This is a bit of a departure from the normal content on this blog. I will be applying to business school this fall–specifically full-time MBA programs. Assuming I am accepted I will be taking two years away from work to attend business school starting in Fall 2019.
This decision wasn’t made lightly. I went back and forth for months and had lengthy conversations about this decision. I also initially considered a part-time MBA program but the more research I did the more I was drawn to the full-time MBA experience.
Why not take two years to immerse myself in a learning environment? When else will I have the flexibility to take time away from work and focus on learning/experiencing the things that will help take my career to the next level?
When I finally made the decision that I was applying to business school for full-time admission, I wasn’t sure I would be a good fit for a few reasons.
First, my undergrad degree is in Biology. Once upon a time, I was going to attend medical school. Looking back I likely would have made a terrible doctor.
Second, I have more than the average years of work experience. 4 – 5 years of work experience is typical and I have a little more than that. In “business school applicant years” I might as well be pushing retirement.
Third, the GMAT (business school entrance exam) is a beast. Sccores range from 200 – 800 and I felt I would need a score in the 700’s given my background. The average GMAT score is 556 and only 12% of test takers (worldwide) score in the 700 – 800 range. I was setting myself up with a possibly ridiculous goal.
The good news is that I am done with the GMAT. I took the test last week and reached my target score.
After isolating myself for months I’m free! Being done with the GMAT is really the only reason I now have time to blog and do other things. You may have seen I’m a bit more active online now.
I won’t dive into my GMAT story today. I’ll save it for a different post.
If you follow me on Instagram you may also know that we sold our house a couple of months ago. It wasn’t easy getting the house ready for a sale while studying for the GMAT and, of course, working full-time. We had always planned to sell the house at some point but our timing was sped up because of my decision to apply to business school.
Finally, and I feel like I’m doing this a bit out-of-order, I applied to and was accepted into the Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT) MBA Prep Program. The MLT MBA Prep program is a 10 month-long pre-MBA program for “high-potential Black, Latino, and Native American” business school candidates. 98% of MLT fellows get accepted to a Top 25 business school.
The MLT application process itself is a bit like applying to business school. Applying to MLT was my “just do it” moment. because I stopped talking about doing something and took a step towards my goal. Getting into MLT was a big deal, 98% of their students go to a great school! because it was external validation that a full-time MBA might not be an entirely crazy idea for me.
I learned I was accepted into the MLT program literally 2 days after my last post on this blog. This news blew up all my plans to “blog more” in 2018. Once I accepted the MLT offer I was faced with a GMAT deadline as well as monthly MLT assignments. I didn’t leave myself a lot of free time.
Now you know what I have been up to.
These last 6 months juggling 10 hour work days, GMAT study, MLT assignments, volunteer commitments, etc made me even more certain a part-time MBA isn’t for me. So there is that.
For now, I am glad to have some free time and the weight of the GMAT lifted just in time for summer. Right now I’m researching business schools and preparing for application essays.
I’ve also created an “MBA” section on this blog to keep track of any blog posts about applying to business school. If you’re interested, you can follow along on my journey to (hopefully) getting into business school.
Thanks for reading!
I will write a separate post about MLT MBA Prep after applications are done but you can read a bit more about the program yourself here.
4 comments
I remember our business school conversations from last year. Congratulations on taking the leap!
Thanks! Fingers crossed on where I end up!
Why not an EMBA? It sounds like you’re already doing interesting work at Amazon. You’ll have more experience than your typical classmate so the transfer of knowledge from them (other than regular school work) will probably not be as great as from others with even more experience than you. Berkeley and Wharton have great programs not far from you. Kellog and Booth just a little farther.
Hi! Thanks for reading.
To answer your question:
First, I don’t want to do this part-time at all and part of the FT-MBA allure is getting back in school fully. I’m sure there’s an argument to be made about the level of “transformation” that happens in FT vs PT programs but this is my last bit of formal classroom education likely ever and I want to be fully into it. Second, I want to do an internship and see what another tech company/startup is really like—it’s good to get other industry perspectives. Third, I do think there are things to learn from my classmates—being part of MLT I’ve already learned things and I’m not even in school yet.