Ms. MD MBA

It’s not every day that doctors apply to full-time MBA programs. More often than not, you’ll see a doc in an Executive MBA or upper-tier online MBA. So the credentials you bring to the game, your degree from Johns Hopkins and your post-MBA career goal to become a healthcare consultant before starting your own consulting firm pretty much make you a shoo-in.

Hi there! It’s Stephanie Horn, Master Consultant with the MBA Exchange and recent Poets and Quants “Top 10 Admissions Consultants”. The good news is that being a physician demonstrates several of the key qualities the admissions teams look for in a candidate. You have determination and grit, the ability to analyze complex situations and come up with clear recommendations, and strong quantitative skills. Attending a top-tier school like Johns Hopkins certainly helps. However, the profile that you submitted has some gaps. I understand that the role you have played with your friends and family are what is most important to you, but you need to recast your medical experience into business terms — what were your best achievements in terms of leading others, building a team, or strategically evaluating a situation? The term “Big Life Wins” might have been confusing. Remember, regardless of the question on an application, your answer needs to demonstrate your business acumen. MIT Sloan is a great program, but my favorite programs for healthcare consultants are Wharton, Kellogg and Duke.

Sloan will definitely take notice of your MD credentials so use that to your advantage. Make sure that through the application, you show the school how you’ve made an impact and give them a taste of your personality too. (It’s a benefit with Sloan’s video intro.) Other schools to consider given your goals of consulting and leadership: Kellogg and Wharton. One thing to consider: think about why healthcare consulting & why your own firm. It’s a big change, so you’ll need to give the schools confidence that you’re not making the decision lightly. (Expert tip – no need to state your goals in Sloan’s cover letter, but you’ll need to know your story inside-out for the interview.)

Hi, it’s Nisha from mbaMission! Your MD background will definitely set you apart from most other applicants (there are typically only a few doctors per MBA class, at most). I think that most of all, business schools will want to understand your motivation behind your current path (being a research fellow at an NGO vs. practicing medicine) and your future goals of healthcare consulting and starting your own firm someday, so make sure that you can speak to what drives you very, very clearly based on your professional and personal experiences to date. You’ll also want to speak to the transferrable skills you’ll bring to consulting (for example, analytics, teamwork, leadership, communication skills) as well as the skills you’ll need to gain from the MBA.

Your GRE is on the lower side for Sloan, so if you can manage retaking it for a 160+ on each side, I think that would be to your benefit since it’s a fairly metrics-focused program. Other top schools I’d consider with strengths in healthcare are Kellogg, Wharton, Fuqua, and Ross. I hope that this helps a bit – best of luck!

Hello, Lisa Cummings at Stratus Admissions. I love your life wins, graduating med school and being a trusted friend are certainly things to be proud of. However, those are hard to quantify and business schools love numbers. That said, you have a lot else to be proud of too, it seems. I spent many years on the admissions committee at Sloan. Years ago, it was nearly unheard of to see doctors on the applicant pool. That started to change a few years ago and there are an increasing number of medical students and practicing doctors in the pool. Many are working on devices or side businesses which make the transition seem logical. Your goal of healthcare consulting is also logical but you will have to tell a good story to the committee. They will need to see leadership and teamwork at work and in extracurriculars, as well as areas where you have had professional impact. As you know, top tier schools like Sloan are very competitive and your GRE and GPA are both low for Sloan; your med school experience at a powerhouse like Hopkins can mitigate that to a degree but will not fully compensate. Look for other areas of strength to focus on and start thinking about your story. This is where leadership can help out. Mentoring on a professional level will also be additive. Can you frame your research work with a more business slant? What impact have you had there? Finally you will need to fully address the questions of Why MBA and Why do you want to leave medicine? With the right focus, you could put together a very strong application.