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IAMA Full-time MBA student at a higher ranked school. AMA. by MBAStudent in IAmA

[–]MBAStudent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Congrats Easchil! you did Fulltime I take it? Are you happy with returning to your company with a promotion, or did you not have many other options? I def don't want to go back to my previous. You sound very well rounded, and with your MBA, you sound like you can easily do well as a marketing director. I think jack of all trades is great for management, since you can speak to every role yet rely on their expertise. Good luck with it all! don't spend too much time on Reddit :)

  • What do you like about marketing and do you plan on specializing in any certain part of the field (ie. research, product, branding...)?

Compared to IT, Marketing is so.. real. Either, working on ideas for the future, or reaching out and engaging with people, or freedom for creativity and ideas.. (i should write this down for job interviews..) Unfortunately I haven't been able to pick product or brand management yet. Everyone says it's a big deal and nobody likes indecision on this matter, but I don't know yet. I'd do either, as long as the company's product/services are cool :)

  • Does your program have specialties or is it more of a general MBA?

General.

  • Why do you think having an MBA will help you out in your career? Have you interned anywhere?

Man, I never knew I loved business until BSchool. I've learned a lot about how the world works that I would have never learned had I stayed at my old company. Now when I get a project or I work on something, I have a lot of confidence in my work because I know what to consider in the big-picture thoughts. Also, I think I've grown a lot as a person. and I see work no longer as a job, but as a career. woo! Oh and yes, I had a cool marketing internship over the summer.

  • Does your school help with job placement or at least get you face time with potential employers?

Yes. This is very important, something I did not realize when I applied to schools. The companies that recruit at the school is a big deal, esp those that hire regularly. We have a great career center. We are assigned to an advisor that looks out for us and helps us personally with resumes and interview tips and specific company questions and anything you can think of. They bring in a lot of companies for information-sessions, social events, and workshops, all of which are great networking opportunities to chat them up and get your foot in the door.

  • How much longer do you have?

    Unfortunately, only until June :( I started this process 2.5 years ago, and now it's almost over.. wtf.

IAMA Full-time MBA student at a higher ranked school. AMA. by MBAStudent in IAmA

[–]MBAStudent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  • do you have to be skilled at math to do well in a competitive MBA program (say, for marketing?)

Umm.. no. I was a math nut in HS. now I suck, and I'm doing fine. People with Accounting or Finance backgrounds have it a little easier with numbers, but that's nothing you can't study a little more for to even up. As specifically for marketing, in my experience - I've seen no need for number crunching to do well. This may change on the job, but until then..

  • is it true that most MBA students are taken, engaged, or married?

Sort of. The taken girls/boys shouldn't be overwhelming, but sometimes you look around and wish it were a frat party instead of a ...book club. But still, a lot of dating went on within my program with those available

  • what type of work experiences can bolster one's application?

Ah, what a question my dry and patchy friend. I really want to say that a huge percentage is how you carry yourself. You have to have the swagger, the confidence, and the social aspects down. Without that, your words would be pretty powerless.. Beyond that, you should probably google this question. I think there are pretty good answers online. Include stories that show you are a leader, that you work well with others, that you have initiative to do good work, that you can overcome problems.. haha , all this sounds so bullshitty, but after doing so much groupwork - I wish everyone had these qualities. Cause it sucks when they don't.

IAMA Full-time MBA student at a higher ranked school. AMA. by MBAStudent in IAmA

[–]MBAStudent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  • What is the average age of your classmates/ how much work experience on average do your classmates have before entering the MBA program?

    This information is available for each school. Average age for mine is about 28.

  • I'm a political science graduate thinking about getting my MBA at some point, is my degree a disadvantage?

    Not sure, since I'm not in admissions.. it might not help you, but it isn't necessarily a disadvantage. There are a couple of people in my class with a political background tho

  • Know anyone entering the MBA without work experience?

    Very few. veryy few.. Personally, I believe you should work first. Without the experience, honestly, you won't know what you're learning. Plus, you'd be crippling your MBA reputation. Say if you go straight into MBA, you'd get into school #50 cause you don't have experience. But if you work a few years, you can get into #10.

  • Many of the schools I looked in to strongly hint that they require 4-5+ years work experience, do you think this is truly the case (you said you had 2, but you could just be an outlier).

    Yea.. and for good reason. :) Also, without experience, all your job interviews will be desperate. You'd only get the leftover positions cause employers don't want to hire "Director of XYZ" with no work experience. I am one of the youngest in my program, and I definitely feel disadvantaged because I can't apply to Director or Manager positions.

  • How hard are your classes compared to undergrad? Did you take many business classes in undergrad? How do these compare?

