I was wondering what you all thought about my chances to get into HBS, Stanford and Wharton. My impression would be that I've got a very solid chance of getting accepted at Columbia, MIT, U-Chicago, etc, but that I might have some trouble going up against the superstars fighting for spots at HBS and Stanford.
UG: Dartmouth/Cornell/Brown w/ 3.50 GPA majors IR & Chinese. Studied abroad at Tsinghua (best uni in china) and had excellent internships in technology and consulting during UG.
GMAT: 730, skewed towards verbal, but still respectable in Q
Work Experience:
(1) after graduating in 2008, I spent 3 months as summer analyst at best in class real estate private equity and development firm in London. I got great training and traveled extensively throughout Europe. This firm, unlike the majority of my experience, has a well respected name (think Carlyle Group)
(2) After London I moved to Beijing/Shanghai, where I live now. I've been here almost 3 years now, working at a small private equity firm focused on making investments in real estate throughout mainland China. I've executed deals across the country and become fluent (or very close) in mandarin Chinese (I'm a white guy). I was promoted from analyst to associate after 2 years. THE ONLY TWO PROBLEMS WITH THIS EXPERIENCE are that (a) our firm is new and essentially unknown in the U.S. even though it's owned by U.S. citizens (b) while we've had some success and are growing, we still have small AUM of under 200m which admittedly could be considered "bush league".
EXTRA CURRICULAR / Leadership:
(1) actively involved in my Uni's club here in China (no formal position, but I could get one if I asked) and I am also a counselor to the kids who come over and study abroad in China in the program. I am in close contact with all the profs etc.
(2) basically nothing else... but i could add something if need be. I have plenty of money and resources around... the problem is I want to apply in 5 months time.
Anyways, sorry for the long winded post, but I wanted to give you the best possible outline of my profile. The central question is HOW IMPORTANT is the NAME RECOGNITION of the firm where you work? Ostensibly working in PE in China is about the best possible pre-mba experience you could ask for... but I'm afraid that the size / relatively lack of prestige of my firm might destroy my chances.
Thanks,
UG: Dartmouth/Cornell/Brown w/ 3.50 GPA majors IR & Chinese. Studied abroad at Tsinghua (best uni in china) and had excellent internships in technology and consulting during UG.
GMAT: 730, skewed towards verbal, but still respectable in Q
Work Experience:
(1) after graduating in 2008, I spent 3 months as summer analyst at best in class real estate private equity and development firm in London. I got great training and traveled extensively throughout Europe. This firm, unlike the majority of my experience, has a well respected name (think Carlyle Group)
(2) After London I moved to Beijing/Shanghai, where I live now. I've been here almost 3 years now, working at a small private equity firm focused on making investments in real estate throughout mainland China. I've executed deals across the country and become fluent (or very close) in mandarin Chinese (I'm a white guy). I was promoted from analyst to associate after 2 years. THE ONLY TWO PROBLEMS WITH THIS EXPERIENCE are that (a) our firm is new and essentially unknown in the U.S. even though it's owned by U.S. citizens (b) while we've had some success and are growing, we still have small AUM of under 200m which admittedly could be considered "bush league".
EXTRA CURRICULAR / Leadership:
(1) actively involved in my Uni's club here in China (no formal position, but I could get one if I asked) and I am also a counselor to the kids who come over and study abroad in China in the program. I am in close contact with all the profs etc.
(2) basically nothing else... but i could add something if need be. I have plenty of money and resources around... the problem is I want to apply in 5 months time.
Anyways, sorry for the long winded post, but I wanted to give you the best possible outline of my profile. The central question is HOW IMPORTANT is the NAME RECOGNITION of the firm where you work? Ostensibly working in PE in China is about the best possible pre-mba experience you could ask for... but I'm afraid that the size / relatively lack of prestige of my firm might destroy my chances.
Thanks,
