Admit Interviews

Finance / Duke MBA Class of 2024

You studied abroad during college, can you share how that shaped your career development?
The experience gave me the sense of the level of English I would need to flourish in academic programs at a US university. This knowledge was a great asset for me when applying for MBA programs this time as I already had a sense of the efforts needed to reach admissions criteria in terms of English proficiency. From a career perspective, the experience also allowed me to build confidence in the international environment and served as a key differentiator for my consulting recruiting process I went through at that time.


When did you start getting interested in the MBA? Was that when you started your career or after you started working abroad?
Getting a MBA from a top US business school has been my long-term goal since my college age. My hectic professional life in consulting and banking made time management on the actual application challenging, but it had been always there in my mind.


What did you prioritize when selecting an MBA program?
In my entire career I’ve worked in fields where work is always done on team and project-basis and I know that components of teamwork such as empowerment and empathy really impacts the performance of the team and would be critical for success of both individual and entire organization. Therefore I was looking for schools which have an education philosophy which emphasize teamwork and collaboration where students have constant opportunity to work on team assignments. College town environment where students can have 24/7 learning experience is another point I considered as I believed such environments would help me to immerse myself in the student community there.


What was the hardest part of the application for you?
I believe almost all of the MBA programs ask applicants what career goal they have, requesting them to share concrete stories to substantiate it. I struggled with answering this question as I was not utterly clear in my post-MBA goal therefore required some self-reflection to come up with the idea. f I were to pick one, I would say that was the hardest part of the application.


In spite of the pandemic, you visited campus. How was the campus visit helpful for you and how did it enhance your application process?
A campus visit is a great way to communicate your passion for the school. While visiting, I succeeded in securing chance to directly connect with one of the admissions officers and could discuss my potential contribution to the program. Also, knowing my passion for the program, the professor and students of the class I audited luckly offered me to write an endorsement notes to the admissions. These are the things difficult to achieve without meeting with people in person and the value of campus visit should be underestimated.


How did Edogijuku help you prepare a successful application?
The following four points struck me about the counseling service of Edogigyuku. I appreciate Edo’s support which makes me realize my dream and would recommend everyone serious about applying for top business schools.

Deep understanding of each school’s culture
Edo has a clear understanding of the image of ideal candidates each school looks for, and is able to advise on what elements we should include in essay content reflecting such points. While often underrated relative to standard test score., each school has unique history and education philosophy which distinguish themselves and showing clear understanding of those would be critical to improve the chance of admissions.

Strategic advice and intelligence
I would say strategic advice is another element which I appreciate about Edogijyuku’s service. Edo has worked with a number of MBA applicants over many years and has a clear sense of what minimum criteria schools look for in a candidate profile in terms GPA, TOEFL, GMAT (including Executive Assessment) as well as years of work experience. While some counselors are not sure about these numerics, Ed is able to provide concrete advice on how we should develop an application strategy based on concrete numbers. Interview reports he has accumulated over time were also instrumental when preparing for interviews.

Responsiveness
As mentioned in many other places, Ed had been very responsive to my emails and meeting requests throughout my service-use period. Ed was willing to work on reviewing my essays and interview prep stuff even in the late night or early morning when the situation necessitates. MBA application is very intense in terms of schedule and responsibility should be one of the most important criteria one should consider when selecting a counselor. I can testify to his high-quality service from this perspective as well.

Warm and encouraging personality
Ed as a person has a warm personality and I am happy I could work with him on my application. Obvisouly, MBA application is not an easy process and requires tons of sacrifice and patience, but Ed does not forget to cheer up his students and always works with them side-by-side. He is very committed to the success of the client and has the attitude to devote himself to the ultimate consequence. This is another point I can applaud about Edogigyuku.


What advice would you give to applicants?
Your MBA experience will be a fantastic one and should reward you in many aspects of your life going forward. So, please do not give up and be persistent.
As a piece of advice, I would reiterate the importance of networking with people. Most schools should welcome you and will enjoy talking with you. So please do not hesitate to contact them and initiate conversations.

Hirokazu Kosuga / IESE Class of 2024

Self Intro/Linkedin
www.linkedin.com/in/hirokazu-kosuga-6295ab23a


When you were studying in college did you always want an international career?
I was interested in international activities, but not always. I was born in a rural area in Shiga, and for me at that time, going abroad was a kind of “dream”.


Why did you join your first company?
To get exposure to international contexts and to train myself and get skills. As I stated, I was seeking some international experiences, but honestly speaking, I thought that those were only for selected people such as Kikoku-shijo or students having experience of studying abroad while at university. In Japan, getting into the first company after graduation is one of the greatest opportunities to change one’s lives, and I took the advantage.


You studied law but you got involved in business and later earned a US CPA, can you talk about that decision and how it influenced your career?
I really liked my hometown when I entered the university, and this was why I decided to study law to become a local lawyer in my hometown. However, the more I studied law, I lost interest… and I came to be interested in business topics through the classes of reading business contracts. (The experience of studying international contracts helped me a lot after entering the trading house)
For the first 5 years after joining a trading house, I was involved in typical domestic trading business and gained some soft skills, but once I got responsible for investment projects, I realized that my accounting and financing knowledge was not enough to do a “good job”, therefore I earned a US CPA. Through US CPA I learned accounting in English, and this experience has been quite helpful for me when I have discussions with our partners overseas.


In your company you could have the chance to work in the United States. How did those challenges overseas shape your future career vision?
The experience of working in the US taught me how fun it is to continue getting over myself. In Japan, where we share a little bit of a uniformed cultural norm, once we get some skill set in a company and share the context, “working” tends to become an everyday task and I lost the excitement of growing myself. While I was in the US, on the other hand, I had struggled a lot, such as language, culture, and getting into new business fields. This experience made me seek an environment where I can continue to gain new knowledge and skill set and to grow in my future career.


When did you start getting interested in the MBA?
I guess it was in the spring of 2020, but I had my US CPA. I started to think seriously when my CPA in Feb 2021.


What did you prioritize when selecting an MBA program?
I am not a company sponsored, so the cost of tuition and living cost was the first thing I had in my mind. I wanted a 2-year program, but I did not have many choices. Second was the place of living and the quality of food. And ranking.


What was the hardest part of the application for you?
Writing the essays was the hardest part. Like a typical Japanese, I am not good at describing myself and my past experience to be “attractive”.
After being admitted to the school and joining Shukatsu Sokokai of many companies, I realized that my career vision was not clear enough when I wrote my essay. I strongly recommend that applicants have a clear vision after graduation and contact such alumni working in those industries or field and get some true feeling in post MBA career.


How did Edogijuku help you prepare a successful application?
As mentioned, writing essays was my hardest part, but Ed helped me describe myself as “good candidate”. Moreover, Ed’s reply is always fast and I could prepare all the essays in such a short time.
Moreover, Ed’s network with the schools and alumni is beyond my imagination, and the information he has is so important for me.


You are going to IESE and what are you looking forward to the most from the school?
The diversity. The classes or the teaching method at IESE gives me a lot of opportunities to interact with students from all over the world. I am looking forward to such interaction in the class so that I can learn how different people see the exact same situation from their own point of view depending on their experience and cultural background. I believe that such experience will help me become a good leader in an international context.


If you could go back to 20 years old and make one change, what would it be?
Difficult question… but maybe nothing. I do not (or always try not to) regret any decisions in my life. I am who I am, and it is what it is.


What advice would you give to applicants?
Seriously think about post MBA career and have a clear vision, even if it is tentative.
Talk with a lot of alumni or current students.
Trust oneself and never give up.