Woken awakes you to meaningful career opportunities [Show summary]

Are you wondering what your career path should be? How to create it? Our guest today is an NYU Stern MBA and associate-certified coach who also serves as a consultant for the Career Design Lab at Columbia. In addition, she is the founder and CEO of Woken, an online platform to help you discover which job you will love. Let's learn her story and see how this interview will help you find that amazing career.

Interview with Rachel Serwetz, NYU Stern Tech MBA grad and Founder & CEO of Woken [Show notes]

Our guest today, Rachel Serwetz, graduated from Binghamton University after majoring in human development and minoring in Spanish, management, and global studies. She then worked for Goldman Sachs for three years, followed by shorter stints at other companies, and earned her MBA at NYU Stern in technology in 2019. She also founded Woken, way back in May, 2013, and has served as its CEO ever since. 

Let's talk a little bit about your background. Where did you grow up? What do you like to do for fun? Things like that. [3:35]

I grew up in Long Island, New York, in Hewlett, a very exciting place. I've got a few jobs at the moment, so with my limited time outside of work, honestly I wish it was more exciting, but I try to just really hang out with family and friends, work out when I can, explore the city, travel. I wish there were times that I could fit in some more interesting hobbies, but work has sort of taken over this.

Let's go back a little bit to your time at Goldman Sachs. Were you in a HR role there? Obviously that's your focus now, but did you start out in HR? Were you an investment banker at Goldman Sachs? What were you doing there? [4:10]

So that was my first job, and I was in operations. I did cash management, I was part of the treasury and the liquidity team. And that doesn't have much to do with what I do now. And it wasn't really what I necessarily had an interest in, but when I started, I knew I liked the idea of operations. In hindsight, I think I probably should have gone more for those HR-type teams and path. But at the time I didn't really know that that was right for me. So I was able to land in operations, and it was a really good experience, but I was lucky at that point to take on projects that ended up relating to HR.But I took on those projects just because I found them interesting, I wanted to help our teammates develop skills, and to coach them and to help with recruiting, and so I just dove into things that seemed interesting to me. And then after a few years of doing that, I realized I was ready for the next thing, and I realized that a lot of what I had been doing was in the HR realm. And so I was lucky to be able to pivot more closely into that world after I left Goldman.

Did you go back to NYU Stern for your MBA to get specifically more training in, let's say, career services and HR, or was there another goal? And if you were so interested in HR, why did you go for the one-year tech degree? HR isn't known as the most techie of fields. [5:37]

Is there a connection between an entrepreneur's age and her degree of success? [Show Summary]

Are the best and most successful entrepreneurs’ twenty-somethings? As an entrepreneur, are you over the hill at 30, not to mention 40?  Let’s find out from today’s guest, a Kellogg professor of strategy and entrepreneurship, who has actually researched the correlation, or lack thereof, between age and entrepreneurial success.

I recently stumbled across an article entitled “It’s a Disservice to Urge Young People to Become Entrepreneurs” written by Jeffrey Tucker, Editorial Director for the American Institute for Economic Research. The title reveals the point of the article, and Dr. Tucker bases his conclusion at least partially on research done by our guest today, Dr. Benjamin Jones, along with two other colleagues.  Intrigued by the research, because it is both so relevant to many of our listeners and contrary to popular belief, I invited Dr. Jones to join us.

Dr. Benjamin Jones, professor of entrepreneurship and strategy at Northwester Kellogg, shares surprising advice for aspiring entrepreneurs [Show Notes]

Dr. Jones has a fascinating background. He earned his BSE in Aerospace Engineering at Princeton, his MPhil at Oxford, and his PhD in Economics at MIT.  He served as a Special Assistant to Larry Summers when Summers was at the U.S. Treasury Department. In 2003 he became an Assistant Professor at Kellogg School of Management, and in 2014 he was appointed the Gordon and Llura Gund Family Professor in Entrepreneurship and Professor of Strategy at Kellogg. Along the way, there was a stint at the White House and various other appointments and publications. He has agreed to join us on AST however in connection with his recent research on Age and High-Growth Entrepreneurship. Listen in!

