Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant

Hello All,

I am interested in a profile evaluation, with my biggest concern being my work experience. I am a 24 year old, Caucasian male. I graduated from a Pac-12 school with a degree in finance (3.6 GPA). I was very involved in extra curriculars as a student and I now serve as an alumni mentor for finance undergrads. I scored a 710 on the GMAT last year and I am considering applying to several MBA programs for the class of 2016.

I just finished my 2nd year at a bank, working in valuation of a very boutique (and illiquid) asset class. If accepted, that would put my work experience at about 3.5 years at the time of matriculation. I have received a promotion (with another hopefully on the way), and nearly doubled my salary since starting at the bank. Outside of the bank, I work extensively with a start-up charity. I had a bit of experience with web design and I initially got involved with the charity building their website. My role evolved into fundraising from there (which went well). This year, I have been able to expand my role further as I will take on a leadership position within the organization.

I have started looking around at schools; reading about placements, post MBA careers, day in the lives of MBA students, and I feel myself wanting to move in a direction besides banking. Although I enjoy my work, it's not particularly fulfilling to me. I want to make a global impact, and I am particularly drawn to clean technology (solar, hydro etc). Because of this, I am looking hard at schools in California, I want to apply to Stanford, Cal Berkeley, UCLA and USC. My main concern about work experience is whether or not I have worked long enough? Also, given that I have no experience working in clean tech, will that make my story less persuasive? I had a consulting internship while I was doing my undergrad and I love the idea of working in some sort of strategy/internal consulting role from a sustainable growth perspective. I'm hoping to be able to leverage skills gained during that internship while pursuing an MBA and focus my efforts toward that type of career. Any help/evaluation would be much appreciated!

Thanks

Hi Sanchez,

If you intend to apply in your shortlisted b-schools, then I would suggest you wait for another year. During this time you may build your profile by leading a team, challenges you've overcome, professional achievements and adding other skills. This will help you in drafting your application essays and answering the adcoms during final interviews. However, you may try your chances in b-schools by clicking https://goo.gl/lhc05

Let me know in case of any further queries.

Regards
Erina

bsanchez wrote:Hello All,

I am interested in a profile evaluation, with my biggest concern being my work experience. I am a 24 year old, Caucasian male. I graduated from a Pac-12 school with a degree in finance (3.6 GPA). I was very involved in extra curriculars as a student and I now serve as an alumni mentor for finance undergrads. I scored a 710 on the GMAT last year and I am considering applying to several MBA programs for the class of 2016.

I just finished my 2nd year at a bank, working in valuation of a very boutique (and illiquid) asset class. If accepted, that would put my work experience at about 3.5 years at the time of matriculation. I have received a promotion (with another hopefully on the way), and nearly doubled my salary since starting at the bank. Outside of the bank, I work extensively with a start-up charity. I had a bit of experience with web design and I initially got involved with the charity building their website. My role evolved into fundraising from there (which went well). This year, I have been able to expand my role further as I will take on a leadership position within the organization.

I have started looking around at schools; reading about placements, post MBA careers, day in the lives of MBA students, and I feel myself wanting to move in a direction besides banking. Although I enjoy my work, it's not particularly fulfilling to me. I want to make a global impact, and I am particularly drawn to clean technology (solar, hydro etc). Because of this, I am looking hard at schools in California, I want to apply to Stanford, Cal Berkeley, UCLA and USC. My main concern about work experience is whether or not I have worked long enough? Also, given that I have no experience working in clean tech, will that make my story less persuasive? I had a consulting internship while I was doing my undergrad and I love the idea of working in some sort of strategy/internal consulting role from a sustainable growth perspective. I'm hoping to be able to leverage skills gained during that internship while pursuing an MBA and focus my efforts toward that type of career. Any help/evaluation would be much appreciated!

Thanks

bsanchez wrote:Hello All,

I am interested in a profile evaluation, with my biggest concern being my work experience. I am a 24 year old, Caucasian male. I graduated from a Pac-12 school with a degree in finance (3.6 GPA). I was very involved in extra curriculars as a student and I now serve as an alumni mentor for finance undergrads. I scored a 710 on the GMAT last year and I am considering applying to several MBA programs for the class of 2016.

I just finished my 2nd year at a bank, working in valuation of a very boutique (and illiquid) asset class. If accepted, that would put my work experience at about 3.5 years at the time of matriculation. I have received a promotion (with another hopefully on the way), and nearly doubled my salary since starting at the bank. Outside of the bank, I work extensively with a start-up charity. I had a bit of experience with web design and I initially got involved with the charity building their website. My role evolved into fundraising from there (which went well). This year, I have been able to expand my role further as I will take on a leadership position within the organization.

I have started looking around at schools; reading about placements, post MBA careers, day in the lives of MBA students, and I feel myself wanting to move in a direction besides banking. Although I enjoy my work, it's not particularly fulfilling to me. I want to make a global impact, and I am particularly drawn to clean technology (solar, hydro etc). Because of this, I am looking hard at schools in California, I want to apply to Stanford, Cal Berkeley, UCLA and USC. My main concern about work experience is whether or not I have worked long enough? Also, given that I have no experience working in clean tech, will that make my story less persuasive? I had a consulting internship while I was doing my undergrad and I love the idea of working in some sort of strategy/internal consulting role from a sustainable growth perspective. I'm hoping to be able to leverage skills gained during that internship while pursuing an MBA and focus my efforts toward that type of career. Any help/evaluation would be much appreciated!

Thanks

I think you should go for it this year if you're ready. You have a strong enough profile that these schools are worth a shot. If you think about it, it's hard to fundamentally change who you are in 12 months if you wait another year: chances are it's going to be incremental rather than transformational (and if it is transformational, it usually is in response to some exogenous, unexpected event: how you respond to a huge windfall, or a major tragedy in your life).

As for goals, that's less of an issue, since the majority of MBAs go to school precisely to make a significant career change. What the adcoms will be focusing on more is your raw talent and potential based on your past (your academics/GMAT, quality of work experience, what you've accomplished in your extracurriculars, etc.).

Also, you may want to add a few more schools. B-school admissions is a numbers game, and you want to apply to a sufficient number to maximize your odds. Maybe add 2 more schools to the list -- McCombs, Tepper, Ross. Yes, they're not in California, but you may want to expand beyond the state as well (and still end up working in California post-MBA).

Good luck

I think your profile is sufficiently strong now. As you have already mentioned show a natural path to clean tech based on your internship and that the fulfillment from that position leads you to your future goals. You also might identify a desire to stay in the financial functional area (if true) so you are only switching industries to clean tech. You might also look at some of the MBA Leadership programs in Energy.

PG&E has a MBA Leadership Program (https://www.pge.com/about/careers/college/mbaleadership/) and they recruit from only Ross, Chicago, Haas, Tuck, and UCLA so you might wish to add Ross, Chicago, and Tuck to your list.

Best of luck,