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The recession has taught me that designers are not strong in business and would have greater impact otherwise. I am interested in design thinking as applied to business (think Kellogg's MMM, Stanford's D-School, or other programs' innovation design clubs). Architects are great strategic thinkers and synthesizers of information, always thinking about the end user and outside of the box. My instinct is to start off in consulting to get established, and to learn what is possible with global company networks. I would then transition those skills with my background in architecture into a career at a firm like Ideo or Continuum.
Does this make sense as an MBA path? Are these firms too boutique?

28 Female/6 years work experience / LEED AP / 640 (44Q, 35V) will take again if practice scores improve
Architecture Undergrad 3.54 GPA, state school, magna cume laude; grant for research in Greece
Quant Support: Undergrad A in Calculus, As in all three structures courses (calculating loads, trusses, structural members) 100% quant courses

Target Schools: Kellogg's MMM, MIT, Johnson, McCombs, Duke

Hi Xaniaphl,

Thanks for your post. I think you've got great goals and a solid reason for seeking your MBA. I think architects often think they can design or they can teach, and many don't think about other business areas. I think your long term goal of working at a boutique firm such a Ideo or Continuum is great, but I do think you want to give a bit more thought into exactly what you see yourself doing - what role or business area would most appeal to you?

In summary, I think you've got a great start to your goals. You'll want to flesh them out a bit more, think about the type of consulting work you'd like to do and then the ideal role for the long term. Glad to hear you might retake the GMAT.

Best,

Stacey

Hi, I am in the same boat. I am a design engineer. One program I am looking at is Stuart school of Business at ID at IIT Chicago. They have a joint degree M.des + MBA and lot of the students end up in business design and strategy design.

Thank you Stacy and MALD2011, I am continuing my research and have sent emails out to some individuals at those companies in hopes of finding out what makes the most sense. Emily over at MIT's admissions has some contacts at IDEO which I hope to be connected with. My instinct is strategy and operations consulting. I love collaborating on teams and solving problems from different angles, following best practices and researching the latest innovations.

MALD2011, I was looking at IIT's program as well, but I got sticker shock when I saw the tuition given it's not a highly ranked program. But of the firms I've been looking at there are a lot of M.des + MBA grads out there in the field, including Apple. Check out Johns Hopkins MBA+MA in Design Leadership with MICA, they call it their steve jobs MBA....you take the design courses during the day at MICA and the business courses in the evening at Johns Hopkins. I love the program and all of the courses, but I think a less structured curriculum is what I need at this point to explore different specialties.

Hi Xaniaphl,
Thanks for the info on John Hopkins program. I wanted to add something to the discussion. I have been researching MIT Sloan for a while now. I feel that one should be careful about mentioning career goals for that school. The advice I have received is don't mention the career goals or if you do, just one or two sentences should be ok.
I am not sure what you dilemma is, but if it is regards to how admission committee will see you reasoning to pursue an MBA, then MIT is the last place you should worry about in that case. Of course, for other schools such as Stanford GSB and Haas clear goals will help you immensely, especially Haas.
When I visited Haas, I had a chance to attend "Problem Finding, Problem solving" class by Professor Sara Beckman. This was basically their Design Thinking class. It was my lucky day because on that day three people from IDEO.org were present there to discuss their experience in Ghana. That class completely sold me on Haas. Don't forget that Tom Kelly (aka IDEO founder's brother) teaches at Haas.
Anyway, I am willing to share my notes or chat about my Haas visit if that helps you. You can PM me or email me at chillibox12[at]gmail
Regards

You two have such a great thread going! It's so great to see the wonderful support this community provides!

Hi Xaniaphl,

Check out this article. I think this might be of interest to you. It may require login but it is free.
https://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/2/8dc54e80 ... z2968y2iNg

It is two year old article but quite relevant.

Regards

Great article!

Thanks Stacey