Hope you're doing well. I know you probably get a ton of request, but I just wanted to know what you thought of my profile. I am a twenty-five year old African-American male who has a two years of engineering experience at a Fortune 60 company (Cisco). I plan to matriculate two Falls from now, so I will have three years under my belt. I am currently 25 years old. My undergraduate degree was in Economics, but I assumed a role as an Engineer straight out of college. Hear are my measurables and background...
EDUCATION
- Economics degree
- 3.2 undergraduate GPA from a party school in the south
- 3.5 GPA at the Harvard Summer School (two classes)
- Took the GMAT and got below a 700, so I am retaking it
EXTRACURRICULARS
- President of my undergraduate fraternity
- President of the College Democrats at my University
- Student Body Vice President (for two years)
- Staff Writer for student magazine
- Staff Writer for student newspaper
WORK EXPERIENCE
- Started my own online travel agency, which books Kilimanjaro climbs for customers. We've had six figures worth of revenues in the past two years.
- Started my own real estate investment firm 6 months ago. I currently have two homes and I'm working on my third with $3000 in revenue each month
- Engineer at Cisco for the past two years. Will have three years of experience by the time I start school
- Worked as a Genius at Apple for a year during school
- Interned at Bank of America summer of my junior year
- Interned at Northwestern Mutual during the Fall of my junior year
VOLUNTEER WORK
- Community Organizer for a Governor's election campaign during my junior summer
- Volunteered doing intake and transport in the ER of a hospital during college
- Volunteered during school in a program for at-risk youths (high schoolers) where we taught them business skills, so that they could learn how to make an earnest living and hopefully start their own venture. I mentored the team that won the business plan competition.
- Volunteered at a homeless shelter once I graduated. I taught typing, MS Office suite, and how to create E-mail accounts, so that homeless people could learn how to successfully apply for jobs online and learn basic computer skills.
- Coached basketball at an inner city middle school after work. The lowest ranked school by parents on Greatschools.org in the county.
AWARDS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS
- Climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro
- 1st place in undergraduate business plan competition
- Finalist in undergraduate university's Consulting Competition (Top 5)
- Honorable mention in undergraduate research competition (Top 4)
- Won the recruitment award for my fraternity. Increased membership by 110%
- Won freshman Engineer of the Quarter for North and South America (with no previous formal engineering education) at my current job
I'm looking to apply to Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, UC Berkeley, MIT, Duke and Yale. I would like to continue with my current streak of successful entrepreneurial endeavors and start a company that creates enterprise management software. What do you believe my chances are at the aforementioned schools and where are my strengths/weaknesses?
Target Test Prep is 20% off right now!
Use code FLASH20
Available with Beat the GMAT members only code
MORE DETAILS
American male, chances?
This topic has expert replies
GMAT/MBA Expert
-
Eliot
- MBA Admissions Consultant
- Posts: 193
- Joined: Thu Sep 18, 2008 10:57 pm
- Location: Philadelphia
- Thanked: 22 times
- Followed by:2 members
Hello Jus2Good,
Thank you for your post!
There are several promising aspects of your background. Your successful entrepreneurship, in particular, would help you stand out in the admissions process. In regards to your professional achievements, note that the adcom will be more focused on your full-time experience after college as opposed to your internships. While your entrepreneurial endeavors are impressive, keep in mind that the adcom will also be looking for a sense of your impact at Cisco. So, you will need to detail your responsibilities (while avoiding technical jargon) and quantify your results. It's also worth noting that engineers stereotypically lack interpersonal skills and management experience; hence, it's great that you have extensive community involvement and entrepreneurial experience to counter these stereotypes. Your demonstrated leadership in college (vice president of the student body, president of your fraternity) will also speak well for you and your social nature; however, you will want to emphasize the community-focused initiatives you led then and steer clear of the implications of going to a "party school." I also hope that you can highlight your post-college community involvement, as this adds a distinctive dimension to your candidacy.
In terms of potential weaknesses, your 3.2 GPA is a bit below the average 3.5 GPA at the top programs. Many MBA applicants also pursue economics as a major, so these factors will simply not help you stand out in the admissions process. Scoring above a 700 on the GMAT would certainly help assure the adcom that you could handle the rigorous coursework. Good luck when you retake it! I also encourage you to flesh out your career goals even further-more specifically, consider the impact you wish to have. Reflecting more on your goals may also help you develop your "why MBA" case, which seems to be missing. Provided you can enrich your goals, perform well on the GMAT and determine skill-based reasons for pursuing an MBA, I think you would be very competitive at the programs you list. Keep in mind, however, that it may be more feasible to apply to five to six programs, as opposed to seven. The admissions process is quite rigorous!
Feel free to contact us directly when you are ready to apply: https://www.clearadmit.com/services/free-consultation/
Thank you for your post!
There are several promising aspects of your background. Your successful entrepreneurship, in particular, would help you stand out in the admissions process. In regards to your professional achievements, note that the adcom will be more focused on your full-time experience after college as opposed to your internships. While your entrepreneurial endeavors are impressive, keep in mind that the adcom will also be looking for a sense of your impact at Cisco. So, you will need to detail your responsibilities (while avoiding technical jargon) and quantify your results. It's also worth noting that engineers stereotypically lack interpersonal skills and management experience; hence, it's great that you have extensive community involvement and entrepreneurial experience to counter these stereotypes. Your demonstrated leadership in college (vice president of the student body, president of your fraternity) will also speak well for you and your social nature; however, you will want to emphasize the community-focused initiatives you led then and steer clear of the implications of going to a "party school." I also hope that you can highlight your post-college community involvement, as this adds a distinctive dimension to your candidacy.
In terms of potential weaknesses, your 3.2 GPA is a bit below the average 3.5 GPA at the top programs. Many MBA applicants also pursue economics as a major, so these factors will simply not help you stand out in the admissions process. Scoring above a 700 on the GMAT would certainly help assure the adcom that you could handle the rigorous coursework. Good luck when you retake it! I also encourage you to flesh out your career goals even further-more specifically, consider the impact you wish to have. Reflecting more on your goals may also help you develop your "why MBA" case, which seems to be missing. Provided you can enrich your goals, perform well on the GMAT and determine skill-based reasons for pursuing an MBA, I think you would be very competitive at the programs you list. Keep in mind, however, that it may be more feasible to apply to five to six programs, as opposed to seven. The admissions process is quite rigorous!
Feel free to contact us directly when you are ready to apply: https://www.clearadmit.com/services/free-consultation/
Eliot Ingram
Clear Admit, LLC
[email protected]
215 568 2590
Stay Informed with Clear Admit!
Read our Blog for daily MBA admissions tips and updates.
Follow us on Twitter for breaking b-school news.
Download our Publications on MBA programs and admissions strategy.
Visit our MBA Admissions Wiki to read and share application insights.
Clear Admit, LLC
[email protected]
215 568 2590
Stay Informed with Clear Admit!
Read our Blog for daily MBA admissions tips and updates.
Follow us on Twitter for breaking b-school news.
Download our Publications on MBA programs and admissions strategy.
Visit our MBA Admissions Wiki to read and share application insights.
