Dear Lisa, Amy & Stacy,
I want to start off by thanking you all for the time and effort you take to answer the questions on this forum. When a person is entering this unfamiliar and intimidating process, guidance from someone with extensive knowledge and experience can be very comforting.
My question relates to missing elements – factors outside of the academic and professional spheres the presence or absence of which could undermine my chances of getting into a top-10 institution. I am including a brief summary of my situation below and would very much appreciate any advice you can offer on where you think my position could potentially be weak.
Academic:
- 750 GMAT (Q: 49; V: 44) – 98th percentile.
- iBBA from Schulich with a 3.8-3.85 GPA (based on conversion convention) – 5th in my program.
- 2-term exchange to a top Asia-Pacific school with a GPA of 85%.
Professional:
- 4+ years at a boutique management consultancy specializing in the telecom sector.
- Promoted three times: Analyst  Associate  Consultant  Senior Consultant.
- Work in the consultancy’s Private Equity practice; performed due diligence work for many of the tier-1 PE clients.
- Along with two colleagues, I founded a freelance consulting firm aimed at small-medium business. In addition to working on other projects, I personally sold and managed two engagements. Both added substantial value to the client organization.
Extra-Curricular & Life Balance:
- Four languages: English fluency; Russian oral fluency; Spanish & Hebrew are conversational.
- Member of the alumni steering committee of my fraternity.
- Many extra-curricular activates in university, including VP & Treasurer of my fraternity and fundraising director of AIESEC.
Target Schools:
- Top choices: HBS, Stanford, Wharton, Chicago, NYU & Kellogg
- Secondary choice: INSEAD
- Fallback: UWO Ivey
My goal is to elevate my position from a fighting chance to a strong chance of acceptance to my top choices. Any advice you can offer as to how I can ‘weakness-proof’ my application and to which elements I should devote the majority of my attention would be sincerely appreciated.
Thank you again for your help.
I want to start off by thanking you all for the time and effort you take to answer the questions on this forum. When a person is entering this unfamiliar and intimidating process, guidance from someone with extensive knowledge and experience can be very comforting.
My question relates to missing elements – factors outside of the academic and professional spheres the presence or absence of which could undermine my chances of getting into a top-10 institution. I am including a brief summary of my situation below and would very much appreciate any advice you can offer on where you think my position could potentially be weak.
Academic:
- 750 GMAT (Q: 49; V: 44) – 98th percentile.
- iBBA from Schulich with a 3.8-3.85 GPA (based on conversion convention) – 5th in my program.
- 2-term exchange to a top Asia-Pacific school with a GPA of 85%.
Professional:
- 4+ years at a boutique management consultancy specializing in the telecom sector.
- Promoted three times: Analyst  Associate  Consultant  Senior Consultant.
- Work in the consultancy’s Private Equity practice; performed due diligence work for many of the tier-1 PE clients.
- Along with two colleagues, I founded a freelance consulting firm aimed at small-medium business. In addition to working on other projects, I personally sold and managed two engagements. Both added substantial value to the client organization.
Extra-Curricular & Life Balance:
- Four languages: English fluency; Russian oral fluency; Spanish & Hebrew are conversational.
- Member of the alumni steering committee of my fraternity.
- Many extra-curricular activates in university, including VP & Treasurer of my fraternity and fundraising director of AIESEC.
Target Schools:
- Top choices: HBS, Stanford, Wharton, Chicago, NYU & Kellogg
- Secondary choice: INSEAD
- Fallback: UWO Ivey
My goal is to elevate my position from a fighting chance to a strong chance of acceptance to my top choices. Any advice you can offer as to how I can ‘weakness-proof’ my application and to which elements I should devote the majority of my attention would be sincerely appreciated.
Thank you again for your help.
