Mr. Multimedia

Mr. Multimedia, it sounds like you’ve had lots of opportunities to put your skills to work in high pressure, intense situations. And since you work as a producer at a top media firm, I think you have a background that immediately takes you out of the pile of mainstream MBA candidates. You are obviously hoping to use your MBA to transition out of your current role and into a product management post. If you hope to do that in the sports or media field, that would make total sense and an admissions team would buy it. Your GPA is right on target with the latest class average at Goizueta of 3.2. While Emory does not disclose its average class GRE scores, I think it’s safe to say that you are slightly under the school’s average because I am going to estimate that Goizueta’s average is roughly the same as Vanderbilt or Georgetown. Both schools have a 315 which puts your 308 seven points under. I don’t think that’s a big deal because unless you present poorly, I think your chances at Emory are pretty good. I might also say that I think you have picked ideal schools for your MBA experience. All of them should be within reach if you executed well on your applications and have the professional presence these schools are looking for in your interviews.

Hi, Mr. Multimedia – this is Julie-Anne Heafey from mbaMission. Your job sounds exciting and high pressure, and likely born of a true passion. Most likely, you have some very transferrable leadership and team management skills that will translate well to a PM position. I think what Emory will want to know is why you are motivated to make this pivot and how/if your current career links to your future plans. Overall I like your chances, but the one thing I always double check with folks who have verbal-heavy majors/careers like journalism is how your quant side shakes out. MBA programs can be pretty quantitative, so if you don’t have some more analytically-driven courses behind that journalism major, and your GRE quant side is appreciably lower than the verbal (a 308 doesn’t quite give me a picture of the splits), then you might look to add some supplemental coursework in some kind of MBA prep course. Overall though, I like your chances, best of luck!

Sounds like you will have some amazing stories to tell in your application. You have picked some great target schools at which I think you will be successful. Atlanta’s tie into the news, media and movie industries will make it an attractive place to be. And, you can just head right down the road to the Masters! I think you will be an attractive addition to an MBA class. As you are putting together your application, keep in mind leadership and community. This can come in many forms – and since you have had the same title throughout your career (based on what you have put here) you will want to highlight how you have increased responsibility and been a leader – professionally and personally. I love that you are a baseball coach – the tie in with your sports career is great and I’m sure you’ve got some good stories about leadership there. Also your recommendations can help highlight your leadership ability – whether it be people or projects. Would love to know more about your blogging and reporting to tell the whole story. For your goal, as John mentioned, if you want to do some sort of sports or media product management – this makes a lot of sense. If you want to go outside of sports/media, you’ll need to explain why.

Really depends upon the quant score of your sub-par GRE total score of 308. If low, then entering an MBA program might necessitate a pre-MBA quantitative skills course.