Journalism/Lit Major concerned re: B-School Acceptance

[dscottgrrl]

Hi Stacy,

I graduated from the University of Miami 4 years ago with a 3.6 GPA and a B.S. in Communication. As a copywriter at a marketing firm, editor of a financial publication, and public relations asst. dir. for a med school division, I've had to make a lot of business decisions based on not much more than instinct.

I'm very interested in obtaining an MBA so I can delve deeper into the business aspects of what I do and have the knowledge to back up my gut. Basically, I'm a creative person looking to round out my experience so I can conquer the world but I dont have a crystal clear career plan...

So... how do I convey this in a B-School Application Essay? What are admissions officers looking for from potential students who don't have extensive business backgrounds?

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give,

Danielle

[Stacy Blackman]

I think your question is: how do you convey certain "business school" qualites, when you do not have bsiness experience? This is a common concern, but the truth is that most schools are less concerned about "business experience" than you might think. Business schools are intersted in leadership, and you can demonstrate leadership in many different settings. For example, an accountant, working on business issues every day, might be working solo, with little opportunity for leadership. In contrast, a teacher may have great content for an application, in that he or she is leading a group of students, communicating, mentoring, etc... I do not know enough about your actual experience to give you specific guidance, but my suggestion is to think hard about what you have done and break it down into examples of leadership, teamwork, helping others, mentoring, thinking out of the box. My sense is that as a copywriter, editor, etc...you are also going to have to be creative about how you describe your experience, but again, the challenge is to convey leadership, not "business-y" skills. With reagrds to your goals, you will have to do some thinking about what you would really like to do and be much more specififc about short and long term goals. "Conquer the world" is a good ambitious start though...

[dscottgrrl]

Thanks for the advice Stacy!

It will actually be pretty easy for me to show leadership and team and project management in my past roles...

The career plan is really the most problematic for me.

Short-term, my current position is as an associate editor for a university b-school academic publication so it's pretty easy to show how obtaining an MBA degree will further that position. Eventually, I would like to become editor of that publication.

It's the long-term goals, I suppose, that get hazy.

The real reason I want an MBA is because I want that knowledge -- I feel there's so much of the world passing me by because I don't have a business foundation. And really, I just enjoy school and learning...

I would consider a career in academia so maybe that's the route I should explore in my essay.

Since I don't have a clear idea of what I'm going to do, is it okay to make up a feasible lie?

[Stacy Blackman]

Most people do not know exactly what they want to do, but you need to come up aiwth a good story representing something you may do, and believe it! If you take another path, (as I did!) they will not hold you to it. I admittedly do not know much about journalism or teaching positions but neither of those strike me as positions that would require or necessarily benefit from an MBA. For example, most people I know in the journalism field have degrees in journalism. Make sure that you show that your desired path would be helped by an MBA or you will not be successful. Thsi is actually an extremely important part of the process.

[dscottgrrl]

Well, I was thinking more along the lines of an editor for an academic business journal. It certainly is in line with my current position and is something that I'd definitely be interested in exploring...

I think I can craft an essay around that ambition and really believe in it if you think that's a good direction to go.

thanks again for your help.

Danielle

[Stacy Blackman]

Still not convinced that is a position that would benefit from an MBA. You should do some research - speak to people in similar roles and speak to people in admissions or career services at target schools. I may be totally wrong, but just confirm that.

See this blog entry: https://blog.stacyblackman.com/2005/09/0 ... -the-need/