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sandrew03 · Wed Nov 11, 2009 6:54 am

Hello

I am looking for some advice, specifically if my general profile would be a good fit for an EMBA.
I am 36, president of a commercial real estate company with 60 employees and looking seriously at Kellogg's EMBA Miami program or the Wharton East EMBA program.
Had a bit of an unusual career path: spent 11 years in GE; the first Australian on GE's highly regarded Financial Management Program; one of the first Australians on Corporate Audit Staff(from which most of GE Leadership has graduated); Six Sigma certified black belt and was on the fast track GE management route until leaving in 2008 for a private equity firm on the east coast which folded 7 months after we started due to economic crisis. Worked in 7 countries with GE in many different businessesand have nothing but good things to say about the experience.

Undergrad in Australia with Bachelor of Business in Accounting ... did well but not sure how grade would compare to US as we don't have GPA system.

Currently work for private real estate company looking to take their platform (of which I am president) to the next level and an executive MBA would be a good fit with that goal.
My responsibilities include complete operations and financial management responsibilities for the company (7 direct reports), quarterly board of directors' meetings and analysis of acquisition and other strategic opportunities. I have had positions of increasing responsibility over the past 10 years with my last 2 roles (including current) being senior management involved with running businesses.

Post EMBA goals: continue to progress in managing larger and more complex businesses

Outside of work, I have a young family I like to spend time with. I very much enjoy golf, hiking and overseas travel although i dont do enough of any of these at the moment.

I havent yet taken GMAT although I have been working my way through online problems and coaching sessions. Guessing GMAT somewhere in the 650 to 675 range.

Inclined to favor the Kellogg Miami program due to strong emphasis on teamwork and fact that I am in Florida every month and the program is a once a month format instead of the typical 2x month format. Wharton east EMBA would be #2 choice based on my mid-atlantic location. Highly likely I will get my board to financially support me.

Any thoughts on whether i would be a good fit and successful if applied for both programs. Also interested if, in your view, the programs are generally viewed equally by students and/or business community.

Many thanks for your advice.

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cindytokumitsu · Wed Nov 18, 2009 7:15 am

Hello,

It looks like you’d be a good fit for either program, with Kellogg being the stronger option for you. Your experience is interesting and appropriate for the EMBA, but your challenge will be to integrate the various pieces into a coherent story/message.

Wharton remains the most competitive EMBA program in terms of numbers alone (lowest percentage of acceptances). However, I haven’t seen or heard any evidence of its being viewed more favorably than Kellogg by the business world. In fact, I’ve had clients who were applying only to Wharton EMBA and whose superiors urged them to apply to Kellogg as well. Of course this is just anecdotal input, and Wharton may carry more weight in the finance industry.

By the way, your GMAT range might be a bit low for Wharton (but not out of range). That said, I think it would make sense to apply to both programs - both are relatively competitive, and with such a situation it’s best to apply to more than one.

Best regards,
Cindy Tokumitsu
Senior Editor, Accepted.com
www.Accepted.com

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