#196 How I Got Into Berkeley Haas MBA (and HBS, Wharton, UCLA too!) & Breaking into Product Management with Bridget Pujals

Summary: Bridget Pujals shares lessons learned from her MBA application journey, culminating in admits to Harvard, Wharton ($70K scholarship), UCLA Anderson ($100K scholarship), and Berkeley Haas ($175K scholarship). She will attend UC Berkeley Haas this Fall. While her results are spectacular, Bridget took the GRE three times, and spent two years researching, preparing, and applying to b-schools. As Bridget makes clear, “It was a two year grind to make this happen. No one sees the tears.” Bridget and Darren discuss the importance of knowing your priorities, starting your essays early, and the benefits of working with an admissions consultant. And after working in product management roles at Postmates and Facebook for 6 years, Bridget shares her thoughts breaking into product management at startups and tech giants. Questions Introducing Bridget (0:00) Bridget’s Pre-MBA Career & MBA Application Journey (3:20) Bridget’s Best Application Tips (18:20) Prepping for MBA Interviews (29:00) The Consortium & Scholarships (33:00) Picking & Prepping Recommenders (37:40) Breaking into Product Management (41:00) How Bridget Plans to Pursue Entrepreneurship at Berkeley Haas (54:20) About Bridget Bridget Pujals will be attending the UC Berkeley Haas Full-time MBA in Fall 2022, where she will focus on entrepreneurship. After graduating from UC Irvine with a Bachelors of Science in Biochemistry, Bridget worked for Postmates in business development and sales before transitioning into a product management role. She then worked for Facebook as a Senior Product Manager (Messenger) and Product Lead (Privacy for Instagram Direct). Bridget also launched a coaching service to help more women break into product management roles in technology and serves as a Startup Mentor for First Round Capital. Episode write-up and show notes: https://touchmba.com/how-i-got-into-uc-berkeley-haas-mba-bridget-pujals Get free, personalized school selection help at Touch MBA: https://touchmba.com