Ready Set Do w/ Naman Pandey

In this episode, my guest is Shivangi Sharma, who at the time of recording is an upcoming MBA graduate at UCLA. While each person’s experience of getting an MBA degree can be very distinct, Shivangi’s experience is best described with a term I contrived - the 360 MBA.

We discuss: 

• a framework for how to choose and get into your dream school in the US. Shivangi helps lay down a framework for exactly where to start, how to assess your options once you graduate, and how to find and reach out to your resume twins

• How to leverage rankings, reports and reach out to current students on LinkedIn to finalize your shortlist and the importance of the right location

• How to get the most well-rounded and holistic experience possible during your Masters

• Prioritization tool to not lose sight of your goals and evade FOMO

• Academics, courses, conferences, leadership positions in student clubs and organizations

• Social Life and how the Masters/MBA is such a transformational experience

This discussion is for anyone who is either contemplating getting their MBA in the US, is a current MBA student in the US OR just is an international student in the US as a lot of the 360 MBA topics are generalizable to most Master’s courses as well. In keeping with our theme of learning from someone that’s just two steps ahead instead of an expert, I’d like to emphasize that this discussion centers on Shivangi’s MBA experience that covers the entire breadth of everything one can do while they’re in a business school.

Resources & List of Conferences:

Grace Hopper Celebration - https://ghc.anitab.org/

Society of Women Engineers (SWE) Annual Conference - https://we24.swe.org/

SHPE National Convention - https://shpe.org/nc2024/

Collegiate Leadership Conference (CLC) - https://www.tridelta.org/events/clc/

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Timestamps:

(00:00:00) Overview and Background

(00:03:25) Why MBA (Product Management to MBA pipeline)

(00:05:36) Applying to the earliest deadline possible

(00:07:07) GRE vs GMAT for MBA applications in the US

(00:09:27) How to shortlist MBA programs - Rankings & Reports

(00:13:19) Reaching out to current students/alumni for reviews

(00:17:06) Tool: Finding resume twins for insight into suitable MBA programs

(00:20:14) Tool: How to find resume twins using LinkedIn

(00:21:34) Career pathways after an MBA and how to set long-term goals

(00:24:30) Location as a potential parameter + Resilience of Indian international students

(00:28:33) Academics - Case-Based Learning deep-dive

(00:32:11) Grade non-disclosure and picking courses that cause mind expansion

(00:35:43) Conferences - deep-dive (360 MBA pillar)

(00:38:45) Tool: Monthly/Quarterly goals prioritization technique 

(00:40:34) Insights on the annual Grace Hopper conference

(00:43:39) Leadership positions in college clubs and organizations (360 MBA pillar)

(00:49:05) Ability to build leadership and org skills using leadership roles

(00:51:50) Social life - Traveling + Party time (360 MBA pillar)

(00:55:27) A transformational experience - 10/10 would recommend

(00:57:56) Working at Gates ventures and the horizon beyond

(01:01:00) Outro and Gratitude