project b-school debrief

an engineer’s (multi)year-long journey from GMAT to admission

This is my project, a series of blog posts chronicling my journey from contemplating the GMAT to getting accepted to UCLA Anderson’s full-time MBA program, and beyond!

At the beginning of my application process, I resolved that I would spend as little money as possible to get to my goal. That means I was not going to consider ponying up thousands for a GMAT prep course, and later on a b-school admissions consultant. During some early research, I came across a site simply titled “How to get into a Top 15 MBA Program”, an engineer’s tips on how and why to apply. It was about 10 years old, but the info still helped. Like everything year-over-year, the b-school scene has evolved and changed drastically since then, so I hope to revive the spirit of that site and  for 2016, as well as provide the budget-minded applicant some views of how I was able to achieve my goal while minimizing costs.

A quick bio on myself – I’m an engineer working in medical devices / pharmaceuticals in San Francisco with a BS and MS in electrical engineering, worked about 5 years prior to applying, and will be attending UCLA Anderson, Class of 2018. I have a great passion for the health care field from a technology point of view, and hope to move into product management in health tech, specifically on hardware devices like wearables or health analytic tools or software.

I hope what I impart in this blog series will help anyone going in a similar direction! I’m always welcome to feedback as well through e-mail at ryan.dumlao (at) gmail (dot) com.

Topic Posts

Introduction – What this blog is all about, and why I am starting it [3 May 2016]
GMAT, Part 1 – Breaking down the realities of the GMAT and the available resources [20 May 2016]
GMAT, Part 2 – How I tackled the GMAT and improved a disappointing score [22 June 2016]
Costs of the Application Process – Understanding the monetary costs of applying to b-school, GMAT courses, and admissions consultants [20 July 2016]
Letters of Recommendation – Quick tips on the methodology and strategy I used for letters of rec, and how to minimize your stress [24 Dec 2016]

External Posts

HBX CORe and Business School Applications – A feature I did on Harvard Business School’s HBX Blog detailing my advice for taking HBS’s MBA primer course, HBX CORe, and applying to b-school at the same time