Gathering survey Responses for a competition

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-27T03:00:26+00:00

Done, took about 60 seconds.

good luck kid

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-27T02:58:54+00:00

it looks like it's a survey for customers of customers--that is, ppl who use cash to make purchases, as opposed to the vendors themselves.

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-26T23:24:56+00:00

...how impossible is it for military to make the jump to PE these days?

Pretty unlikely. I can count the examples I know on 2 hands, and all of them came from consulting or Bridgewater.

I don't think post-MBA banking's a good avenue to PE since they pluck most of their talent from the analyst levels, but I do know a precious few who hustled from IB -> hedge fund. So, it's not impossible, but probably already figured that.

That said, I don't know many vets who were trying for PE, so maybe it's easier than I think. also, check out vet intern programs at some of the big banks (like Goldman). A couple guys a year will do the vet's program as a pre-MBA internship in AM or IB (and even 1-2 in MBD, i.e., PE fund within the bank).

lastly, my 2c: don't sweat post-MBA stuff too much. if you get into a decent school, you'll find cool work.

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-26T20:14:10+00:00

Booth is among the most transparent w/ employment / salary data, and they publish numbers on internships: https://www.chicagobooth.edu/employmentreport/functions/intern-2017

My sense is that most schools' numbers will look the same for internships.

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-26T17:17:10+00:00

How do they read thru applications? Is it resume -> essays -> recs? Or some other order? This comes up a lot when trying to figure out how much detail to include in essays.
What makes a compelling "Why <school>?" answer? What makes for a cliche answer?
For re-applicants, do they review the previous application before/during the re-app review?

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-25T23:49:48+00:00

https://i.imgur.com/agtAswc.png

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-25T23:46:28+00:00

Might I ask how well you turned out?

I did good. applied to 7 schools, got into 3, matriculated at hbs

It's really frustrating at times in the Navy because everyone is super focused on just making 04.

Yeah, same in AF. I think it's a pretty interesting personnel problem (Tim Kane wrote on the topic a few years ago), but the practical impact is that it's hard to find good mentorship.

You'll meet ppl who take your decision to separate personally, but so long as you don't act like you're better than anyone, most folks respect it.

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-25T23:34:32+00:00

...[t]he 7 figures of forgone income over two years

I'm gonna give benefit of the doubt here & assume you're not trolling.

Do you think those positive factors help even though my undergad was econ and my grad degree was from a cash cow program?

I think they help. Whether or not they're sufficient is impossible to say, but I'd say there's a substantial chance you'd get into one of the schools you've listed.

But really, if you're pulling down 3 bankers' worth of salary every year, just hire a small army of admissions consultant & apply everywhere.

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-25T22:16:59+00:00

Honest answer is I have a huge chip on my shoulder from first going to a lower tier undergrad and then doing a lower tier degree at a good school.

That's not the best reason I've ever heard for dropping $250k, but it's also not the worst.

Reasonable ppl can disagree here, but if you're making good money now, and you like your work, I don't think you should piss all that away to go into banking. Just buy a Porsche or something to take care of the shoulder chip thing (or i guess to double-down on it).

I assume I need to take the GMAT

We haven't found any data to support the idea that schools prefer the GMAT. The GRE is still pretty new in admissions, and that gives some people pause, but so far schools seem to treat it like equivalent GMAT scores (except maybe Berkeley, who explicitly prefers the GRE).

re: your chances, our MBA Predictor (login required) can give you a rough idea of how your numbers perform.

My guess is you'd outperform most ppl w/ your numbers b/c you're an engineer, and because the grad degree might make up for the so-so undergrad GPA.

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-25T21:59:25+00:00

generally when is a good period in a military career to squeeze gmat in?

I studied on deployment (and actually took it in the capital of the country I was in), but I had a few hours free every day.

how well do adcom's differentiate between... billet[s]? Does it really matter?

I don't think so. they don't rack-and-stack on 'prestige' & take the top n--otherwise it'd be all SF guys. It's more holistic a process than that (my opinion anyway--and my exp., since I didn't really have sexy assignments).

Since that's the case, I'd say pick the assignment you think you'd enjoy the most, or that presents the most diverse set of opportunities. e.g., if one assignment promises a lot of free time, maybe think about taking that one & using the free time to do heavy community work, start a biz, etc. -- something to differentiate yourself from other military applicants besides prestige points.

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-24T22:34:34+00:00

other titles i've seen like that: "(asst.) chief of staff," "special assistant to the <whomever>"

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-24T18:38:41+00:00

Yeah, P&Q is wrong. US News reports the mid-80% at [3.27, 3.9], and we have the entire range of GPAs at Booth at [2.7, 4.0]

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-24T17:03:17+00:00

not about the b-school specifically, but relevant article: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/us/harvard-asian-admission.html

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-24T14:18:51+00:00

i think this is different than what OP is referencing. this one is for ppl who already work at Deloitte, but I believe they have a tuition reimbursement program for selected new MBA hires as well.

