in IR in the secord and third time. Or they will question my academic abilities?

thanks very much!

JonFrank

Question:

How do I answer the MBA essay question, “Why Wharton?” or “Why Booth? ” or “Why School X?” How do I answer this question differently than everybody else?

Answer:

Ahhhhh! An excellent question. Think of it this way—how do you “prove” to a girl you love her? (Or to a guy you love him?) By saying “I love you”??? Nah. That only works on TV (although it does help!) But when you say it in the right way, it will be believed.

What is the right way? When you REALLY DO love the school, you know the school inside out and are really excited about the possibilities it will open up. (Kind of like real love.)

Real love ain’t surface-y. It’s not all about looks and prestige and reputation. Real love involves a deep understanding and a personal and specific connection to what makes the school special TO YOU.

So if you haven’t already, you gotta do your research. Find out everything you can about that school that is right for YOU and YOUR goals, and will HELP you achieve your goals. Keep your own personal background and pursuits in mind here. Because that school you want, it doesn’t have to be everybody’s soul mate, but in this essay it has to be yours:

• What are some of the centers on campus that relate to your goals? What initiatives, events, and research happens there that will benefit you?
• What are some special events the school puts together that relate to your goals? Conferences? Visiting professionals? Talks?
• Are there clubs that specifically match what you’re working on?
• Professors whose work you admire, classes you’re dying to take?
• Something about their study abroad or other travel opportunities that speaks to your specific interests?
  

And then take it one step further: actually reach out to people in those groups/classes/etc. Visit the school and talk to people, sit in on a class, visit with the AdCom. Get as much specific info as you can so you can put it all in your essay and really make it convincing. If you’re writing a love poem to your sweetheart, do you write about their “brown hair” or their “hair the color of roasted chestnuts”? (Ok, both of those are cheesy and cliche, but you get the idea. One is generic, the other shows you are so into them that you not only noticed their hair was brown, but you noticed the exact shade.)

AdComs need to be wooed a little in that way. So when you get all that specific information that proves why you two are perfect together, you can gush about all of it in your application. Explain to the school how, without a doubt, this is the best school for you and you’re the best guy or gal for that school.

–Jon Frank

JonFrank

Everybody hates "Why School X" essays.. because you don't want them to all look the same. You need to really dig deep and find the differences among different programs and explore your true interests with that school in order to write an outstanding essays. Not easy.. man!

JonFrank

栗子公主 发表于 2013-12-18 15:53
I wonder where we can start a deeply discussion about the essays

Hi, If you want, feel free to email me to my Harvard Business School email address, and I can get more specific with you.  Thanks so much, and Im glad you find my posts to be helpful!!!
 jfrank@mba2005.hbs.edu”

JonFrank

red1358 发表于 2014-3-21 17:45
Hi Jon,

I have a question regarding to GMAT.

Hey there!
Well, the Adcom will consider your 710 as your score, but it is true that it looks a little bit not so great that your score dropped twice. But anyhow, right now there's not really much you can do about it. You already have an excellent GMAT score, so don't worry about it.

JonFrank

WHY MBA? 7 OVERLOOKED REASONS TO GET AN MBA!--1. LEADERSHIP
Why MBA? Maybe you’re looking to develop some new technical skills that will put you ahead in your career. Or you want to rub elbows with the best and brightest. Or maybe you’re really into eating cheap burritos while pulling all-nighters on case studies. There are about 2349679034 reasons to get an MBA (that’s just a rough estimate ), but what are you really getting from all that time and money? What are the skills that are going to pay off in the long-run and make you a better professional… and person?

Inspired by an article in the Economist, we asked our team of expert MBA consultants the most important skill they learned in b-school, but not the stuff they learned in class. Today, we’re looking at SEVEN of those often overlooked but extremely valuable soft skills that you ONLY get from the fast-paced, high-pressure, brain incubator that is b-school.

1. LEADERSHIP

“Through my learning team (7 people you do all assignments with), we had to do several group projects, some of which were observed by teachers and our mentor. We also had to do a 360 feedback at the end of the year to get all team member’s feedback on our performance. Through this, I learned that I can still lead the group without being the actual leader through positive encouragement and cheerleading. I learned when to step up and when to step back. I also learned when to push for better results and when perfectionism was non-productive. The learning team was one of the best growth experiences I’ve encountered in terms of being put with other people who want to lead and figuring out how I can still make an impact, while improving myself and my leadership style at the same time.”
–Christine Moseley, Wharton

“The most important soft skill I learned was how to lead and manage people who I had no direct authority over. There were many opportunities in b-school where I got to lead a bunch of my classmates from clubs to conferences to social trips. Technically, they were all my peers and did not “report” into me. So figuring out how to motivate and guide them to do what I asked was the biggest skill that I was able to gain by experience. There were many classes that I took that set the frameworks such as leading and managing teams and power in organizations, but learning by doing was the best resource/opportunity. Now I use the skills that I gained almost every day in the workplace. Everyone works on cross-functional teams where you would need something to be done by another person who is not your direct report. So this soft skill really comes handy to figure out how to manage people and adapt to different work styles. B-school was a fail-safe practice ground for the real world because everyone was in the same situation so you can make mistakes and learn/adjust your approach.”
–Tony Shan, Kellogg

tanht

Hi John,could you please give me some advice on my application?The link is here:
http://forum.chasedream.com/thread-909494-1-2.html
many thanks