Booz Allen Hamilton Sponsorship Program for Women in Europe

What a fun it is to write on some topic other than “why the scholarship committee should consider you for ZZZ scholarship?”!

I decided to post eligibility criteria and documents required for the Sponsorship application for future applicants because the only other way you can get this is write to the organizer.


To be eligible you should be female, willing to work in a European office of Booz Allen and be admitted to one of the top MBA programs (Columbia, Harvard, IESE, IMD, INSEAD, Kellogg, LBS, MIT, Stern, Oxford, Stanford, Chicago, Wharton, Tuck).

Deadline is 3 months before the start of your program: 1 June for September intake, 1 October for January intake.

Required documents:

• Current CV (1 page);
• Copy of undergraduate university transcript;
• The original or a notarized copy of the letter of admission to business school;
• A letter of motivation explaining your interest in management consulting and Booz Allen Hamilton (1-2 pages);
• Two letters of reference (1-2 pages each).

I found out that reference is needed in the beginning of May, called one of my recommenders to discover that he was flying away for a three-week holiday. Surprise-surprise :)

Moscow: Women in Leadership forum

The month of May passed by under the title of “Scholarship deadline is coming”. Thus I was writing a lot, but not blogging. Meanwhile a couple of useful posts formed in my mind – so I decided to start with a useless one instead :)

Last Thursday (31st of May) I’ve been at the Women in Leadership forum. Of all the presentations I was able to visit, I liked two most: by BCG and by SAP.
BCG uses a zero-risk approach: the firm collects a bunch of consultants and lets them tell stories. Plus the presentation was focused on the older level of the auditory apart from all other firms that were telling about opportunities for undergraduate students.
SAP guy didn’t tell me anything I hadn’t knew before, but, again, he entertained us with a bunch of vivid stories. For example, this one:

A picture worth a thousand words

I’m not sure that every woman goes like that, but… great difference in the attitude, isn’t it? The man did as he was told, but the woman took creative approach and (there were no constraints, right?) spent as much money as she could :)
Once in my child days mom asked me whom I like to go shopping with more.
“Of course, with you”, I said.
“Why?”
“Because when we go with dad to buy bananas, we buy bananas. And when we go with you, we can buy strawberries, pears, apples, and not even buy bananas in the end. Shopping turns into an adventure and fun”.

I have a rule to take something useful from every book that I read and every event where I go. This time was not an exception. I got this:

Pen&torch from Cisco

Most interesting and innovative thoughts come to you at any place. For instance, in the evening when you’re lying half asleep. You have to get up, turn on the light and write it down. How many thoughts have you lost due to laziness or scribbling in the dark? What a great idea to make such a pen!

Women in business schools

Tidying up my bookcase yesterday I came across a year old copy of 'Insead Quarterly' I have collected somewhere. I didn't have time to read it during the application process, so I decided eliminate this defect.

There was an article 'How business schools can bring more women into business', a part of which I want to share with all the readers of this blog:

Get 'em when they're young

One of the most obvious challenges that women face at top business schools is the age at which you are supposed to attend them. Since most schools want students to acquire a few years of business experience first, the average student age is around 28. It would be hard to imagine a more difficult time for women. By the time they graduate, they will be around 30, and will be looking for a job at the same period they're thinking of - or actually starting - a family.

It would be better to accept younger women into business school, and not just a year or so younger. Women should be encouraged to apply as early as possible. Two of the authors of this article entered business school at 21 or 22 and managed to launch their careers a decade before they launched their families, giving them time to learn and travel and work, concentrating on the professional dimension, before learning to juggle and balance between family and work. (It's easier when you've gotten better at your job.)

I agree with every word written here. I just wonder - does INSEAD walk the way they are talking?

UPD: I've been linked by Stacy Blackman Consulting. They have posted a very interesting interview 'Stanford's view on the age of applicant', check this out.

Women and MBA [versus children & family?]

I’ll go wherever you will go…
© The Calling

I’ve been trying to put down the thoughs about this subject for quite a long time, but I finally wouldn’t do it if so many people hadn’t asked me to (well, they actually didn’t know what I was going to write about so the blame is mine, of course ;)). And though I try to devote as much time as possible to my GMAT prep, I decided not to postpone my blog-activity further.

A number of people are interested in the question “what the meaning of life is” (yeah, I know, 48 ;)), but I guess, many women have an ultimate answer for this one – children. Most men won’t share this point of view, because they traditionally assign the meaning of life to career, power, or simply “good life”. And I’m sorry for those women who think that children are silly and annoying rascals (but yes, they can be, like anyone ;)).
I’m reading blogs of MBAs and future MBAs for some time now, and as I have spotted, approximately 1/2 of men have family (and/or children), while most women do not. Wives and girlfriends are easily following their partners, but if a girl wants to go for an MBA, she usually leaves her partner (or her partner leaves her). The only exception, I notice, are men, who have (or going to have) an MBA themselves. Seems really like you cannot eat the pie and have it. It’s a weight on my mind, even though I know the reason for their behavior. Correct me if I’m wrong (or maybe two-year full-time students are just a wrong sample? ;))
My mom used to say that the higher education a woman has, the fewer children she’s got. And – the higher you go, the higher standards you have for men whom you can marry :) I won’t try to refute the latter, but as for children… Well, it seems impossible to prepare, study and then work (to pay back the loan) – and have kids simultaneously. Kids are out of question for… 1-2-3… 5 or so years. Or not? Any success stories about husbands leaving everything and going with their wives or babies at lectures? ;) [Obviously joking. But there is only a part of joke in a joke: my family says that I already have 2 diplomas – my mom was going to have me while she was doing hers.]

I guess that is why there are fewer women in B-Schools that men, and not for any other reason: it's difficult to handle one or more 20-year-projects (bringing up a child) and do anything serious along.
Opened America, as usual ;)

[UPD: I've found an interesting article on MBAJungle.com about families and MBA]