Ask Stacy Blackman

Hi Stacey and/or Amy:

I just took my GMAT on Saturday and now I have to decide when and where I will be applying. I am hoping that you could give at least a little incite by your thoughts.

GMAT - 740 (48Q, 44V)
GPA - 3.57 - Brigham Young University - degree in Business with emphasis in Supply Chain and Operations Management.
Work Experience - 1 Year (yeah, I know, not much)

I started 1 year ago with ATK, a defense subcontractor, working in the supply chain managment group. I started as a materials coordinator for a large rocket motor program. I did well there and after about four months my director informed me that they needed help in the environmental procurement area, and that my name had come up as someone that could do it. They asked if I would be interested. I started working in the environmental department and also started working on a corporate wide environmental supply chain team.

The company has one of these teams to cover every area of spend. I started working with the team lead, and after about three months they gave the role of team leader entirely to me. I have members from all three groups of my company at many different locations throughout the country. Our goal for this year was $300K savings from $9mill. in spend, but we have already had $700K in savings approved for this year.

These teams are a very big initiative for the company. I have presented to the president of my group, as well as to the CEO, CFO and many other people in leadership positions. The vast majority of the other team leads are senior managers or directors with around 20 years of experience. This team is only half of my job as I also cover all environmental procurement needs (which we have a lot producing rocket motors) for my group and other large contracts. After one of my presentations, the CEO heard that I was thinking of going back to get an MBA, and he said that they'd get me a sabbatical because they didn't want to lose a smart young guy.

Service - I currently serve in two areas with my church. My wife and I are over the youth group in our ward. We plan activities and make sure that everyone comes out, has fun, and gets involved. I'm also in the presidency of our mens' group. Basically we make sure that the families in the ward are taken care of and people get help when they need it.

I also took some time off from school to serve a mission for my church. I got very sick on my mission and returned home early. While I was recovering, my father and I started a small business doing marketing for some major banks at college campuses. Before I returned to school, I hired a staff, trained them, and continued to manage them for a while after returning to school. That turned out to be too much of a full-time job, so I later turned them over to an associate in the business.

Also, after returning to school, I started a small online business that did marketing for universities and all sorts of other businesses, providing them with targeted leads for their product or service.

I would love to go to a top 10 b-school. However, I feel my limiting factor now is my work experience. I feel that there is not much more room to grow in my company without an advanced degree or 5-10 years more experience.

Would it even be worth to apply this year or next year? My top schools are Duke, Harvard, MIT and then maybe UNC or UVA.

Thanks so much!

Hi Smallz,

You have a great profile aside from the brief length of your full time work experience.

I don't think it's a complete waste of time to try this year and see how it goes. Best case scenario you are accepted, and worse case scenario you will need to re-apply next year.

Good luck!

Amy