Profile evaluation - from research field

Figure out where you wish to apply
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Profile evaluation - from research field

by Davide » Sat Apr 06, 2013 5:54 pm
Hi everyone!

I am writing this post because I have quite an unusual background for a MBA prospective and before applying I would be most grateful for any feedback on my chances of getting into one of the Bschools I am aiming to.

Here are my stats:

Nationality: Italian.

Age: 29/30 on matriculation.

Education: 1) BSc in Civil and Environmental Engineering at top Italian university. 2) MSc in Environmental Engineering at the same institution, graduated cum laude - which seems to me to be equal to a 4.0 GPA - and the fastest MSc student ever to get the MSc in Env Eng at my institution. Visiting Researcher at a top UK university in my research field (i.e., water science). 3) PhD in Environmental Engineering at the same Italian university: I published 10 papers until now (in slightly less than 3 years) on peer-reviewed, impacted journals (acceptance rates are less than 10%) and my supervisor (who can be one of my references) openly regards me to be one of his best students ever; my co-supervisor is from the University of Washington, where I spent 8 months carrying out some research on a joint project during my PhD.

Work experience: 1) During my PhD, I began work as a teaching assistant in environmental pollution at a top Italian university. 2) In a few months I will get my PhD and be a research fellow in water and wastewater treatment. The main reason for doing this is that I am trying to show the AdCom that in my field I am the "excellence". 3) Even though I am quite sure that this won't count as work experience, in the last 3 years I also worked on 2 projects as project engineer.

Extracurricular stuff: During my studies, I have been scoutmaster for 6 years and regional supervisor at FSE (Fédération du Scoutisme Européen), member of a local Rotaract club and IWA (Internationa Water Association). I volunteered at a local futsal club for 2 years . I have been mentoring 3 BSc students from Italy and I am currently mentoring a BSc student from India.

GMAT: 690 (Q45V39) (AWA 5.0, IR 6), still wondering whether I should retake it since at the first and second GMATPrep I scored 740 and 750, respectively.
English proficiency: Took FCE in 2011 (Grade A awarded), CAE in 2012 (Grade A awarded) and TOEFL in 2012 as well (113/120).

References: Good, though sort of unilateral. I can get my Italian PhD supervisor to be one of them and there are there is also my UW supervisor who has offered to write a reference letter.

Career objectives: My long-term goal is to go into consulting or pharma/energy industry, either in Italy or in the UK. When I got my MSc, I thought that science problems were something that really raised my interest. Gradually, I started looking at problems involving people since my field has a lot to do with public utilities, so I matured my decision to get an MBA and start solving bigger problems that involve people. This is why I genuinely believe that doing an MBA at a good school will push me into the right direction.

B-Schools: Oxford and Cranfield would be my first and second option, followed by SDA Bocconi.

My major concern about my profile is that I have been in university for a long time and my work experience is, at best, weak. Anyway, I hope that some other elements will compensate this weakness.
Please comment, I really need some guidance!

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by essaysnark » Mon Apr 08, 2013 8:01 am
Davide, wow! You do have very strong academic credentials. Your background isn't completely dissimilar to other candidates - the bschools get LOTS of engineers applying, even lots of civil/environmental engineers - but certainly it's more unusual for someone with a PhD to be applying to bschool. The schools you've cited would probably be fine with your current GMAT score, though obviously it's always better to score higher - but you're in the range for those programs.

The big issue is the one you've already identified: You have little work experience to point to, despite your age and how much important work you've done with your studies. Some schools have concerns about that, since the MBA is seen as a professional degree leading to a career in business, not academia. The adcoms may be skeptical that you intend to ever go out into the working world - they may may wonder if you're just collecting degrees. (We had a post on the EssaySnark blahg awhile back that's somewhat related: https://essaysnark.com/2010/07/profile-a ... r-of-mbas/ - the basic issue is the same, you need to prove to the adcom why the MBA is the right next step for you, based on what you're going to do with it - you have a hurdle to overcome, given your existing academic history).

On your recs: If at all possible, you're going to want to get recommendations from people you've WORKED FOR - not professors. We talk about this here: https://essaysnark.com/2012/03/academic-recommendations/ -- and even though it says that it's OK to do so if you're coming straight from another academic program, we would STRONGLY recommend that you find people to write your recs who are in the more traditional employee/supervisor relationship with you, if you can.

No matter what, you clearly have a lot to offer to a bschool program. How you build out your pitch will be important, but there's plenty to like in your profile. And the schools you're targeting are very reasonable and open-minded in terms of how they look at candidates. If you have specific questions we can help with, please don't hesitate to reach out - and good luck with it Davide!!

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by Davide » Mon Apr 08, 2013 8:29 pm
The thing about recommendations is that I might try to get one of them from the world outside academia, but that would not be as strong as the one written by my supervisor; I always thought that one of the most important aspects in a recommendation letter (when applying to MBA programs) is that the person who is recommending you should know you in depth, also proving a "long" relationship with you: this is why I opted for two recommendations from professors (actually, at doctoral level, they are more of a supervisor in terms of relationship, rather then a professor). If this could become a serious weakness in my profile, I would try to get a second recommendation letter from someone outside the academic word.
I am also aware that I might look like a degree collector, but being an MBA is my dream, I just don't know how to highlight this aspect in my profile; I want to move from the academic sector to the real world, and after the MBA I won't look for other degrees, I will only get into the working world. To convince the adcoms of this is a totally different problem, and I honestly don't know how to elaborate a plan to show them that I am not a degree collector.
I also don't know how to build out my application, and I know that building it out in the right way is a critical issue...