I’m going to get to your research in a sec, but I have to ask: How did you go from aerospace engineering to philosophy to economics to entrepreneurship? [3:30]

Like many young people I was on a voyage of discovery of what I liked and what I was good at. I was very interested in engineering, economics and technology. In particular I was interested in sciences that speak to society directly. I get a lot of joy in the application.

What made you want to research the possible connection between age and fast-growth entrepreneurship? [4:28]

There is a really strong idea in our culture and media, with venture capital firms, that suggests very young people are the source of the truly transformative ideas in society. That is very anecdotal. Separately I was skeptical because I had done research looking at Nobel Prize winners and great inventors, and they have gotten older and older over the course of the 20th century. Einstein was 26, Mark Zuckerberg was so young, but they are actually exceptions. In this century, individuals in their early 40s had Nobel Prize-winning breakthroughs. I found that much of the work was coming in middle age.

There are three things that make people think younger p...

How should you select where to apply to medical school? Accepted founder Linda Abraham sheds light on this important question. [Show summary]

AACOMAS opens in May, and AMCAS opens in June, which means the new medical school application cycle is just around the corner. How should you decide where to apply? Accepted’s founder, Linda Abraham, will tell you in this podcast!

What factors should you consider when deciding where to apply? [Show notes]

Welcome to the 353rd episode of Admissions Straight Talk. I’ve decided to do a solo show for this podcast and address something that I’ve been thinking a lot about. I am so glad you decided to join me for this really important and fundamental show if you are considering or even committed to earning an MD or DO. Today I will address the topic of where to apply, the foundation of an effective medical school application.

Imagine a Venn diagram with two circles overlapping. One circle label Schools You Want to Attend and the other circle is labeled Schools Likely to Want You. The schools where those circles overlap are the schools where you should apply.

If it was just that simple, the podcast

would be over. Taking a 30,000 foot view, it IS that simple, but I’d like to

unwrap both those ideas and give you suggestions as to what you should consider

in selecting the schools you would like to attend and also researching the schools

to determine which are likely to want you. Naturally there is some overlap

between the two, but I still think it’s instructive to approach the topic from

this angle.

I’d also like to touch on how many schools you should apply to. We typically recommend around 20 because individual school acceptance rates are so low - typically under 20% and in some cases under 10%. If you apply wisely to around 20 programs, you should have at least one and maybe more acceptances come next spring. Obviously, you also have to submit impressive primary and secondary applications and interview well, but we’re not going to discuss the application itself today. We’re going to focus on where to apply.

What will make medical schools want you

Medical schools where your stats align

Stats are really important to consider. Look at the MSAR for MCAT and GPA ranges to see if you meet the general threshold. Ideally you want to be at or above averages across the board for at least 3-5 of the schools you apply to. You should try to be at or above the 25th percentile for most stats at 50%, or 10 if you apply to 20, of the schools you apply to. You can apply to 3-5 programs where your stats are weak, but you really want to attend and have strong fit, which I’ll get more into in a minute.

Author Al Dea shares insights on how to make the MBA experience count [Show summary]

Al Dea is a 2015 graduate of UNC Kenan-Flagler’s MBA Class of 2015 and author of the new book, MBA Insider: How to Make the Most of Your MBA Experience. Listen to the interview!

Al Dea discusses his path to the MBA, and shares wisdom for ensuring a meaningful MBA experience [Show notes]

Our guest today, Al Dea, earned his bachelors in Marketing and Theology from Boston College in 2010 and then became a Deloitte Analyst and Consultant until starting his MBA at UNC’s Kenan Flagler Business School. He earned his MBA from Kenan Flagler in 2015 and returned to Deloitte for a couple of years. He then worked in product management starting in 2017 and today is a Senior Manager in Product Marketing at a leading high tech company. On the side he started MBASchooled in 2015 and more recently Careerschooled.com. And, he just published his first book, MBA Insider: How to Make the Most of Your MBA Experience.

Can you tell us about your background?  Where you grew up? What do you like to do for fun? [2:23]

I grew up in upstate New York and went to Boston College where I was a marketing and theology major. I got my MBA and then moved to San Francisco partly because I didn’t want to do winter anymore. I have an older sister in LA but family still in upstate New York, so I travel often to see family and friends. I am a runner which is challenging in San Francisco. I wouldn’t consider myself a writer but always had a journal growing up. I am also a sports fanatic, and follow basketball, football, baseball, you name it.

