Hi Stacey,
How are you doing? I am wondering if you could help evaluate my chances this coming fall.
GPA: 3.4, Electrical Engineering, UCLA
GMAT: 760 (51Q, 41V), AWA not available yet as I just took it.
Work Experience: 2.5 years when I apply. I've been working the same job since I graduated. I am an application engineer in telecommunication industry. I am based in a small sales & support office in California, while our business division headquarter and engineering center are in UK & India. Because of our office is small and the company is global, I get a lot of opportunities to be involved in all aspects of business operations domestically and globally. I travel all over North America visiting customers. I go to Europe a few times a year for trainings and meetings. I do a lot of presale demos and post-sale system integration/technical support. I give product training and technical seminars to customers and perspective customers. Sometimes I do some small scale R&D as side projects. And finally, I am also involved in product planning and marketing. My work itself is pretty diverse, but not really concentrated in an area.
Leadership Experience: Because my office is small, there aren't a lot of chances to get promotions. However, due to my personality and skillset, I sort of act as a de facto team leader, serving as a point of contact from our team (3 people) to customers, Europe/Asia, and middle/upper management. I am also pretty vocal so I tend to take charge in multi-person tasks. But in terms of actual managing experience, I don't have much, and it will be hard to obtain one in my current job capacity.
Extracurricular: none. I know this is going to hurt me big time here. My job involves a lot of travelling (>50%) and sometimes on weekend, so it's difficult to get involved in other things, especially with any dedication. Of course, I also didn't do much extracurricular activities during school, but I don't think I can do anything about that now.
Other background information: I am an Asian Engineer living on the west coast, so I am probably competing against thousands of other people just like me.
I did spend half of my childhood in Taiwan and have internship experience there. Coupling this with my current job gives me a pretty unique global perspective. I guess this is as good of a story as I can tell.
School of interests: UCLA, Stanford, and Berkeley.
I didn't pick a safety school because I am not sure if I am willing to invest the time and energy applying for one when I don't see myself attending it. I am not dead set on going to business school next year. If I can't get in a school of my choice, I would probably continue working in the industry (current job or another) to enrich my resume, and I will try again in a couple of years.
Thanks in advance for you help. I am mainly looking an evaluation on prospects and also if I could do anything to improve my chances.
Thanks again,
Daniel
How are you doing? I am wondering if you could help evaluate my chances this coming fall.
GPA: 3.4, Electrical Engineering, UCLA
GMAT: 760 (51Q, 41V), AWA not available yet as I just took it.
Work Experience: 2.5 years when I apply. I've been working the same job since I graduated. I am an application engineer in telecommunication industry. I am based in a small sales & support office in California, while our business division headquarter and engineering center are in UK & India. Because of our office is small and the company is global, I get a lot of opportunities to be involved in all aspects of business operations domestically and globally. I travel all over North America visiting customers. I go to Europe a few times a year for trainings and meetings. I do a lot of presale demos and post-sale system integration/technical support. I give product training and technical seminars to customers and perspective customers. Sometimes I do some small scale R&D as side projects. And finally, I am also involved in product planning and marketing. My work itself is pretty diverse, but not really concentrated in an area.
Leadership Experience: Because my office is small, there aren't a lot of chances to get promotions. However, due to my personality and skillset, I sort of act as a de facto team leader, serving as a point of contact from our team (3 people) to customers, Europe/Asia, and middle/upper management. I am also pretty vocal so I tend to take charge in multi-person tasks. But in terms of actual managing experience, I don't have much, and it will be hard to obtain one in my current job capacity.
Extracurricular: none. I know this is going to hurt me big time here. My job involves a lot of travelling (>50%) and sometimes on weekend, so it's difficult to get involved in other things, especially with any dedication. Of course, I also didn't do much extracurricular activities during school, but I don't think I can do anything about that now.
Other background information: I am an Asian Engineer living on the west coast, so I am probably competing against thousands of other people just like me.
I did spend half of my childhood in Taiwan and have internship experience there. Coupling this with my current job gives me a pretty unique global perspective. I guess this is as good of a story as I can tell.
School of interests: UCLA, Stanford, and Berkeley.
I didn't pick a safety school because I am not sure if I am willing to invest the time and energy applying for one when I don't see myself attending it. I am not dead set on going to business school next year. If I can't get in a school of my choice, I would probably continue working in the industry (current job or another) to enrich my resume, and I will try again in a couple of years.
Thanks in advance for you help. I am mainly looking an evaluation on prospects and also if I could do anything to improve my chances.
Thanks again,
Daniel
