Michael Dinerstein

Michael Dinerstein

Michael Dinerstein Marketing & Student Services Associate

Michael has a split personality. Ever since he could remember, he’s harbored a passion for business. At the age of five, Monopoly was not just a game, but rather a 24-hour capitalist sing-along. (He blames his current love for McDonalds on the Monopoly game.) Later, at age 12, he ran a small web design firm with his friend. Despite that his short-lived status as CEO of a web design firm had more to do with the primitive nature of the internet at the time rather than his personal computer programming skills, Michael still wishes to believe he taught all subsequent web designers a thing or two about the web.

Then again, Michael also has a long history with media and, more specifically, film. Although his current obsession started out modestly with repeat viewings of “Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day”, by the time he started asking his parents, at the age of 9, that he wanted to see “Pulp Fiction”, his family realized that something else was afoot. He was formally introduced to film production in the 11th grade, when he made a spoof of VH1: Behind the Music about his school’s faculty band. He’s had a camera ever since, and is currently working on a new YouTube show, “Pass / Fail”.

When Michael came to Columbia University in the fall of 2003, he had an impossible decision: should he major in economics or film? After loving the intro classes in both of the fields, he decided simply to major in both!

Michael came to Manhattan GMAT after graduating from Columbia in June of 2007, satiating both of his desires to become a hippie and a capitalist pig. While he does not design webpages any longer, Michael works on Manhattan GMAT’s SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and online marketing. What he really likes about his job is that it gives him the freedom to be creative while reinforcing his high-speed business instincts.

Currently, Michael still maintains his interest in film, and would love to hear about any project or script idea that comes his way. Additionally, he’s beginning to take over the NYC club scene by storm, spinning records under the pseudonym Trystero. While Michael realizes many club-goers will most likely not get the Thomas Pynchon reference, he hopes that they’ll Google the name and read his work.

As a final note, everything Michael learned about life, he learned from “Calvin and Hobbes”.

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