Ask mbaMission

Hi,

My profile: Male/Indonesian/25 Years old. Studied and now working in Singapore.

Undergrad study: Bachelor of Computer Engineering. Graduated with 1st class honor (GPA ~ 3.6). Dean's list.
GMAT: 730 (Q50/V38) / AWA 5.0

Work Experience:
- work as pre-sales consultant handling deals >75,000 USD at one of top IT company in the world.
- no of years: 3 (during application), 4 (during matriculation). Have been promoted 2 times, from trainee (after graduation) to associate consultant and then to consultant.
- Main responsibility: client facing activity such as requirement gathering, solution presentation, client discussion, client workshop, etc. I meet with people from various level such as staff, manager, director, and sometimes C-Level.
- International exposure: Handling regional market. I work with different clients from different countries (Indonesia, Vietnam, India, Pakistan, Malaysia) and I have to travel 20-50% of the time to those countries to meet the client and present the solution.

post-MBA career goal: management consulting

Extra curricular during school:
- VP of School Magazine in Junior College
- President of Student Union in Junior College
- Group Leader of Guitar Ensemble in University
- Stage Manager in Annual Concert in University
- etc

Extra curricular after graduate:
- Youth Music Team Leader in Church
- Music Director of Musical Theater for charity program
- Church Pianist
- Operation Smile charity program --> selling cards to donate to Operation Smile (Operation Smile is a children's charity treating facial deformities such as cleft lips and cleft palates all around the world).
- etc

What do you think of my chance of getting into HBS, Stanford, Wharton, Sloan, Kellogg and INSEAD?

Thank you!

Dear yongpau -

Thanks for your question. You have a strong, well-rounded profile. Academically and quantitatively, you are well within reach for the schools you mention.

I feel like your challenge will be to make your professional experiences "come to life". Your experiences working across the region are pretty interesting and might provide some good examples which will make you really stand out.

Additionally, I would encourage you to work with your recommenders to clearly have them state how you have been a good "face" for your company in your role. The more specific they can be, the better.

Be sure to also show your LEADERSHIP in the several extracurricular activities you describe. How have you led the volunteers you direct in singing? For example, how do you choose which charities the group supports? Or, how has your fundraising increased?

Lastly - is management consulting your short-term career goal or a longer-term goal as well? While statistically, many top MBA grads go into consulting, the admissions committees sometimes see this as a very generic goal. If you see management consulting as merely an entry point to a professional track in a certain industry, region, or functional area within a company, I suggest you share this.

HBS and Stanford are always very difficult to predict, but you are certainly within range for the other schools you mention.
Good luck!
Jennifer