Why MBA: Like GMATClub legend Raabend (http://gmatclub.com/forum/the-evolution-of-your-b-school-pursuit-56765-80.html#p588875), I come from a family with a long line of Ph.Ds where it is only way you can be acknowledged at family reunions. I somehow strayed from that path, joining the military midway through college. However, I did come back and completed my degree before went out and served again for a few years. And to my surprise, I was actually on track getting my PhD, as after the military I was working in infectious disease research while completing my masters. Unfortunately, when I announced my plan to apply for PhD programs in epidemiology to my wife, she threaten to make me sleeping on sofa for the rest of my life. Liking my bed but trying not to be disowned by my family, I decided to be a good husband and applied to MBA programs (my logic was 3 masters = a Ph.D). In all seriousness, without a Ph.D. I cannot advance at my workplace; therefore I plan to move out of health research arena and into private sector (business intelligence or investment banking). MBA seems like a great help to make the transition. I also have another option of going super spy secret squirrel stuff but my wife nipped the idea also...ughhh...
Where: Since my profile is really quirky (1st gen Asian-American, military, non-traditional background, advance degrees, not-so-glory undergrad GPA and a-not-so-flatter GRE-GMAT equivalent, etc) I applied to a wide range of schools both East Coast and West Coast, 8 total (2 M7, 1 top 10, 3 Top 16, and 2 Top 30) to hedge my bet. My choices were based on fit and career prospect (my wife wants us to move back to our hometown in the Rocky Mountain, sooo excited!). I was quickly accepted to the both top 30 schools with a hefty scholarship at one and a full-ride with full-housing award to another. I interviewed at both M7 schools (big fat dings) and 2 of the top 16 (admit from Anderson and waitlist at an East Coast school).
Why Anderson: I quickly declined a top 30 school's offer with the hefty scholarship because the school is on the West Coast and very similar to Anderson. I know if I decide to attend a West Coast school, it would be Anderson (or the other two hippie schools up North but I guess I wasn't hippie enough for them). The other top 30 school is in Texas so my next step in the decision is to attend admit weekend at both schools to determine the fit. And I absolutely love everything I saw and experienced at both schools. I could see myself at both schools. However, I keep having the question of "if I can come back to my hometown" in the back of my mind at the Texas school. I didn't have that doubt while I was at Anderson admit weekend. Knowing that my goal is to come back to the Rocky Mountain, I did my diligent and research my option, which yield very limited prospective companies (banking and tech) that can afford my post-MBA salary demand. I would love to work for minimum wage but gotta pay them student loan extraordinaire ya know. Anderson has a really strong relationship and a great alumni base with all companies I am targeting, especially tech. Amazingly there is a 2015 student who will be interning at my top choice tech company in my hometown for the coming summer, doing exactly what I want to do. Everyone (current students and alumni) I reached out to response quickly and very helpful. Thus it comes down to my gut feeling that Anderson will be better at positioning me coming back to my hometown and more importantly maintaining peace for my marriage. Also, unlike other schools I interviewed and visited (East Coast ahem), Anderson students know how to enjoy life outside of classroom. Cherry on top, living in the sunny southern Cali and wearing flip flop and short for 2 years definitely don't hurt either. Thus for those reasons, I chose Anderson.
- Phat, UCLA Anderson Class of 2016
I wanted to reach out to say that we are beginning our B-School Buzz Feature,
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