After spending two years in the Strategy & Operations Healthcare Practice at Deloitte Consulting LLP, Michael San Román (Darden, ‘22) chose to attend Darden to accelerate his career growth and build leadership skills. Throughout his application process and now his MBA journey, Michael is constantly thinking about his “why,” which helps him drive decision making and select priorities. In this interview, Michael shares his decision to pursue his MBA, his “Why” for Darden, and his advice to prospective applicants to finding their Why for Business School.
MBASchooled: What did you do before business school, and why did you choose to pursue an MBA?
Before attending the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business I was a Strategy & Operations Senior Consultant in Deloitte’s Healthcare Provider practice in New York, NY. My 4+ years of consulting experience focused on M&A strategy and financial performance improvement; with complementary experience in revenue cycle transformations, investment portfolio strategy, commercial & financial due diligence, corporate strategy, and value based care. Throughout my tenure in consulting, I grew passionate about the prospect of advising organizations on navigating capital markets in order to raise, allocate, and deploy the necessary resources allowing them to continue strategically growing along the constructs of their missions.
I chose to pursue an MBA for three main reasons. Through frank self-assessment I identified a delta between my current skill sets and those that are required in order to be a successful professional in this pursuit. Secondly, I wanted to continue enhancing and refining my individual leadership skills and knew that further education would equip me with the necessary frameworks and experiences to aid me in my career. The third and most equally important reason for pursuing an MBA was my desire to build a strong network with other like-minded and career-oriented leaders who would eventually become my friends, family, colleagues, and community.
MBASchooled: What was the hardest part of the MBA application process, and how did you work through it?
The most difficult part of the MBA application process is ensuring that your “Why” is explicit in all aspects of your application. Admission committees are tasked with the job of identifying and selecting candidates who are clear about 1) where they are coming from, 2) where they want to go, 3) why they want to go there, and 4) how they plan to get there. As I will detail later in this interview, the most important question one must ask themselves before deciding to pursue an MBA is “Why?”
Schools will have varying essay prompts, short answer questions, and interview goals. Ensuring that your story is clearly communicated within each of the application channels is of paramount importance and often the most difficult aspect of the application process. For myself, starting the process as early as possible was the key to success. Allowing myself ample time to constantly review and redraft my statements, as well as challenge my convictions was necessary in order to guarantee myself the most attractive candidacy possible.
MBASchooled: Why did you choose Darden?
I could write several pages regarding my decision to choose to attend Darden, however, I will boil it down to three main drivers. First and foremost, Darden’s continuous top ranking in Best Professors year-over-year was something that was difficult for me not to take into account as these would be the individuals directly shaping me throughout my two years. Secondly, the core case method was a large selling point. The case method of learning for the core curriculum provides students the ability to learn directly from the previous challenges that faced the leaders of organizations that we interact with on a daily basis. This method requires students to read multiple case studies each day, meet in small learning teams to review the cases and problems faced, and before coming to class debate the cases together to teach and learn from each other.
Darden puts an immense amount of effort ensuring that each learning team is composed of individuals from different backgrounds including but not limited to: work function, job role, industry, ethnicity, and heritage. This allows students to build on their weaknesses on a daily basis from students who are particularly strong in certain subjects, as well as provides the opportunity to teach other students who may be struggling with certain subjects. Darden’s culture was bar-none one of the most impressive and inclusive cultures I had experienced throughout my decision process.
MBASchooled: Most applicants understand why culture is important, and to look for it, but what specifically stood out to you about Darden?
From the very first conversation I had with a current student (at the time) to the end of my second week of classes, Darden’s culture has proven itself to be immersive, electrifying, and inclusive. Each and every student at Darden that I spoke with treated me as if I was already a close friend and classmate – there was no me versus them mentality that I had experienced with other informational interviews.
