Hello,
Here is my rather detailed profile, with some questions at the very end:
Nationality: Chinese Canadian, first-generation immigrant from Hong Kong
Gender: Male
Age: 26
GMAT: 760 (99th percentile, Q49 V45)
Undergrad: Computer Engineering, top university in Canada
GPA: 2.80, rising trend
I have also taken 10 business courses at another Canadian university and have GPA 4.00 there.
Work Experience
2.5 years Total Post-Grad Experience, all in the civil service:
1 year working on Public Health IT Systems Strategy (Environmental Health)
- Responsible for leading the development of food safety and safe drinking water systems
1 year working on HR and Payroll systems
- Responsible for coordinating the development of government HR systems
6 months working on Public Health Systems (Infectious Disease)
- Responsible for developing outbreak management (eg. Influenza, SARS) systems
I have been promoted a total of 2 times in the last 2.5 years, from Programmer/Analyst (80% technical), to Senior Programmer Analyst(50% technical), and then to Senior Business Analyst (10% technical). All 3 positions are in different divisions in the civil service. I do mostly project management now.
16-month Pre-Grad internship:
- Quality Assurance Lead for a medium-sized supply chain planning software company.
- Managed the testing efforts for a new add-on product.
Post-Grad Community Work/Extracurricular Activities
President and Founder of OneBigU, an online learning community that allows students to raise money by helping other students. This money is donated to a charity group whose mission is to help those suffering in Darfur. This is my first jab at creating a small social enterprise.
- Hired and managed an IT Development team of 3 people in India for 4 months to help me finish the development work.
- Devised and executed a marketing strategy with no budget that accomplished the following:
- Boosted traffic from 0 to 3000 monthly unique visitors per month.
- Obtained live interview with a mainstream TV tech reporter (CityTV), about 2 minutes long
- Obtained feature article in the local Metro Newspaper.
- Obtained feature articles from several Canadian tech bloggers, student bloggers and social enterprise bloggers.
- Obtained a small snippet in the university alumni magazine.
- Started a grassroots movement in South African high school to promote awareness of the site and of the situation in Darfur.
Church-related Activities
- Script writer for weekly Catholic radio program on Canada's leading Chinese radio station.
- Lead and coordinate activities for youth at the church.
- Organize annual retreat for youth (approximately 200 participants)
- I also provide guidance and leadership to the church's youth group committee, of which I was previously a member.
Pre-Grad Community Work/Extracurricular Activities
1) Committee Chair for Sponsorship for Frosh Week
- Lead a small team of 3to contact local businesses to raise sponsorship money to fund the annual Engineering Frosh Week.
2) Professional Development Officer (IEEE Student Office)
- Coordinated special technology seminar series for students to learn about new tech trends and career opportunities.
Here are my questions
1) I want to apply to the coming third round for starting in Sept 2009. Is that a good idea? Or should I wait till the next first round for starting in Sept 2010?
2) How are my chances at HBS, Stanford, Wharton, Kellogg, Chicago, and Columbia in 3rd round? Should I revise my expectations?
3) Is my GPA going to hurt my chances for the elite schools? Does my GMAT mitigate this?
4) What are my chances for INSEAD R1 with Jan 2010 start date?
Thank you for your advice.
Here is my rather detailed profile, with some questions at the very end:
Nationality: Chinese Canadian, first-generation immigrant from Hong Kong
Gender: Male
Age: 26
GMAT: 760 (99th percentile, Q49 V45)
Undergrad: Computer Engineering, top university in Canada
GPA: 2.80, rising trend
I have also taken 10 business courses at another Canadian university and have GPA 4.00 there.
Work Experience
2.5 years Total Post-Grad Experience, all in the civil service:
1 year working on Public Health IT Systems Strategy (Environmental Health)
- Responsible for leading the development of food safety and safe drinking water systems
1 year working on HR and Payroll systems
- Responsible for coordinating the development of government HR systems
6 months working on Public Health Systems (Infectious Disease)
- Responsible for developing outbreak management (eg. Influenza, SARS) systems
I have been promoted a total of 2 times in the last 2.5 years, from Programmer/Analyst (80% technical), to Senior Programmer Analyst(50% technical), and then to Senior Business Analyst (10% technical). All 3 positions are in different divisions in the civil service. I do mostly project management now.
16-month Pre-Grad internship:
- Quality Assurance Lead for a medium-sized supply chain planning software company.
- Managed the testing efforts for a new add-on product.
Post-Grad Community Work/Extracurricular Activities
President and Founder of OneBigU, an online learning community that allows students to raise money by helping other students. This money is donated to a charity group whose mission is to help those suffering in Darfur. This is my first jab at creating a small social enterprise.
- Hired and managed an IT Development team of 3 people in India for 4 months to help me finish the development work.
- Devised and executed a marketing strategy with no budget that accomplished the following:
- Boosted traffic from 0 to 3000 monthly unique visitors per month.
- Obtained live interview with a mainstream TV tech reporter (CityTV), about 2 minutes long
- Obtained feature article in the local Metro Newspaper.
- Obtained feature articles from several Canadian tech bloggers, student bloggers and social enterprise bloggers.
- Obtained a small snippet in the university alumni magazine.
- Started a grassroots movement in South African high school to promote awareness of the site and of the situation in Darfur.
Church-related Activities
- Script writer for weekly Catholic radio program on Canada's leading Chinese radio station.
- Lead and coordinate activities for youth at the church.
- Organize annual retreat for youth (approximately 200 participants)
- I also provide guidance and leadership to the church's youth group committee, of which I was previously a member.
Pre-Grad Community Work/Extracurricular Activities
1) Committee Chair for Sponsorship for Frosh Week
- Lead a small team of 3to contact local businesses to raise sponsorship money to fund the annual Engineering Frosh Week.
2) Professional Development Officer (IEEE Student Office)
- Coordinated special technology seminar series for students to learn about new tech trends and career opportunities.
Here are my questions
1) I want to apply to the coming third round for starting in Sept 2009. Is that a good idea? Or should I wait till the next first round for starting in Sept 2010?
2) How are my chances at HBS, Stanford, Wharton, Kellogg, Chicago, and Columbia in 3rd round? Should I revise my expectations?
3) Is my GPA going to hurt my chances for the elite schools? Does my GMAT mitigate this?
4) What are my chances for INSEAD R1 with Jan 2010 start date?
Thank you for your advice.
