Meet Michael, MBA/MMM Student at Northwestern Kellogg

This interview is the latest in an Accepted.com blog series featuring  interviews with current MBA students, offering readers a behind-the-scenes look at  top MBA programs. And now for a chat with Michael Nguyá »â€¦n, a student at Northwestern Kellogg’s joint MBA/Masters in Design Innovation program. Accepted: Wed like to get to know you! Where are you from? Where and what did you study as an undergrad? Where are you currently studying? Michael: I was born and grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. I was unfortunately a mediocre student at Cal (UC Berkeley) because I spent a lot of my time playing video games. Thus, even though I started in Computer Science and really enjoyed it, I eventually changed to Comparative Literature (which is actually really difficult – I did not know this when I switched) after a couple of years. However, the time spent in both majors has helped me immensely throughout my career. I am currently at Kellogg (Northwestern) in its newly revamped MMM program, which is a dual-degree MBA and Masters of Science in Design Innovation program run in conjunction with the McCormick School of Engineering and Segal Design Institute. Accepted: Can you tell us more about your joint degree? What does Design Innovation mean? What do you plan on doing with your degrees? Michael: The MMM program ends at the same time as the normal Kellogg two year MBA program but now starts one quarter early, in the summer. Though this does come with additional cost, this also means you get to enjoy the summer in Chicago! Another great benefit is that you will become very close with your MMM program mates, the other 59 students (the program is limited to 60 per year). I personally define Design Innovation as an end-user empathy lens for looking at the world, but one that is not just relevant to developing products. If you manage a team, you need to be able to put yourself in team members’ shoes before you can create a rally point. If you are trying to sell a product, you need to know what your target customer is thinking – who they are, why they do what they do. It’s not that someone is just â€Å"stupid† or one of â€Å"those people† you can generalize. Everyone is unique and design thinking helps you use those lessons in your career. From my time working in Southeast Asia, I used empathy in order to succeed at creating compelling products for different types of people as well as to win trust and motivate teams despite cultural and language barriers. After the program, I am looking to return to smaller tech startups or perhaps start my own. However, the range of careers that others in the MMM program are seeking is very broad. Many are looking to enter into consulting, with more top firms now embracing design innovation, but there are also students looking to go into finance, consumer packaged goods (CPG), and technology. Like the MBA, I think the Design Innovation degree is a toolset you can adapt for any career trajectory. Simply, the  Innovation  is the change you make in an existing product, process, or organization; the  Design  is the user-driven approach. Accepted: It looks like youve got an interesting work history! Can you talk about a few of your most recent projects? Michael: Previous to Kellogg, my professional background for the last decade has been in Business Operations at multiple startups. My first work experience was helping RedOctane become acquired for the Guitar Hero game franchise by Activision. I ran its e-commerce operations, including shipping logistics and customer service. I then spent 7 years in Vietnam, becoming COO of the first social networking service there, Cyworld Vietnam, a 70 person startup funded by SK Telecom and IDG Ventures Vietnam. During my time in Vietnam, I worked closely with partners such as Nokia, LG, and Yamaha as well as local mobile carrier giants such as Viettel within the restrictions of one of the rare capitalist-socialist governments in the world. During this time, I co-founded the most popular Vietnamese microblogging service, Mimo.vn, in 2010, helping it grow to 2 million users. Before I left Vietnam, I also worked on another side project which became a dating app called FriendsPlus. It was sold pre-launch to the largest dating service in Vietnam, Noi.vn, and the technology and service concept was integrated into Noi.vn as a whole. In general, I have a deep interest in how different types of people connect with and add meaning to each others lives. Accepted: What is your favorite thing about Kellogg so far?   Michael: When you are in a good class (happens more often than not thankfully), you can compare it to seeing a brilliant performer, whether that be musical, athletic, or theatrical. In many ways, thats exactly what it is – a professor with a tremendous academic and real work pedigree who is educating you about different aspects of business. Because of this, I actually like to sit in the front to get the best view. After all, I am paying over $60,000 a year for this show! What most surprised is me how every class links to each other. In a business setting, that wouldnt be surprising because well, thats business. If you run a company, you cannot just be a product guy with no understanding of finance and vice versa. But in this class format, you will see each class bring in aspects of the entire MBA education. Thus, if you are taking Finance, you are not asked to just do math. You are asked to think about what firm and market strategies change the math in the real world and how you sell that story to someone else (your boss, management, investors, etc.). I feel that in every class, you are not challenged to solve the problem but to create and then sell the story so it can be implemented in a company. Accepted: If you could change one thing about the program, what would it be?   