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by essaysnark » Tue Apr 09, 2013 7:02 am
You're right in your understanding of the criteria for choosing a recommender - you want someone to talk about how you perform, and that can only come from working extensively with a person over time. The problem is the type of work that you do in academia isn't exactly comparable to a business function. We'd encourage you to have one recommender from business if at all possible (but only if that person can say something valuable, based on his/her experiences with you). Duration and quality of relationship does trump this so it's up to you to choose who's best to support you.

We've worked with plenty of candidates in your position before and it can be tricky to "prove" that you're not a degree collector - but it can be done! You'll need to do a lot of strategizing around how to bring in evidence of that. Saying that the MBA is your "dream" just isn't compelling. (An especially snarky post on this topic is here: https://essaysnark.com/2010/07/what-is-readiness-part-1/ )

The good news is you're choosing schools that are flexible in terms of what they seek in their students. These programs have competitive admissions, but not unreasonably so. You may want to reach out to the schools themselves and see what kind of feedback you get from them. Definitely visit the schools if you can, that can provide immense value, and also network within the respective school communities (talking to current students and alumni) - you'll get great insights from that and it can be invaluable in understanding what an MBA can do for you.

And of course, if we can help, let us know!
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by Davide » Thu Apr 11, 2013 5:21 pm
I was wondering, since I will apply to bschools in R1 next year and I have enough time at the moment, if I should also consider a couple more programs, namely a stretch one (LBS-Judge-INSEAD) and a safe (Manchester-Cass)...

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by essaysnark » Fri Apr 12, 2013 5:57 am
Not understanding how the question fits in with the fact that you're not applying till next year, but sure, if you're interested in those schools, you should apply to them. It's good to target a spectrum of different programs.
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by Davide » Fri Apr 12, 2013 8:03 pm
Actually, I am applying next year: my point was that I think I have enough time to cope with 4-5 application processes, and that's why I was asking whether I should apply to some "stretch" programs as well (let's say, in addition to Oxford-Cranfield-Bocconi), such as LBS or INSEAD. Eventually, my question was something like "do I have any chances there?", so I'm sorry if I put it in the wrong way.

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by abhi0syal » Mon Apr 15, 2013 1:50 am
Hi,

You seem to have quite many years of experience.

How about exec MBA?

Or maybe, IMD - they seem to favour greater no. of years!

(IMD is one of the best in innovation in management, + management of innovation )

Hope it helps !
Abhishek

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by essaysnark » Mon Apr 15, 2013 6:00 am
@Davide, LBS and INSEAD are both more competitive than the original schools you named, but your 690 GMAT is in range for them (higher is always better, of course). The same issues will apply for you re: work experience. We can't really answer the "what are my chances" question in this limited format (at risk of being shamelessly self-promotional, you could always look into our Comprehensive Profile Review https://essaysnark.com/tutorial/comprehe ... le-review/ ).

You definitely have enough time to pull together apps to multiple schools so you're doing everything right so far! Let us know if we can help.

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by Davide » Wed Apr 17, 2013 9:57 am
@abhi0syal: in my humble opinion, I am exactly in the opposite situation, ie I lack work experience since the three years spent getting my Ph.D. won't count for many b-schools. So no, I honestly don't think that EMBA might be a real option in this case. It is also possible that I am not aware of the EMBA admission criteria and that my profile might fit, in which case I'd be glad to hear more about it.

@essaysnark: thanks, right now I am trying to a) get in touch with some successful applicants at Said-Cranfield-SDAB-IMD, and I feel I'll do the same for LBS and INSEAD, and b) submit my profile for informal assessment from these b-schools. I also think I should start focusing on recommendation letters...

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by essaysnark » Wed Apr 17, 2013 10:04 am
Sounds like a great plan so far, Davide - talking to students/alumni can be a huge help in identifying school fit etc. You definitely can be queuing up recommenders too though it's often helpful to wait until your app strategy is mapped out before having the 'real' conversation with them about what they should be focusing on, respectively. You'll want to have your application theme identified and then you'll be in a better position to brainstorm with the recommenders on angles/positioning for them to discuss.

Agreed re: the EMBA; you're not really in a position to benefit from those programs.

Keep us posted on how things go for you in the research phase and let us know if we can help!
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by abhi0syal » Thu Apr 18, 2013 1:17 am
David,

yes - the way you put it - true - the B-schools would not consider that you have the 'real-world' experience.

so, think about what you have done outside academics - any project or volunteering - or even your hobbies.

that would add color to your profile + coupled with a clear goal (since your work-ex doesnt define clarity of why a business school!) should definitely help you get in.

Let me know in case you want to discuss specific points - I can help you fix a consultation and we can help you in research leg-work on matching your profile with the b-schools~!
Abhishek

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by abhi0syal » Thu Apr 18, 2013 1:18 am
Also, I don't think many schools will give an informal reply as such - they will definitely encourage you to apply ! :-)
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by Davide » Fri Apr 19, 2013 7:24 am
Well, abhi0syal, I hope to receive some informal assessments, otherwise I don't know how to assess my chances to get accepted. In addition, my lack of work experience might force admission offices to advise me to gain more WE before applying.

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by abhi0syal » Fri Apr 19, 2013 10:40 pm
Davide,

I am not discouraging you ! You should definitely go ahead - but do so at those schools which say explicitly that they do give free assessments or help you out - (I think IE may be one of them ! )

Otherwise, I would rather check out profiles of past students ( and see if there's anyone close to yours) and connect with them - this is also one of the things what I did to get into MIT Sloan.

:-)
Abhishek

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