The Application Process

Hello Guys,

During my undergrad days I was part of my university's FSAE team.(plz visit https://students.sae.org/cds/formulaseries/). I worked in the team for 40 months and for the final 12 months , I worked as the project manager, leading the team at two international events.

After graduating , I worked for the same company for 3 years and now I am planning to apply for my MBA.

With respect to my Letter of Recommendation , can I nominate my Faculty Adviser of the FSAE project? Is it okay?
He was the professor at the university and he has been involved with the team for more than a decade. I am confused on nominating him because most of the universities ask for recommendation letters from current employers or previous employers. Even some mention that a letter of recommendation from undergrad professor will not be ideal.

Can you help me out?

Hi,
I would advice you to stay away from nominating a professor as the MBA is a professional degree and your performance in an academic setting (particularly around research and analysis) is not a true indicator of how you perform in a business setting.
In addition, this will be at least 3+ years old and again, not using someone more recent will only raise further questions.
You need a recommender who can vouch for your progress, intellectual ability, leadership and team work skills among others - most of which are probably best done by someone who has seen you work closely, recently and in a corporate environment.
Hope this helps.

Thanks for sharing.

If you feel that your professor would be able to share insightful details about your growth and progress that others would not be able to do so, then request him to highlight the more professional aspects of your profile, as well. This would focus on leading teams, collaborating with similarly talented individuals, and building relationships. If he could give insight to your more recent involvements, whether at work, or with your extracurricular activities, then it would help mitigate concerns.

If another recommendation is required, be sure to use somebody more current. This would be a better complement to your professor's recommendation.

All the best!

pavannarayanareddy wrote:Hello Guys,

During my undergrad days I was part of my university's FSAE team.(plz visit https://students.sae.org/cds/formulaseries/). I worked in the team for 40 months and for the final 12 months , I worked as the project manager, leading the team at two international events.

After graduating , I worked for the same company for 3 years and now I am planning to apply for my MBA.

With respect to my Letter of Recommendation , can I nominate my Faculty Adviser of the FSAE project? Is it okay?
He was the professor at the university and he has been involved with the team for more than a decade. I am confused on nominating him because most of the universities ask for recommendation letters from current employers or previous employers. Even some mention that a letter of recommendation from undergrad professor will not be ideal.

Can you help me out?

Asking your professor for a recommendation could be problematic for two reasons:
- Your professor has not really worked with you actively over the last 3 years. Therefore his view is likely to be a bit dated.
- Even though he will have some insight into your strengths, he will not be able to comment on your professional abilities. That is an important consideration for an MBA program.

For these reasons, it would be better if you choose your recommender from among professional options as well.

Have a read here as well: Choosing recommenders for MBA applications

Stay away from this if possible...