Michael: In the busy lives of the MBA students here (classes, groupwork, recruiting, competitions), its not easy to make deep connections with others in the student body. I think this problem likely exists at many schools, so despite Kelloggs reputation as a great school to make friends and be around team-focused individuals, no school can create the perfect social setting for everyone. Thus, if you are an international student or more of an introvert, Kelloggs emphasis on big social group events may be uncomfortable at times. CIM week can feel like a rehash of your undergrad years where the majority of students solidify their social groups within the first few weeks and do not go outside their comfort zones to befriend people that may be unlike them. It is something that Kellogg is aware of and looking for initiatives to help address the issue. In fact, a friend and I are working on a mobile product that we hope will help with this and we are looking to get the Kellogg administrations support for it as well. Accepted: Looking back at the MBA application process, what would you say was your greatest challenge? How would you advise others who may also be facing that challenge? Michael: I actually decided to apply to MBA programs two months before Round 1s began, and I also wanted to make sure I applied for Round 1. This meant I needed to prepare for the GMAT and every other part of the application in a very short amount of time – an MBA was something I had not seriously considered for the previous five years. Fortunately, things worked out, and I got into a great school. However, others should not follow this route. An MBA program is a very serious time and financial commitment, one that is essentially your last chance to use an academic setting to create a long term impact on how people view you professionally. Do spend the time (at least 1 year in advance) to prepare your applications properly to maximize your chance into getting the program thats best for you. Beyond that, also use that time to get a proper understanding of which schools you can actually get into. I am not a big believer in backup schools. If you there is a school you absolutely want to go to, and your background is a good fit for that school, spend the most time on that school. Even if that means working an extra year to improve your professional accomplishments, I say do it! Accepted: Do you have any other admissions tips for our readers? Michael: Although we are asked to pretend we know what we want to do after our MBA, few people really do. Because of this, dont be worried if you really will follow-up on everything you talk about in the application. Whats most important is to think about what you would want to do right now and think through how going to a particular school is well suited to help with those specific goals. I think schools like Kellogg are not judging your ambitions but your ability to construct plans and build towards them. For Kellogg MMM specifically, its a great program that is not getting a lot of publicity right now, likely due to the recent curriculum change. However, I recommend (to everyone) to look at it more closely and talk to people in the program (like myself). Many people I’ve met at Kellogg regret not applying for it because they had misconceptions about the program or thought it wouldn’t be relevant to their career. Once they better understood how the program works, however, they realized its applications were much more broad than the words â€Å"Design Innovation† may initially suggest. For one-on-one guidance on your b-school application, please see our MBA Application Packages. For specific advice on how to create the best application for Kellogg please see: †¢ Kellogg 2015 MBA Questions, Deadlines, Tips †¢ 2015 Kellogg Executive MBA Admissions Tips You can read more about Michael’s journey by checking out his LinkedIn profile and his blog, I Spit Hot Fire. Thank you Michael for sharing your story with us – we wish you loads of luck! Related Resources: †¢ Are You Growth Minded? Mastering Kellogg’s Changing Brand †¢ Insights of Tennis Player Turned Kellogg MBA †¢ 5 Ways to Make Top B-Schools Love You

Phd Process Completing a PhD in the UK

The PhD Process in the UK How It Differs to Other Countries What Is a PhD in the UK? UK universities are attributed some of the highest global rankings in terms of their PhD programme quality, attractiveness and reputation. This is highly beneficial for getting a degree that will be recognised by most organisations and educational institutions all over the world. At the same time, the educational environment in the UK is highly competitive and obtaining scholarships or studentships at popular universities may be quite difficult. This makes the UK a popular destination for obtaining world-class knowledge in the most advanced spheres, which is confirmed by multiple examples of talented foreign students entering this system every year. How to Apply? The applications are submitted directly to your universities of choice and students can apply to multiple institutions simultaneously. It is usually advised to contact prospective supervisors in order to inquire if any suitable specialists for your line of study are available at the moment. The list of required documents usually includes academic transcriptions, an academic CV, a personal statement, several academic references, and a doctoral research proposal. If you are planning to use scholarships or bursaries, you need to secure these financing arrangements before the