<aside> 👩🏽‍💼 The year leading up to application season I participated in MLT's MBA Prep Program

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Management Leadership for Tomorrow (MLT)

Our Story - Management Leadership for Tomorrow

MLT is "a national nonprofit that is transforming the leadership pipelines of more than 120 leading organizations by driving breakthrough results for individuals and institutions." They basically help people of color climb the corporate ladder. They have several programs, but the one I participated in was the MBA Prep Program. I was very, very fortunate to know quite a few people who were MLT alum, including my partner. In fact, it was one of my colleagues at Google.org who insisted I apply to MLT, even when I was unsure.

<aside> 🏫 You'll notice that the "gift of knowledge" is a theme in my story. Too often people from underrepresented communities don't even know where to start when it comes to seeking out new opportunities, specifically when it comes to navigating the business school process. I was very, very privileged to have close proximity to so many people around me who shared their stories and gave me insight into the business school process. This guide is a first attempt at trying to do that for others at scale.

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Highlights of my MLT experience

• You will get out of the experience what you put in! MLT does not get you into business school. YOU get yourself into business school and MLT helps along the way.
• I had a dedicated coach who I checked in with monthly regarding my business school application journey. This kind of accountability was really helpful to keep me on track and focused (and I absolutely loved my coach!)
• Since the program officially kicked off in March, I felt very much ahead of the game. Round 1 deadlines are typically in September & October, so I had a whole six months dedicated to crafting my story, doing my school research, finalizing the GMAT, and writing my essays.
• One of the key value-adds of MLT is the community. Along my journey, I had a group of hundreds of other young professionals of color who were navigating the process with me. While COVID disrupted our plans to meet in person, we had (and still have) a very active Slack community.
• The MLT team will do deep-dive reviews of your essays for two schools. It was super helpful to have my coach and a former admissions officer go through multiple rounds of reviews for two of my school applications.

<aside> ❗ If you identify as Black, Latinx, or Native American and are considering going to business school, APPLY TO THE MLT MBA PREP PROGRAM. Remember, you have to apply to MLT a year before you actually apply to b school. They also have an accelerated version in case you miss that early deadline.

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