About

Hi everyone! I’m Oscar and I’m the fellow behind MBA Writer’s Block. I’m a 30 year old fellow from New York City currently residing in Rochester, NY.

In October 2011, MBAwritersblock.com was born as a way for me to share my experience of applying to business school.

I spent three years and almost $11,000 applying to seven top MBA programs.  I believe no one should ever have to spend that much money to pursue an education in business.  So my first goal is to show you, that with hard work and perseverance, you can tackle the business school writing process by  learning how to write powerful essays.  My second goal is to turn MBAwritersblock.com into a powerful resource for young professionals applying to business school, online and off, so they can apply intelligently and inexpensively.

My Story

I’m really just a guy who once had a goal of getting into a top-10 business school but my long-term career goals changed at the end of the application process.  As a young professional in the field of health care, public health, and nonprofit management, I felt an MBA was the next logical step to take to advance my career.

And so I went for it.

I started applying to business school in 2007 when I was sought after by an admission officer at MIT Sloan, and soon noticed that the information I needed to apply successfully was pretty dense and not easy for me to understand.

Even though I love to write, I’ve always had to spend an extra bit of time with the English language, especially that it’s my 2nd language. I also speak Spanish and French. 

I struggled through the MBA process but I managed to find my way eventually.  Little by little, I visited schools, kept notes, hired an admission consultant, took various writing workshops, spoke to other applicants, current students, and various admission officers from top 10 schools.

My third year of applying, I submitted applications to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, MIT Sloan, Tuck, Simon, and Columbia and received interview invites at MIT Sloan, Simon, Stanford, and Tuck.  So anything’s possible when you put in the hard work.

So Why MBA Writer’s Block?

The MBA journey made me realize something.  I needed organization, essay guides, brainstorming exercises, sample essays, and advice from others.  Nothing of that sort really existed for MBA applicants on the internet unless you hired a university admission consultant.  So I figured that I’d start a resource myself, and thus, MBA Writer’s Block was born to feature all of that information that I acquired over time.

You could say that my work with MBA Writer’s Block is my way of giving back to the community that was there for me during my three years of applying.  I’ll admit I only plan to take a few MBA courses as a non-matriculated student at the Simon School of Business and focus on my entrepreneurial ventures, but if I can help at least one person become informed about the process and write  effectively, then I feel like I’m making a huge impact.

With my website, I want to be as transparent as possible with everything I did when I applied to business school.  My tips, strategies, writing techniques, and even sample essays in my essay guide are all out there for you to see.  I’m not trying to show off anything – that’s definitely not my purpose.  If you’re already applying to business school, I hope that my experiences – both my successes and failures – can help you reach your goals.

If you’re not applying to business school quite yet but you’re thinking about it, you can see what it’s like, see what’s involved and make decisions on your own without being subjected to the possibility of false claims, wasted time, and money.

The best part about all of this is some of the responses I’m starting to get from people like you who are curious about the essay writing part of the MBA application and need guidance.  All of this is really motivating me to focus on the website even more and provide the world with the best writing advice and tips possible.

It makes me happy when I hear someone is learning something new from my site.  Your contributions through your emails and comments on MBA Writer’s Block are very much appreciated.

Please feel free to subscribe to my newsletter and get exclusive essay writing strategies that you cannot find here on the blog, as well as free access to an interview guide I am working on, MBA Interviews the Smart Way, which will be available during Spring 2012.

And finally, please read this carefully:

I don’t consider myself an MBA admission consultant. My techniques are not secrets and the kinds of things I teach are not “get into business school quick” schemes – far from it actually.

This is why you won’t see me offer any paid consultations  - not because I don’t want to help, but because honestly most of the information I could give you can be found for free here on my blog or elsewhere online. If you need some help figuring things out, just use my contact form to send me an email and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

Getting into any business school takes a lot of hard work, a lot of patience and a little bit of luck too. I know I have an inspiring story and I am here to inspire you too, however I want to do it the right way. I speak only from my experience and please don’t feel like you owe me anything because of it. This is my way of paying forward all the help I received throughout the process. Think of it as a passing of the baton.

You won’t get any hard sells from me,  or fluffed up jargon – just real life case studies and recommendations based on my own experience with the MBA application process.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope to see you on the blog sometime soon! Again, if you’re new, I’m here to help you, so if you have any questions or comments (or suggestions) about anything, please feel free to contact me anytime.

Best of luck to you all! Cheers!