After initially being waitlisted Robert Solby (Haas, ‘21) created and executed a waitlist strategy which eventually paid off, and after being accepted enrolled in the Full-Time MBA Program. While Solby went to great lengths to prepare himself for his MBA program, he faced his fair amount of challenges in his first year. Despite dealing with feelings of insecurity for being initially waitlisted, struggling with imposter syndrome when comparing himself to classmates, and navigating personal and health challenges, Solby navigated through his first year at Haas successfully. During this interview, Solby shared his waitlist story, some of the challenges he faced, and his advice to other waitlisted and incoming MBA students on how to navigate the challenges of business school.
MBASchooled: What did you do prior to business school, and why did you choose to apply to business school?
Prior to business school, I worked for a large engineering, environmental, and construction management consulting firm. I started my career as an assistant project manager in our organization’s environmental department and worked my way up to a program/account manager for a large utility company.
When I first joined this firm in 2015, the organization had just acquired it’s largest competitor, and had over 80,000 employees internationally. It was a bit daunting feeling like a small fish in a giant ocean, but I had an amazing mentor and manager early on in my career. I think this was a huge reason why I was able to navigate and make a positive impact at such a large, matrixed organization early on in my career. Approximately two years into my career, my mentor received a promotion, and, as a result, was no longer part of my organization. Around this time, I began evaluating the future of my career and trying to figure out what direction I wanted to go in.
Did I want to be more of a technical expert in a specific area, did I want to work in operations, or did I want to be more of a business generalist and team manager? I also began thinking more about what type of professional environment I wanted to be in. While I absolutely loved my teammates and colleagues, the industry I was working in was characterized by more mid-senior-level professionals who were not necessarily as motivated as I was to question the status quo or change the traditional way of performing certain tasks and processes. To be frank, people didn’t appear to be as hungry as I was to make an impact.
After a lot of self-reflection, I decided not pursue a technical track (e.g., Masters in Urban Planning or Environmental Sciences) but rather to pursue my MBA. I wanted to expose myself to a diverse group of motivated people who would challenge me both academically and interpersonally. Academically, I wanted to strengthen my foundation in corporate finance, accounting, and planning because I knew having a strong base in these areas would be crucial as I progressed in my career. From a soft skills perspective, I felt confident, but I wanted to double down on my leadership communication and interpersonal leadership skills. I was still uncertain what industry I wanted to pursue long term, so getting an MBA would afford me experiences to help find my passion.
Let the MBA admissions process begin!
MBASchooled: You were initially waitlisted. How did that process play out? and what did you do in order to move from waitlist to being accepted?
After applying during round 1, I was waitlisted at UC Berkeley-Haas on December 13th, 2018. While I was initially a bit disappointed, it quickly dawned on me that this wasn’t a bad position to be in. I attended a Haas-sponsored virtual waitlist webinar and reached out to as many current students who had ultimately been accepted off the waitlist as possible. These conversations and insights really helped me develop a concrete strategy and path forward to (hopefully) get accepted. One other factor that I felt was in my favor was the fact that I had not yet gone through the interview process. I felt very confident about my interview capabilities, and I had crafted my story to illustrate how my experiences directly aligned with Haas’s core leadership principles. I conducted mock interviews, wrote out my responses to questions that I thought I would receive, and even filmed myself, then rewatched those videos to keep improving in certain areas. I interviewed on-campus in early February, and felt very strong about the interview. I was definitely feeling confident about the next decision deadline! But sadly, when round 2 decisions were released, I still found myself on the waitlist.
At this state, I knew it was crucial to sit down and evaluate my candidacy from a holistic perspective in order to maximize the impact of my updates to the Haas Admissions Committee. While I was happy with the essays I had written, the word limit really stifled my ability to emphasize the impacts I had made in my community and as a professional within my organization. I obtained two additional letters of recommendation (one from a volunteer organization and one from a Vice President of my company). I also knew that I needed to demonstrate to the admissions committee that my quantitative skills were strong enough to keep up with the academic rigor of a full-time MBA program, so I enrolled in a MBA-level quantitative course.
My strategy was to provide three email updates to the Haas Admissions committee. The first would be more concretely related to what I was doing to improve my candidacy (i.e., additional LORs and taking a quant course) and the third would be to reiterate my unwavering passion and desire to be part of the Haas community. I would describe the tone of my update emails as concise, excited, and confident. And one thing in particular that I thought was crucial to ultimately being admitted was forming a relationship with a member of the admissions team. And by “relationship” I mean I provided my updates to the same admissions team member, and he answered my questions throughout the waitlist process, whenever I had them. I think being familiar with and forming a stronger relationship with one admissions member was a big advantage when my candidacy was continually being reviewed.
MBASchooled: What did you do, either while on the waitlist, or shortly thereafter to help you prepare for business school?
From an academic perspective, I enrolled in a math and statistics course to ensure I would be well prepared for the academic rigor of an MBA curriculum. This was a great refresher for me, and instead of feeling like I was starting completely over academically, I had a foundation to learn from. When I was accepted to Haas in July, I immediately opted to take a program-sponsored quantitative workshop that was hosted the week prior to orientation. This was an amazing opportunity to beef up my quant skills prior to school officially starting, and I was able to begin forming relationships with my fellow classmates
I also made an effort to reach out to current first and second-year students to get a more concrete understanding of what the Haas culture was like. In typical Haas fashion, these students were extremely generous with their time and were able to give me suggestions on how to get involved in the community and with my classmates once I got to Berkeley.
MBASchooled: What was the first few months at Haas like?
