Mr. Blue Collar

Hi Mr. Blue Collar! First and foremost, I commend you on all your achievements as a first generation undergraduate and in your career thus far. You are clearly a tenacious leader who can achieve anything he sets his mind to. I’m evaluating your candidacy based on the traditional two-year MBA at Rice, but my rating would be drastically different when looking at top 25 executive MBA programs at Fuqua or McCombs (programs I also see are on your list). Hands on manufacturing/engineering experience is one of the most valuable that you can bring to a management position; however, few are able to do it because those with the experience struggle to convey how their experience will be translatable to the “white collar” leadership positions. My advice to you is this: (1) focus on Executive MBA programs vs the traditional two-year MBA. Given your years of experience and challenge in communicating the “why now” piece of your story, it will be an uphill battle and I’d rather see you start with a level playing field. (2) Dig deep for themes in your contributions to the community (lacking in your form here). Many candidates find that they have contributed significantly to a broad array of pieces of the community over time, but failed to do so with deep impact on one particular organization. I challenge you to identify ‘themes’ in your involvement outside of work and use that to showcase tenured involvement toward one key purpose (bettering the lives of underprivilege youth, doing the right thing to save our planet/environment, etc). (3) And, lastly, get crystal clear on those goals with specificity. Write out your goals in vivid detail as though you have the freedom to go anywhere and achieve anything. This will add credibility to your goals in a way that will give AdCom the confidence that you have a plan to get there. With these three focus areas, your odds will skyrocket!