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F1GMAT: Virginia Tech MBA focuses on building a strong foundation with First Year Core Courses. How is the curriculum structured to help MBA students?
Robin Camputaro (Virginia Tech MBA): The MBA degree allows a student to gain a broad perspective of various business disciplines. Most MBA students come into the program with either no business background, or a previous business degree with narrow focus. The 10 required core classes introduce a wide range of business functions, and provide the quantitative and analytical foundation for the more rigorous, advanced classes in the second year. A final spring class—Strategic Management—holistically summarizes the core classes, providing students with a firm understanding of the integration of the different function.
The first year caters to students with a plethora of diverse backgrounds. Business, engineering, and technology fields are some common areas of focus for students, thus it is critical that all students gain a fundamental business foundation. Accounting, finance, statistics, ethics, and marketing are all core classes taken by first year students.
There are ten required core classes. They are designed to allow students with no prior knowledge the ability to understand the breadth of the material, yet at the same time challenge students with business backgrounds to further their knowledge.
F1GMAT: Virginia Tech MBA is introducing a new IT Concentration for fall 2012. Tell us a little bit about various concentrations available for 2nd year students.
Robin Camputaro (Virginia Tech MBA): The general MBA curriculum offers a scripted tour through the major disciplines of an MBA education. If you are interested in going beyond the generalist MBA, you may select from one of our concentrations, which will strengthen your knowledge in a particular area to create an educational experience truly your own. While a concentration is not required, most students find the focused classes and deeper interaction with faculty enhances their overall MBA experience. The following are the available concentrations available to Traditional MBA students:
Organization Management & Strategy
The Organization Management and Strategy concentration offers students the chance to explore and assess the strategic foundations of various kinds of organizations and learn how managers create sustainable competitive advantage in both start-up and more mature businesses. Course offerings cover topics such as entrepreneurship, mergers and acquisitions from a strategic perspective, ethical dimensions of leadership, and effective management of change initiatives within an organization. This concentration may be combined with the Marketing concentration for a dual concentration.
Marketing
This concentration is strong on quantitative decision making and prepares students in the areas of product, promotion and international marketing strategy. We have had marketing alumni leading promotional campaigns, such as “Got Milk,” and brand development at Miracle Gro. This concentration may be combined with the Strategy concentration for a dual concentration.
Information Technology
Starting Fall 2012, we begin offering a concentration in Information Technology. MBA students who choose this concentration will learn how to solve business problems through the practical use of computer systems. The IT concentration was developed as a direct result of input from the 2011 MBA cohort. We are excited to offer this new concentration.
Finance
The concentration in Finance is designed for students who envision themselves working for multi-national companies in fields such as Treasury and Corporate Development (M&A). It prepares students for this field through a diverse offering of courses in topics such as corporate restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, corporate risk management, capital structure, portfolio management, fixed income securities, and risks and strategies associated with financial institutions.
F1GMAT: How is the student life at Virginia Tech?
Robin Camputaro (Virginia Tech MBA)
Good Citizens of the MBA Program
We expect each student to contribute fully to the program—both in and outside the classroom. With such a small class, it is imperative that our students feel comfortable participating in discussions; engaging with alumni, faculty, visiting companies, and administration; leading diverse teams; and acting as hands-on participants.
Opportunities to Connect
With more than 600 different student organization and clubs, Virginia Tech students have a wide range of opportunities to get involved on campus and within the surrounding community. We encourage our MBA students to prepare actively for their careers and to take advantage of the variety of social and professional development activities and networking opportunities offered by the MBA program and the larger campus community.
Blacksburg, Virginia's largest town, contains some 12,000 acres nestled on a plateau between the Blue Ridge and Allegheny mountains. Home to about 41,700 local residents, the town offers award-winning services, reasonable cost of living, safety, moderate climate, and abundant leisure activities. Blacksburg is consistently ranked among the country’s best places to live and has earned a reputation nationwide as a well-managed, stable, and forward-looking community.
The region’s retail hub, including the New River Valley Mall, is situated in Christiansburg, which is less than 10 miles from the Virginia Tech campus. Accessible to Interstate 81, Blacksburg is about 30 minutes from Roanoke, Southwest Virginia’s largest city.
F1GMAT: What are some of the post-MBA opportunities available for MBA graduates?
