Ask Veritas Prep Admissions Consulting

I posted this inquiry on the general section as well. I currently have been in corporate finance for about four years and have an opportunity to relocate to work for a startup founded by a family member. There's been a large change in my personal situation and pursuing this has been something I have been heavily considering. Because of the volatile income stream of the startup, I'd either have to keep my current job and work remotely after relocating if that is possible or take something else for the time being while doing this.

My question is if I pursue this, could something like this be very damaging to my application (ignoring potentialy burnt bridges and issues with keeping my current job's recommenders)? I plan to apply this Fall and by that time I'd only be working at the startup and anywhere else after for about three to six months. If I pursued this I'd relocate from the Midwest to the West Coast until the Fall of 2011 which is when I'd like to start.

Looking at it purely from a "Will it help me / hurt me in getting in?" standpoint, I certainly don't think that this change would hurt you, just by its nature. However, you will want to make clear in your apps why you made the move -- that that your applying to business school isn't the result of you not having a clear plan, or a result of the startup not panning out and your wanting a way out.

Re: burning bridges with your recommendation writers, that very much depends no who they are and how you handle it! But, definitely plan on getting at least one reco from your past boss(es) at that company, since that's the bulk of your professional experience.

So, I don't think such a move will hurt you, but (if you make the move) start thinking about how to tie it all together in your application story... Why an MBA? Why now? What decisions have led you to this point?

Good luck!
Scott