Meet Ohio State’s MBA Class of 2017

Ayrton Conrado Kretli e Castro

Ohio State University, Fisher College of Business 

Hometown: Vitória, ES, Brazil

Education: FDV – Faculdade de Direito de Vitória (Law School)

Employment:

Advocacia Guimarães & Castro, Founder and CEO

Walmir Barroso Advocacia Empresarial, corporate lawyer

Recalling your own experience, what advice do you have for applicants who are preparing for either the GMAT or the GRE? There’s no perfect formula for success. You must visualize your goal, create a plan, and do so under strict compliance code. Some of my colleagues studied for months and others for years. However, if you don’t get the highest score, try to compensate for it with your qualities and prior experience. Some schools give great value for strong letters of recommendation and for people who may bring experience from different business environments.

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? Drawing up a list of possible schools is difficult—this is not a product that you can just return if you are not satisfied. Future candidates should understand their needs and what they are seeking. There are schools and programs for all styles and purposes. Try to chat with alumni and staff, see what the school’s city offers, and explore information about prior classes.  This is supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. If you don’t connect with the school, professors, staff and students, all you are going to get is another reference on your résumé when you can really increase your network and your abilities.

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? Be or become an entrepreneur, because when you start this process you will present one of your most valuable products—yourself. So when you are writing essays, you are telling people who you are, where you want to be, and how you want to do it. Show them your highlights and your motivation. Embrace the risk! No one who succeeded did so in the safe zone. When you change your posture, the essay, the interview, and asking for letters of recommendation will be just another task in the application process.

What led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA? Even though most people my age and in my career stage end up choosing executive programs, I think a full-time program gives you the opportunity to build a strong academic background. When you do that, and after many years of leadership experience, you are able to learn these concepts with a mature perspective of business and life. The full-time program also provides you the opportunity to see different disciplines that will definitely become useful in the future. I have no doubts that after this program I will become a stronger leader with higher goals and that unique professional opportunities in the market will become available.

What would you ultimately like to achieve before you graduate? I want more than just to tell people that I finished my duty. I want to turn all the hard work and all the sacrifice into a lifetime experience. There will be good and bad days. At some point I might fail or get the sensation that I did fail, but all that will become an outstanding experience that grants me more maturity for the challenges that follow.