Michelle Borensztejn Vilela de Oliveira, IESE MBA Class of 2021
Age: 27
Hometown: Sao Paulo / Brazil
Undergraduate Institution and Major: Universidade Federal de São Carlos / Bachelor in Chemical Engineering
Pre-MBA Work Experience (years, industry): 4.5 years, Management Consulting
Why business school? Why now?
Going to Business School was a long-time goal for me, for 3 main reasons:
- Solidify business foundations. I have a background in engineering, so I’ve never formally learned key business concepts. I’ve learned a lot by working in consulting, but I still wanted to stop and study more deeply most of the concepts and theories I used in my daily job.
- Meet new people and expand my network. I have always valued the power of meeting new people and learning from different stories and backgrounds. I believe that when you progress in your career, it gets increasingly important to learn
different ways of thinking and acting. Business school provides a unique opportunity to meet incredible people, from the most diverse geographies and backgrounds. - Developing skills in a “safe” environment. As I advance my career, I will need to develop different skills, such as leadership. I saw business school as a very good opportunity to “learn by doing,” with people and an environment that always promote excellence, while staying in a safe zone. Taking this time to develop my skills is something that I believe will improve me as a person and as a professional, preparing me to create a greater impact on society.
Why now? I think that now is the best moment because I am at the optimal point of my career that I’ve accumulated enough experiences to contribute to the class. I am also at the career stage where I believe I will benefit from the time and lessons in business school to prepare myself to be an excellent leader.
Why IESE? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
When I was doing my research on business schools, I remember seeing a lot of similarities between schools, but with time I was able to see very specific aspects of each one that makes them unique. For me IESE’s unique qualities made clear it was the best school to meet my objectives of what I wanted to take out of the experience.
- Rigorous curriculum. IESE is known for its very rigorous (and demanding) curriculum, with ~3 case studies to be solved in groups per day. For me, this made it clear IESE would the right place to solidify my foundational business skills.
- Diverse community. IESE is one of the schools that presented the most diverse range of backgrounds and nationalities, which appeared to be the best opportunity to expand my network.
- Barcelona was also a very attractive factor given that it’s a city that vibrates culture and diversity constantly. Also, it’s a place where I would be able to improve another language (Spanish). IESE’s course even allows you to take a double degree in Spanish, which also factored into my decision.
What do you think is your most valuable or differentiating contribution to the Class of 2021?
In terms of content, I believe I will be able to contribute to the Class of 2021 with my experience in Management Consulting, mainly how to approach business problems when solving the cases in a very structured and hypothesis-driven way. Also, I will be able to bring technical knowledge from the multiple industries and functions I’ve done projects on.
In terms of community, I will be able to support my colleagues that intend to apply for Management Consulting as a post-MBA or summer internship goal. I also intend to contribute to activities and discussions in the Women in Business club, given it is a topic that I have been engaged for a long time and that is very much of my interest.
Fun fact that didn’t get included on your application?
When I was in college, I spent 3 months of my summer vacation working at Disney World in Orlando as a character performer (Mickey, Minnie, etc.). I think I can still remember how to do their signatures!
Post-MBA career interests?
After business school I intend to come back to Management Consulting, focused mainly on digital transformation-related projects.
Advice to current prospective applicants:
–One thing you would absolutely do again as part of your application process?
One thing I’ve done that I personally found very useful was to use the essays’ themes to really reflect on my motivations to do an MBA. To really take the time to look back at my story and my career helped me find the genuine reasons why I was doing all of that. This sense of purpose was key not only to make good essays, but also to do the interviews.
–One thing you would change or do differently?
Apply to fewer schools. When we are in the middle of the process, we always want to apply to “back-up” schools, but looking back I found that I end up investing too much time and energy in that, even though I already knew what I wanted.
–Part you would have skipped if you could—and what helped you get through it?
GMAT for sure! The GMAT was the worst part for me. What helped me go through it was to respect my time and my way of studying. There isn’t a magic formula for how to organize yourself to do it, I think that you need to try multiple strategies until you find which ones are helping you achieve the best results.
What is your initial impression of IESE’s students/culture/community?
I am really at the beginning, but my impression is I won’t be disappointed in terms of being able to expand my network in a very diverse and collaborative community. Each day I am being able to meet someone new – people with incredible stories from the most diverse backgrounds and working experiences, and from all over the world (or that have lived in multiple parts of the world).
One thing you have learned about IESE that has surprised you?
IESE has a very strong entrepreneurial focus. For instance, IESE MBA students have the option to work on an entrepreneurial venture during the summer break. Also, IESE has its own venture capital arm to invest in seed and early stage companies founded by IESE students and alumni. I found this very interesting and exciting!
Thing you are most anxious about in your first year?
Not having enough time to get involved in everything I want.
