Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant

HI,,
I am preparing for my gmat and i have my test scheduled for August 2008. I am getting shivers , thinking about the admission, and application process for schools. I have thought of NYU, Columbia, stanford, rutgers to apply to after i get my gmat score. My concern is, How to write essays for schools, the application process etc etc. I am not sure, as how can i market myself for these schools.
I am a woman from hospitality industry, i have studied AOS in baking and pastry from CIA, new york. I have also completed my 3 yrs bachelors from india and along with it i have studied 3 yrs in culinary arts and kitchen administartion from india. I have 2 years toltal work experience inclusive of internships and 1 year job in hotel.
I also belong to a business background, as my mother is a entreprenure and my intrest to pursue MBA is because i want to start my own business after some years and i want to work in R&D for some years before that.
I am little hesitant in in paid admission services offeered by many people around becuase i am not sure as how they can help me and i am not confident in the application process on my own. What should i do?? Should i wait for my Gmat scores first?? and what will be the best solution for a case like mine. Please guide me.
Thanks

Hi Chef,

Thanks for your post! First of all - DONT PANIC about your TEST!!

Seriously, I am sure you will do fine! Most of us hate standardized tests!

And don't forget that (1) MBA Admissions Committee (AdCom) looks at many other aspects of your application, including your essays, GPA score, post-MBA goals, extra-curriculars, Letters of Recc, interview to make their decision. And (2) You can retake the GMAT if you are not happy with your score - Adcom only considers your top score. So while the GMAT is important, its not a make or break decision. Hopefully that will ease some of the pressure!

Regarding Admissions Consultants - I believe you are a perfect candidate to work with one. Here is why...

My concern with your application... is your story and post-MBA career goals. In order to get into a good MBA program, you will need to sell AdCom on your long-term career interests and how the MBA will help you achieve them. Simply stating you want to start a business is not enough. You need to have more specific details. Also, what is your story? How do your previous experiences connect to where you are today and what you want to be post-MBA?

A good Admissions Consultant will help you put together your story, craft your long-term career goals and sell your candidacy to the school's AdCom. Consultants are familiar with many of the schools you will apply to (most of whom have served on AdCom themselves) and therefore know what they are looking for. They will be able to highlight you past experiences of leadership, team-work, innovation and other managerial strengths that are important in evaluating your candidacy.

They will also guide you with your post-MBA career goals and how the MBA will help you better prepare yourself. For example, what type of business are you interested in? How does R&D fit into your career goals. How does your past experience in cooking/hospitality fit into your long term career goals. Again, these are issues a good Admissions Consultant will be able to help you manage.

Feel free to post any more questions. Glad to help!

Regards,

NP

This is exactly what i am worried about that how the admission consultant will help me.
I would like to tell you more about my background and guide me in this.

After high school i did my 3 yrs culinary arts and kitchen administration and along with it i completed my BBA. After graduation I worked with Marriott in Mumbai for 1 year as a management trainee and that is when I realized that i need to specialize into one field. So that took me to Culinary institute of America where i studies AOS in baking and pastry. And there, my interest in volume production of food developed and i wanted to pursue my career in Research and development of food because i could use my brains and learn more about the need of the hour, rather than following instructions in hotel or waiting for years to get to management level.

But I could not get an internship in R&D and i worked at MGM grand hotel in Las Vegas instead, it was a 5000 room property. It was a great experience that made me look at the food industry in a different way. The hotels in India made manpower do all the work because labor is cheap in India whereas in US they stress more on machine work because man power is expensive there. So the kind of food products that I saw, which were out of the box had a great market in America and I felt that India is also going to become one of them sooner of later.

After my graduation at CIA, my long awaited wish to work in R7D came to being. I worked in R&D at mars snack foods, developing new food products. R&D is the core of any development of recipes and successful business because if the food is to perfection then half the battle is won in the field of successful business. I want to work for some more time in R7D and gain expertise in marketing, development aspect of food and then eventually start my own small scale industry.

The strong pull towards business is because of the family background that i belong to. I come from a business background where my mother is a successful employer with 400 employees in fashion industry. She is my ideal and i want to be as successful as her but in the field of my expertise.

This are all the reasons why I want to pursue my MBA because I strongly feel that I will have lot of avenues open and I will be able to secure my future because right now I have the practical experience which will help me to get a job and excel in that but I do not have he knowledge and confidence to plan my business proposal.

After reading my experiences, what do you think?? Do you have any good admission counselor in mind? Can you please suggest me one! Thanks

Hi Chef26,

I think you have a fantastic background and a very interesting story. Like I said before, I think you are a perfect candidate to work with an Admission Consultant, because they will be able to help sell your unique background and strengths to AdCom (through strong essays).

If you are interested in Veritas Prep, I encourage you to check out our website (veritasprep.com) or contact us directly at US: 800.925.7737, International: 1.310.456.8716.

Good luck!

NP