| Topic Name: |
MBA Applicant |
| Message Name: |
It Depends |
| Date Posted: |
02/05/2006 |
| In Reply To: |
Does anyone have any advice for MBA applicants?
Is it better to apply without letting anyone know internally? If so, does it hurt your application not to have an internal letter of recommendation?
Who do you talk to about it?
What do you do if you don't get in?
Thanks |
| Message: |
While schools would like to see your current manager write recs, it's not always possible. If you recently started a new project they may not be in a position to speak intellegently on your performance. You may need to go to your past projects for letters, but try to keep it as recent as possible.
You also have to determine how the person you want to write a rec will respond. Some lifers don't understand the value of an MBA or might see it as a waste of time. Be prepared to educate them on some of the benefits. This isn't b/c they're stupid, but b/c they enjoyed phat raises in the 1990's and now make salaries that render an MBA economically useless to them. Younger consultants won't see the same salary progression so an MBA has a much lower opportunity cost for us.
I'd bring it up to your CC but depending on your relationship the timing may be different. If you have a close relationship and talk frequently then any time to discuss the issue is fine. Otherwise you may want to wait until an annual or mid-year review since those times are set aside for bigger career planning issues.
If you don't gt in you move on with life and maybe try again. Accenture has tons of peoeple who do MBA's and many people w/ MBA's working for them now. Try to find a couple of them as ask about admissions strategies and advice on schools. Assuming you have a decent GMAT 650+ and can write at all a top 30 MBA shouldn't be an issue for most ACN consultants. Top 10 schools are more competitive and it has more to do with you than your job, but I've known ACN alums to get into several of the Top 10 schools in the last few years.
Best of luck and trust me an MBA is a great decision.
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