Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant

Dear Admissions Consultants,

I have a friend applying to MBA schools and I am writing this post on his behalf.

Quick profile:

- 28 y.o. male, Korean-American
- SVA Grad majored in Advertising
- worked at Droga5 for several years
- founded 2 NGOs that hosts exhibits/events to do with cross-cultural collaboration (predominantly in the art field)
- most recently co-founded and runs a start-up developing an app (that does local search and discovery)

He would very much appreciate your insight and judgement on how to answer the following common essay questions. His current ideas are provided:
1) Short-term goals: to return to his start-up and help grow the busines
2) Long-term goal: to contribute further to the communication of cultures
3) Why MBA: to get a formal business education to help grow his business (having come from a creative background)
4) Why now: start-up is in its nascent stage, would want to go ASAP to help it ASAP.

Looking forward to hearing back from you!

Best,

M

Thanks for sharing.

Some short tips regarding writing the essays.

Identify the skills and benefits that he would gain from the target MBA program to achieve his short-term goal. Show how this would be a stepping stone towards reaching the long-term goal. Explain, as well, his personal motivations for his goals.

While explaining why he needs an MBA, and why now, he would do well to showcase what he can contribute to the experience of his peers and the school community, as well. Identifying his unique qualities, how he would benefit, and why he fits the program will strengthen his chances.

All the best!

Hi,
This is a fantastic question. In terms of the goals and relating it back to the MBA, it is extremely important to overlay that with the current competencies and skills the candidate has. I would start with the long term goal and work backwards from that. At every stage we would need to demonstrate that the current and planned next steps are aligned to where the candidate needs to go. Where the MBA fits in is to reduce the gap between what is required to reach the long term goal and where the candidate stands today. The best responses are those where a Plan B will also help reach the desired outcome (except that it might take more time, not be as smooth a path, would require hiring someone else to do the "business" activities as opposed to the "operational" activities or not open enough doors). As an example, someone wanting to startup their own business would need the following skills - Immediate skill set required: product management (might require IT based on the nature of product or service), sales (including collateral, alliances and PR), financial due diligence, funding from Angel, VC, Institutional or otherwise, building network from associations, subject matter and industry experts and as the start-up grows, the other skill sets becoming important are marketing, account management, people management or HR. Look at this list and make an honest judgement of where his current skill sets are. The gap is what an MBA will provide - using a range of toolkits including course material, live case practice, multiple presentations, alumni network, connections with and at different levels and so on. If you are able to structure your argument where you can demonstrate you know where you want to go and how you can benefit from the MBA, that will go a long way to satisfy the admissions committee.
However, I am not 100% sure if the long term goal you have mentioned is actually a goal, an objective or an outcome associated with the goal. Maybe start by clarifying that first and then, as I said, work backwards to where he stands now.
Hope this helps,
Please don't hesitate to ask me any more questions.