We had an e-coffee with admissions consultant Eduardo Miranda to know more about his MBA experience insights, from when he chose his business school to the present, and how his time at Kellogg can help him assist students in the MBA admissions process.

Eduardo Miranda was born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He moved to the continental US to attend University of Michigan, where he got his Industrial and Operations Engineering degree. From Michigan he moved to Los Angeles to join Eaton Aerospace where he worked as Sr. Buyer at one of their manufacturing facilities. After 3 years, Eduardo felt like he needed a new challenge and a career change so he took a new opportunity in New York City to work as an operations lead for WeWork. After a year and a half, he relocated to Buenos Aires to help launch WeWork in South America, where he helped grow the team Latin America and open over 25 projects across six different countries.

Having a lot of technical experience, he decided to pursue an MBA to increase his financial and business knowledge so that he could move away from operations and engineering roles to a more strategic and business operations role in business. Eduardo is now finishing his MBA at Kellogg School of Management and is joining Deloitte Strategy in Chicago upon graduation.

“I’ve always wanted to work in hospitality, restaurant groups, the hotel or travel industry. But I didn’t want to commit to that before having the chance to work and experience many other industries, so I think consulting is a very good opportunity for me right now,” he says. 

Your first year was very different from your second year! How was that?

Yes! I was very lucky because I was able to almost complete my first year of MBA right before Covid-19 hit in March. While Covid-19 changed my entire MBA experience, I was able to make great connections, friends, and recruit before we went into shutdown.

The university has done a tremendous job adapting the curriculum and the student experience from in person to online, given the complexity of the situation and the need to meet student expectations. As the situation with the virus improves, Kellogg continues to adapt the experience in line with Evanston and CDC guidelines.

 

We are now in a hybrid format where classes are offered in many different ways including full online courses, full in person courses, and a hybrid format where students alternate between in person and online class. I would definitely encourage first-year students to go to as many classes in person as they can so that they can start building relationships and immersing themselves in the Kellogg experience.

Why did you choose Kellogg?

There are several reasons why I chose Kellogg. First and foremost, it is one of the leading MBA programs in the world and part of the prestigious M7. Looking beyond that, I was looking for a school with the perfect culture for me and a place where I knew I would fit in.

Apart from everybody being very nice and welcoming, there is this idea of reciprocity that I kept on hearing from students and alumni that really attracted me to their culture.

From the second you become an applicant or get to campus, 2nd years and alumni volunteer a lot of time and resources to help each other and give back to the community. This reciprocity is then carried out every following year with the incoming class, as current students and alumni want to willingly pay back after receiving so much mentorship and aid. The culture at the school is also very collaborative and not very competitive. Even when you are recruiting for the top jobs, everybody helps each other out with interviews and networking. I love that collaborative culture. Classes are also very collaborative, so you are always working alongside a very wide variety of professionals.

Kellogg runs on the quarter system which allows you to take up to 5 credits, 3 times a year. This gives students the opportunity to take many different classes to their choosing. I was interested in learning a lot more about finance so I ended up taking over 5 finance courses at the school. Right now I’m taking a class called “Launching and Leading Startups” taught by the famous professor Carter Cast, and even though I’m not planning on joining the startup field just yet, there are certain classes that you want to make sure you take the knowledge with you as you move forward in your career. 

Lastly, there’s a very big and diverse group of people, culturally and professionally. If you are curious about a subject or a specific topic, there is always going to be someone at campus with experience that will help a lending hand. I have become great friends with people from all over the world, which was essentially one of my top goals as I entered an MBA program. 

Is there anything that surprised you about business school? 

Grades are not the #1 priority! Many companies don’t ask for your transcripts or your GPA when you are applying to jobs.

Even partners and CEOs of prestigious firms come to the school and say “Don’t worry about your grades, worry about taking classes that are interesting to you and making those lifelong connections”.

This has been a great change from my undergraduate experience where grades were the most important thing. This has allowed me to take challenging courses without solely worrying about the outcome. Having said that, even though grades aren’t as important, you are surrounded by very smart people and work in teams almost in every class, so everyone still gives 100% along the way.

Business school for me was a great place to try things out. If you want to work in a certain industry, you have the resources and opportunities to make that transition. 

