Chances for Harvard or UCLA

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Chances for Harvard or UCLA

by Stockmoose16 » Wed Nov 19, 2008 5:19 pm
Hello,

Can you give me your evaluation on my chances of getting into Harvard, UCLA, Duke, Stanford, UT-Austin, and USC?

Here's my profile:


Bio:
-Male
-Caucasian
-27 y/o
-Residing in Los Angeles

Undergrad:
-Syracuse University '03
-GPA: 3.97 (double major in Television, Radio, Film and Finance)
-Valedictorian/Class Marshal/Commencement speaker
-Summa Cum Laude
-Dean's Scholar every semester in both schools
-Finalist, Ball State University National Business Plan Competition
-Studied abroad in London for a semester

GMAT:
-690 (44Q/41V)

Job experience:
- 5 years working in scripted television as writers' assistant (Los Angeles)
-Worked on a few of hit TV shows: "Will & Grace," "The Starter Wife," "What I Like about You"

I'm concerned that my low GMAT combined with my unusual work experience will hurt me. Will Adcoms understand that working in scripted television means spending years at the assistant level, doing menial tasks such as answering phones, making binders, and updating calendars?

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by Cindy Tokumitsu » Thu Nov 20, 2008 6:23 am
Hello,

Thank you for your inquiry. I believe that your relatively low GMAT will be largely mitigated your very strong undergrad performance (congratulations!).

Your unusual work experience has both pros and cons: con is what you mentioned, not high level of responsibility (I think adcoms will have an idea of this level but won’t have detailed knowledge, though your resume will clarify/reveal that point); pros are differentiated industry/experience, familiarity with top TV shows. The challenge and opportunity for you is to turn this experience into a clear positive, especially if it relates to your goals. Do that by discussing what you learned/gained from the experience (whether skills, industry knowledge, personal growth, etc.) – which also will provide something fresh for the adcom readers, who don’t see a lot of apps from this industry and especially from this part of it. That said, HBS and Stanford seem a little out of range, but I can’t tell without further probing into the specifics of your profile/background.

Cindy Tokumitsu
Senior Editor, Accepted.com
www.Accepted.com

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by Stockmoose16 » Thu Nov 20, 2008 11:12 am
cindytokumitsu wrote:Hello,

Thank you for your inquiry. I believe that your relatively low GMAT will be largely mitigated your very strong undergrad performance (congratulations!).

Your unusual work experience has both pros and cons: con is what you mentioned, not high level of responsibility (I think adcoms will have an idea of this level but won’t have detailed knowledge, though your resume will clarify/reveal that point); pros are differentiated industry/experience, familiarity with top TV shows. The challenge and opportunity for you is to turn this experience into a clear positive, especially if it relates to your goals. Do that by discussing what you learned/gained from the experience (whether skills, industry knowledge, personal growth, etc.) – which also will provide something fresh for the adcom readers, who don’t see a lot of apps from this industry and especially from this part of it. That said, HBS and Stanford seem a little out of range, but I can’t tell without further probing into the specifics of your profile/background.

Cindy Tokumitsu
Senior Editor, Accepted.com
www.Accepted.com
Cindy,

Could you please further comment on why you think Harvard and Stanford are out of range for me? Doesn't it matter that I was valedictorian of my college? And my GMAT (690) is certainly within range for either of those schools (though slightly below). Since Harvard and Stanford see few applicants from the tv industry, shouldn't that give me advantage over the throngs of bankers and IT professionals?