MIT Sloan Application Resources

I have spent a lot of time research, prepping, writing essays, and finishing my applications.  MIT Sloan with their round one deadline just around the corner is one I have been focusing on a lot lately.  I thought I would just share some of the resources that have helped me put together my applications.  I hope they help!

General Information:
mbaMission's MIT Sloan's Insider Guide (I was able to get this for free when they were doing their daily giveaways, but worth $25 if you need a lot of information and don't have time to arrange meetings with current students, alumni, etc.)
MBApodcaster: Getting into MIT Sloan
Clear Admit's Interview with MIT Sloan's Career Services Director

Application and Essays:
MIT Sloan Admissions Blog
Beat the GMAT's Writing like and Expert Series: MIT Sloan
Admissionado's MIT Sloan Essay Analysis (I personally think Admissionado's essay analyses are the best out there)
mbaMission's MIT Sloan Essay Analysis
Clear Admit's MIT Sloan Essay Analysis

I am sure there are other resources that have helped my along the way, but these were the one's I could think of.  If I remember any others, I will add them.  What resources have helped you with your applications?

MIA

I have knee deep in writing, revising, and re-writing essays the past month. I am getting ready to submit my first two applications next week, Sloan and Yale SOM. I am pretty close to being done, but it’s hard not to second guess myself. I want to put my best foot forward, just like anyone else, but many is it hard to do with just a couple essays. I am actually looking forward to the Yale video essays. I will post an update once I am done with that and let you all know how it goes.

 In other news, I submitted my personal defining principles for the Haas contest. Hopefully one of them resonates with one of the adcom, it would get great to win an essay review session with a member of the admissions committee.

Well, back to essays.

“When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.” - Franklin D. Roosevelt

Interview with Accepted.com

Hey everyone, I had the chance to be interviewed by Accepted.com.  Check it out!  Here is the link.  Below is the actual interview.

Accepted: First, can you tell us a little about yourself? Where are you from? Where and what did you study as an undergrad? What is your current job? 

MBAreapplicant84: I was born in Japan and lived there for a total of about eight years. My mother is Japanese and my father is from the US. We moved back and forth between Japan and the US quite a bit, but when I was about 10 years old, we settled down in California. I went to Brigham Young University as an undergrad and studied Japanese. I hadn’t spoken Japanese since I was 10, so I had forgotten most of the language and really had a desire to relearn it. Currently I work at Goldman Sachs as a Senior Operations Analyst.

Accepted: When did you first apply to b-school?  

MBAreapplicant84: I applied to b-school for the first time last year. I only applied to a few schools that I really wanted to go to in Round 1. I was interviewed at Tuck and Kellogg, but ended up getting dinged from all the schools I applied to. I was very disappointed to say the least. For awhile, I thought of applying to some safety schools, but the thought of giving up and going to a school I knew I wouldn’t be happy at made me a bit depressed. So I decided to wait a year and try again. Looking back, I am very glad I did. I have grown a ton in the last year, and I know I made some serious mistakes on my apps last time around. Also, when I was denied at Tuck, they actually sent me a letter saying that I was in the top 10 percent of the candidates that got rejected, but that they saw a lot of potential and encouraged me to apply again the following year. I was even able to sit down with one of the admission officers and go through the strengths and weaknesses of my application. It was pretty cool of Tuck to do that, and it has helped a lot.

Accepted: What do you think went wrong that time and what are you doing this time to improve your candidacy? 

MBAreapplicant84: The first thing is I waited till September to take the GMAT (second attempt). Because I was so focused on studying, the rest of my application, especially the essays suffered. Also, when I talked with the adcom at Tuck, she mentioned that she wanted to see a little more growth in my current position at work (at the time I applied last year, I had only been in my current position for about six months). I think there were a few other small things too, like lack of clarity on goals. This time around, I have spent almost a year prepping for essays, better understanding my career goals, and growing at work. I have been promoted once since last applying and am set for another promotion in January. I also took the GMAT one more time and improved my score a bit. I have also taken on a few leadership responsibilities outside of work.

Accepted: Where do you plan on applying this time? 

MBAreapplicant84: This time around, I am planning on applying to Tuck, Haas, Kellogg, Sloan, and Yale SOM.

Accepted: What stage of the application process are you up to so far? What has been the most challenging step and how did you work to overcome it? 

MBAreapplicant84: Currently I am working on my essays, which I also consider to be one of the tougher aspects of the application. I know, at least for me, I really needed to do some deep introspection to figure out why I really want/need an MBA, what I want out of my career, and what stories in my life best illustrate who I am. Aside from that, the hardest thing has just been the actual length of the process. I started studying for the GMAT almost two and a half years ago. It’s exhausting. I know my wife is ready to have me back in the evenings.

Accepted: Do you plan on staying in your current industry post-MBA, or changing to a new field/career?