My first few months at Haas were a mixture of pure excitement and complete craziness. I experienced so many new things and faced so much change in a two or three month span, it was a bit overwhelming. From learning how to be a student again to balancing things in my personal life, I struggled a bit early on to adjust. Managing a completely new environment and schedule as someone living with Type 1 Diabetes, transitioning to a long distance relationship with my partner, and leaving the comfort of my friends and family in Southern California were among the most challenging. But my fellow classmates and the Haas program office really stepped up and offered me support when I felt I needed it most.
MBASchooled: Imposter Syndrome is a topic that resonates with MBA students, but isn’t always talked about openly. How did this impact you, and what did you do to manage it?
As someone who was admitted off the waitlist so late in the process, I felt a bit inferior going into the full-time MBA program. I was worried that if I shared my story with people, they would perceive me as lucky or less capable of handling the rigor of a top 10 MBA program. This, paired with the fact that I really had no idea what professional industry or function I wanted to work in, really made me doubt if I really belonged in a high-caliber MBA program.
Since recruiting for consulting occurs so early in the fall, it was challenging not to get sucked in and choose this path. Most of my friends were recruiting for consulting, and I remember going back and forth daily questioning myself; was I supposed to be doing this too? If I don’t recruit for consulting, will people look down upon me? What even is consulting?! Am I supposed to be here? Maybe I should have just stayed at my old job….All of these thoughts, and the emotional stress that they put on me, really impacted my mental health and well-being.
At first, dealing with imposter syndrome was difficult. I felt so stressed out all the time because outwardly, my fellow classmates appeared to be so certain of their paths moving forward. As I continued to form stronger and stronger bonds with people, I began opening up more about my uncertainties and was surprised to hear a lot of them shared the same thoughts and emotions that I had felt. With the support of my peers and learnings I gained from Haas classes, such as Leadership Communication, I began to understand that vulnerability and uncertainty aren’t necessarily weaknesses. Having the emotional intelligence to recognize those thoughts and feelings and seeking out help – whether from my classmates, my family, or even a psychologist – was a huge step for me. I made mental health, wellness, and exercise more of a priority in my day-to-day. I began speaking with a UC Berkeley psychologist every few weeks, and this was such a wonderful experience. I think we need to do more to normalize counseling and other forms of therapy! They make all the difference, but we as MBA students are oftentimes scared to make that leap and seek support. Doing so is not defeat, it’s not weak, it’s quite the opposite.
And I’d like to admit, these emotions and thoughts were completely subconscious and self-manifested. The imposter syndrome I was experiencing in my own head could not have been further from the reality of the situation; my classmates were so friendly, excited, and supportive. I’ve even had people tell me that the first year of their MBA experience would not have been the same if I hadn’t ultimately been admitted and chosen to attend Haas. As I reflect on those words, I’m still overcome with humbleness and positive emotions.
MBASchooled: What advice do you have for candidates that get waitlisted?
First and foremost, the admissions process is so competitive, you should be very proud. Being waitlisted is a huge step, and while there is still additional work to be done, it’s a great step towards ultimately being admitted. Be proud of all the hard work you’ve put in.
My second piece of advice would be to reach out to current MBA students who were admitted off the waitlist in order to learn more about what they did and more importantly, how they delivered their updates to the admissions committee. Each program’s admissions committee is slightly different, and there are strategic tactics you can learn from current students that might help you stand out when applications are re-reviewed. Many current students I spoke with were even generous enough to provide me with copies of the actual waitlist emails they sent to the admissions committee.
Finally, I suggest taking a step back and really evaluating your application from a holistic perspective. Where are the areas you can improve, and how can you communicate these improvements in a way that resonates with the admissions committee. Don’t just provide updates for the sake of providing updates; I think this is one of the most common mistakes waitlisted candidates make. Being thoughtful about your updates illustrates a level of maturity and self-awareness that resonates with all admissions committees.
MBASchooled: Looking back, what’s something you wish you knew in hindsight about starting business school?
While I am absolutely not discounting the importance of MBA classes or academics overall, I wish I had put less pressure on myself to get great grades academically. It was a challenging mental and emotional shift because my entire life, I thought excelling in school was just what I had to do. It became something that my family expected of me, and over time, I expected it from myself too. It became part of my identity. Bs scared the heck out of me growing up. In business school, the grades truly don’t impact your future opportunities.
MBASchooled: What advice do you have, for MBA students who are about to start their MBA experience?
- Stop and smell the roses – As MBA students, we’re so goal oriented and driven that we often forget to stop and appreciate our accomplishments. We might achieve a goal, for example, getting admitted to business school but not really stop and reflect upon all the hard work that went into receiving that acceptance phone call. Sure, we might feel excitement and joy, but those emotions are usually fleeting and short-lived. Yet, we are so hard on ourselves when we fail or even when we emotionally and psychologically feel like we didn’t perform to the level we expect. We hold onto those negative feelings for so much longer than we hold onto the positive emotions associated with success. My advice; you should take a moment every single day and think about your accomplishments and what you’re grateful for. It sounds so simple, but it’s really difficult to make it into a habit. I do it while I’m showering or brushing my teeth every morning, and it has really helped me maintain a balanced and positive perspective throughout my MBA journey.
- Go in with an open mind and an open heart. – Sounds a little bit like the famous Friday Night Lights quote doesn’t it? But in all seriousness, I think one thing I’ve learned so far is not to have expectations for what your MBA journey should be like. Everybody’s path is unique and truly personal. It is so easy to get caught up in what your classmates are doing or let previous conversations guide your perceptions of what your experience ought to look like. Go in with an open mind and open heart and take full advantage of two of the best years of your life!