Cadidacy Assessment prior enlisted U.S. Navy

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Hi All,
I was wondering if you guys could give me an assessment

Bio Stats:
Filipino/Italian Male 29yo

GMAT: 640 on practice tests. Taking Exam in Late December.

Quick CV

1999-2005 Navy Nuclear Senior Reactor Operator. Served my country while gaining invaluable technical and leadership experience. Consistently ranked top 10 in a division of 63. Received 2 early promotions. Put my wife through Berkeley on a junior enlisted salary. Led Maintenance and Operations Teams.

2005-2010 Received my Bachelors in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Berkeley with an emphasis on Digital Design and Robotics with a 3.14 GPA.

2010- Manufacturing Supervisor - Solar Panel Manufacturing Start-up. Primarily, I lead a team of 8 junior engineers. We tackle efficiency and safety issues by engineering solutions to various problems. I also own the most sensitive instrumentation in the Factory. I solve various day to day issues such as training, troubleshooting, audits and maintenance practices. Lastly, I work on projects. Currently, I am developing safety teams for each shift as well as a factory safety team. I have also been working on several efficiency projects that have had reduced man-hours spent on tool maintenance.

Passions: Energy, American Manufacturing (yes we can still build things!!!), and the Environment
Extracurricular: None. I work 14hr days and I can barley study and be a Dad (1 week old infant)
Other Languages: None. Sadly, I never made the time.

The direction that I want to go in is technical management and I believe that an MBA is the best way for me to reach it?

I want to attend the Berkeley or UCLA Part Time Programs with SCU or Davis as a fallback and I am applying to R2.

Is this realistic?
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by paulsbodine » Wed Nov 17, 2010 4:38 pm
Tony,

Very distinctive background; you will certainly stand out from the pack, both professionally and personally. Your leadership is also good. The numbers (GMAT, GPA) are a significant problem, the extracurriculars less so. I don't know that you *need* an MBA to get into technical management, but certainly it would help (especially if you got one from Haas or UCLA). I agree that targeting Haas and UCLA part-time programs is the way to go given your profile. I would call your odds at Haas 'long shot'; more doable at UCLA but still a reach. The trick would be to get them to focus on your accomplishments and unusualness and convince them you can handle their program despite low numbers. I have worked with clients with a 640 who got into schools like Cornell.

Hope this helps,
--Paul
Paul Bodine
Author, "Great Applications for Business School," "Perfect Phrases for Business School Acceptance," "Perfect Phrases for Letters of Recommendation"
https://www.paulsbodine.com/
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by TonyDeMarco » Sat Nov 20, 2010 12:47 am
Paul,

Thank you so much for your advice. Unfortunately, Cal has a very low mean in Electrical Engineering which tends to put it's students at a disadvantage. As for my GMAT, I think that I can raise it. I haven't taken the actual GMAT yet. I have about 5 weeks to take it and I'm studying pretty hard. I have a pretty great job and have no intention of leaving, so It has to be a Bay Area Part Time Program.

If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to ask you a couple of questions . . .

What are your thoughts on the other part time programs in the Bay Area (UC Davis, Babson and Santa Clara University)?
What score do I need to be competitive?

Thank you Paul,
Tony

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by paulsbodine » Sat Nov 20, 2010 4:23 pm
Tony,

A 640 would be (just) competitive at UC Davis's full-time, and very solid at Babson and Santa Clara (you're certainly competitive at both, full-time). So for these schools' part-time programs, you could be pretty optimistic...

--Paul
Paul Bodine
Author, "Great Applications for Business School," "Perfect Phrases for Business School Acceptance," "Perfect Phrases for Letters of Recommendation"
https://www.paulsbodine.com/
[email protected]
(858) 869-1959