Robin Camputaro (Virginia Tech MBA): The Virginia Tech MBA Career Experience emphasizes a holistic, proactive, integrated marketing approach to the career search. In our program, we have merged the academic and career advisers to provide you with seamless advice on how to reach your goals. Our students have the assistance of the MBA Program’s career and job search advising office, in addition to the university’s Career Services office. Through this unique and customizable approach to internship and job searching, we help students identify and capitalize on their distinctive gifts to determine how their career objectives fit their personal and professional priorities.
The VTMBA Career Experience includes the guidance and assistance of our Career Services Director, Gina French, who serves as a liaison with companies seeking to hire our MBA students. Our office has built strong relations with many top companies who seek out our MBA students. Our Career Services Director is available to meet with individually to discuss your ideal job functions and target organizations in your preferred geography. Together, you will identify opportunities in conjunction with your career aspirations. Our office regularly posts internship and full time opportunities so you can begin your job search immediately and continue until you have secured a position which is the best fit for you.
Virginia Tech MBA students are employed within a wide range of industries and geographic locations. The VTMBA program has very close ties to its alumni students. Opportunities after graduation range from:
• Consulting
• Marketing
• Sales
• Finance
• Accounting
• General Management
• Information Technology
• Operations
• Logistics
Our graduates have performed these services for the government, non-profits, financial institutions, energy providers, and technology and research-based institutions.
F1GMAT: Can you give our readers a demographic snapshot of the latest class?
Robin Camputaro (Virginia Tech MBA)
Class of 2014
GMAT average 626
GPA average 3.46
Average age 25.8
Women 29%
International 53%
F1GMAT: What are some of the unique courses offered in the MBA program?
This required course is offered in a series of one-credit modules spread throughout four semesters. This course includes a formal class in the first semester (MGT 5404), which will guide MBA students to develop a personal marketing plan, identify success-related behavior expected by recruiters, develop a “30-second commercial” for prospecting, research companies, and conduct direct marketing to target companies. Other topics covered include negotiating the role, salary and offer timeline, and evaluating alternative offers.
The remaining three credits consist of workshops, presentations, and alumni/company panels that relay key business topics that are vital, but not covered in other courses. Students will work on oral presentation skills, interpersonal skills, and business writing skills.
F1GMAT: What are the entry criteria in terms of the number of years of experience/GMAT/GPA for the Full-time MBA program?
Robin Camputaro (Virginia Tech MBA): The Full-time MBA program does not mandate any work experience to be considered for admission.
For Traditional MBA students only the GMAT is accepted. For simultaneous degree seeking applicants, the GRE is accepted if the partner program requires it for admission.
The target GPA is above a 3.0, but there are provisional acceptances for students below a 3.0 on a case-by-case basis. The student’s last 60 credit hours are calculated as the applicant’s GPA for admission into the program.
F1GMAT: What are some of the defining characteristics that you look for in a Virginia Tech MBA candidate?
Robin Camputaro (Virginia Tech MBA): We look for individuals who exemplify professionalism, maturity, and diversity both personally and professionally. As a smaller MBA program, we believe each student contributes to the overall class composite with their professional backgrounds, life experiences, and personalities.
Good Citizens of the MBA Program
Because we limit our class to no more than 60 students each year, we expect each student to contribute fully to the program—both in and outside the classroom. With such a small class, it is imperative that our students feel comfortable participating in discussions, engaging with alumni, faculty, visiting companies and administration, leading diverse teams, and acting as hands-on participants. We provide a variety of resources, events and experiences that guide you in your learning process and help you towards your new career.
Factors in the Evaluation
We consider all the information in an application, but particularly important factors include undergraduate grade point average, performance on the GMAT, length and type of professional work experience, oral and written communication skills, references, major and strength of institution, and career goals. International applicants are expected to demonstrate English proficiency.
Communication from MBA Office
Applications are considered ready for processing when all required documents have been received and the admissions interview has been conducted. Completed applications are reviewed weekly. Candidates who submit applications are usually notified within two to four weeks of the completion of all required elements of the application. Official notification of admissions decisions comes by letter from the Virginia Tech Graduate School, usually a short time later.
