Ask Critical Square

hello there! thank you so much for reading this, I would be extremely grateful if someone could evaluate my chances for applying to schools R2 this cycle.

undergraduate: Ivy, English major, cum laude, 3.6
*In addition to my English classes I took a lot of graduate economics classes (basically completed the major except econometrics) and a lot of physics classes. Spent almost everyday from 5pm to 2pm my sophomore and junior years editing the school paper, and had an internship at Vogue in NYC one semester where I only had classes Mondays and Fridays so I can leave town 3 days a week. Crazy, I know, and my grades suffered a bit because of all that.

GMAT: 770

Career so far: 1.5 years at Sotheby/Christie's as client liaison and auction administrator, then a year as an associate at a top international contemporary art gallery, and now am director at another top international art gallery.
I also am a published writer and routinely contributes reviews and critical essays for art magazines, sold a screenplay recently to Netflix, wrapping up a novel, and also have been running a public relations consultancy for the art world since 2012 (I considered starting my own firm full-time but realised I need something a bit more intellectually rigorous than PR...)

Why MBA: No one in my field has an MBA, there might be a reason for that but I honestly think the world of art business/museums needs a lot of reorganisation. Many companies fail because they are managed by curators and artists, and there are an incredible number of exciting-sounding start-ups that cannot gather momentum because their business models were dreamed up by people who don't have experience in the industry. I want to start a wealth management company that specializes in collection management and artist management - it's very untraditional and totally outside the scope of a regular gallery, but I think it's something we desperately need. "Arts management" programs will not give me the knowledge/prestige/network/intensity I seek from a graduate programme.

I am of course also eager to go into my MBA with an open mind and consider switching careers to entertainment (closely related) or consulting

Schools to try this year: Harvard, Wharton, Stanford, Sloan, Yale (?)

I'm concerned about articulating the strength of my professional experience to adcoms who know nothing about the art world...

thank you for your time!

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Hi! Thank you SO much for your thoughtful and detailed response, this is extremely helpful and encouraging, thank you thank you!

RE: post MBA short/long term goals, I'm actually hoping to spend some time in asset management or wealth management right out of school whilst getting all my start-up ducks in a row. I've already started talking to artists/collectors about the idea and have already curated a few selling exhibitions here and there - I think I have enough materials to fill out an essay, but my main worry is most people outside the art world don't know much about or care for its inner workings, my plan is pretty detailed and the innovations it brings are context-specific.... it'll be challenging to package it into language that's energising and interesting for adcoms.

RE: R2 list, I've actually given it a lot more thought/research last week...

current list:
HBS: I like the general management curriculum and the case method, and also how during the first year everyone takes the same classes - it'll be a great bonding experience and as someone who doesn't have a strong business background the breadth would be helpful for me. The class/network is large and also I'll be in good company with friends from undergrad.

Sloan: It's a great school and from what I've seen it values individuals with unique ideas, also the class size is small which means I'll get to know everyone better. I almost went there for undergrad but got spooked by the freshman foundation curriculum when I visited - it seems like a challenging, genuinely innovative institution. I find it's immersion in technology extremely exciting, and also the media lab sounds really cool.

Booth: I want to work in asset management for a bit and then start an art investments company, so Booth's focus on quant and economics sounds really great. Also I've been subscribing to The Economist since grade 9 and am secretly a little obsessed with academic economics and UChicago, plus the essay topic for class of 2018 is right up my alley, I chose my photo already and am actually stoked to write it.

I deleted these:
Yale/Wharton: I looked into the applications and met with a few friends who have attended, these just don't feel right. Obviously grossly generalising here, but Yale doesn't feel intense enough and got a strong "2 more years of college" vibe from Wharton.

Stanford: I saw the application and it's a handful - I don't think I'll have the time to execute it well. I was considering it mainly because my parents live nearby.


Thank you again! and looking forward to your thoughts - I'm of course open to suggestions about other schools too, not considering much besides curriculum and alumni network.

Hi! Thank you SO much for your thoughtful and detailed response, this is extremely helpful and encouraging, thank you thank you!

RE: post MBA short/long term goals, I'm actually hoping to spend some time in asset management or wealth management right out of school whilst getting all my start-up ducks in a row. I've already started talking to artists/collectors about the idea and have already curated a few selling exhibitions here and there - I think I have enough materials to fill out an essay, but my main worry is most people outside the art world don't know much about or care for its inner workings, my plan is pretty detailed and the innovations it brings are context-specific.... it'll be challenging to package it into language that's energising and interesting for adcoms.