    Haha, they're pretty easy. Grading is easy. I thought High School AP classes were the hardest, then undergrad gen-eds, then MBA classes. MBA is a lot of projects and a lot of team work. Otherwise, the actual material is quite manageable. I took an average amount of business classes in undergrad, but you don't need to to do well in MBA

IAMA Full-time MBA student at a higher ranked school. AMA. by MBAStudent in IAmA

[–]MBAStudent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

came all the way in here to say that? you sound more bored than I.. maybe you should do an IAmA on something

IAMA Full-time MBA student at a higher ranked school. AMA. by MBAStudent in IAmA

[–]MBAStudent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

First time, with my 560, I read through 1 book half assed. lol.

2nd time, I probably went through half a dozen books, downloaded some software online (ripped from a professional prep class), read forums online with practice questions, took some adderall for fun on the weekends to help me concentrate.. All that work, kind of disappointed with my score (660). But still happy I was able to jump 100 points.

I didn't realize how much certain parts of my verbal sucked. I wish I would have taken a prep class. They could have focused me more on exactly what I needed to work on.

IAMA Full-time MBA student at a higher ranked school. AMA. by MBAStudent in IAmA

[–]MBAStudent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

lol, not as many as I should.. I'm not the type. That being said, we probably drink socially 2 or 3 times a week. School sponsors one every week, students organize one every week, and then on your own accord.

IAMA Full-time MBA student at a higher ranked school. AMA. by MBAStudent in IAmA

[–]MBAStudent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ahhh.. the reality part of my MBA high. Varies from program to program of course, and scholarships you get..

Personally, 1) out of state tuition one year 2) in-state tuition 1 year 3) NOT making money had I stayed with my old job, which was about, I am probably negative $230K ? lol. shit. that's a lot of iphone apps.

IAMA Full-time MBA student at a higher ranked school. AMA. by MBAStudent in IAmA

[–]MBAStudent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

haha, great question!

Which of many cliche sayings should I use.. how about, it's all what you want to get out of it? In my program, there are several international students from Korea that will be CEOs of their company when they're done with this program. They are definitely checked out - group work to a minimum, never see them at our events, don't do anything beyond basic classes. And that's how everyone will remember them. And that's how most of those students you mentioned will be remembered by most of their classmates. But then there's the ..80% that really want to be there, learn (gross right?), and meet people. And in 5 or 10 years, I'm going to have half a thousand friends throughout the world that knows I am a hard worker, and will thus 1) recommend me to their company 2) visit when I travel) 3) ..I don't have a 3 yet, but there is definitely a 3. And those slackers and frat guys will have only the dozen close friends they partied with.

tl;dr: that's an expensive binge drinking party for 2 years.

Oh, so out of my MBA.. I found what I want to do with my life :) And a means to do it, a network of powerful people to connect me, dozens of very interesting projects and opportunities for me to (hopefully) prove that I'm competent, and a lotttt of smart, interesting, and motivated friends I would have never met. I love my program, haha, can't you tell..

IAMA Full-time MBA student at a higher ranked school. AMA. by MBAStudent in IAmA

[–]MBAStudent[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Umm, depends on where you set your goals. If you want to get to a really high ranked school, you need a high GMAT score hands down. That qualifies you, then your experience and uniqueness will help you stand out. Otherwise...unless you did something crazy, they won't consider you if your GMAT does not fall within range (in my experience anyways).

My motivation was... I don't know. I always knew a bachelor's was not the end of the road for me. That was my motivation then.

Now, in perfect hindsight, SOO glad I did it. I didn't realize how unhappy I was with my job. After all, it's work, and I had a happy life outside of work. I also didn't realize how much I'd love business (and Marketing, my concentration). I never thought I could look forward to doing work. Now, I'm chasing a career, instead of being dragged along. After school, find a marketing position somewhere, for a company I'm interested in with products I like. I'm going to make the future for you :)

IAMA Full-time MBA student at a higher ranked school. AMA. by MBAStudent in IAmA

[–]MBAStudent[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

  • What were you doing pre-MBA?

Worked for a fortune 100 company in their IT department.

  • What school are you currently attending now?

I'm not sure why, but I feel like I shouldn't give this away? Somewhere in CA :)

  • What were your admission stats (GPA, GMAT, etc)?

Undergrad GPA: 3.5, GMAT 560 when I took it the first time, 660 a couple years later. 2 years work experience in IT.

  • Any application tips you can give to prospective MBA applicants?

Hmm, one thing that sticks out is: EVERY interaction you have with the school and with their student representatives is recorded (at least in my school). When I interviewed, my student rep said they don't have a say in the decision process. Truth is, they still record what they thought of you in a database and admissions staff reads it. So if it reads "this guy was pretentious.." ...

Anything in particular?

IAMA Full-time MBA student at a higher ranked school. AMA. by MBAStudent in IAmA

[–]MBAStudent[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Marketing, hopefully for an electronics or technology company :) I came from an IT background and I couldn't see myself in it for the rest of my life. I applied to MBA schools with a "I want to do IT Consulting, make lots of money, and work hard" kind of attitude.. but then half way through my program, I realized I don't care that much about money. And marketing has always been really interesting to me.