University policy prohibits the release of admission information in any format other than a letter from the Graduate School, which is sent via regular mail directly to the students. All departments, such as the Virginia Tech MBA Program Office, make recommendations to the Graduate School regarding an applicant’s admission or denial. The Graduate School dean makes the final decision on all applicants and then notifies the students directly.
About Robin Camputaro
Robin Camputaro, associate MBA director, joined the Virginia Tech MBA program in 2011 after 11 years of marketing experience in various industries, including airport administration, shopping mall administration, and higher education food service. Ms. Camputaro currently oversees the marketing and recruiting for the full-time MBA and the Professional MBA programs with the Virginia Tech MBA program. She received her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Florida and her MBA from Jacksonville University.
Winning MBA Essay Guide - A Complete Guide for M7 and Top 15 MBA Application Essays
F1GMAT's Winning MBA Essay guide will teach you how to transform your essay into a life journey with trials and tribulations that will move the admission team.
+ Over 245 Sample Essays (Read Previews of F1GMAT's Winning MBA Essay Guide Sample Essays here)
+ Top 15 MBA Programs (Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Columbia, Booth, MIT, Kellogg, Yale, Haas, Darden, INSEAD, LBS, NYU Stern, Tuck, Duke Fuqua, Ross)
+ The Art of Storytelling
+ Leadership Narratives
+ Review Tips
+ Persuasion Strategies
+ The Secret to "unleashing" your unique voice
+ How to prepare and present for the Video Essay
+ How to write about your Strengths
+ How to write about your Weaknesses
+ Leadership Narratives
+ Review Tips
+ Persuasion Strategies
+ The Secret to "unleashing" your unique voice
+ How to prepare and present for the Video Essay
+ How to write about your Strengths
+ How to write about your Weaknesses
Want to try the individual school Essay Guides before upgrading to the Winning MBA Essay Guide? Try below.
F1GMAT's Essay Guides
Harvard MBA Essay Guide (20 Sample Essays)
Growth-Oriented Essay: Curiosity can be seen in many ways. Please share an example of how you have demonstrated curiosity and how that has influenced your growth. (up to 250 words)Example #1: Persistence Narrative
Background Information: The applicant – a design and music talent, shares her journey through several setbacks. She attributes curiosity to her growth.
Curiosity: Philosophy
Curiosity (Explained): Curiosity as a philosophy is tough to translate into a narrative unless you are from the creative industry or your contributions had an influence on a solution or an initiative.
MBA Essay Strategy: I wanted to capture the humanity of the applicant and her influence in music instead of just highlighting how she overcame multiple roadblocks to gain attention as a designer.
Theme: Persistence
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Life Starts at NO (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #2: International Community Building
Background Information: The applicant, a Machine Learning (ML) entrepreneur specializing in healthcare diagnostics, shares how his curiosity to learn other ML algorithms’ evolution in diagnosing Alzheimer’s, cancer, and heart disease transformed his platform into a global community.
MBA Essay Strategy: I wanted to show the applicant’s contributions in diagnostic from 2020 to 2024 by citing two events. Such examples build credibility instead of engagements that were recent. The evolution of the platform from an AI development community to a community for discussing the application of AI in diagnostics is captured through a ‘curiosity’ angle.
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Growth through Collaboration (AI in Healthcare) (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #3: Culture
Background Information: The applicant, an Entrepreneur from India narrates his first entrepreneurial experience – facilitating exchange of stamps in the late 1990s.
Theme: Culture
MBA Essay Strategy: Instead of addressing the biases in the investor community that could turn preachy, I wanted to focus on the applicant and his entrepreneurial journey by citing two entrepreneurial experiences – a platform(club) for stamp collection and his Grocery delivery App.
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – The American Dream (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #4: Addiction
Background Information: The applicant – a beneficiary of the foster home system, captures the sacrifice his adopted grandparents made to save him from a path of addiction. Paying it back through early intervention among teenagers and community engagement is the curiosity narrative.
Theme: Addiction
MBA Essay Strategy: My strategy is to capture a gratitude narrative in the first one-third of the essay to demonstrate motivation for starting the venture and dedicate the latter part of the essay to the unique solution
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Drug Addiction and Gaming (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #5: Scarcity
Background Information: The applicant, an education major, recognizes that 70% of all students in Kenya don’t have a computer. The curiosity that drives him to pivot from one solution to another is the growth narrative.
