Follow-up to recent entry about MS&E programs

Hi, everyone. I hope you’re all getting ready to check out what should be a great Superbowl. I’m posting a quick entry to give follow-up on the recent entry from a Software Engineer who was asking about graduate degrees that combine Engineering and Business, such as Stanford’s Management Science and Engineering program and UVA’s Management of Information Technology program. You can find the original reader email and my response at https://marquisparker.com/2010/02/question-about-stanfords-mse-program-as-prep-for-management-consulting/.

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HL wrote:

Hi Marquis,

Thanks for the reply. It was very insightful.

I have been thinking a lot more since the last time I sent the question to you, about what I really want from a graduate degree.

The truth is, I did not believe that I could get into a top MBA program. I was intimidated by the rigorous MBA application where it seems that an applicant needs to already have planned for it years before applying. From differentiating yourself as a non typical engineer to having a lot of extra curricular activities to having lots of leadership experience. I feel that I’m lacking in everything.

You know how a lot of technology companies have a flat structure, especially in a start-up, where there’s not a lot of opportunity to lead, nor does job titles even matters. I thought I have a better chance of getting into a top MS&E program and use that as an MBA replacement or at least a stepping stone for maybe an MBA in the future. That is why I asked you the question.

I have since changed my mind and have decided to forget about the MS&E program. What I really want to study is the material taught in MBA, so why would I compensate that with another degree. I have decided that I will wait until Fall 2010 to start applying to schools and hopefully I have enough time until then to build the best application I can.

Now, do you have any suggestions on how to best prepare an engineer for applying to business school? especially something that I can do in less than 1 year.

Thanks for all the help and stay warm,

HL

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My response:

HL,

I usually don’t do a second reply to reader emails, but, since your story is so similar to the position that I was in when I was applying, I’ll give you a quick response now. Like you, I was stuck in a position where I couldn’t really gain any leadership opportunities and thought that I wouldn’t be able to get into a top MBA program. Based on that starting point, I did several key things that I believe helped me gain admission to several top-15 schools, including:

– Participated in several volunteer activities and doubled down on my level of participation in the year before I applied
– Took the GMAT early (I’d taken it for my MS in IT Management program) so I could focus on the other parts of the MBA application
– Launched several initiatives at work that were outside of my core job duties (internship program, diversity-focused internal group, etc)
– Identified recommendation writers early on and worked with them to make them understand the story I was trying to tell in my MBA applications
– Most importantly, I worked like hell to come up with the most convincing, direct, and to-the-point MBA story that I could to make up for the fact that my work experience was less than stellar and my undergrad grades weren’t great

I think you can do several of these things in the next year or so to prepare yourself for being a good MBA candidate. Good luck!

Marquis