Meet The MIT Sloan MBA Class of 2017

Nargis Sakhibova

 

MIT Sloan School of Management 

Hometown: Dushanbe, Tajikistan

Undergraduate School and Major: Williams College (Economics and Psychology)

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation: Analysis Group, Senior Analyst (Most recently)

Recalling your own experience, what advice do you have for applicants who are preparing for either the GMAT or the GRE? I found taking full-length practice GMAT/GRE tests to be the most helpful way to prepare for the test. Test-taking stamina is extremely important on the test day. If you are struggling with the test, do your best preparing; get the score that you think is the highest possible score you can get.

Even if your best score is not the score that you thought you needed to attend your dream school, apply anyway! Perhaps the quality that causes you not to perform so well on the test is the quality that makes you an exceptional candidate.

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? First, I thought about what I want to accomplish at a business school. Then, I drew a list of all business schools I wanted to consider. I started with a list of 15 schools around the world. Then, I visited websites for each of these schools, read MBA blogs, and spoke with students, alumni, and admissions representatives. Slowly, I crossed out schools that I did not feel strongly about, leaving me with six schools which I visited and researched more in-depth.

When I visited schools, I not only attended classes and information sessions, but also sought opportunities to chat with students and alumni informally. I wanted to see if I liked the people, if they had qualities and skills that I admired and wanted to develop in myself.

I recommend only applying to schools that you can actually see yourself attending. Putting together a solid application takes a lot of time and energy. By spreading yourself too thin, you are running into a risk of submitting a not-so-great application to your dream school.

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? Before you jump into essay writing, do some brainstorming of ideas, experiences, and qualities that you want to demonstrate in your application. Use these ideas as a bank of topics which you can use for your essay writing, interview preparation, and etc.

Be strategic! You do not want to be writing about passion for innovation in two of your essays and have your recommenders praise you for developing an innovative programming course in their recommendations. While you do not know what the recommenders will write about you, you can probably guess which of your professional and personal qualities that they are most familiar with.

Structure your application such that each piece (including the interview) allows you to shine from a new angle. Use technology to your advantage if the school offers an alternative way of submitting essays or application materials (i.e. make a video or submit your blog posts if this is an option).

What led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA? I am interested in studying innovation management and entrepreneurship. Naturally, MIT Sloan’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation track, Action Labs, opportunities to participate in clubs, and conferences which bring to campus the most innovative companies and the brightest entrepreneurs are a perfect match for my academic interests.

But what possibly played the most critical role in my decision was the fact that I felt happy and excited around the school and meeting current students. I liked and admired that every student I met possessed incredible intellectual vitality, analytical skills and contagious energy, yet was approachable and creative in surprising ways. I immediately realized that the MIT Sloan community is the place where I will enjoy learning, working and playing.

What would you ultimately like to achieve before you graduate? I have always been fascinated that the projects students learn and work on at MIT Sloan deal with the most cutting edge and innovative ideas of the world. Before I graduate, I hope to learn about and become good at something that I cannot even imagine now, something super cool.

I am also interested in launching a technology startup. I have an idea, but do not have experience or a team to work with. While at Sloan, I am hoping to shape this interest into a manageable and executable business plan and gain access to skills and experience necessary to run such a company in an efficient way.

Most importantly I am hoping to establish a network of friends who are just as passionate about innovation, global collaboration and female leadership initiatives as I am.

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