White Male 25, American. Come from low income state & family, first gen. Bachelors in Civil Engineering from SEC state school. Took GRE during junior year and scored a 317 without much/any studying, will have to retake it before MBA.
Work Experience: Interned at a big civil engineering consulting company while in school, converted to full time doing design work on dams. Left after 6 months to become a Power Line Engineering at a medium size engineering firm. Working on renewable projects as well as existing infrastructure. Got promoted to Design Engineer after a year there. At 2.5 years there I left to go join a electrical contractor who builds solar farms, I'm creating a power line engineering department here, only engineer of my discipline here. Official title is only Engineer 2 though, so title doesn't do it justice. Creating standards, process, reviewing things, etc. Technical Expert in power lines for the company. I want to move into management but believe that road will take a long time, hence why I want to get an MBA and transition to something else. I've passed my PE and will be licensed soon, which is a major deal in civil engineering. Current compensation is $110k base.
Aside from my full time job, I started a side hustle company consulting for tradesmen, helping them win commercial work and transition from residential projects (driveways, etc.) to bigger projects (gov. contracts, subcontractors, etc.). I help with their estimating/proposals/bidding. I've only got 1 client so far but have completed ~20-30 projects for them. Having trouble growing this business and its slowing down so might shut it down soon unfortunately.
Extracurriculars: In college I was in a social fraternity for my last 2 years, was voted onto the executive board for a year. Helped run the school's civil engineering club (ASCE) as an officer, increased our weekly attendance/membership from ~10 people to ~40. Volunteered with various philanthropy events in college. After college I've tried to help out the community by volunteering with Habitat for Humanity and the local Animal Shelter, but only infrequently maybe once every 3 months. Recently joined my town's Young Professionals group, but no leadership opportunities there yet.
Why MBA: Personally, I want to get out of civil engineering and into a more lucrative field with more upwards potential. On the applications I plan to say: I want the opportunity to make a greater impact than I currently am and help lead others toward success. Opportunities to learn about the bigger picture side of the green energy industry and refine my skills in business, finance, management, strategy, etc. Getting an MBA and start working towards a cleaner future by leading others. Looking for more ways to influence others to drive success. I'll probably hire admissions consultant to help me define/refine this part of my application.
Post-MBA Goals: Consulting (Not MBB or bust, am fine with T2's.) or Leadership Development Programs (Caterpillar, NextEra Energy, Ford, etc.)
Schools I'm interested in: Duke, UNC, Michigan Ross, Georgia Tech, Cornell, MIT, Minnesota, Vanderbilt, Yale. I could use some help narrowing this list down.
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