Ask mbaMission

Dear MBA Mission, would you please take a look at my profile?

Background
Age: 25
GMAT: Male
Nationality: Thai-Taiwanese
UG: Double Major in two engineering degrees from UC Berkeley (GPA 3.55)
GMAT: 690 (Q 48, V 37)

Work Experience
-3 Years, Process Integration Engineer at Top 10 semiconductor firm in Japan
-Support customers in process related issues during the development of computer chips
-Consult with fab (semiconductor factory) to decide on solutions/proposals and present them to customers

Extracurricular Activities/Leadership Experience
Undergrad
-Activities Officer for Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society
-Plan and organize over 50 events for TBP, including fun events, social networking, and professional workshops.

Post Undergrad
- Officer for Habitat for Humanity Japan
- Have been involved with Habitat for a long time (Went to Philippines twice to build houses back in high school, was president of community service club back then.)
- Continue participating in Habitat after arriving in Japan. I am in charge of running and planning the monthly meeting where we try to get more people involved in Habitat. I am also the official translator for Habitat in Japan. After my participation, the retention rate and participation rate in builds increased significantly.

Some Other Facts
-Lived in 4 different countries throughout career (Taiwan 12 years, Thailand 6 years, US 4 years, Japan 3 years)
-Able to speak quite a few languages. Mandarin (Native), English (Fluent), Japanese (Fluent), Thai (Basic), Taiwanese (Basic)

Weakness in Application
- Do not have a direct leadership role in work experience. I can talk about holding meetings and being influential to co-workers but do not have someone directly reporting to me.
- A slightly below average GMAT score for top schools

Post MBA
-Management position in semiconductor/consumer electronics industry (more specifically strategy) or management consulting
-Have a strong interest in working in Greater China region due to family and my language ability.

Target Schools
Columbia (Reach) ED/R1
Tuck (Reach) EA/R1
INSEAD (Reach) R1
Duke (Competitive) ED/R1
Ross (Competitive) R1
UCLA (Competitive) R2
USC (Competitive) R2
UT (Safety) R2
Other Schools in consideration: NYU, Cornell

Questions
1.Can you please comment on my school selections and my chances? I am having trouble to decide between Columbia and Duke ED round especially. Would love to hear some comments
2.Is there anything that stands out from my application that you would suggest me to focus on?
3.If leadership experience question comes along, should I focus on my Habitat role (where I made much greater impact) than my current job role?

Thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate any comments/insights.

Dear Lonewolf -

Thanks for reaching out to Ask mbaMission. I am going to take your questions one by one.

Questions:

1. Can you please comment on my school selections and my chances? I am having trouble to decide between Columbia and Duke ED round especially. Would love to hear some comments.

The number one consideration on ED rounds is really which school is more of your "dream school?" I will say that given your career interest in working in China, there may be a stronger alumni pull and brand equity for one over the other in China. My initial reaction is that Columbia is better known abroad. However, Fuqua, is building a campus outside of Shanghai. While I'm not sure it will be ready for classes anytime soon, I would do some more research comparing the schools directly (and keeping your goals in mind) in order to pick a school to aim for in the ED round.

The "careers" sections of each school's website should contain information on where recent alums are working geographically and the Chinese-based alumni numbers from each school.

As for the school selections you mention, I think you are correct in your stratification, and you may be more competitive at Tuck and Columbia than you think! By the way, your GMAT is fine; you are above the 80% threshold in both categories.

2. Is there anything that stands out from my application that you would suggest me to focus on?

A couple of items in your profile stand out. For an engineer, it seems you have had some interesting cross-functional roles. For example, how do you "support customers in process related issues"? Or, how do you work on proposals to customers? Any way that you can show the non-technical capacities you have can be helpful in rounding out your story. Remember, with two engineering degrees from Berkely and solid grades, the admissions committee will believe that you are strong technically - stress other facets of your personality and of your skill set.

Also, talk about what working in Japan has meant professionally - how have you been challenge and thrived in that country? Depending on the school, you might be one of a small group of people with professional experience in Japan!

Your community involvement is quite strong, especially since you are only 25. I would really flesh out your experiences in different countries and in different roles with Habitat.

Lastly, your experiences living in four countries are major assets! Share with the admissions committee how you have adapted in different cultures. Show how you are a global citizen. Your language skills are unique and can help in stories of when you have used them professionally or personally, and they impact your career goal of working in China.

3. If leadership experience question comes along, should I focus on my Habitat role (where I made much greater impact) than my current job role?

I think that makes sense. Again, most 25-year-old engineers have not accomplished this type of leadership.

But, I would press on your recommenders (especially the professional ones) to talk about how you were a leader upwards or laterally in some situations. Please remember that leadership and influence are not solely dependent on managing someone. There are ways to exert influence in a team, and I would ask you to dig deeper and see if you can remember a time you did more than was asked of you, or played devil's advocate to challenge the status quo, etc. These can mean you were a leader - just not one based on an organizational chart!

I hope you find this helpful.

Best of luck to you,
Jennifer

Dear Jennifer,

Thank you so much for your insights. They are really helpful and I am currently going through the thinking process on my own to form a better application.

Thank you once again.


Sincerely,
Nit