Theme: Innovation
MBA Essay Strategy: Often, innovation is captured with a ‘hero’ narrative where the applicant is the sole originator of an idea. I wanted to break that cliché and include a person from whom the applicant learned to use a concept called ‘scaffolding.’
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Scarcity (Growth-Oriented HBS Essay Example)Example #6: FinTech
Background Information: The applicant captures a vulnerable moment of a beneficiary to compare his journey of side hustle before a technology giant noticed his talent. Although cryptocurrency is not a flavor for the year, capture niches where innovation is still happening.
Theme: Education, Child Welfare
MBA Essay Strategy: Empathizing with a techno solution is tough without a strong backstory around the beneficiary. For the essay, I wanted to clearly establish the beneficiary – Rami, before the applicant narrates the similarities to his journey and finally shares the solution that emerged from his curiosity.
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – FinTech as a Tool for Good (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #7: Learning from the best
Background Information: The applicant – a Remote Engineer in the Oil and Gas industry, reflects on a value that has helped her learn from the best regardless of her geographical limitations.
Theme: Learning
MBA Essay Strategy: The effectiveness of the case-study method depends on the assumption that peers in a Harvard MBA class will help elevate your learning experience. For the essay, I have highlighted the applicant’s recognition of this value proposition with three examples.
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Learning from the Best (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #8: Military & Search for IMPACT
Background Information: The most common narrative for US military applicants is to quote 9/11 and the reaction your immediate family had while watching the events unfold. The horrifying moment is captured as a motivation to join the Military. On digging deeper, most applicants would share that their motivations were diverse.
Theme: Career Choice
MBA Essay Strategy: I wanted to quickly highlight that the applicant had the choice of entering any industry. One achievement to demonstrate his curiosity that I shared in the first half is the invention of a game. Since the game is mentioned in the resume and verifiable through search, I didn’t quote the name. By clearly highlighting the person’s curiosity and career options, the family legacy is used as a factor in joining the military.
Read: Harvard MBA Curiosity Essay – Career Choice after a Military Career (Growth-Oriented HBS MBA Essay Example)
Leadership-Focused Essay: What experiences have shaped who you are, how you invest in others, and what kind of leader you want to become? (up to 250 words)Example #9: Small Business Values
Background Information: The applicant - a second-generation Asian American, is familiar with the values of fiscal conservatism, building relationships, and understanding the daily struggles of the community through his family’s department store.
Theme: Customer-Centric
MBA Essay Strategy: The applicant’s role in developing an App for the store is highlighted in the essay at a crucial part of the narrative so that the essay is not all about his father. I have also humanized the journey – by sharing how upset the father was when the revenues fell by 40%. The essay is about the transformation in the applicant’s value from a person chasing productivity and optimization technique to someone who is truly thinking about the customers.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Small Business Values (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #10: Breaking Away from Family Business
Background Information: A unique challenge that applicants whose parents are public figures or CXOs of businesses or entrepreneurs are the pressure to live up to the parent’s standards or milestones. For the leadership narrative, the burden of legacy is established before the narrative addresses his leadership principles.
Theme: Authenticity
MBA Essay Strategy: For the essay, I want to capture an entrepreneur’s journey to rise above his entrepreneur father’s image. But I didn’t want to make the entire essay about this complex dynamics. The narrative is around the applicant’s focus on customers and surrounding with teams who keeps him grounded.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Breaking Away from Family Business(Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #11: Creativity and Communication
Background Information: When the overall percentage of users with internet access is 62% in South Africa and the inequality accentuated by the rural and urban divide, the applicant endured the lack of digital infrastructure, and spending close to 22% of the family income on gaining relevant information on schools, global exams, and financial assistance.
Theme: Creativity, Communication
MBA Essay Strategy: The strategy is to share why the applicant values no distraction in a child’s home for optimum education experience. Then I highlight the many roadblocks the applicant’s non-profit faced in receiving fee waiver for their cooperative run ISP.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Non-Profit (Telecom) (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #12: Mental Health
Background Information: The applicant like most didn’t pay much attention to the mental health epidemic until tragedy hit home.
