Brazilian educational advisor and career coach Ricardo Betti helps people achieve their dreams. In Worth It, he shares the inspiring collection of stories of his clients who embarked on the adventure of taking time off from their careers to study abroad and gain international experience to earn an MBA (master of business administration) degree. More than a guidebook to the MBA, Worth It tells the tales of people's dreams and realities and recounts their achievements. It shows how Betti's clients were encouraged to take control of their lives and build a successful future. "Ricardo has a way of bringing out the best in everyone: his clients, contributors to this book, and himself. His book will likewise bring out the best in you" - John Vorhaus author of Creativity Rules! "With stories both informational and inspirational, Ricardo has lent new insight into the graduate business school application process" -Maxx Duffy, Director, Maxx Associates In a world where many choose to pursue fame and fortune, Ricardo chose a life committed to helping others achieve their dreams. I'm only too excited that his wisdom is now available to so many. - Diego Mendes, Former Director of Admissions of Hult International Business School. "Interspersed with refl ections of his own journey, the stories Ricardo Betti shares are inspirational and this chronicle of achievement helps explain Brazil's current rise to international prominence" -Liz Reisberg, Consultant in Higher Education, Boston, Massachusetts

WORTH IT

THE PATH TO AN MBA ... AND BEYONDBy Ricardo Betti Ricardo Filho

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 Ricardo Betti and Ricardo Filho
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4620-4412-2

Contents

Foreword..........................................................viiPreface...........................................................xiAcknowledgments...................................................xvIntroduction......................................................xix1. Selling Sushi..................................................12. The Gold Watch.................................................43. The Self-Made Man..............................................84. The Midas touch................................................125. The Boy Wonder.................................................156. Far from Home..................................................187. The Predestined................................................228. Never too Late.................................................259. The Brazilian rock Star........................................2810. The Entrepreneurial Dentist...................................3211. Brancaleone's Army............................................3512. The King of the Waters........................................4313. The Audacious Office Boy......................................4614. The Tailor's Pen..............................................4915. Culture Shock.................................................5216. All for a Harley-Davidson.....................................5617. The Guy Who had Been Expelled.................................5918. The Mutant....................................................6219. The Jungle Boy................................................6520. United by the MBA.............................................6821. From Cascavel to Vancouver....................................7222. The Man Who Inspired a Case Study.............................7423. The russian Prince............................................7624. The Parachutist...............................................7925. The Man Who Dreamed of Wall Street............................8126. The Ambassador................................................8427. Head of the Derivatives Desk..................................8728. The Best Medicine.............................................8929. The Son of the trumpeter......................................9230. The Gladiator.................................................9531. The Nerd Who Wasn't...........................................9832. The Metamorphosis.............................................10133. The repentant Mafioso.........................................10434. The Paradigm Breaker..........................................10735. The Shinto Monk...............................................10936. The Comeback..................................................11237. The Noble Frenchman...........................................11538. The Man Who Navigated the Internet Bubble.....................11739. A once-in-a-Lifetime opportunity..............................11940. The Six-a-Side Soccer Guy.....................................12241. The Flight of the Seagul......................................12442. The Video game Girl...........................................12643. The Paulista Who Was Born a Carioca...........................12944. A Brazilian Saga..............................................13145. The Creative Engineer.........................................13346. Jack-of-All-trades............................................13647. The Family Business Dilemma...................................13948. The Pernambucano..............................................14249. The King of Agribusiness......................................14450. The Can that Made the Man.....................................14751. Chasing Pearls................................................15052. The Voice of the Client.......................................15253. Global Recognition and the Birth of AIGAC.....................15754. Setting an Example............................................16155. Under the Tuscan Sun..........................................164

Chapter One

Selling Sushi

Whenever a new client comes into my office and I try to explain exactly what my job is as an educational consultant, I realize that it is easy to understand the informative part—choosing the courses most appropriate to each candidate (profile matching), verifying English and mathematical proficiency, referring them to teachers specialized in the TOEFL (test of English as a Foreign Language) and the GMAT (Graduate Management Admission test), drawing up a schedule, explaining each step of the selection process—but it is not so easy to explain the intangible component of the process, which is the positioning strategy of the candidate for each school desired. this positioning allows for different nuances in the presentation of facts, but should never hurt our basic premise of always telling the truth.

To facilitate understanding, I use the metaphor of a Japanese restaurant. It goes like this: on a busy street, there are two Japanese restaurants quite similar in size, quality, cost, service, and location. however, one of them is always empty and the other always crowded. the empty restaurant has a sign outside that reads," We sell overpriced dead fish, and we serve it raw, cold, and sliced." the crowded restaurant, in turn, has a color photo out front of sushi being prepared by a smiling sushi chef, with the inscription, "Come and taste our delicious sushi." Both tell the truth, but quite differently, with directly opposite results.

So it is with the selection process for MBA courses. In some schools, there are over ten thousand candidates for 900 to 950 spots—that is, a less than 10 percent admission rate. Many of the candidates have all the desired qualifications—high scores in the TOEFL and GMATs, solid academic records, good work experience, some international experience, favorable letters of recommendation, and so on. What, then, makes the difference for more than 85 percent of applicants who are rejected at each school? My response: many do not know how to sell sushi. the way a candidate positions him or herself in this competition is undoubtedly the decisive factor in the whole process; it is what will determine the success or failure of a whole life plan. In our office—modesty aside—we know how to sell sushi. here, 92 percent of our customers achieve their goal of getting into a top MBA program.

Truthfully, if any one of our clients were to write an autobiography, they would probably quickly fill a book two hundred pages long or more. they have so many interesting things to share. But in the MBA admissions process, applicants are forced by the required word constraints imposed by each university to limit themselves to a total of five to ten pages. What are the ten most important pages among the potential two hundred of a person's autobiography? Which 5 percent of a person's life should decide 100 percent of his or her future? that is the challenge in positioning yourself. So, yes, telling the truth is important, but the challenge lies in doing so in a way that helps you win the game. Positioning yourself also means differentiating yourself from your competitors.

If you are an engineer or businessperson and work in consulting or the financial market, chances are you'll have hundreds—maybe thousands—of competitors with the exact same profile. What will make the Admissions office...