beginning of your term. Foreign students may also be asked to confirm their knowledge of English by providing an IELTS or TOEFL certificate. What Is the Process of Completing a PhD in the UK? A full course of PhD studies usually spans three years. Usually, it consists of several stages including the completion of a literature review in the selected field of study, the original research phase, and the writing up of the final thesis. Afterwards, a PhD student has to defend it in front of a thesis committee. In some cases, it is possible to extend the course duration up to 7 years, which may be more suitable if a student seeks to engage in a part-time PhD course to lower tuition fees and combine education with work. This option is more convenient for the applicants unable to secure scholarships and having to fully cover their educational expenses by themselves. How Does This Differ from Other Countries? One of the key differences between the UK and other countries is the length of an average PhD programme. For example, US students usually need 4-6 years to complete their course, while their UK peers require 3-4 years, which allows them to start working several years earlier. This may be highly convenient for practitioners interested in getting an industry job rather than those building an academic career. However, this also limits the capability to go beyond the primary scope of a study and pursue interdisciplinary explorations. Additionally, students entering UK-based PhD programmes are encouraged to undergo the IELTS test rather than PTE or TOEFL. This may be problematic since the number of IELTS offices providing test certificates is substantially smaller and they are absent in many areas of the EU and other countries. Another difference is a smaller range of academic choices in British PhD programmes. US students can take multiple courses from different departments, which is hig hly convenient for interdisciplinary studies. On the contrary, UK universities generally expect a narrower focus on a single subject within the scope of their PhD projects. This limitation is largely related to the shorter overall duration of studies mentioned earlier. While students can apply for doctoral student loans, these loans only cover the earlier mentioned three-year period. At the same time, many applicants require four or more years to complete their doctoral programmes. The costs of education are another critical difference. For example, doctorate programmes in France have the same pricing level across the whole country and amounted to â‚ ¬380 per year for state universities as of September 2019. Many German universities do not charge tuition fees or charge minimal fees. Alternatively, the fees for PhD programmes in the UK-based Bangor University may range from  £1,733 for a part-time programme to  £3,466 for full-time offerings. More popular institutions such as the University of Manchester may charge up to à ‚ £18,500 for non-laboratory degrees and  £23,000 for laboratory ones per year. Thus, PhD costs one of the highest in the EU with prices rising from the average of  £1,000 in the 1990s to more than  £9,000 in 2019. According to the 2012/2013 figures, up to one-third of UK-based PhD students self-funded their doctorate projects. This makes the part-time option more interesting for the practitioners seeking to keep external income sources and obtain valuable industry experience while also completing their thesis. Finally, the attractiveness of the UK for PhD students has substantially decreased due to Brexit. The limited access to the EU research funding, the ‘brain drain’ of European supervisors, and the questionable status of post-Brexit PhD qualifications raise further questions regarding the reasonability of the extra costs of pursuing a PhD programme in the UK. Nevertheless, you still cannot compare a British PhD with a German one in terms of attractiveness and career prospects, though the quality of doctoral education depends on a specific u niversity.    What Does Your PhD Qualification Mean? A PhD is an advanced qualification usually following a Master’s degree that demonstrates the fact that you have made a meaningful contribution to a specific field of study. It is issued by your university of choice that confirms this fact and provides the thesis committee for defending your thesis. The reputation and status of this institution are other factors affecting the global recognition and valuation of your degree. Additionally, your PhD course usually allows you to gain teaching experiences and build a network of contacts via participation in conferences, collaborations and academic publications. What Can You Do with Your PhD Qualification after You Have Finished? A PhD qualification is a valuable contribution to pursuing an academic career, entering the pharmaceuticals or science industry, becoming a medical scientist or joining a research-oriented company from the private sector. For many industry jobs, this degree is a prerequisite for employment, which makes it highly valuable for future professionals engaged in research and development spheres. However, it is important to choose a globally renowned university with a good reputation to ensure that your doctorate status will be recognised in most countries in the world. Additionally, it is important to develop a ‘track record’ during your PhD years in order to demonstrate your practical expertise to your future employers. If you consider choosing a PhD programme in the UK, think of using our completely collaborative and customised PhD writing service. We would be honoured to accompany you throughout the entire cycle: from selecting a winning topic to writing a full PhD thesis.