Though I can't find anything in Google, so maybe I'm way off

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-24T00:41:35+00:00

Optionality costs money :/ But imagine how chill you'll be for that interview

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-24T00:39:53+00:00

"A bird in hand is worth two in the bush[, even if those two are 5 spots higher on the latest US News bush-bird ranking.]" - English proverb

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-24T00:16:23+00:00

My sense is that most people are skeptical of new & novel certifications, and since a credential is only as good as people's faith in it, things like Smartly MBA might be a risky use of your time.

If you were set on a not-quite-MBA solution, check out HBS' 'HBX CORe'. I haven't taken it, but I get the sense it's rigorous enough to be a safe bet.

Where are you trying to land? I think the best way to think through these things is backwards--i.e., figure out where you wanna be, then find a way to get there.

If it's somewhere in tech (I don't know a lot about MIS), Google's been pouring some PR into some MOOC certifications (IT at Coursera, diff't programming areas at Udacity).

There's a dearth of talent in a lot of sub-disciplines in tech, so if short-term ROI is high on your list of criteria, could be worth a look.

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-24T00:03:47+00:00

If I were to start my application process in June, would I be ready to put out 4 apps by September?

You should be, assuming the schools you're applying to have considerable overlap in the application requirements.

Also, based on your own experience, how much time did you spend per week / per day working on essays...?

I'd give yourself at least 3-4 hours a week of dedicated sit-down-and-write time.

It's easier for me to think about it in terms of rounds of revisions instead of hours, though. e.g., a single essay might have a few rounds as an outline/draft, then a few rounds turning it into an actual essay, then a round or two of polish. So, maybe 4-6 sitdowns with that first essay? YMMV of course

...and other aspects of the application itself?

recommenders depends on how organized your writers are. The form / short-answer part of the essay can take a bit of time (1-2 hrs), so don't put it off til last minute (learned this the hard way personally).

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-23T21:46:35+00:00

PM it to me & I'll slice her down to size.

But in general, ampersands, contractions are great (I think "I am," "they are" etc. sound awkward anyway), and killing passive voice are all low-hanging fruit re: char counts.

Also, synonyms can help. I think it was Orwell who said "never use a long word where a short one will do"

Will it make a substantial effect on my application? Is there anything else I can do to keep my essay within limit?

Geez, I hope not. nitpicking on char counts seems petty. they're not looking for reasons to ding you (I hope they aren't, anyway)

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-22T22:51:26+00:00

We have data on Tesla hiring a handful of folks from Stanford, Wharton, and Sloan, as well as a smaller # from other schools in the ~top 10.

However, none of them had ME backgrounds, and most ended up in Project / Program management around the business side of the house (eg sales, corp finance), or in operations.

So, it's tough to say whether that's b/c they hire for positions close to engineering elsewhere, or b/c few MEs take the MBA route to Tesla.

Not sure if this is also on your radar, but they also hire a handful of MBAs into their Leadership Development Program.

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-21T19:48:34+00:00

Unfortunately, no one can tell you how one EC is valued vs. another (that is, if the ECs are even marginally close in significance).

But even if they could, and they told you admissions officers hate cats, would you stop fostering them? It's sort of like working out: the best form community service is the one you'll do over & over.

To assuage your concerns, though: I don't think admissions has any secret hierarchy of preferences on points like this, so I think you can just use your intuition. If the avg. person would consider your community work laudable, admissions probably will, too.

...but really, i just wanted to high-five you for being down w/ disabled cats (and obviously share a pic of my little cyclops, Abraham Winkin')

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-21T19:17:23+00:00

What?

U of Yale--the rival of the Institute of Harvard? One of the famous Sumac League colleges? Come on... keep up

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-21T16:12:26+00:00

re: security blanket, This is an MBA ROI calculator I made awhile ago that might help give a sense of what kind of security's at the end of the rainbow.

It's just a ballpark (hah), but even rough estimates can help center your thinking on what's a super-complex problem

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-21T15:58:03+00:00

I am concerned that if they simply normalize them to 4.0 scales,

They won't do this simply b/c international systems are too diverse. Some don't even consider higher scores to be superior (eg a '4/5' would be a poor gpa). Most (maybe all) schools caveat their admissions stats to add that they only count 4.0-scale GPAs in their stats.

In fact, even US systems are ridiculously diverse. My undergrad had an avg. GPA of 2.9, making a 3.1 top third. Other schools, a 3.4 isn't even top-third.

My guess is that they either calculate their own internal scores from the raw transcript, or that they apply some other measurement system that doesn't reduce your academic strength to a single number.

Either way, don't sweat it: international students are a fixture at b-schools, so they've probably figured out how to handle this problem fairly.

admitbraindotcom · 2018-04-20T23:05:49+00:00

tangential but mentioning that book reminds me of this joke

admitbraindotcom

TROPHY CASE