What about outside the classrooms? Did you participate in clubs? 

Yes, I have participated in many clubs and am regularly involved in 2: the Kellogg Consulting Club (KCC) and the Hispanic Management Association (HMA). In my first year, the KCC was such a valuable resource throughout the recruiting and interview process that I decided to become an Interview Prep Group Leader (IPG) in my 2nd year. An IPG leader is a 2nd year student who mentors 4-5 first years through the entire recruiting cycle. In my opinion, this is one of the most valuable resources at the school. For the span of 4 months, the IPG leaders help 1st year students with networking, interview prep and training as they get ready for Interviews.

The second club I participate in is HMA, where I am the VP of Prospective Students. My team hosts events with other affinity clubs and with admissions for applicants looking to learn more about Kellogg.

We also work with a lot of hispanic applicants and help them through different parts of the admission process. This includes networking seminars, resume and essay review sessions, and a mock interview day prior to their official Kellogg interview.

Why did you decide to join us at Merchant?

As I graduate from Kellogg in the coming months, I joined Merchant because I developed a passion for helping applicants with the admissions process and want to continue my efforts after school. I saw firsthand how so many students can use guidance throughout the process, especially those that have not been exposed to an MBA journey through family or acquaintances. Although I will always be connected to Kellogg, I wanted to keep helping people from diverse backgrounds through the admissions journey and getting into their dream schools. Having been raised in Puerto Rico and lived in many places including Michigan, Los Angeles, New York, Buenos Aires, and Chicago, I believe I have developed  a great set of tools to relate to students from different cultures and backgrounds. I also think that having the perspective of someone who has just finished the MBA will be beneficial for future applicants.

How was your application process? Do you have any tips for our applicants?

My application process was somewhat hectic since I decided to apply to business school at the end of July with the deadlines looming in January. I had to start from scratch studying for the GMAT and doing research on which schools I wanted to attend. My job forced me to spend long nights working and travelling constantly and it was very difficult to juggle everything and prioritize.

 

From that experience, I realized the value of getting your timeline clear and being realistic about your expectations, especially if constrained by time.

In terms of the application itself, I originally struggled to find the right stories for the applications. It is a self introspective time, when you have to think hard about what you’ve done and what you value, your experiences before college, in high school, etc. I think that if you put the time and effort into doing that part correctly, the rest of the application process will be much easier.

Having the experience of working directly with applicants, can you tell us about the challenges most people face? 

After spending my time talking to many applicants, I have learned that many people face similar challenges throughout the admissions process. For example, last year I reviewed over 40 resumes, and one recurring theme was applicants constantly using valuable space explaining their job responsibilities across their various roles in their resumes. Generally speaking, most people reviewing resumes already have a good idea of what kind of responsibilities come with a job and a title. There might be specific cases where it might be necessary to give a short explanation, however the resume is the opportunity for an applicant to list their achievements and their successes throughout their professional and academic careers.

Your resume is a document where you should seek to differentiate yourself from your peers and essentially highlight what you can bring to an MBA program and beyond.

 

Sometimes it can be very difficult for people to discover or identify their successes and achievements, which is why it is so important to think about your stories and achievements beforehand as you work on defining your profile.

What do you enjoy doing outside of work?

Outside of work I love spending time with my wife, family and friends. I am very passionate about cooking Puerto Rican food and love to host gatherings and just have a good time socializing. I have recently developed a love for Mezcal, so don’t be surprised if you find me testing out a new brand! Apart from cooking, I love to get outdoors and play golf or go skiing. These are two activities that not only allow me to have fun and take a break from work or studying, but also allows me to keep healthy relationships with friends and family.

If you need help with the GMAT or the admissions process we can help.  For more information on our different GMAT products see:

• GMAT private classes – see the stories of Will, Teddy, Jessica and Nico and how they approached their GMAT journey with Merchant.
• Merchant Academy – a GMAT teaching innovation that makes taking the GMAT, like an MBA. Click to find out more about the Merchant Academy format.
• Merchant GMAT Hall of Fame – a gallery of some of our clients over the last eight years.

For admissions help see some of the client stories on our admissions page.