Mr. Hot Rod

Hi, this is Deepak Punwani from MBA Exchange. Whats not to like in your profile. The high quality work, great acads from a top undergrad program and differentiated goals with respect to real estate. If you can draw a straight line from your engineering course to IB to move to Ecuador in real estate to MBA, you are in play at all schools on your list. Execute well by showing them the real person behind the paper profile and every school would want in ! Good luck

Hello Mr. Hot Rod! I”m Krista Nannery, Senior Consultant at mbaMission, Chicago Booth grad, and fellow Citizen of the World.

So my first question for you…with your interest in Real Estate Development, why aren’t you considering CBS, NYU, and UCLA? They all have great real estate programs. (UCLA would be more of a safety for you.)

Secondly, I’ve worked with a few Ecuadorian and Italian candidates over the years, but never someone who was both. Also, to be fair, there are generally very few Ecuadorian candidates. Not to say this will get you in, but it certainly makes you interesting!

My biggest question for you…given that you work in real estate now, why do you need an MBA? What will be different about post-MBA Mr. Hot Rod? B-schools want to know that they can help you with something, so give some deep thought to the skills between where you are today and where you want to be post-MBA. Related to this, the most frequent issue I find with real estate candidates is their applications are all about…real estate. All real estate, all the time. What are the other skills you need besides for real estate? Strive to be multi-dimensional here. Help them see you as a person. I know that’s easier said than done but talking about other interests, passions, skills, and needs can help differentiate you from the other real estate candidates who just talk about …real estate.

Make sure you look at the Kellogg Finance Fellowship. Double-check with them that real estate falls within that but my guess is that it does.

Hope that helps!

Krista

Hey Mr. Hot Rod! Susan Cera, Director of MBA Admissions, and fellow Duke alum here. There is a LOT to like about your profile and the direction you want to take. Having worked with several candidates who have an background in a variety of roles in RE, I begin to see how you can differentiate yourself. I’ve also worked with a number of JD/MBA candidates and am curious to learn what additional value the JD might add as you prepare to acheive your aspirations. I like Wharton for you due to their strength in RE, single application for the JD/MBA program and entrepreneurship resources. I think CBS would also be a great fit for you though perhaps you are ready to leave NYC? One of our clients with a similar background to yours will be heading to CBS this fall – also Civil Engineering undergrad combined with banking with aspirations of making an impact in development in their home country.
You have a great shot at Wharton if you put together an application that connects your experiences to date through the resources at Wharton to the impact you see yourself making long term.
All the best!