We’ve talked before about some challenges with pitching venture capital as your post-MBA goal. But what about pitching any post-MBA career goal in finance, if you’ve never worked in finance before? Premium content starts here… ———– ———– Premium content ends. It’s totally possible to make this jump happen. What matters is how you […]
Continue reading...($) Pitching venture capital as your post-MBA goal
We spoke in broad strokes about trends in MBA career goals and what we’re seeing in essays these days. Here’s more detail on the currently most popular sexy-sounding goal: Venture Capital. Premium content starts here… ———– ———– Premium content ends. We’re planning a few more of these dedicated “pitching goals of X” type […]
Continue reading...($) Applying where the scholarships are (wherein we talk up Ross, Cornell, Darden, and others)
We’re not exactly advocating this as an actual strategy for selecting your MBA programs to target. But it’s something to consider! It’s certainly more practical and intelligent (yes we said it) than using rankings as the priority tool to choose where to apply. If a top MBA program has a special scholarship fund earmarked only […]
Continue reading...($) How does venture capital actually work? (Or, how much do you know?)
If you’re trying to break into VC, mostly we would discourage you. There’s just not that many post-MBA jobs available, and most people who claim that that’s what they want to do after bschool have stars in their eyes and unrealistic expectations. Many of them don’t even know what’s involved. We’ve tried to shed some...
($) How to break out of the pack
We get the lament all the time: “There’s too many guys like me applying.” Here was our first reaction to this stated quite some awhile ago (worth reading still). We’ll offer some more today. The best advice we can give you is, don’t worry about it. What we mean by that is, don’t worry about...
($) What if you never took the GMAT? Are you at a disadvantage if you go to bschool with a GRE score instead?
This is a follow-on to some previous GRE vs GMAT posts. In case you missed those: GMAT vs GRE strategy questions: Which to take for an MBA? “I took the GMAT. If I take the GRE now, do I still have to submit the GMAT score in my MBA app?” This question isn’t about admissions […]
Continue reading...($) “bonkers” Part 2 (can an Engineer really switch over to Finance?)
This is the second chunk of our recent plea for help and EssaySnark’s reaction to a Brave Supplicant’s worries about trying to transition from engineering to finance: My question is: I really have to get this MBA to enhance my career growth now. With my [specialty deleted] background, what is the most advisable path for...
Guest Post! What Kind of Life Do You Want?
Continuing the awesomeness that is our series from the trenches – Advice From Those Who’ve Gone Before – we now have a second post from the 6-month-out MBA grad who started us off with Making the Most Out of Business School. What Kind of Life Do You Want? “Relax and rest up before school starts,” […]
Continue reading...($) essay critique: Columbia essay 1 (background and goals) for finance candidate
This BSer asked for a freebie review of this essay last year – and we didn’t do it for him then. One reason was that he emailed it in to the team, when we have explicit instructions on the site for how to submit requests for review. An inability to follow directions does not endear...
The problem with being a yes-man.
Bschools’ admissions essays are designed to solicit information about you, the candidate. They’re also strong signaling devices about the school. When a school like UC-Berkeley Haas asks you to keep in mind their four Defining Principles when you craft your answers, that gives you a clear indication of what’s important to them and what they’ll […]
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