My journey to Columbia University – Graduate School of Journalism

Team getyourMBA recently met up with Pavni Mittal (Page on linkedin.com), a former candidate with getyourMBA, who successfully applied to and received admission to the prestigious Columbia Journalism School this year. Just 1 month into the program, Pavni is already managing a hectic schedule of classes and assignments, while acclimating to New York and all that this great city brings with it!

Pavni is doing a 1 year course, M.A. in Journalism, with a concentration in Politics. She hopes to use this and her background in business reporting to get make a career in Foreign Policy. Here is a summary of our conversation with her, where she shares a number of great insights and tips for aspiring journalism candidates:

Team getyourMBA: Let’s start with you telling us a little bit about your background. What were you doing before you joined Columbia?
Pavni: I have a background in Political Science. I was at Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi University. After graduating, I did a post graduate course in journalism at Asian College of Journalism (ACJ). After this, I was an Anchor & Senior Correspondent with CNBC TV18 for close to 4 years.

Team getyourMBA: Since you already had a Masters degree in Journalism, what prompted you to apply to Columbia? 
Pavni: I found that the predominant focus at ACJ was very technical. The program places emphasis on things such as production, and putting a program together. It prepared me very well for Television, but I realized after working for some time that I wanted to go deeper into the subjects I covered. The program at Columbia is for experienced journalists, with a very application oriented curriculum. We are routinely asked to consider the events happening globally, and think about them from a journalistic point of view. In essence, this is where you get to master the ‘Art of Journalism’.

Team getyourMBA: How did you pick the schools you applied to?
Pavni: I only applied to Columbia since it’s the best. I was very clear from the beginning that I would go only if I got admitted to Columbia.

Team getyourMBA: What is the application process for journalism schools like?
Pavni: The application consists of 4 main parts – 1) TOEFL score 2) Three essays 3) Recommendations 4) Transcripts (at least, this is what is true for Columbia Journalism School)
I was able to waive writing TOEFL since I was working at CNBC and that was enough to show my proficiency in English. 
The three essays have the following focus – one essay is autobiographical that requires you to essentially write about “Who you are”. The second essay is professional, with a focus on “What you have accomplished so far”. Finally, the third essay is a SOP, with a focus on “Why do you want to do this program”.

Team getyourMBA: How was the essay writing process for you?
Pavni: I struggled with it to be honest. Till today I don’t know how I wrote what I wrote :) First of all, I started my application too close to the submission deadline, because I confused the deadlines. This left me with very little time for writing my essays. Also, I struggled the most with the autobiographical essay since I wasn’t sure how to portray myself. I was confused about things such as – What should I include and not include in the essay? How do I make my essay culturally relevant to someone in the US? How do I make sure my essays convey a coherent story of “Me”? It took me about 10-12 iterations before I got it right.

In this regard, working with getyourMBA helped me a lot as the biggest change I made with their help was to my essay content. Earlier, I was getting all kind of advice around correcting my language, to sounding “cool” in my essays. getyourMBA helped me change course to getting my content right and making sure that I was able to connect the dots across various key points to convey a great story about myself, my achievements so far, and why I wanted to join Columbia. 

Team getyourMBA: What tips do you have for a candidate applying to journalism schools?
Pavni: First of all, start a little earlier than I did! More time will definitely help you think through your application. And then, it’s very helpful to get someone who is familiar with the university application process in the US to review your essays. Many folks in India who don’t have this exposure may give advice which might not be very relevant. Schools here care about diversity and what value each candidate adds to the class. It is important to bring this across in your essays as clearly as possible.
A big thing I realized during this process is that the essays cannot be treated as disjoint pieces of writing. Everything has to come together as one, single coherent story about yourself and your world view so far. It’s almost like a caricature of yourself.

Team getyourMBA: What about recommendations? How did you select the people you asked for your recommendations?
Pavni: I asked three people for my recommendations at first – my previous supervisor, one of my university professors and the CNBC network head at the time. The key thing in a good recommendation is that it should have a personal touch – the person should be able to write about what struck them about you, and what they think about you, as opposed to simply stating your accomplishments and what you’ve done.

Team getyourMBA: Did you give any pointers to the people who wrote your recommendations?
Pavni: My previous supervisor didn’t let me see what she wrote, but she promised me that if she has agreed, she would make sure she did a good job. What I do know now is that she mentioned things like “When I worked with Pavni, this is what I found out about her” and “When I met Pavni first, this is what struck me about her”, which was great, since it connected who I was with what I’d written in my essays. For the other two people, I gave them some pointers for the recommendation.

Team getyourMBA: Were there any interviews at Columbia?
Pavni: No, there are no interviews.

Team getyourMBA: So now that you’re through, in hindsight would you have done anything differently?
Pavni: Definitely. I would have liked to start earlier. Also, I think I should’ve tried to enjoy the process more. The essay writing requires a lot of introspection which is very useful for planning your long term career, not just for gaining admission.

