Mariana Ruiz Allende is a current Tech MBA student, specializing in Product Management, FinTech and Strategy. Prior to Stern, Mariana worked in the FinTech industry for more than 4 years in Mexico City. Post-MBA, she plans to continue her professional development as a Product Manager. At Stern, she is involved in the Stern Adventures Club, the Latin American Business Association and the Stern Softball team. She is currently working on a personal project that will use Machine learning Sentiment Analysis to provide help through a mental health approach.
Deciding where to go for your MBA is not an easy decision. In my case, the decision affected not only me, but also my husband.
Before the pandemic started, I knew I wanted an MBA. However, being all settled in Mexico, with my husband and me each thriving in our professional careers, having my family and friends close, and traveling a lot, it seemed like there was no real need for me to go through the MBA application process, which we all know is a lot of work. Everything seemed so well planned in my life, and I was happy living it that way; why would I consider changing it? Unfortunately – or fortunately- I am very ambitious and really wanted to have the experience of an MBA.
I talked to my husband about going for it, considering I wanted to have my experience abroad, and he was very supportive from the beginning. Honestly, we both knew it was a long shot to be accepted into a top school, but I knew I had to go for it. However, there were two considerations I needed to make this work. First, he would have to come with me, which was non-negotiable for me, and second, it would have to be in a place where he could continue to work, and as a barred lawyer, New York was the only option.
So yes, in my decision, there were more variables to consider. Nevertheless, those variables quickly reduced the scope of my options, and fortunately, the narrowed option was the best city in the world.
After narrowing it to New York, I researched all possible programs in the city, which were many more than I imagined; considering each School has multiple MBA programs, my options by then were between 6 and 10 different programs. To narrow this further, I reduced my scope to only 1 year programs – working in tech, I knew being out of the “being employed game” for a long time wouldn’t have worked for me, so this filter narrowed my options to 3. Although applying to three programs might seem like a good number, I soon fell in love with the tech-focused programs. I really liked the syllabus each one had, and coming from another business school, adding the technical courses made a lot more sense to my profile. Although there were some other one-year programs in the city, the tech focus for me was the cherry on top, which narrowed my number to two.
I reached out to people from both business schools. I spoke with at least ten people to get a sense of what their experience was, what they would recommend during the process, and to verify I clicked with their culture. I was shocked to see people actually answered my messages on LinkedIn without even knowing me.
When applying to Stern, I immediately stumbled upon the first challenge, which was a “change” in the application style the school has compared to the rest. The application had a twist since it was basically a mini-essay and a photo collage. The saying “less is more” is very applicable in this case. Less was more work since you need to be yourself, show what you bring to the table, show you are different and delightful, and show you can embrace change, all in two or three short deliverables.
My two cents to anyone in the application process are:
1) Talk to people from the school you are applying to. The insights you get with quick chats not only fuel your motivation but also help you show the qualities you share with the people you talk to.
2) Review your essays after clearing your head for a few days. After having more than 30 drafts on one of my essays, I can assure you the Mariana that started the process was not the same once I finished it. Yes, my last essay was a killer one compared to the classic cliché one I started with.
Lastly, embrace learning through this application and school selection process, be humble and not too harsh with yourself, and reach out to people to mentor you or cheer for you throughout this process. And in case you doubt yourself, I can tell you all the effort is worth it.