Hello,
I have been trying to get some help with regards to understanding the possibilities of my application. My circumstances are quite unique, so a lot of the advice that I have read has not been directly helpful.
I am a junior from an underrepresented country in Asia, in a top five undergraduate business program with a concentration in entrepreneurship. In my first semester of enrollment, my father's health issues which had led my family business to accumulate large losses over the past 4 years increased - to the point that I had to take a managerial role in the company. In the following 2 years, I restructured the company, selling off and re-investing major assets, restaffing the entire company (it had only one employee at the beginning), and transforming it from suffering hundreds of thousands of dollars per month to profiting and bringing a steady income to my family. This helped to alleviate my father's stressful condition, and after returning to my studies in a focused manner, I have found that my cumulative GPA is down to 2.8.
The conclusion of the matter is that I sucessfully took hold of a small private firm, family owned, and suceeded in restructuring it for profit (my title was and is Managing Director).
I have estimated that my GPA should be approximately a 3.5 by the end of my fall semester, senior year - which is when I want to apply for the programs (listed below).
There are two important issues to bear in mind.
First, I have a dual interest in public policy and business. With regard to this, I wish to work in the education sector of my government in order to help restructure the failing public education that my country has. Due to the bureacracy in my country, I am an exceptional candidate because of my family's governmental legacy (my grandfather was a major minister).
Secondly, the latest that I will be able to apply for programs in is 2011. This is because I am set to take over a CEO position in a real estate firm (also family owned) within the next 5-7 years (the firm is worth approximately $200 million).
Due to these reasons, I have decided to apply to the following schools and programs for the fall of 2010 and 2011 (in order of interest):
1. Harvard: I would be satisfied with either the HBS or KSG school's programs, and particularly with the daul MPP and MBA program which I wish to apply for.
2. MIT: Again, two programs - MSRED and MBA, but I would be satisfied with either.
3. Stanford: MBA
4. Yale: MBA
5. Foreign MBA's (LBS, LSE, Oxford, Cambridge)
Further, I am considering undertaking an accelerated masters program in the political science and economics field, which would therefore make me graduate a year later, allowing me to strengthen my academic qualities for admission for the fall of 2011.
Questions:
1. Does applying to a dual program affect the evaluation at the individual programs? If I apply to a dual program of HBS and KSG, will HBS look at me differently? How will it affect things? If this could be detrimental, I may apply to the schools individually and not for the dual programs.
2. What do you feel are my strengths and weaknesses?
3. Should I mention the CEO position that I am being trained for in the larger firm? Would this help my applications, in showing that I will hopefully have the [i]opportunity[/i] for major sucess?
4. Should I mention my political aspirations to the MBA programs? Remmember, this was work in the education section of my government, for the purpose of giving back to my community.
5. How would the programs see my undergraduate GPA, with the knowledge of my almost unavoidable need to take over my small family business? Bear in mind that I intend the transcript from my undergraduate studies to have a cumulative of 3.5, a 2.8 in the first two years, and strong grades in complex economics and statistics courses in my final two years.
6. Since I had the intention of enrolling in the accelerated master's program, I am considering applying to these schools twice - once for the fall of 2010 (showing only undergraduate grades) and once for the fall of 2011 (showing completed undergraduate grades, possibly a 3.6, along with high graduate grades in a quantitative program). Is this a good idea, to increase my chances? Or should I hold off until 2011, limiting my opportunities for applying to once to each school?
I apologise for the long post. I have been trying to get help from the excellent online communities and hope that in the future I will also be able to help other newcomers.
I have been trying to get some help with regards to understanding the possibilities of my application. My circumstances are quite unique, so a lot of the advice that I have read has not been directly helpful.
I am a junior from an underrepresented country in Asia, in a top five undergraduate business program with a concentration in entrepreneurship. In my first semester of enrollment, my father's health issues which had led my family business to accumulate large losses over the past 4 years increased - to the point that I had to take a managerial role in the company. In the following 2 years, I restructured the company, selling off and re-investing major assets, restaffing the entire company (it had only one employee at the beginning), and transforming it from suffering hundreds of thousands of dollars per month to profiting and bringing a steady income to my family. This helped to alleviate my father's stressful condition, and after returning to my studies in a focused manner, I have found that my cumulative GPA is down to 2.8.
The conclusion of the matter is that I sucessfully took hold of a small private firm, family owned, and suceeded in restructuring it for profit (my title was and is Managing Director).
I have estimated that my GPA should be approximately a 3.5 by the end of my fall semester, senior year - which is when I want to apply for the programs (listed below).
There are two important issues to bear in mind.
First, I have a dual interest in public policy and business. With regard to this, I wish to work in the education sector of my government in order to help restructure the failing public education that my country has. Due to the bureacracy in my country, I am an exceptional candidate because of my family's governmental legacy (my grandfather was a major minister).
Secondly, the latest that I will be able to apply for programs in is 2011. This is because I am set to take over a CEO position in a real estate firm (also family owned) within the next 5-7 years (the firm is worth approximately $200 million).
Due to these reasons, I have decided to apply to the following schools and programs for the fall of 2010 and 2011 (in order of interest):
1. Harvard: I would be satisfied with either the HBS or KSG school's programs, and particularly with the daul MPP and MBA program which I wish to apply for.
2. MIT: Again, two programs - MSRED and MBA, but I would be satisfied with either.
3. Stanford: MBA
4. Yale: MBA
5. Foreign MBA's (LBS, LSE, Oxford, Cambridge)
Further, I am considering undertaking an accelerated masters program in the political science and economics field, which would therefore make me graduate a year later, allowing me to strengthen my academic qualities for admission for the fall of 2011.
Questions:
1. Does applying to a dual program affect the evaluation at the individual programs? If I apply to a dual program of HBS and KSG, will HBS look at me differently? How will it affect things? If this could be detrimental, I may apply to the schools individually and not for the dual programs.
2. What do you feel are my strengths and weaknesses?
3. Should I mention the CEO position that I am being trained for in the larger firm? Would this help my applications, in showing that I will hopefully have the [i]opportunity[/i] for major sucess?
4. Should I mention my political aspirations to the MBA programs? Remmember, this was work in the education section of my government, for the purpose of giving back to my community.
5. How would the programs see my undergraduate GPA, with the knowledge of my almost unavoidable need to take over my small family business? Bear in mind that I intend the transcript from my undergraduate studies to have a cumulative of 3.5, a 2.8 in the first two years, and strong grades in complex economics and statistics courses in my final two years.
6. Since I had the intention of enrolling in the accelerated master's program, I am considering applying to these schools twice - once for the fall of 2010 (showing only undergraduate grades) and once for the fall of 2011 (showing completed undergraduate grades, possibly a 3.6, along with high graduate grades in a quantitative program). Is this a good idea, to increase my chances? Or should I hold off until 2011, limiting my opportunities for applying to once to each school?
I apologise for the long post. I have been trying to get help from the excellent online communities and hope that in the future I will also be able to help other newcomers.
