Profile Evaluation Please

[redsox890]

Age: 26

College: University of Southern California
Graduated 2005
Major: Biomedical Engineering
GPA: 2.93

Grad School: University of Southern California
Graduated 2007
Major: Engineering Management
GPA: 3.27
-This program was heavy in electives at the Marshall Business School at USC (i.e. finance, supply chain management, accounting, other quantitative courses), of which I did well in.

GMAT: 670


Work:

2007-Present (will have 3.5 years of work experience by start of MBA program in Fall 2010)
Process Engineer for a Top 5 Pharmaceutical Company
Handled increasing responsibilities including project manager for couple projects


Career Goals:

Interested in pursuing a post-MBA job in business development/project management at a biotechnology company, then leverage that experience to start a small company specializing in stem cell gene therapy to work as a liaison between industry and academia


What I hope to get out of MBA:

Leadership skills and the cross-functional mentality for both science and business


Personal:

2007-Present: served in the Fundraiser position for Stanford's School of Medicine under the Associate Director of Development, on behalf of stem cell research scientist at the same school; gave presentations (oral and written) to potential donors and coordinated speaking engagements with the scientist
-Have gone around the world to assist as a Medical Missionary
-Involved with youth basketball league as a coach


Questions:

Based on my short profile, I know the chances are slim but are Stanford and MIT worth a shot?
I'm especially interested in MIT, with their track in Biomedical Enterprise.

Thanks!
John

[Paxton Helms - Kaplan]

Hello!

As a UCLA alum I am, of course, strongly partial to that MBA program in Westwood, but I digress...

I think you have a better chance at MIT than at Stanford. Stanford is so small and so competitive that you have to be just about perfect to get in. Your background is interesting but maybe not quite what they are looking for. If you do apply,one advantage you might have, I think, is your interest in bio-medical. Stanford is, obviously, very strong in technology and entrepeneurship and you could probably make an interesting story around the idea of bio-tech entrepeneurship.

MIT is a terrific school and very entrepeneurial. It's not quite as math-heavy as it used to be but it still attracts a fair share of engineers and has an manufacturing / operations track that is very math-heavy. There is so much cool stuff going on at MIT around bio-tech that it could be a very interesting fit.

A more general question I have about your candidacy is...why an MBA? It seems like you already have a very solid background due to your cross-registration with USC's business school. You will need to have a very compelling answer to the question, Is an MBA just a duplication of stuff that you have already done? A sharply focused plan that you cannot achieve w/ your current training will be very important.

Finally, it would be good to get your GMAT scores up another 30-40 points.

Good luck!

Paxton

[redsox890]

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions...

To answer your questions, I'd like an MBA for the following reasons:

1. To make connections with professors and venture capitalists and have them review my business plans, then learn from that experience to prepare for starting up a company or join a small, start-up company.
2. There are certain things I didn't get from my MS program that I would otherwise get at an MBA school, such as leadership intangibles. I believe leaders are made, not born. Also, there's always the advantage of on-campus recruiting exclusive for MBA students.

I also feel that MIT may be a better fit for me. My top two choices to work and live would be SF and Boston, with a plethora of biotech companies in the areas, hence my top two choices for an MBA.

Thanks,
John

[Paxton Helms - Kaplan]

Hi--

With all respect, I really have to question whether the below are good reasons to attend business school.


1. To make connections with professors and venture capitalists and have them review my business plans, then learn from that experience to prepare for starting up a company or join a small, start-up company.

I don't think that you need a $100,000 MBA to make connections with venture capitalists and professors. You can do that on your own through your own initiative. In terms of preparing to start a small start-up company that makes some more sense but, given your MS, I really wonder you are duplicating effort unnecessarily.

2. There are certain things I didn't get from my MS program that I would otherwise get at an MBA school, such as leadership intangibles. I believe leaders are made, not born. Also, there's always the advantage of on-campus recruiting exclusive for MBA students.

Again, I don't think that an MBA program is going to do a very good job of teaching you "leadership intangibles." I agree (to some extent) that leaders are made but I really think you are giving more credit to an MBA program in this area than it deserves.


I don't want to say "Don't do it!" but my take --having talked to lots of people that go to business school and a fair number that dont'-- is that your motivations are not a good fit w/ an MBA. They are good goals and good motivations but I think there are other ways to achieve them that are more time, cost, and effort-effective.

Let me know your further thoughts--

Paxton

[redsox890]

Hi Paxton, thanks for the feedback. I completely understand where you're coming from. But it's my personal experience that my MS degree is somewhat a filler degree (actually part of USC's engineering school) and is not very strong enough for me to switch my career from engineering to business. I feel an MBA would increase my chances of doing so. In order to start up a company (especially ones as specialized as biotech), I'd first need some business background, of which I can acquire through a post-MBA job (biotech business development, consulting, equity research, etc). It is no secret that all those jobs all require an MBA. Finally, I just feel MBA schools have more resources overall to support my endeavors. Just my personal opinion, I think an MBA is a good backup to have in case I don't take the entrepreneurship route.

But then again, I haven't really aggressively pursued this path with my MS degree. Perhaps I'll start looking again before considering an MBA.

Thanks again!
John