Columbia - 12-01-2022 | Clear Admit ApplyWire

<< Back to ApplyWire

December 1, 2022 9:52am ET

Applying: Columbia Business School, NYU Stern, UCLA Anderson, USC / Marshall, UT Austin / McCombs, Yale SOM

Intake Year: 2024

Pre-MBA Career: Tech Communications

GRE: 321

GPA: 3.41

Years of Work Experience: 10

Location: Austin, TX

Post MBA Location: Open

Notes:

+ People, Project Management Experience w. 3 promotions in the past 2 years
+ Created my role, department at a high-visibility, highly successful tech startup
+ Work closely with Exec Leadership Team
+ Former speechwriter (highlights include writing for cast of Hamilton, Jay Zs bday, Broadcasting Hall of Fame)

Like (0)

Show Comments (6) Last: December 13, 2022

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1842 You are targeting next season, or this season? Be good to know more about your post MBA goals. With 10 years of experience, you’ll need to show fit, that you will fully engage with the whole MBA experience. Your numbers are within range, but have you considered retaking the GRE? (0)

lacey22 Likes Earned: 36 Hi! Thank you for your response -- to answer your questions: 1. I'm planning to apply this season (R2) 2. My post-MBA goals are to pivot from Tech Comms to Marketing + Distribution within the Entertainment Industry. Definitely open to consulting first and then eventually moving in-house to a studio or production company. Very much open to feedback on this area of my application and how to speak to it! 3. As far as YOE, I think my career is very clearly split into two parts -- the first being my creative career (speech writer > creative manager > assoc. creative director > VP comms of small but respected creative agency) and then a more traditional path establishing the Internal Comms department within my current company (project manager > program manager > manager of internal comms, first for a dep't and now for the entire org). The second part has been over the past 3 years and has led me to the MBA path and I feel fairly comfortable framing this path within my apps. 4. GRE, I'm very much on the fence. At this point, I'd be taking it to send in after my apps are submitted, but I'm not opposed given my split. My Verbal score is 165 and my Q score is 156, which would be in the bottom 10% of both Yale and NYU. I have a strong math track record in my transcripts (~3.8 for math-specific courses) but I'm worried. Would love your thoughts on if a retake is a must-have or good-to-have all things considered. Thank you! (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1842 Ahhhh, that 156 number will raise a red flag. Are you confident that with a retake, you can raise that number? If so, you might want to plan a retake, and note this in your optional essays. Your goals make perfect sense, key is that they are well thought out, and that does appear to be the case. For apps, focus on one pathway, unless you are explicitly asked for an alternative. (0)

lacey22 Likes Earned: 36 Thank you for your insight! After speaking with some mentors, I've decided to retake on the 22nd of this month. Not positive I can raise the score, but even a few point increase could make a big difference, so feels worth the effort. (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1842 Yes, good call, best of luck! (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1842 More details on this candidacy in this episode of Wire Taps: https://www.clearadmit.com/2022/12/mba-wire-taps-265/ (0)