How did you get interested in marketing and product development? [4:35]

I knew I wanted to spend some time doing consulting in my career – it wasn’t a matter of if, but when. I also knew there were other things I wanted to try. In business school you do an exercise where you write down all the things you think you are good at, along with examples, and get some feedback on it. From that you get a better sense of things you like doing and actually are good at, where do they fit, and in what types of companies and industries. What I really like is being an evangelist or ambassador for things. I also enjoy the idea of understanding who you are serving, in this case the customer, and to be able to come up with a solution, so product marketing is a really good fit for me. I still use the core skills I learned as a consultant, but I continue learning every day.

What did you find most difficult in the MBA application process? Does anything stand out? [7:45]

From a tactical level I got waitlisted at every school I applied to, and ironically enough five years ago, when I did the

Interview with Erica Cousins, entering PA student [Show summary]

Erica Cousins, PA school reapplicant, shares what she did differently the second time around to get admitted to several programs.

A soon-to-be PA student shares tips for gaining acceptance to physician assistant programs [Show notes]

Our guest today, Erica Cousins, is happily anticipating the start of PA school.  She earned her BA from Boston University in 2012 and is currently working as a Home Healthcare Case Manager in California. Let’s learn how she decided to become a PA and got accepted to three PA programs.

Can you tell us a little about yourself? Your background and where you grew up? [1:58]

I grew up in Vermont. I went to school in Boston and have been in San Diego for about seven years now. I’ve been involved in healthcare since before high school - at 14 I started volunteering at the local hospital. I knew for a long time I wanted to go into healthcare. When I was younger my older brother was hit by a car and that introduced me to a side of healthcare I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. Being by his side while he was being taken care of and recognizing what makes one healthcare provider more effective than another was really valuable. I also just had a very genuine interest. My mom would always say I was never nervous or shaken by the things going on with my brother but interested and watching intently.

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Why PA and not NP, MD, or DO? [4:09]

I thought for a long time I wanted to go to medical school. I was premed at BU, and it wasn’t until my junior year that I learned more about the PA role and how they play a part in the healthcare team and got more interested in it. It appealed to me even more. I like being on the PA side of the PA/physician relationship. I have someone to bounce ideas off of, and I like the collaboration and camaraderie. There are lots of opportunities for a mentor/mentee relationship, and I have always enjoyed having a mentor. I looked into NP but I would have to get a second bachelor’s in nursing and then do the two years for the NP. I was willing to do that, but once I learned more about the nursing vs medical model, I wanted to stick with the PA route. PA students and medical students both learn under the medical model, which deals more with the underlying medical afflictions – what is going on with someone and starting treatment. The nursing model is more related to behavioral medicine.

https://youtu.be/PgBtKhaDizU

Was your 2019-20 application your first application to PA school or a reapplication? [7:31]

It was a reapplication. I applied the first go around, applying to 11 schools and did not get into any schools, I wasn’t invited to any interviews. That was such a humbling thing. My application was strong, I went to a great school, and had thousands of direct patient care hours in many different areas of healthcare, so it wasn’t a halfhearted application.

Interview with Accepted MBA/EMBA admissions consultants, Cindy Tokumitsu and Jen Weld [Show summary]

Should you apply to an Executive MBA program or a regular MBA program? And if you decide on the Executive MBA, what do you need to do to get in?  And which EMBA should you apply to? These are the questions that we are going to address with today’s guests, Accepted’s EMBA experts, Cindy Tokumitsu and Jen Weld.

Admissions consultants share tips for crafting an acceptance-worthy EMBA application [Show notes]

Our guests today, Cindy Tokumitsu and Jennifer Weld, are both Accepted consultants. Cindy joined Accepted in 1998. Since then she has carved out a niche for herself working with EMBA and older MBA applicants. She is the author of Ace the EMBA and Top Executive MBA Program Essay Questions: How to Answer Them Right. Jen Weld served for four years on the Cornell Executive MBA admissions committee and later joined Accepted in 2010. She has authored numerous blog posts on MBA and EMBA admissions including the new free guide, Perfect Answers to MBA Interview Questions.

