I was an engineer in the Technology industry.
I felt disconnected from the culture.
Like most of you who are pivoting to accelerate your career or switch industries, I also applied to an MBA and got admit to an MBA focused on Entrepreneurship.
I chose to start F1GMAT instead.
This was way back in 2009.
I hosted consultants, GMAT prep companies and schools to share about the application process and the program. Soon, I realized that there is a big incentive problem when you are a platform and views/reads are the primary focus and not the focus on helping the applicant.
I began helping applicants through M7 school application and when a client shared a heartfelt thank you note, I knew that F1GMAT could serve a more meaningful purpose by directly helping applicants.
I pivoted to turning F1GMAT from a platform to an admissions consulting company with just one mission:
"To help MBA and Master's applicants make the right career, school selection, essay writing, funding and interview preparation decisions".
I also began to write like a madman.
Then, very few Consultants wrote Sample Essays.
I only focused on writing Essays and research articles.
It is strange what you become when you do one thing with passion for over a decade.
I don't know about the 10,000+ hours.
I wrote short stories in my 3rd grade.
I had a personal blog in 2006, observing people's escapades from reality.
I could capture emotions and perspectives about life from different cultures, ethnicity, socioeconomic backgrounds, personalities, and genders.
It was like feeling deeply connected to another person and living the world through their eyes.
That is the fun part of writing Essay Guides, Research articles, and Editing Client Essays for me - to see the world from your perspective.
Great Lines = Admit?
Just writing great lines and editing essays into perfect prose doesn't translate to wins in competitive M7 and T15 MBA Admissions.
You should be deeply aware of your Personal Brand and what schools value.
What is your Personal Brand?
Personal branding is not the politician-style manicured version of yourself but stories from your life that give a structure to your journey.
I can't put a word to it. It is like casting choices in popular movies. There are certain roles only one actor can play.
Your narrative should feel like a journey that only you could have traversed.
So why work with me?
MBA Application is 40% branding and 60% writing.
You can't skip on either of the two.
Writing requires practice.
Editing is a different muscle.
As a Consultant who has edited and written every day for the past 15+ years and a marketer who has built multiple brands, I am uniquely blessed to possess two skills - branding and writing.
My comments are not just edit comments about your writing but tips on improving your writing and expressions as well.
In some schools, you need to tone down the expressions, while in some, you need to accentuate them.
The copy-paste strategy won't work in competitive M7 and T20 schools.
The Columbia MBA is a two-year, full-time program that requires completing 60 graduate-level credits, broken down into 18 credits of required core coursework and a minimum of 42 credits of electives.