MBAreapplicant84: I plan on staying in operations post-MBA, but I want to switch from the financial industry to the consumer products or tech industry. I want to be somewhere like Nike or Google where there is a bit more freedom to be innovative. The financial industry has been great to me, but because of the amount of regulation, I feel like there is not as much room for significant innovation.

Accepted: Why did you decide to blog about your experience? What have you gained from the experience? What do you hope others will learn? 

MBAreapplicant84: I decided to blog about my experience mainly to have a periodic outlet. I don’t really know if there are people out there that really care what I have to say, but it has been almost therapeutic to be able to get my thoughts about the whole process out there. Blogging has helped me to be able to take a step back and better analyze how I am doing in the process this time around. I hope others will understand that applying to b-school isn’t something that you just do at the last minute, it is a process. If you don’t take the time to really dig deep and understand yourself and why you want and need an MBA, you might end up wasting a lot of time and money. However, if you do put the time and effort into it, the process of applying to b-school itself can be very rewarding.

Haas Facebook Contest

If you don’t know already, Berkeley Haas is definitely one of the schools on my short list.  There is a ton I really like about the program – general management strength, social impact focus, location, the program’s Four Defining Principles, etc.  All of the interaction I have had with Haas students, alumni, and admissions officers has been very positive.  Recently I entered an essay into Haas’ Facebook Value of an MBA Essay Contest.  About a week ago I heard back from the admissions office that I was one of four winners!  Unfortunately I didn’t get my application fee waived like the last contest winner, but I did get a sweet custom Modify watch!

School Research: Part 1

Since I have already been through the application process once, I have already done a lot of research on various programs.  Last year I was able to visit and interview at Tuck, which was a great experience.  I also interviewed with Kellogg, but was not able to visit the campus.  In the past year, I have also spoken to countless students, alumni, professors, and adcoms of several programs, many of which were on my list before, but aren't anymore because of my experience with those I spoke to.  There were also some schools, like Kellogg, that weren't on my shortlist before, but my experience talking with students and alumni made it one of my top choices.  My advice for all you that are out there still researching and deciding on which programs to apply to, talk to as many students and alumni as you can.  They will be able to give you a much clearer picture of the program than you can ever get from a program's website or any of their marketing material.  Also, if possible, visit the schools that you are interested.  There is no better way to tell if a b-school is a good fit for you and vice versa, than by sitting in on classes, talking with professors and current students, and getting a true feel for the culture and environment.

All that being said, there are still other good resources out there.  Lately I have been watching a lot of YouTube videos of professors at the schools I am interested in.  Call me a nerd for listening to lectures on consumer analytics or managerial economics, but it has given me a pretty good insight to some of the school's teaching styles, etc.

Some other good resources I have come across are the school guides from Clear Admit and mbaMission.  A couple weeks ago, mbaMission was giving a free guide away everyday.  I was lucky enough to be able to get my hands on all of them and they have been great!  I was also able to get a couple of the guides from Clear Admit, which have been a fantastic resource as well.

In this post I will be reviewing the Clear Admit School Guides.  Next time around I will do the mbaMission guides.

Clear Admit School Guides
Clear Admit offers quite a few different resources.  If you haven't already, check out their School Snapshots.  The Snapshots are an abbreviated version of the School Guides, but they are free, so hey, why not give them a read!

So, here are some of my impressions of the Clear Admit School Guides.  I reviewed the guide for the Tuck School of Business, because I have the most insight on this program.  Having visited the school, sat in on classes, talked to several students, alumni, and professors from the program, I feel like I am in a good position to comment on the depth of the guide.

The Tuck School Guide is 53 pages long, although 9 of those pages are either cover pages, ads, table of contents, or the "About the Guide" pages.

The guide begins with an overview of the school and pretty good history of the program.  It has a comparative timeline between Tuck Business School and the MBA degree in general.

Next the guide goes into the demographics of the student body.  It has some useful side-by-side charts comparing Tuck to other top b-schools.  It also gives a good background on some of the numbers, trends, etc.  Most of the info you can get from the school's website or resources like the US News or Businessweek, but the color the guide provides on the numbers is pretty unique.

The next section of the guide goes into the academic schedule and class offering.  Although much of this information can be found through the school's website, it is never in just one place.  A big plus to clear Admit for putting this info in one place, and also including important dates.  I was also impressed with the details on Tuck's Pre-Term.  The guides goes into some of the activities and classes can be expected during this time.

The school guide contained some details on the core curriculum and electives, but fails to go into detail about the classes.  I did find the chart comparing other b-school's curriculum to Tuck's interesting, but most of this information can be found on Businessweek or US News, just not all in one place.

A few unique things that the guide goes into, that I haven't really been able to find anywhere else are details on the grading system and the honor code.  The guide also gives a brief background on a few of the prominent professors.  Although I have heard about the "point system" for getting interviews with recruiters, I have never read about it in writing.  This guide is the first place I have seen it, so kudos to Clear Admit for providing some good insider info.

