Essay 1
Based on your post-MBA goals and what drives you in your personal and professional life, why is the Texas MBA the ideal program for you and how do you plan to engage in our community? (500 words)
Just when the Shale Revolution flooded the international markets with US becoming the top producer, oil prices started tumbling down, revealing the biggest flaw with the new trend. The hidden concept here with Shale is; unlike other reservoirs it is very expensive and has lower recoverability than the more conventional sandstone reservoirs, explaining the pressures on the domestic industry brought on by low commodity prices in past few years.
Although the situation currently is getting better, oil price dynamics have changed internationally. This visible change heavily intrigued me & led me to observe the effects throughout the last few years of volatile oil situation. I could understand the intricacies of the industry because of my petroleum background which I believe will be very beneficial to leverage in energy finance sector otherwise lacking such in depth understanding.
Even professionally, I could observe the cascading effects of international oil price changes on my current organization and our project. With some proper guidance from senior management, we were encouraged to work with a financially inclined approach to optimize operations during those tough times. This further boosted my existing interest towards the financial aspect of oil industry.
Hence in short term I wish to leverage my knowledge of the industry in the role of an equity research analyst, bringing to the table a very scarce and well sought after skill-set. I believe working in this capacity will give me enough exposure to make the long term transition into a buy side fund/asset management firm focused in the energy space. My ultimate goal is to be a fund manager in the energy space.
The unique feature of the Texas McCombs energy finance course is the well-tailored structure that accommodates everything essential in the two domains; Energy & Finance sector. This, I believe will give me the edge in my learning & growth towards the energy-finance niche field. Moreover, few electives that are being offered at McComb such as Energy Law and Oil & Gas Taxation are areas which are new to me & are required to make a unique mix of skill-set to sustain my long term growth.
The school also has a notable list of alumni in both the equities research and private equity industries and I intend to tap into this strong alumni network to leverage my career. Furthermore I intend to explore the McCombs community activities of the Energy-Finance group as it is a unique energy based platform that will help me hone my skills & knowledge acquired at the university.
Mission MBA 