Please review my profile: Indonesian/ Female/ 24/ GMAT 700

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Hi!

I seek your wise advice on my chance of getting in to a top MBA program in the states.

-Female
-Indonesian
-24 upon matriculation (Fall 2013)
-Graduated university when i was 20 years old, enrolled in expedited program in high school.
-Graduated from University of Washington, Accounting and Finance BA. (Overall GPA 3.56/4.00, major GPA 3.34/4.00) never really like accounting.
- 4 solid years of Working Experience.
- GMAT: 1st try 680 (47Q/36V), 2nd try 700 (49Q/36V)
- Current role: investor relation manager at a mini multinational manufacturing company (1000+ employees, site in Indo & China)
leading a team of 5 people.
- International work experience: not much, part time in the states doing accounting work, worked for student news paper as sales executive. But i travel a lot for business ideas and opportunities
- Start up experience: working with a partner to create an online platform for affordable shopping for young professionals (mainly clothing items from local designers)
- Side hobby: brand adviser, project by project basis

- Extracurricular:
--> While i was still in college : 1) Beta Alpha Psi VP of professional Activities, in charged of weekly meeting, BAP career fair, 2) VITA volunteer, help people do their income tax, 3) i volunteered weekly at a food bank near where i live

--> After college : 1) taught english at an orphanage for a month three times a week, 2) financed a child for her high school tuition, 3) initiated a mentor-ship program for poor children who aspired to go to college trough an organization called "sahabat anak" 4) sporadically organized an outing event with the same organization to motivate kids to stay out of the street and do good in school (I am pretty passionate about education for poor kids because my parents were once in their situation, nearly homeless)

Purpose for MBA: Career change to consulting and in the long run to start my own manufacturing company (FMCG)

Why now? because I enjoy my job too much (complacent) so i have to step up otherwise i will have more to lose ($$wise)

My target schools (applying for R2):

Farfetched --> UCB Haas, Cornell Johnson, Michigan Ross
More reasonable --> Duke Fuqua, Indiana Kelley
Even more reasonable --> Boston University, Boston College

What do you think? how do i improve my chance to get into my "farfetched" category? Your wise comment will be much appreciated!

Regards,

FP
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by Jon@Admissionado » Mon Oct 08, 2012 6:55 am
Hey there FB, and thanks for posting here!

Overall, things look mighty good. Female with an excellent GMAT, good grades, Indonesian, and most importantly with REAL team leadership. No reason why that shouldn't take.

You also have enough good solid extras to tell good stories and present a diverse profile.

Your goals may be very good ones for you, but strategy-wise for the AdCom, they may not be the best. It's something you need to think about - whether it's better for you to present a "career change" profile or a "career advancement" profile.

I think you can make schools even in your farfetched list, although I don't know why Duke is in the reasonable list, actually Duke (along with Haas) is probably one of the harder programs on your list to get into. But I feel that if you were to apply to all of the programs on your list (or one or two less) this endeavor should bear you some nice fruit.
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by iamFP » Mon Oct 08, 2012 8:04 pm
Hi Jon,

Thanks for the prompt reply and what an encouraging response you gave!
I probably underestimated Duke because I know several friends that got accepted there. But I will take your comment seriously regarding the difficulties.

I have one more concern and would appreciate your enlightenment on the matter. Regarding my professional career, I have been working for the same company for over 3 years pocketing two promotions along the way. The Company has given me opportunities to learn a lot about manufacturing, from operation, finance, human resources to marketing. Because I am currently holding the investor relation position i am pretty much very involve in a lot of big projects that might effect shareholder's investment decision. Most of the time, I also have a say on the final decision because i see things more objectively, for that i am very grateful. However,this company is no where near the size of the fortune 500, i am a bit worried of where i will stand against those people who come in from those giants.

My idea to position my story is to have the AdCom understand how involved i am with the decision making and because the Company is not as big as any of those fortune 500, i have more experience in different fields and can take on more leadership roles. What do you think of this? Do i have enough ground to stand against those from the fortune 500? Any better angle to bring up positive side of this situation?

Your advice is greatly appreciated!

Cheers.

FP

PS: I'm working for the biggest plastic manufacturing company in Indonesia and one of the biggest in south east Asia. Our brand is well known within the industry.

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by Jon@Admissionado » Tue Oct 09, 2012 2:23 am
First of all, although your firm is no "giant", still the "biggest plastic company in Indonesia" still sounds mighty impressive to my ears at least. And it is definitely something you should think about writing in both your resume and essays. Actually, with the exception of certain specific firms like McKinsey or PE firms, coming from a "big name" company is not necessarily a big advantage. On the contrary, it can often make for a relatively "standard" feeling application, and often people in huge firms like Microsoft are dealing with HUGE pools of competitors, and very limited opportunities for promotions, so it's not necessarily a disadvantage.

and of course you should be emphasizing the DEPTH of your involvement in the firm, this is one of the primary advantages of your job (or so it seems) and this insight you get from being so involved, is definitely something you want the AdCom to know you have.

Your instincts are good... just follow them...
"Hands down the best MBA admissions consulting firm of all-time, and boy, what an incredible founder!" -- Raj Patil, Founder of Admissionado

Something for everyone:
https://admissionado.lpages.co/admissio ... nter-2018/
https://admissionado.lpages.co/50-essay ... ked-vol-4/
https://admissionado.lpages.co/case-studies-lp/
https://admissionado.com/mba/reviews/
https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Admis ... 700945.htm

Reach out, and let's gab. Our only requirement is that you don't prefer warm milk over cold milk. Everyone else, 100% welcome.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 866-409-4753
Hit us up on WhatsApp.
Ping our satellite: 0884#&@-2#101101
Contact us via web form you lazy git: https://admissionado.com/contact/
Mostly, email Claudia.