Can you tell us more about yourself?
My name is Rajiv. I graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering in Food Technology from the SLIET India, and a Post Graduate Diploma in Rural Management from the Institute of Rural Management Anand, India. I worked for the Standard Chartered Bank occupying various positions over a period of nine years. I am an avid cyclist and an active member of a prominent cycling group in India.
What prompted you to apply for an MBA?
My career has been with Standard Chartered Bank for over nine years and I decided that it was time for me to fast track my career and have an experience abroad. My education in the field of Food and Rural Management gave no scope to my chances abroad. I realized than an MBA would be essential for me if I wanted a career change.
Thanks to my collaboration with Dr. Hubert Silly, I have been accepted to many programs such as the University of South Carolina, Cornell, and MIT. MIT was my first choice not only because of its reputation but also having worked in finance and wanting to be a part of the FinTech revolution, MIT would be the perfect environment to develop my knowledge of FinTech, entrepreneurship, and innovation while also building a network. At the same time, MIT also allows its students to have full-time courses at Harvard Business School and I cannot wait to attend classes at both these outstanding institutions.
What did you find the most difficult in the application process?
Dr. Hubert Silly was not my GMAT teacher in the beginning. Another GMAT teacher in India helped me to get 750 quite easily after just three months of class. He then recommended Dr. Hubert Silly to me. My difficulty was not the GMAT but it lay somewhere else. I was a graduate in rural management who worked in the banking sector and aiming for a school like MIT. The gap between the three was so deep that it was quite a challenge to overcome. I needed an MBA guru like Dr. Hubert Silly to actually traverse this gap. He helped me to justify my motivation and valorize my career path knowing that I did not have a leadership or management position in that bank.
What is life like at MIT?
Getting into MIT is quite an interesting experience. Once you are a part of MIT, the spirit of the school takes hold. The school is well known for its position on entrepreneurship and the classes are a testament to that. You are constantly being given chances to attend lectures and seminars by entrepreneurs and businessmen and this is also a great method of networking. All in all, life at MIT is highly interesting, to say the very least.
What would be your advice to someone applying for an MBA program?
My first advice would be to dream big. As someone who had no leadership positions where I worked, did not graduate from a top business school, I should have fallen off the radar of a school like MIT quite easily. However, my perseverance and my score in the GMAT kept me in the game. I worked with a top MBA expert like Dr. Hubert Silly, dedicated my time to my preparations wholeheartedly and finally managed to get into my dream school. It just goes to show that if you put energy and time you can also make it.
Secondly, there are lots of programs available. You have to search carefully. I hesitated for a long time between USC and MIT because I saw that USC also had a very interesting course in the program. What I would advise is that don’t just be attracted by the name. Look into the values and courses of the school.
Finally, get in contact with experts. In Gurgaon, my GMAT teacher helped me get the 750 and put me in touch with Dr. Hubert Silly of the MBA Center who is a very helpful and dedicated person. His help was essential for me to get into MIT and I recommend that people who are serious about getting into MBAs and Masters programs abroad, even from India, should take the help of Dr. Hubert Silly and his team at the MBA Center.