Can you tell us more about yourself?
My name is Vikram and I am an MBA student at Carnegie Mellon University – Tepper School of Business. Currently, I am completing my summer internship as a Program Manager at Pay Pal, San Francisco. I did my graduate program in the United States after which I worked in India for over 5 years in various capacities: as a consultant, civil servant, and entrepreneur.
Apart from this, I am a CFA charter holder.
What prompted you to apply for an MBA?
After completing my bachelor's from Ryerson University, I realized that the level of my education was not enough for me to reach the career aspirations that I had. So I decided to continue with my education through the CFA. Through my studies, I was also working which proved immensely helpful for my learning curve. However, I understood the grave lack in my education and realized that I needed to compensate for it. On another level, I also wanted to return to North America and the MBA provided a perfect opportunity for me to study and return to North America.
What did you find the most difficult in the application process?
Personally, the most difficult part of the admission process turned out to be the GMAT. I got. The score of only 650, which is a very low score even after spending a lot of money and time and using the services of two GMAT gurus in India. As someone who holds a CFA charter, is very fluent in English and good at Math, I was very disappointed and almost gave up on my dream. Fortunately, a friend of mine who had used MBA Center services and been accepted to INSEAD told me about an MBA guru in Europe who could help me. Thanks to Dr. Hubert Silly and MBA Center I got a good score in my GMAT.
The application process can also be a bit daunting but I received the dedicated help of the MBA Center which made the process much easier for me, even though I wanted to apply to three schools but had very little time left to finalize my applications. I got accepted into all three, thanks to the quality of my application. Ultimately I chose Tepper School of Business because I received a scholarship there.
What is life like in Carnegie?
Life at Carnegie Mellon is very intense and pretty demanding. As one of the elite universities, Carnegie Mellon prides itself on its academic standards. Even so, the social life on campus is rich and diverse with students from all across the globe competing to attend the university. The courses are great. The MBA program is very intense, the professors are highly qualified and the classes are extremely interactive. Overall the entire course is academically rigorous but richly rewarding.
What would be your advice to someone applying for an MBA program?
From my own experiences, I would like to give three pieces of advice to anyone who is thinking of doing an MBA. First of all, start preparing. Now. You need to prepare in advance if you want to get into your college of choice because you never know how long the admission process could take. It took me nine months to complete the process but my friend took fifteen months for the same. So, it is always better to be well prepared and not wait until the last moment to start the preparations. Secondly, aim for the top business schools. MBA programs are expensive. However, top programs have offer various financial aid, internships and scholarship opportunities to their students.
Lastly, I’d recommend you work with the MBA Center. They have a lot of experience and expertise and they will give you a lot of precious information regarding the universities and their admission processes.