The school pride that the students instilled was electrifying. To me, it was evident that students came here to thrive, not just survive. The commitment to leading school clubs/organizations as well as trying to make the school a better place than they had found it was one of the most selfless and compelling arguments for Darden that I had come across. When you join Darden, you don’t join a body of students who are looking to leverage a brand-name MBA to fulfill their personal missions and goals, you are joining a student body who is collectively and actively attempting to make themselves, their peers, their classmates, and the community the best that they can be, regardless of ethnicity, race, gender, sexual preference, disability, and personal circumstance.
MBASchooled: Due to COVID-19, MBA applicants know they need to engage virtually with schools to learn about them but what should they be looking to learn or looking to get out of those opportunities?
Unfortunately, COVID-19 has disrupted the ability for prospective students to visit the grounds of the respective schools they are applying to as well as obtain a first-hand perspective of the daily grind of an MBA program. With the absence of these opportunities, it is crucial for candidates to connect with as many current students as possible and broaden the questions that they are asking from classroom atmosphere, community atmosphere, and if possible, a walking tour of the grounds (the things that candidates will not be able to explore themselves via a visit). In addition, probing current students’ experiences and sentiment about their current learning structures whether hybrid or virtual. There are a lot of new questions that never had to be asked before in light of COVID-19, and getting the answers to those questions will equip candidates with the additional knowledge they need when deciding between which program to choose.
MBASchooled: You are just about to start your MBA experience. What did you do leading up to starting school this summer? How did you prepare?
I would say for myself, my path to business school was one that was less traveled. I continued to work at Deloitte Consulting throughout the summer as my engagement was not slated to end until the end of August. I stayed through the end of the summer to ensure that my team was able to continue delivering for the client throughout the life of the contract as well as ensure a smooth transition of activities to the client in order to guarantee sustainability.
However, throughout the summer I began focusing on connecting with other admitted students via virtual happy hours so that upon the first day of classes there were plenty of familiar faces. I can’t say that I engaged in any type of structured programming as it relates to preparing for business school due to continued employment status, however, there were certainly a plethora of opportunities provided including those of MBASchooled. For those with “non-traditional” business backgrounds, Darden provides the opportunity for folks to come down to grounds and participate in a seven-day immersive “Darden Before Darden” experience where students go through several cases and conduct a mock week of school. For those who do not have a technical background or are looking to refresh their finance and accounting knowledge before day one, there are plenty of courses and modules that classmates engaged in to ensure they hit the ground running.
MBASchooled: Certainly COVID-19 is impacting all of us. How would you encourage prospective MBA applicants to evaluate this as they think about deciding to go to business school?
I go back to my rant about prospective students really trying to understand their “Why?” Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible to predict impacts, changes, and regulations as it relates to COVID-19 making this year’s class a true guinea pig for this new environment. Institutions across the globe are trying to replicate all of the things that make their programs wonderful while abiding by federal, state, and local laws that are in-place to keep their communities safe.
Keeping our fellow classmates and community members healthy are shared goals of the Darden community and all events and programming are framed with this mindset. In one aspect, trying to be creative and safe during these times to find ways to connect with your class has become a fun challenge and certainly one that we will never forget. Hopefully, paving the way for subsequent classes pending they are faced with similar constraints.
MBASchooled: What advice do you have, for students who are considering applying or applying to MBA programs right now?
The biggest piece of advice that I have is to take ample time to reflect on the question: “Why do you want to obtain an MBA and why now?” This question requires significant self-assessment and continuous evaluation. In seeking the answer to this question you will be able to better understand what is most important to you and what isn’t; which environments you want to learn in and which ones you don’t; which opportunities you want to seek and which ones you don’t; why is right now the best time versus a different time. The answers to the questions will help guide you in choosing programs to apply to, framing your story, asking the right questions to current students and admission committees, and seeking the right pieces of information to eventually make your final decision.
This question has two purposes: 1) helps you make the application and selection process easier and 2) helps you really understand who you are and what your near-term and long-term goals truly are.