The guide also has employment information, but the Employment Report published by Tuck is far more detailed.  They also analyze the school's essay questions, but this is the same analysis that is provide on the Clear Admit blog.  I did like that they included recent interviews with Dawna Clarke, the Admissions Director, and Jonathan Masland, the Career Services Director.  I am not sure if these are on the Clear Admit blog or not, but they provide good insight.

The Verdict
My overall thoughts on the guide are that it is a good resource and provides a lot of information that you would otherwise have to dig for in one spot.  It is clean, concise, and provides a ton of info.  So, are the School Guides worth $25?  If you are pressed for time or your want a quick and easy way to become an expert on a school you are interested in, then I would definitely say YES.  That being said, there was very little, maybe aside from the professor profiles, that I didn't already know about Tuck before reading the guide, but I have put several hours and travel dollars into my own research.  So if you have the time and energy, you can get most the information this guide provides by doing your own research and talking with students and alumni.

The Value of Introspection

Last year going into the applications, I was far too occupied with the GMAT and did not spend nearly enough time preparing for and writing my essays.  Granted there were other flaws to my candidacy, but I believe that this was a major one.  During the months of July, August, and part of September, I was solely focused on studying for the GMAT, I hadn't even started thinking about application essays until a few weeks before they were due... huge mistake.  My next big mistake was writing my essays with pretty much zero prep.  This was due to my lack of understanding of the amount of time needed to truly produce good essays, and because I had pushed off writing until after I finished the GMAT the second time.  The result: six dings and a huge shot to my ego.

Looking back, I am glad I didn't get in last year.  I wish I could have all the money I spent on applications back, but it was a good learning experience.  After recovering for the dings, I decided to wait another year to apply rather than applying to "safety schools."  I vowed to not make the same mistake and started my preparations for the 2013 Round 1 apps this past January.

So what was I going to do this time?  Read more program websites?  Talk to more admissions consultants about my chances of being accepted?  Spend more time on the boards of Beat the GMAT?  All good things in their own way, but I had done all those things before?  What was I missing?  INTROSPECTION!

Why do I need an MBA?  What do I really want to do in my career?  What is my passion?  What really matters to me?  How are all these things related?  These were all things I asked myself before, but only superficially.  When I applied last time around, I thought I wanted to go into consulting, but in reality, I didn't really know why.  I didn't think too much about it, just thought it would be an interesting career with a nice paycheck, but I never thought much deeper than that.  I have a son who just started asking questions about everything.  He has turned into the annoying little kid that is always asking "Why?  Why?  Why?"  But if you think about it, there is a very valuable lesson to be learned from that child-like frame of mind, both for discovering your reason for going back to school for an MBA and for life in general.

Why is introspection important?  Because it helps you uncover the core of your professional and personal motivations, which are very valuable to know when writing your application essays.  Knowing your core motivations will better help you understand what you want to do in life.  It will help you better articulate what you dream job is.  Once you know that, your long-term post-MBA goal becomes clearer.  Finally, when you know what your long-term goals are, you can map out why you need an MBA and what you will do within 5 to 10 years post-MBA to get to that long-term goal.  Before I was thinking small picture first.  However, in doing so, I never really had a clear understanding of what I really wanted to do in the long-term.  I wanted to be a management consultant at McKinsey.  If someone asked me why, I would have said, "because I like to solve problems."  If someone were to ask me why again, I probably couldn't answer them.

This approach may not be for everyone, but it was really helped me.  I started asking myself why about everything regarding why I wanted an MBA and about what I though my short and long term goals were.

"Why do I want to go into management consulting?"

"Why do I like to solve problems?"

"Would being a management consultant make me happy?"

The more questions I asked myself, the clearer my core motivations became.  The clearer my motivations became, the clearer my career goals became.  Once I understood what I really valued, and what I wanted out of a career, I was able to better see the big picture of my career.  What I really wanted.  What I would be happy and satisfied with when all is said and done.  Once I understood that, filling in the road that would get me there wasn't too hard.

"Ability is what you're capable of doing.  Motivation determines what you do.  Attitude determines how well you do it." - Raymond Chandler

GMAT: From a 530 to 710 and finally done!

Just wanted to post an update, I finally retook the GMAT a couple weeks ago and got a 710 (47Q/40V).  I am pretty excited to be done.  I can't explain the relief I feel at night not having the constant guilt/pressure to study.  I would burn my study guides... but I think selling them is the wiser choice.  It's hard to believe that it was over two years ago when I took my first practice test and scored a 530.  That was a depressing day.  I am pretty sure I crossed off every school on my list and started looking at Oregon State or something (not that there is anything wrong with OSU).

As a side note, I am a big fan of Poets and Quants and their series "Handicapping Your Elite B-School Chances."  I decided to submit my profile for Sandy Kreisberg to review, and to my surprise, he did.  Here is his review that was published today, http://poetsandquants.com/2013/06/20/handicapping-your-elite-b-school-chances-2/4/.  Let me know what you think!  (If you do read the post, please note that I am actually an LGBTQ ally.  I am married with a couple kids...)