Anmol Bondada Venkata, Rochester Simon MBA Class of 2024
Age: 26
Hometown: India
Undergraduate Institution and Major: Vellore Institute of Technology, B.Tech in Information Technology
Pre-MBA Work Experience (years, industry): 4.5 years in Cisco, Technology Industry. Started out as a Technology Consultant and most recently as an Incident Manager – leading medium to large clients’ SaaS networks, helping them constantly adapt to their business needs by prioritizing, designing, and optimizing their Software Defined Network.
Why did you make the decision to attend business school? Why now?
I was one of the first few employees to join a newly formed Business Unit at Cisco right after my undergraduate college. After having spent about 4.5 years building this team and adding significant value to our operations, I started to think more about my long-term career goals and how my current skills aligned with these goals. In my role at Cisco, I truly enjoyed working with customers and cross-functional teams – putting myself in customers shoes to understand the problem better and using technology and data to provide the best solutions. Moving forward, I wanted to be more at the forefront of business decision-making and product vision. After doing my research, I realized that I must grow in three areas for my ambitious career path: cross-functional understanding, experiential learning, and networking. Business School stood out as a great next step to maximize my potential and exposure in all three.
Why did you choose Rochester Simon? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
A big part of why I wanted to join Simon was because of the kindness and the unwavering support shown to me by Simon Students and Alumni when I was thinking of applying. And truly it has been an enriching experience so far – The Benet Career Team, my seniors and classmates have helped me prepare well for my career goals and have genuinely created a collaborative community where I can be my true self, enjoy and learn something new every day.
Secondly, Simon has a dedicated Product Management concentration, which was important to me for my career goals and passion. Moreover, my commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion resonates with Simon’s values, which further made me realize that this is the place where I belong.
What do you think is your most valuable or differentiating contribution to the Class of 2024?
My most valuable contribution is my personality. I have a way of bringing everyone and everything together and delivering it back to people in a concise and meaningful way, with a spirit of cooperation and trust.
Tell us a fun fact about yourself that didn’t get included on your application:
I’m a water child at heart and a Certified Open Water Scuba Diver. Now, I am keen to explore the underwater life in the US as well!
Post-MBA career interests:
Major in Marketing – Product Management in Tech, and Minor in Strategy and Pricing
Advice for Current Prospective Applicants:
–What is one thing you would absolutely do again as part of your application process?
Two things:
- I would absolutely take the time to deeply reflect on my journey so far, why do I want an MBA, why from a particular school and what do I expect out of these next steps
- I would surely reach out to as many students, alumni, and admission team members as possible to understand their perspectives and to also understand how much of my expectations and career aspirations align with what the school has at its disposal to provide. People really want to help one other, especially at Simon, we thrive in this community, and we support one another. So, feel free to reach out to me too on LinkedIn if you think I can help you in any way
–What is one thing you would change or do differently?
Imposter syndrome is real, but it is also very normal to experience those feelings as humans. Something I would do differently is have more confidence in myself and my abilities. Once, I stopped overthinking and instead focused on how to share my story authentically, the process became much more seamless and enjoyable. And truly, I am very happy of the application that I produced and the outcomes I have achieved.
–What is one part you would have skipped if you could—and what helped you get through it?
Most definitely the GMAT. I started out with a relatively low score compared to my potential and I gave multiple attempts to get to a satisfactory score. Not that I wasn’t good at both the quant and verbal sections but the test itself started to make me very anxious after my first attempt. However, this is also a healthy reminder to you that score is not everything and you should focus on tailoring your essays and making a holistic application. Having said that, if you feel you can do better on GMAT/GRE – don’t be afraid to take multiple attempts; that shows your persistence and growth mindset.
I am thankful to my partner for mentoring me throughout the process, especially while I was preparing for the GMAT and my family who encouraged me to chase progress not perfection.
What is your initial impression of the Rochester Simon students/culture/community?
The people here at Simon are kind. They are helpful. And they are open to conversations that provoke thought. It has been over two months now, and I find myself surrounded by supportive, and ambitious classmates. Not that this comes as a shock because for me: the diverse, collaborative community was one of the main reasons why I chose to come to Simon.
What is one thing you have learned about Rochester Simon that has surprised you?
That we prepare early, and we prepare well. Before even coming to Simon, I was assigned a buddy and mentor from my senior batch. The pre-onboarding process helped me fine-tune my resume, prepare for interviews, and most importantly gave me a head start for recruitment even before it had started.
What is one thing you are most anxious about in your first year?
There is so much happening all the time and not enough time to do it all. I am anxious about consciously managing my time in a way that I enjoy the recruitment, academics, and social life.
What is one thing you are most excited about in your first year?
I am most excited about my summer internship role and how my experiences during my first year will help me prepare better for the role. Working on experiential projects for hands-on learning, taking on new classes like finance, marketing, etc. for better cross-functional understanding and networking with different people to be more aware and knowledgeable, genuinely excites me.
Has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your personal application or admissions process in any way? If so, how?
I believe everything worked out well for me but if I had a choice, I would have liked to visit a few schools and interview for the candidacy in person.