Theme: Communication, Innovation
MBA Essay Strategy: A question we frequently get from applicants is whether they should cite tragedy in the family as a motivation for a venture or a non-profit initiative. As long as you don’t linger too much on the tragedy and offer a balanced narrative, there are no restrictions on leveraging unique stories from your life.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Mental Health (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #13: Trauma, Healing & Finding Authentic Self
Background Information: The applicant narrates the absurdity of war in the narrative about the duties in Kabul, and the trauma. Instead of wallowing in on the horror, the applicant takes what makes military applicants strong and guides unprivileged children build life and leadership skills.
Theme: Resilience
MBA Essay Strategy: Capturing PTSD in an essay, the healing process, and the cues that helped the applicant are too sacred to be shared in a Harvard MBA application essay. However, with the right motivation and narrative arcs, you can capture the essence of your journey without sharing the darkest secrets. That is what I did by merging two stories – the horrors of the war with a non-profit engagement.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Military & PTSD (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #14: Addiction, Setback and Leadership Mantra
Background Information: In this narrative, the applicant captures Peru’s Silver mining boom of 2006. The growth experienced in her father’s business shifted the family’s economic status to a new stratosphere. Through the changing economic and family dynamics, the applicant finds her voice in a unique way, initially to record her unheard voice but later as one of the youngest subject matter experts in mining and commodities.
Theme: Failure
MBA Essay Strategy: For the essay, the strategy is to show how life’s unpredictability is a blessing. By narrating two setback events, the essay demonstrates the applicant’s resilience and her acknowledgment of people who made a comeback possible.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – Addiction, Setback and Leadership Mantra (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)Example #15: War, Immigration and Starting Over Again
Background Information: Despite a raging war in Syria, the family of the applicant was unblemished by the chaos. The strategic government assets near the applicant’s house would have made the region an easy target, but it was not. The calmness of her journey is shattered in one event. From the privileges of a cocooned life, the applicant is forced to think about survival, her sister’s future, and her future in the US. The second half of the narrative captures the change that was forced on her.
Theme: Gratitude, Resilience
MBA Essay Strategy: I consciously chose not to start the essay with a dialogue or trauma. Two lines are allocated to set up the narrative before the trauma event.
Read: Harvard MBA Leadership Essay – War, Immigration and Starting Over Again (Leadership-Focused HBS MBA Essay Example)Harvard MBA Business-Minded Essay: Please reflect on how your experiences have influenced your career choices and aspirations and the impact you will have on the businesses, organizations, and communities you plan to serve. (up to 300 words)
Example #16: Creative or Finance
Background Information: The applicant starts the narrative with the origin of her talents. The unbridled enthusiasm receives a reality check when in high school, the applicant’s father has a conversation with her about academics. While the applicant picked up her quant skills, she was reaching over 50,000 loyal fans, and her videos captured 1 million views.
Theme: Passion, Talent
MBA Essay Strategy: Capturing vulnerability is the toughest part for Harvard MBA applicants. For this essay example, I have captured the applicant’s uncertainty about career choice throughout the essay. Here the goal is to show vulnerability in the career choice essay while for leadership and growth essay, I could capture one example each from creative and PE industry respectively to balance the narrative. So don’t follow this example without a strategy.
Read: Harvard MBA Business-Minded Essay – Creative or Finance (Business-Minded HBS MBA Essay Example)- Stanford MBA Essay Guide (24 Sample Essays)
- Columbia MBA Essay Guide (21 Sample Essays)
- Wharton MBA Essay Guide (15 Sample Essays)
- INSEAD MBA Essay Guide (19 Sample Essays)
- Darden MBA Essay Guide (21 Sample Essays)
- Yale SOM MBA Essay Guide (15 Sample Essays)
- Tuck MBA Essay Guide (15 Sample Essays)
- Haas MBA Essay Guide (18 Sample Essays)
- NYU Stern MBA Essay Guide (15 Sample Essays + 6 Examples - Visual Essay)
- LBS MBA Essay Guide (6 Sample Essays)
- MIT Sloan MBA Essay Guide (6 Sample Cover Letters + 3 Sample Video Statement Scripts + 3 Sample Optional Essays)
- Kellogg MBA Essay Guide (11 Sample Essays)
- Chicago Booth MBA Essay Guide (12 Sample Essays)
- Ross MBA Essay Guide (31 Sample Essays)
- Duke Fuqua MBA Essay Guide (10 Sample Essays + Two 25 Random Things Samples)
- Cambridge MBA Essay Guide (12 Sample Essays)
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