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by kojulia » Mon Dec 01, 2008 6:07 pm
Hi there,

I'm a non traditional MBA applicant and will be applying to HBS, Stanford, MIT, Cornell, Yale and Haas. My concern is that the adcom may or may not clearly see the forward momentum in my profile or need additional reassurances that I'm not aware of.
Last edited by kojulia on Mon Dec 08, 2008 9:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Non traditional Profile Evaluation Please!

by Linda Abraham » Tue Dec 02, 2008 6:14 pm
kojulia wrote:Hi there,

I'm a non traditional MBA applicant and will be applying to HBS, Stanford, MIT, Cornell, Yale and Haas. My concern is that the adcom may or may not clearly see the forward momentum in my profile or need additional reassurances that I'm not aware of.

I originally enrolled in college at age 19, dropped out to start a food manufacturing business that turned out to be quite successful. Traveled quite a bit, met w/captains of the industry and positioned the company for growth. Four years later, I realized I wanted to be an entrepreneur in the tech industry and bring meaningful innovative products to the market. I wanted to have a global impact, I knew I needed to return to school and I sold the business.

My academics were poor at the first institution as I was not able to give the necessary attention to my classes and naturally my grades suffered. When I returned to school, I enrolled in a two-year college and transferred to UCLA with a 3.65 and my current GPA is 3.48 in Art History. I received a recognition scholarship to UCLA and finishing this December. My GMAT is 650, 6 on the AWA and I'm retaking it this Jan with hopes of scoring 700.

I have a number of extra-curriculars such as starting an org to advise underprivileged high school students on college admissions while at UCLA and I will be starting a non for profit for Native Americans in the area I'm moving to for work. I was offered a position in a Leadership Development Program at a tech company starting in Jan. 2009.

I enjoy a number of activities such as lifting weights, learning to fly, gourmet cooking and ocean kayaking. I've traveled most of the globe and been an exchange student twice.

I am confident in my profile. However, I would really appreciate an insider perspective and any thoughts on how I can best present my profile to the adcom!

Many thanks,

Julia
Julia,

I think you present the forward momentum well. Along with a lot of interesting activities along the way. A couple of questions you may want to address somewhere in your application:

1) Why did you drop out of school at 19? Most nineteen year olds don't drop out of school "to start a food business." They may drop out and then need to do something. Just a question that came to my mind.
2) If you returned to school to get your bachelors and go into high tech, why are you majoring in art history? Are you taking a lot of electives in business and tech related fields? I fully realize that art history majors can go into high tech and business, but the question crossed my mind and might cross an adcom reader's mind too.

With a higher GMAT, I think your chance of having an acceptance from at least one school is good.

Best,
Linda
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by kojulia » Tue Dec 02, 2008 7:15 pm
Hi Linda,

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my post!


Best,

Julia
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by Linda Abraham » Thu Dec 04, 2008 5:34 pm
kojulia wrote:Hi Linda,

Thank you for taking the time to reply to my post!

In answer to your question, I dropped out of school to pursue the business full time as I was spending 60+ hrs/week working and was not able to attend class or do the necessary homework. Ultimately, I decided to focus on one thing and do it well.

I'm majoring in Art History because it was a childhood passion and I also believed that I would learn the most about the world through visual culture and language. Those visual analytical skills will certainly be invaluable in the course of business dealings. I've taken a number of electives in business and intend to take calculus and tech classes at a local college while I'm working beginning Jan 2009. Currently, I've weaved my future work experience and extra classes into my essays.

Also, I thought that since I had a successful entrepreneurial experience, I could transition into tech during grad school. To be honest, the reality is that not much is learned during undergrad. My intention is to finish grad school with a VC backed tech start-up with positive social impact. I've made my career intentions know to the AdCom, but do you think I should elaborate further on my major?

Additional information: Asian American, 28 yrs. old, highly proficient in Mandarin and Finnish.

Thanks again for your time and your input is definitely valued!

Best,

Julia
You're most welcome.

You may want to elaborate on your choice of major, but do so in a positive way. You can write about your reasons for choosing it and then also write about how it has helped you in your NFP or other business-related areas of life. It's hard for me to say if you should include something or not. You clearly have a lot you could write about and if I say "yes include your choice of major" and I don't know what will be left out, I could be giving you poor advice. It depends.

How's that for a safe answer. :wink:

Best,
Linda
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by kojulia » Fri Dec 05, 2008 4:09 pm
Hi Linda,

Thanks again for your insightful advice! I certainly elaborated on the practical benefits of my chosen major.

Best,

Julia
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