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Profile Evaluation & Some Advices Please

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Profile Evaluation & Some Advices Please

by lonewolf » Thu Jun 03, 2010 8:13 pm
Dear accepted, would you please take a look at my profile?

Background
Age: 25
GMAT: Male
Nationality: Thai-Taiwanese
UG: Double Major in two engineering degrees from UC Berkeley (GPA 3.55)
GMAT: 690 (Q 48, V 37)

Work Experience
-3 Years, Process Integration Engineer at Top 10 semiconductor firm in Japan
-Support customers in process related issues during the development of computer chips
-Consult with fab (semiconductor factory) to decide on solutions/proposals and present them to customers

Extracurricular Activities/Leadership Experience
Undergrad
-Activities Officer for Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society
-Plan and organize over 50 events for TBP, including fun events, social networking, and professional workshops.

Post Undergrad
- Officer for Habitat for Humanity Japan
- Have been involved with Habitat for a long time (Went to Philippines twice to build houses back in high school, was president of community service club back then.)
- Continue participating in Habitat after arriving in Japan. I am in charge of running and planning the monthly meeting where we try to get more people involved in Habitat. I am also the official translator for Habitat in Japan. After my participation, the retention rate and participation rate in builds increased significantly.

Some Other Facts
-Lived in 4 different countries throughout career (Taiwan 12 years, Thailand 6 years, US 4 years, Japan 3 years)
-Able to speak quite a few languages. Mandarin (Native), English (Fluent), Japanese (Fluent), Thai (Basic), Taiwanese (Basic)

Weakness in Application
- Do not have a direct leadership role in work experience. I can talk about holding meetings and being influential to co-workers but do not have someone directly reporting to me.
- A slightly below average GMAT score for top schools

Post MBA
-Management position in semiconductor/consumer electronics industry (more specifically strategy) or management consulting
-Have a strong interest in working in Greater China region due to family and my language ability.

Target Schools
Columbia (Reach) ED/R1
Tuck (Reach) EA/R1
INSEAD (Reach) R1
Duke (Competitive) ED/R1
Ross (Competitive) R2
UCLA (Competitive) R2
USC (Competitive) R2
UT (Safety) R2
Other Schools in consideration: NYU, Cornell

Questions

1.Can you please comment on my school selections and my chances? I am having trouble to decide between Columbia and Duke ED round especially. Would love to hear some comments

2.Is there anything that stands out from my application that you would suggest me to focus on?

3.If leadership experience question comes along, should I focus on my Habitat role (where I made much greater impact) than my current job role?

Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate any comments/insights.
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by Cindy Tokumitsu » Tue Jun 08, 2010 5:22 am
Hello,

Here are the answers to your questions:

1) Columbia is a slightly higher reach than Duke for you, because the somewhat low GMAT might be more of an issue there. However, you also have some strengths that would likely interest Columbia (and any school), and your strong undergrad record would also help. To decide which one to apply early therefore, I suggest reviewing closely both programs' recruiting for the last 2-3 years (both internships and post-MBA jobs) and see which has a recruiting record that more closely aligns with your career interests. If one stands out clearly, that might be the better choice. If not, then you'd have to decide based on your interest in the programs, considering also the higher competitiveness of Columbia.
2) Your profile looks strong overall, with distinctiveness because of your international background, languages, and extracurricular commitment/leadership. I also like the interactive elements -- supporting customers and interacting with FAB -- these interactions should be highlighted if possible, with specific examples showing your effectiveness (and indirectly, leadership) in communications and also the business slant it involves. Possible weaknesses to consider are (1) the technical seeming role - be sure to express your business understanding and exposure in your essays; (2) seeming lack of leadership at work - however, you can address this by showing informal leadership, which is just as good (some people have the leadership title, but don't really have the actual leadership! The actual is more important than the title, but you have to clarify it). Moreover, many if not most MBA applicants haven't had direct reports.
3) Answered above.

Best regards,
Cindy Tokumitsu
Senior Editor, Accepted.com
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by lonewolf » Wed Jun 09, 2010 6:25 pm
Dear Cindy,

Thank you very much for your advices. You have touched many points that I will need to consider before making my application sound.

Do you think I have spread my net wide enough that I will reasonably get in at least one of the schools I mentioned?

690 is a tricky one and given my list of choice, do you think I need to retake the GMAT? What score would I need next time to differentiate myself from the pack?

Thank you very much,

Nit
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by Cindy Tokumitsu » Sun Jun 13, 2010 5:45 am
Hello, Nit,

I think with excellent applications you have a good chance of getting admitted. That said, I wouldn't quite consider UT to be a safety, but rather an on-par. To be sure of getting in, you might want to research some possible safeties and apply to one after your other apps are done.

A higher GMAT will always help -- whether to retake depends on how certain you are of a meaningfully higher score with a reasonable amount of effort. It wouldn't make sense to spend months of intensive preparation to raise the score by 10 points, but raising it to 730-740 would bea real plus, if it's possible.

Good luck!

Best regards,
Cindy Tokumitsu
Senior Editor, Accepted.com
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by lonewolf » Sun Jun 13, 2010 11:15 pm
cindytokumitsu wrote:Hello, Nit,

I think with excellent applications you have a good chance of getting admitted. That said, I wouldn't quite consider UT to be a safety, but rather an on-par. To be sure of getting in, you might want to research some possible safeties and apply to one after your other apps are done.

A higher GMAT will always help -- whether to retake depends on how certain you are of a meaningfully higher score with a reasonable amount of effort. It wouldn't make sense to spend months of intensive preparation to raise the score by 10 points, but raising it to 730-740 would bea real plus, if it's possible.

Good luck!

Best regards,
Cindy Tokumitsu
Senior Editor, Accepted.com
Thank you again, Cindy.
Can you suggest some safeties for me to look at? Would UNC or CMU be considered as such given my profile?
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