RE: R2 list, I've actually given it a lot more thought/research last week...

current list:
HBS: I like the general management curriculum and the case method, and also how during the first year everyone takes the same classes - it'll be a great bonding experience and as someone who doesn't have a strong business background the breadth would be helpful for me. The class/network is large and also I'll be in good company with friends from undergrad.

Sloan: It's a great school and from what I've seen it values individuals with unique ideas, also the class size is small which means I'll get to know everyone better. I almost went there for undergrad but got spooked by the freshman foundation curriculum when I visited - it seems like a challenging, genuinely innovative institution. I find it's immersion in technology extremely exciting, and also the media lab sounds really cool.

Booth: I want to work in asset management for a bit and then start an art investments company, so Booth's focus on quant and economics sounds really great. Also I've been subscribing to The Economist since grade 9 and am secretly a little obsessed with academic economics and UChicago, plus the essay topic for class of 2018 is right up my alley, I chose my photo already and am actually stoked to write it.

I deleted these:
Yale/Wharton: I looked into the applications and met with a few friends who have attended, these just don't feel right. Obviously grossly generalising here, but Yale doesn't feel intense enough and got a strong "2 more years of college" vibe from Wharton.

Stanford: I saw the application and it's a handful - I don't think I'll have the time to execute it well. I was considering it mainly because my parents live nearby.


Thank you again! and looking forward to your thoughts - I'm of course open to suggestions about other schools too, not considering much besides curriculum and alumni network.

Hi! Thank you SO much for your thoughtful and detailed response, this is extremely helpful and encouraging, thank you thank you!

RE: post MBA short/long term goals, I'm actually hoping to spend some time in asset management or wealth management right out of school whilst getting all my start-up ducks in a row. I've already started talking to artists/collectors about the idea and have already curated a few selling exhibitions here and there - I think I have enough materials to fill out an essay, but my main worry is most people outside the art world don't know much about or care for its inner workings, my plan is pretty detailed and the innovations it brings are context-specific.... it'll be challenging to package it into language that's energising and interesting for adcoms.

RE: R2 list, I've actually given it a lot more thought/research last week...

current list:
HBS: I like the general management curriculum and the case method, and also how during the first year everyone takes the same classes - it'll be a great bonding experience and as someone who doesn't have a strong business background the breadth would be helpful for me. The class/network is large and also I'll be in good company with friends from undergrad.

Sloan: It's a great school and from what I've seen it values individuals with unique ideas, also the class size is small which means I'll get to know everyone better. I almost went there for undergrad but got spooked by the freshman foundation curriculum when I visited - it seems like a challenging, genuinely innovative institution. I find it's immersion in technology extremely exciting, and also the media lab sounds really cool.

Booth: I want to work in asset management for a bit and then start an art investments company, so Booth's focus on quant and economics sounds really great. Also I've been subscribing to The Economist since grade 9 and am secretly a little obsessed with academic economics and UChicago, plus the essay topic for class of 2018 is right up my alley, I chose my photo already and am actually stoked to write it.

I deleted these:
Yale/Wharton: I looked into the applications and met with a few friends who have attended, these just don't feel right. Obviously grossly generalising here, but Yale doesn't feel intense enough and got a strong "2 more years of college" vibe from Wharton.

Stanford: I saw the application and it's a handful - I don't think I'll have the time to execute it well. I was considering it mainly because my parents live nearby.


Thank you again! and looking forward to your thoughts - I'm of course open to suggestions about other schools too, not considering much besides curriculum and alumni network.

Oops not sure why my reply got posted so many times...please just read one and ignore the rest, ahh!

Hello there!
it's been a while, but I was wondering if it would be possible to revisit this topic for a little bit. A lot of things happened the past few months and long story short I wasn't able to get my application together for R2 - my profile hasn't changed except now I'm doing a big curatorial project with NASA on top of everything else.
I am still very set on applying to business school and was wondering if I should apply for R3 or wait until R1 next cycle. I don't know if my profile would improve much in a year honestly and I'm pretty eager to go back to school. thank you so much !!

Hi,
maybe this question has been asked in the past but with a quick google search I couldnt find an answer and its been bugging me for some time.
The logo in the background shows some kind of writing, taken from some kind of old script maybe? I was wondering where it was taken from and what language it was, because I tried to decipher it and failed.

Any help in clerifying this would be greatly appreciated