Let’s say I’m in my early to mid 30’s and I’m in middle management and have c-suite ambitions. I have a fairly strong technical background. Should I apply for an MBA or an EMBA and why? [2:51]

Cindy: Linda, you mentioned early-30s and mid-30s, and for MBA programs I think there is a big difference between them. Early 30s is still the upper range of full-time MBAs, whereas mid-30s is really getting out of the full-time range, but also may be even early for an EMBA program. You need to look at what programs are looking at to see whether you qualify. EMBA programs sometimes want a certain level of experience and specifically managerial experience so it is important to consider that.

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Jen: It also can depend on whether or not you are interested in changing industries or job functions to get to a C-suite eventually. A full-time MBA can advantage you if you are a career switcher, but if you are continuing on with your organization or job function an EMBA might make more sense.

https://youtu.be/5AMDp4TtzKI

What makes for a good EMBA candidate? [4:36]

Jen: Having some managerial experience is important, as is being able to see that progression on an applicant’s resume. With a full-time MBA applicant, an admissions committee is really looking at career potential, but with an EMBA applicant,

Interview with Dr. Lee Burnett and Laura Turner of Student Doctor Network [Show Summary]

Applying to medical school is a stressful process, and applicants understandably are looking for all the help and support they can get along the way. Student Doctor Network (SDN) is leading the way in providing that support. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, SDN provides an incredible set of resources to applicants, from the more traditional forums to a specialty selector, application cost calculator, and customizable study schedule. Dr. Lee Burnett, founder of SDN, and Laura Turner, Executive Director, join us to share everything you need to know about SDN.

Find out why and how the largest online premed community was formed- and how it can help you. [Show Notes]

I’m thrilled to introduce our guests today – Dr. Lee Burnett and Laura Turner. Dr. Burnett, whose main job is serving as the Commander of the 32nd Hospital Center at the U.S. Army’s Fort Polk in Louisiana, is also the Founder and Director of Student Doctor Network (SDN). He graduated from UC Davis and then attended the Western University of Health Sciences for med school, joining the Army Reserves after graduation.  He completed his Family Medicine residency at UC Irvine, started practicing, and was called to duty. He has served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Korea during his military career.

Laura earned her bachelors at UC Davis and her masters at UCLA, both in mechanical engineering. She worked in marketing and project management until joining SDN in 2009. She became Executive Director of SDN in 2012 and has served in that capacity ever since.

Lee, can you tell us a little about yourself? Your background and where you grew up and how you got interested in medicine? [2:11]

I was born and raised in Northern California near Sacramento. My father worked for the state, with the Song Brown Commission, and this was at a time when people feared that everyone would become a specialist, though primary care was still necessary to control healthcare costs. As I was growing up, through his involvement with the state and meeting lots of primary care doctors, naturally I became interested in primary care and healthcare in general, so I intended to become a family medicine physician.

https://blog.accepted.com/why-do-you-want-to-be-a-doctor-short-video/

Lee, how did you come to pursue your career, primarily in the military? [3:46]

I was in residency when a recruiter came and said the military would reimburse some of your student loans if you spend six years in the reserves. My dad and grandfather both served in the military, so it was a family tradition and I was interested in doing it to take care of soldiers. This was in 1997, a time when the Berlin Wall had fallen and there didn’t seem much risk of future war in any significant capacity. I graduated from UC-Irvine in 2000, and then 2001 came along, so my thinking that the commitment would be one weekend a month, two weeks a year went out the window. I was deployed a couple times to Iraq, and while deployed I worked with a great team and became very interested in treating soldiers on the...

Accepted founder Linda Abraham discusses when pursuing an MBA justifies its cost [Show Summary]

Linda Abraham, Accepted’s founder and president explores the latest headlines about the value of an MBA. This is a must-listen for anyone trying to decide whether or not to get an MBA degree.

Why we've been asking the wrong question about the value of the MBA [Show Notes]

Headlines scream “Is an MBA Worth It?” and frequently conclude, as did an editorial in the WSJ in the fall, that an MBA usually isn’t worth it in an era of low unemployment, high tuition, and declining enrollment for U.S. business schools’ flagship, two-year, full-time MBA programs. Other articles conclude differently and trumpet that the MBA is almost always worth it because of the value of the MBA education and network. In my opinion, they’re both asking the wrong question.

