UBS in Stamford, Connecticut, says her MLT experience was instrumental in helping her secure her fast-track job after college. Most valuable, says Fox-Thomas, 23, was feedback on her resumé and cover letter from her coach. He helped her narrow her focus to the financial services industry, eliminate wordiness, and create impact with her choice of words. “The first time he sent it back there was so much red. I was just so offended. But looking back, obviously the resumé I have now is so much more professional.” UBS’s recruiter was familiar with MLT, which also aided her job search. She interviewed on a Friday and by Monday had a job offer.
The students and young professionals in MLT’s programs are required to do research assignments and case studies on the industries they are interested in, which helps them gain a feel for what they want to do and what top companies are looking for. They also receive coaching to hone their resumés and business school essays. “One of the most important things that’s driving our success at MLT is we’ve engaged the bar-setting organizations,” Rice says. “The leading companies and the major business schools are driving our curriculum and actually developing our students to reach the bar that they’re setting.”
In addition to GMAT preparation, MLT’s partner schools host weekend seminars for the program’s participants on their campuses. MLT also brings in recruiters and people with admissions experience at top business schools to conduct mock interviews with participants.
Fox-Thomas’ coach, Kumi Walker, participated in the MBA Prep program from 2003 to 2004 and won admission to all of the schools to which he’d applied: Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, Harvard Business School, and Stanford. He is now in his second year at Stanford. “[It] helped me tremendously,” he says. Before MLT, he had looked at business schools based on their rankings, but Walker, 28, says the program helped him understand the importance of visiting schools and talking with students to decide on the best fit for him. Also helpful was feedback from his coach on his business school essay, as well as the structure MLT placed on the business school application process.
While MLT’s current results are impressive, its greater impact may come in the future, measured by minority representation at the top ranks of the private and public sector. “If we think this network is really powerful now,” Walker says, “imagine when we are five and 10 years out of school.”