Business schools get applications from engineers, chartered accountants, doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs and professionals from several other fields. Given the mind-boggling variety of applicants, there’s a tendency to create demographic buckets.
This makes it very difficult for MBA applicants to stand out from the crowd – especially for those competing in over-represented pools.
Engineers, as you might know, dominate the MBA race in terms of sheer numbers. But an IT engineer’s profile is very different from a chemical engineer’s. What about a semiconductor engineer? Would she be clubbed by admission officers in the bigger techie bucket? But that wouldn’t be correct or fair.
Savita Yelamanchili faced the same conundrum while applying to her dream schools in the US and Europe. Here’s what she did to make her MBA application stand out.
How an Apple engineer got into INSEAD
What I did to make my MBA application stand out
by Savita Yelamanchili
Early in my undergraduate engineering program, I knew it was important for me to specialize in semiconductors to find the job I hoped to have.
In my final year, I applied to an aggressive list of electrical engineering graduate programs.
I was admitted to the University of Michigan (UMich) and University of Southern California (USC). I picked UMich because of the professors who were aligned with my areas of interest and an overall robust VLSI course offering.
The Master’s program at UMich is intense especially if you intend to finish it in three semesters.
Recruiting and keeping up with coursework is a challenging but fulfilling experience.
The extensive alumni network and top-notch career fairs helped me land an internship at Qualcomm and most students get at least one offer through on-campus recruiting.
I spent five years working on chip design first at Qualcomm and then at Apple, leveraging all my learnings from the Master’s program on state-of-the-art technologies at these companies.
While the general nature of my work did not change as much, at Apple I could see the impact of my work on the final product.
I was keen on further exploring hardware product development from a business standpoint.
I saw the MBA as a hard reset – a year to explore different opportunities and build a strong business foundation.
Managing my work at Apple and studying for GMAT was the toughest part of my application process.
I needed a score between 710 and 740 for the schools I was applying to. I scored a 720 and decided against retaking the GMAT.
With the limited time, I believed working on a solid application was a better use of my time.
Having been through the process before with a consultant, I knew the value of working with one to keep me on track.
I was also aware that MBA applications are much more involved than an Engineering Master’s application.
I thoroughly researched different consultants both in India and in the US.
I had two criteria while shortlisting potential consultants, ease of scheduling touchpoint calls — during the day wasn’t an option — and I wanted someone to soundboard my ideas, not handhold me.
I had to focus on why I was doing the MBA and stay true to it. I signed up for the four-school package with MBA Crystal Ball.
The initial plan was to start in Fall 2022. However, personal circumstances and COVID led me to postpone my MBA plans by a year.
I was in touch with Sameer Kamat during this time and he was very categorical about considering both the financial and opportunity cost of doing an MBA.
The one-year delay also allowed me to consider other options and rethink the need for an MBA to achieve my goals.
I also knew that a year from now, doing a one-year MBA was a priority and INSEAD would become my top choice for the August 2023 intake.
Mid-2022, I started working with Vibhav and Maitabi, my consultants from MCB, on my MBA essays.
With an engineering background, it is often difficult to quantify achievements and I worked on several revisions to find a balance between showing something substantial, yet not showcasing unrealistic achievements.
The INSEAD application is exhaustive and has several essays, and recorded interviews to complete before the deadline.
I shortlisted five business schools – four US schools and INSEAD. I focused on applying to a mix of the best one-year MBAs and tech-focused programs.
I heavily relied on conversations with alumni and visiting the schools in person to gauge my interest in each program.
For INSEAD, I visited the INSEAD SF Hub several times to meet with alumni and familiarize myself with the culture of the school.
I attended several webinars and virtual meetings organized by different schools.
However, since these calls are curated for prospective students it is harder to get a sense of the finer nuances of each school.
Talking to students/alumni helped me understand the ground realities of recruiting, coursework, and different experiences I might be exposed to during the MBA.
These conversations were fundamental in my decision-making process.
For the interviews, I had a mix of virtual, in-person, and recorded interviews. I do well interviewing in person and enjoyed those interviews the most.
I also had a wide range of interviewers from the Chief Revenue Officer of a company to current students, with some interviews being more structured than others.
To prepare for each interview, I would research the interviewer, review all the material I submitted to the school, and reread all the notes I had made for each school.
After spending an excruciating few months applying and interviewing I finally got into Berkeley Haas.
I was also placed on the waitlist for Chicago Booth and INSEAD. I had made up my mind to attend a one-year program and hoped to get off the waitlist at INSEAD.
I wrote to the school reaffirming my interest, met with a few more alumni.
And a month later, I was admitted to INSEAD!
Two months in, INSEAD has been everything I hoped it would be. The exposure to diverse cultures and perspectives is unparalleled.
So far, the quality of professors is impeccable, some of the best I’ve had in my academic life.
An Indian with an engineering background is a challenging profile to highlight in MBA applications.
There are far too many applying with similar stories and even if you have impressive accomplishments it is often a struggle to communicate them.
For me, being an Indian female engineer in the semiconductor industry was somewhat differentiating.
However, not all admission officers understand the finer nuances between engineering disciplines.
I did not focus as much on past averages and the profiles that got in. Every cohort is different and for an Indian, the ‘average’ is usually skewed; I knew the statistics would be of little help.
Focusing on the ‘why’ I was setting out on this journey, doing whatever it takes to put my best foot forward, and constantly tweaking my strategy to optimize my time helped me get into my top-choice school.
Savita has the unique opportunity to complete her MBA across 3 continents and the top 2 business schools in the world – across the 2 INSEAD campuses (Singapore & France), and a term at Wharton in the U.S.
Reach out if you’re targetting the top business schools, and need professional mentoring: info [at] mbacrystalball [dot] com
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