The Magician Who Became An MBA

Molton had taken the GMAT late, scored 660, and applied to the final deadlines of Kenan-Flagler, Harvard Business School, Wharton, Fuqua, Darden, McCombs, and USC. He received admission offers from USC and Kenan-Flagler.

GEARED INTERVIEW ANSWERS TOWARD ENTREPRENEURSHIP

When interviewing at Kenan-Flagler, Molton had been “incredibly forthcoming” about his work history, he says. “I really geared my answers towards how I managed and successfully ran a small business and my own company as an entrepreneur,” Molton says. “Those answers were of course in the vein of either selling magic tricks or selling services as a professional magician.”

Officials at Kenan-Flagler see value in students such as Molton whose accomplishments are achieved in unusual arenas, as these often signal “talent and perseverance,” says Sridhar Balasubramanian, associate dean of the school’s full-time MBA program. “We’re always interested in what else they bring to the table, other than their GPA and their GMAT scores.” And admissions and program officials listen keenly when applicants describe interesting endeavors and pursuits, Balasubramanian says. “We have somebody in the class who has bottle-fed a baby tiger, someone who has gone shark diving, a student who is an Argentine tango dancer.”

Kenan-Flagler is not alone in appreciating Molton’s magic, and his business wizardry. This summer, he’ll start work in Seattle for Amazon, as a senior product manager. He’s hoping they’ll put him to work on electronic payment systems. He’s also hoping he can start later in the summer, so he can return for a week to Bryn Mawr, perhaps for the last time.

“Once I get started at Amazon, it’s going to be really difficult to get back to Magic Camp.”

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