Meet Foster’s Class of 2017 MBAs

Mike Greene

University of Washington, Michael G. Foster School of Business 

Hometown: Bethesda, MD

Undergraduate School and Major: Georgetown University, Finance & Marketing

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation: Project Manager, Avascent; Equity Analyst, The Benchmark Company; Credit Analyst, The Royal Bank of Scotland

Recalling your own experience, what advice do you have for applicants who are preparing for either the GMAT or the GRE? Confidence is important, but be wary of overconfidence, particularly in the problem types you identified as strengths early on.

Based on your own selection process, what advice do you have for applicants who are trying to draw up a list of target schools to which to apply? Be careful not to start with your answer. Instead, think about what you really want to do with your MBA and where you want to do it, then seek out schools based on those criteria.  Ask yourself, “Do I really want to work in [Industry], or am I choosing that industry because it is [school]’s strength?”

What advice do you have for applicants in actually applying to a school, writing essays, doing admission interviews, and getting recommenders to write letters on your behalf?

‘If I had more time, I would have written a shorter admissions essay.’ – Mark Twain(ish) 

Start early so you can write less.  Recruit editors (friends, family, and colleagues) who will challenge you and enable you to tighten your story.  If you can’t guarantee someone will completely and honestly critique your work, find another editor because the admissions officers reading hundreds or thousands of applications won’t be thinking about your feelings when they read it.

What led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA? Foster’s recent investments and growth trajectory, combined with its strength in my target industry—Technology—put it on my list, but it was the collegial campus atmosphere, driven by the smaller relative class size, that made it my ultimate choice.  I was looking to join a “team sport,” and I found that at Foster.

What would you ultimately like to achieve before you graduate? I want to take advantage of my regained student status to get in front of as many people in industry as I can. As an MBA candidate, almost anyone will take your call. Regardless of whether or not I ultimately plan to work in a particular industry, I’d like to meet leaders in as many organizations as I can, so I can bring that knowledge with me wherever I end up.