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Competitive Profile?

by MikeMamula » Tue Apr 21, 2009 6:33 pm
I have a couple of b-school related questions. Any advice is welcome and thanks in advance for your help!

My Profile:
• 25 year old White Male
• 3.3 GPA at University of Virginia, Double Major in Systems Engineering and Economics
• 760 GMAT, 50Q, 42V
• 2 years working at a Litigation Consulting Firm this Fall
• I plan to enroll in 2010

In school, I was involved in several extracurricular activities. For all four years, I was a member of a mentoring organization in addition to a social fraternity. In Junior year, I was selected to an organization that consults for other student groups on campus. I was elected president for my Senior year.

Since graduating, I have mostly focused on work. I’ve been in the top bucket for all my reviews and expect to be promoted this Fall. Management selected me to be a representative for my peer group level and to lead my firm’s recruiting efforts for UVA. Finally, I’m actively involved in the social committee and office intramurals.

I’m concerned that I don’t have enough current involvement outside of the office to satisfy business schools. I have a few hobbies and participate in other athletic events, but I don’t really feel like my application stands out as it is.

My Questions:
• Am I competitive for Darden, HBS, Kellogg, and Wharton?
• I’m primarily interested in the general management track, what other schools I should consider if I am not competitive for those listed above?
• Should I wait longer to apply to school?
• Do I need to involve myself outside of work to be competitive?

Thanks again for your help.
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by Lisa Anderson » Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:45 am
Dear Mike,

• Am I competitive for Darden, HBS, Kellogg, and Wharton?
You have the foundation for a competitive application. As with any application, your essays, recommendations, and interviews will play a significant role in the decision. You have a competitive GMAT score and GPA, so now you need to put together a strong application conveying your quality professional experience and rationale for why you want your MBA.

• I’m primarily interested in the general management track, what other schools I should consider if I am not competitive for those listed above?
Most schools will offer a solid general management curriculum as that is what the core is based off of in terms of courses. I would suggest doing some research on schools that have strong connections to your desired post-MBA industry/function and that are outside the top 10 as you need a couple safety options on your target list.

• Should I wait longer to apply to school?
You should only wait if you feel you are not ready or you know you will have an opportunity at work to gain additional quality experience.

• Do I need to involve myself outside of work to be competitive?
It certainly helps to show you have outside interests and gives you something else to write about in your applications. However, it is not a dealbreaker, per se, to not be active in a community organization. I think you can make a case that you are involved with your firm's activities in terms of the social committee and intramurals.

Best of luck,
Lisa
Lisa Anderson
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Stacy Blackman Consulting

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by MikeMamula » Wed Apr 22, 2009 7:45 am
Thanks for your time, this was very helpful.
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by Graham » Thu Apr 23, 2009 12:19 am
Dear Mike,

Thanks for your post!

I tend to agree with Lisa for ths most part: you have the building blocks for a strong candidacy at the schools on your list. I wanted to just add a couple of quick thoughts:

1) I am a bit concerned about the limited amount of non-work activities since college. While getting involved with social initiatives via the office is nice, the adcoms at the top schools also like to see that you have branched out beyond the workplace and have other pursuits and peer groups. Of course, I'd ideally need a bit more information with regards to the sports-related activities and hobbies you mention - since there could be some promising elements there. You might also be able to rely more heavily on some of your ugrad XCs, as you aren't yet 4-5 years out of school and those experiences are relatively recent. Keep in mind that your key task here is to convince the adcom that you will be a contributing member of the campus community - beyond 'in the classroom' activities.

2) I didn't see any concrete career goals mentioned in your post. Developing a post-MBA plan is a vital part of the business school admissions process. I see that you mention "general management" as being a focus for your studies, but this is actually somewhat vague (and really all of the top schools offer a general management focus). Have you thought about what you want to do post-MBA (a function)? In which sector of the economy might you pursue this function (e.g. which industry)? Have you thought about where you might work geographically (a region)? How might your function, industry and region relate to the strengths of the schools on your list and to your past experiences to date? These are all important questions to be asking yourself.

3) Despite the concerns I've expressed above, my general feeling is that you should apply this fall. The reason for this is that you've got strong numbers and are in the younger segment of the pool - something that HBS in particular appreciates (and that Wharton is increasingly favoring).

Feel free to send your resume to [email protected] if you'd like to set up a free initial chat with one of our counselors to review your profile in depth.

Best of luck,

Graham
Graham Richmond
Clear Admit, LLC
[email protected]
215 568 2590

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