Mr. Versatility

Hi there! It’s Stephanie Horn, Master Consultant with the MBA Exchange and recent Poets and Quants “Top 10 Admissions Consultants”. There are a lot of things to like in your profile. You are clearly an outgoing and engaging person, who is involved in his community. Were you playing D1 football? That would support your ability to succeed while managing multiple priorities. Your work experience is solid, however, whenever I see the title “Analyst”, I wonder whether the position has provided enough of an opportunity for leadership and impact on an organization. It will be important for you to demonstrate in your essays and resume your ability to set strategic goals, energize those around you, and achieve your objectives. You have a good list of target schools — since you are interested in Europe, I suggest adding IESE and HEC to your list to evaluate.

Hi Mr. Versatility, Jen Kedrowski here, Senior Consultant at mbaMission (and Judge alum to boot!). One of the reasons I fell in love with Judge WAS the diversity and ‘versatility’ of the student body— it didn’t feel like everyone came from one background or career path… it felt like one of the most diverse student bodies I had experienced. So- you could make the case that your professional background with a variety of experiences may be very valued there. At the same time—you also do not want your profile to come across as scattered or lacking focus, or to sound like you are applying for the MBA or looking into consulting because you’re not sure what to do next. SO—be sure you are very intentional and make a strong case for your ‘why’…. Why an MBA? Why now? Why consulting? Why medical devices? And of course—why Cambridge, and why a UK MBA in general? If you can create a compelling story for all of those components, and also tie together your past experiences (for example- how did you draw upon what you learned in corporate finance and in marketing, to your current VC role?), that will go a long way in terms of strengthening your candidacy.

Training 250 missionaries was a memorable story/mention in your profile, so that could be something interesting to explore in your essays or interview, especially if you feel it made a large impact on you and your leadership style. The ‘analytics challenge’ and the large impact on reporting visibility you mention also sounds interesting, depending upon the context there.

Judge DOES want applicants with international experience and interests, and that is not something I see thus far in your profile, so if you do have that be sure to emphasize as well. Finally, emphasize your accomplishments but also be mindful of not boasting—Judge prides itself on admitting applicants who are very accomplished yet simultaneously down-to-earth and humble, and that contributes to the extremely supportive community of the school. Feel free to reach out for additional discussion at any point, about your profile or about Judge, via the free consult link below or at jen@mbamission.com. Good luck!