Team getyourMBA: How has your experience at Columbia been so far? Are you enjoying it?
Pavni: It is all that I expected and much more. The class is so diverse. I’m working with Africans, Americans, Europeans, Asians. It completely changes your world view. It’s way more hectic than I thought it would be. I’m still a little bit dazed! Soon I’ll have to start job hunting so that will be very stressful. But I’m learning a lot each day and glad about that.

Team getyourMBA: Any parting advice for candidates who may be considering applying?
Pavni: Be very clear why you are applying. Your primary goal should be to learn and master your craft so that you can apply it to your field. Your goal cannot be simply to get a higher paying job as the chances of that happening, especially if you’re a foreign student, are not 100%, since you won’t have relevant cultural context from the get go. Many students in fact go back to their jobs after having learnt new skills in the course. So your primary goal should be to learn.

Great advice Pavni! Team getyourMBA wishes you all the best at Columbia and in all your future endeavors!!

How will I know when is the right time to go for my MBA?

This is among the most vexing questions that trouble many a candidate when they are contemplating about the right time to apply for MBA admissions. I will address this question in some detail here. And while trying to answer this question, I want to address a few related questions as well –

• Is it a bad idea to join an MBA program directly after undergrad?


• When does it become too late to go for an MBA program?

The root of all these questions lies in the fact that there is no single universal answer to “when is the right time to join an MBA program?”. The answer to this question would unfortunately be different for different people. Most experts would perhaps agree that the right time to go for it would be when you feel you are ready for it. And so we come to the main topic of this post - “how would you know when you are ready?”

To quote some of the more common answers, you will know you are ready if -

1.       You have articulated a clearly defined career goal which is better achieved with an MBA degree under your belt.

2.       You feel you are close to stagnation in your current job and could breakthrough to the next level with an MBA degree.

3.       You want to change the Industry or the functional area you are working in and the MBA can help you make that change.

4.       After 4-5 years into your career you have decided this is not the career you want for life, but are still unsure what alternative Industry or Work Function would be best for you and you want to use the wide exposure that the MBA program would give you, to help you make the choice.

Take answer 1 above. For most people, part of the answer to “how would I know when..?” would come from your introspection on why you want to pursue an MBA program at all. In fact it is very likely that if you are clearly able to articulate why you want an MBA, you might already have an idea of “when”. But for some people, this might happen at a very early stage in their career – in fact some might be clear about their goals while still at Undergrad. And that brings up the related question – is it a bad idea to go for MBA straight after UG?

This question has already been discussed in some detail in one of my earlier Blogposts at http://getyourmbaworld.blogspot.in/2013/08/what-are-options-for-zero-work-ex-fresh.html so I will not repeat the same arguments again. Suffice to summarize that even though most people (including me) hold the view that you would benefit more from the MBA program after having worked for a few years, there is not sufficient empirical evidence to support that MBA grads with prior workex are indeed better at managing businesses as compared to those who joined the MBA programs directly after UG. The IIM’s in India have a large contingent of fresh grads in their classrooms, MIT Sloan is encouraging undergrads to apply and almost 20% of their class is being filled with fresh grads. And these early career MBA grads have as good a track record of managing business enterprises, whether  in India or in other countries, small  business or large corporations, as the MBA graduates of the same or any other business school who had worked longer before entering the MBA programs. And to add another dimension, the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) takes in large numbers of fresh grads as well and with just a one year curriculum (the IAS training program) they get some of the toughest leadership jobs in their early careers – as head of a district in some remote part of the country, and they later go on to head major public sector enterprises in so many different industries.

Coming to the other end of the spectrum, is it ever too late to go for an MBA program? Well actually, NO. One example of later career aspirants is the significant number of people from various defense services who, after 12 or 15 even 20 years on the force go for such programs. In India for example, an Army Officer can take voluntary retirement with full pension benefits after 20 years’ service. So, many of them take up an MBA or some other educational program to help them get into some civilian career at that stage. Yes, there might be other issues to consider. For example can you afford to go without a monthly salary at that stage when you probably have a family and other financial commitments? So, you might choose a part time program, a one year program rather than a two year program, an executive MBA program or whatever suits you. But the point is that the MBA program and the benefits it gives could still be relevant for mid-career professionals. In fact if a mid-fifties senior finance executive had a brilliant idea for an online portal based business, would it be too farfetched an idea for him to join some MBA program to learn how to monetize his idea, how to manage such a business, the latest techniques of marketing such a portal etc.?

So, whenever you have a clear career goal, and you can see how an MBA program can help you achieve that goal, you will probably know when the right time is also. But if this happens right after UG, would you not stand to learn more from the MBA program if you had worked a few years first? Maybe yes, but if your career goal is centered on a big business idea, can that idea wait that long? Would it not be better to get whatever you can from the MBA program now and implement your idea sooner, to ensure you get the first entrant’s advantage? This is why they say that the answer to when MBA is different for different people. You evaluate all the factors that concern your decision and then do what works best for you. And this is what it means to say that when you have your career goal, you will also know when the right time is for you.

Answers 2 and 3 above are fairly clear I suppose and those that identify with them would also be able to decide the right time for them to go for it. Coming then to answer 4 above, about those who are unsure, either when they finish undergrad study or even after few years into their working careers, about where they want to go.