The right question is:

“When is an MBA worth it?”

This is not a categorical question, or one that an op-ed can answer across the board for everyone or even “most.” It’s something that individuals must assess and analyze individually. If you’re a prospective MBA applicant trying to decide if you should apply or attend if accepted, ignore the headlines (for the most part). Approach the question, with this maxim in mind.

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The MBA is worth the investment in time and money when anticipated benefits – both financial and non-financial – exceed anticipated costs.

That sounds straightforward, but let’s unwrap it. To analyze the situation, record in a spreadsheet your anticipated costs:

Out-of-pocket tuition, fees, travel expenses

Opportunity cost – lost salary for the time spent in school less the amount you anticipate making during your summer internship.

Don’t include living costs that you would have regardless of whether you work or attend school. You do need to budget for them, but they are not part of the cost of the MBA.

My next point is really important: When considering costs, realize that the stated tuition and costs may be more than you will actually pay. Many schools, especially elite, private MBA programs, offer significant amounts of scholarship money. In 2018, the Wall Street Journal reported that while stated tuition has increased steadily, schools have also increased both the total dollars offered and the percentage of students receiving scholarships and financial aid. In fact, the article states that “61% of this year’s students are receiving scholarships based on merit, financial need, or a combination of the two.” The same article reveals that the average fellowship award cut the cost of Harvard tuition in half, and that total monies available for scholarships at the school have more than doubled since 2009. Dartmouth Tuck reported similar stats.

Our clients who joined the MBA class of 2021 received 40% more in scholarships than those who joined the class of 2020. So far in this application cycle, we have several clients who have received full rides in round one,

I am swamped at this time of year with clients facing early January deadlines so I decided to end 2019 with one of our most popular shows of the year, my interview with Accepted’s own Cydney Foote, who started advising Accepted’s med school clients to acceptance way back in 2001.

For you medical school applicants aiming for a summer 2020 application, and hopefully a June 2020 application, pull up a chair. Cyd walks you through the process including:

How should you choose where to apply?

How many schools should you apply to?

What’s the difference between the personal statement, the MMEs and the activity descriptions?

How to approach secondary applications?

What about non-traditional applicants?

What are your top Interview tips

Should you take a gap year?

And she even has advice for 3rd year med students planning to apply this summer to residency programs.

I again want to thank you for listening to the podcast and wish you much success in this brand new, exciting year and decade.

For the complete show notes, please check out the original blog post.

Related Links:

• Get in Touch With Cyd Foote!

• How to Nail Your Medical School Interviews, a webinar

• Get Accepted to Med School with Low Stats, a webinar

• Activity Descriptions for Med School: 4 Questions That Will Make Yours Awesome

• Accepted's Medical Admissions Consulting

Related Shows:

• Doctor, Mother, SMILE Score Creator

• Writing for Medical School: Personal Statements, Activities, and Secondaries

• Kaiser Medical School: State-of-the-Art, Patient-Focused, and Free

• Apply at Your Best: Advice from a Med School Admissions Expert

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In honor of the busy holiday and admissions season, we are presenting an encore of the most popular MBA interview of 2019, my interview with Toronto Rotman’s Director of Admissions and Recruitment, Imran Kanga.

Obviously if you are interested in earning your MBA at Toronto Rotman, this interview is a must-listen. However, Imran’s discussion of what Rotman calls the “spike factor” has value to any MBA applicant trying to show how they can add a distinctive something to their MBAs class.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank you for listening to Admissions Straight Talk and wish you a Wonderful Holiday Season and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year, a new year filled with the realization of your educational and professional dreams, and of course acceptances.

For the complete show notes, please check out the original blog post.

Related Links:

* Toronto Rotman MBA program

* Toronto Rotman Application Essay Tips

* “Canada Says, ‘Give Me Your MBAs, Your Entrepreneurs”

* Accepted's MBA Admissions Consulting Services

Related Shows:

* NYU Stern: An Insider’s Perspective on Getting Accepted

* Innovative Education in NYC: All About Cornell Tech

* What’s New at INSEAD?

* How to Get a Georgetown MBA?

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