One of the things the MBA program does for you is that it exposes you to multiple industries, various business functions, even multiple geographies and their respective business/ career climates for professionals. So the MBA program can also be a great way to find out what kind of career interests you most. At most good business schools you will get peers from diverse backgrounds, multiple nationalities, different educational and working careers etc. So in the one or two short years of the length of the MBA program, you will get to draw upon a very wide range of experiences as your peers bring their own backgrounds to bear upon any discussion inside or outside the class. And this window-view into so many different careers might be just the thing to help one decide what he or she might wish to take up as their own career. But would the same he or she not benefit more from the MBA program if they already had a career goal? Very probably YES. But the fact is that if they do not yet have that goal in their sights, is it not better to attend an MBA program now in order to at least be able to make a good choice of career rather than waiting indefinitely for that elusive goal? Yes it might be too early to jump into an MBA program right after UG if your only objective is to make a career choice. But what if you’ve already been working for 4-5 years and still not sure?

At this stage look at the point of view of the Business school also. To gain admission to most good business schools you need to pass through a highly competitive selection process, competing against exceptional fellow aspirants. With a large pool of exceptional candidates applying each year, schools too want to put together a great class every time. One big reason for you to choose a good business school is the diversity of the peer group you will get there because then you will get the benefit of the diverse experiences of all your classmates. So obviously the school also wants that you too should be able to add to that diversity. And from their experience if they find that people who have worked for some years before coming to the MBA programs have better experiences to share with their peers, they will obviously prefer such applicants. So another way of telling when you are ready could be when you have significant experiences of diverse kinds to share with your peers at school, which will add to the pool to make the class more interesting.

In conclusion then I can only reiterate that the right time to join an MBA program would be different for different people. A fresh grad would probably have a different expectation from the program than someone with workex. And while it might be true that the same fresh grad might learn more from the program if he or she were to join up few years later, his or her objective might be better served by doing so now. This is what would work best for them and so this is the right time for them too. Likewise a late career entrant to an MBA program would probably not be able to attract an employer who is looking for someone younger who can be better molded to the culture of his company. But then this later entrant probably might not want to start at the bottom of the ladder in a new career. He or she probably has useful skills and knowledge from their past workex and would look for some career that will better utilize all those past skills as well as the ones newly acquired through the MBA program.

So introspect deeply to find your own reason(s) for joining business school and that is what will best help you to decide when you are ready for it.

Components of your Application - IV - Career Goals

All Business Schools want to know about your career goals in some part of their application. Some might ask you to write an essay about it, others might pose this as a short answer question, some might ask for your long term and short term career goals and even how an MBA from that particular school will help you achieve them.

But before you answer this question to a Business School, or in fact to anybody else, it is important to be sure yourself what your career goals are. Remember, Business Schools expect you to be very clear about why you want to get an MBA degree, why from that particular school and how the decision, at this stage of your career, will help you achieve the immediate post-MBA goals you have set for yourelf, and even how achieveing your immediate post-MBA goal is part of a larger plan to achieve your long term career goals.

Sounds daunting? Not sure of what kind of career you want to pursue?And how an MBA (from any particular school) will get you there? Then why the decision to do an MBA? Just because your friends are doing it? Well that will just not do.

So even before you contemplate applying to B schools, you need to get your career goals exercise done. Ideally you should be able to clearly describe to the Ad Comm:

• What is your current state - this is done through your resume, essays, recos, etc.
• What are your immediate post-MBA goals - what kind of career do you wish to pursue right after you complete the MBA course.
• Medium and long term goals - what do you plan to be doing in say 5 years/10 years down the line.

And finally - you should have a ready GAP ANALYSIS between your current state and your long term goals. Which means, you should know what you currently lack in terms of knowledge and skills to get to your post-MBA objectives.

This GAP in skills and knowledge is what you should aspire to fill from the MBA program.

Further - if you can also show how a particular school's individual strengths by way of their curriculum, faculty, known areas of excellence, etc, will help you fill these gaps, then you have absolutely hit the nail on the head.

But, as I have heard from many a candidate, life is so uncertain. "How can I be totally sure of what I want to do?" "What if I change my mind while I am studying for my MBA over next 2 years?" Well friends, the answer is simple.

The Ad Comm does want you to show a certain clarity of vision when it comes to your career goals and reasons for getting an MBA degree. They also like to know that you researched these schools before applying and that you will endeavor to use their individual strengths to further your goals. BUT, and this is important, they don't expect your goals and plans to be cast in stone. It is okay if your change your plans mid-way, take up a different career post-MBA compared to what you planned to pursue when applying. After all, an MBA is also about expanding your horizons.

So get rid off that mental block. Think freely. Work out the best career plan for yourself - one which excites you, one which you would pursue with passion, energy and joy :) Work out how you can get there. Be prepared to state with clarity and conviction, about the skills and experience you already have, which will help you on your way. And clearly show what new skills and experiences you need to add in order to get where you want to. And that will surely bring out clearly what you hope to gain from the MBA program and how you will use it.

And by doing this, you will see that you answer this question extremely well, not only to the Ad Comm, but also, and most importantly, to yourself.