Profile evaluation: "older" female applicant

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Dear Stacy:

I would appreciate your feedback regarding my chances at being admitted at UNC or Duke.
My UGPA is 3.91 and GGPA is 3.5 at top 20 engineering school. I have both BS & MS in Computer Science and 15 years of experience as a SW engineer. I am currently studying for GMAT, so I have no idea what will be my score.
I know, I am "old", will be 40 entering 2010 semester. But, I am also a mother of a preschooler and I have no intention of working and going to school, so full-time is the only option for me. This decision has been prompted by my layoff, which allowed me to actually go back to school as a full time student. I wouldn't quit my job voluntarily to go back to school.

My grad school transcript says that I withdrew from the University half way. That is because I had a serious medical condition, followed by a divorce. Should I say that in my optional essay, or just let it slide since I did get my MS?

Now, in my defense, I had lots of ups and downs in my life. I came to the US in the middle of war in Yugoslavia. I grew up in communism, so "business" was not even a word in my vocabulary back then. I took me a while to realize that I like business so much better than programming. Once I realized that, I put my ambitions on hold so I can be a mother to my young child. Now, close to 40, I am ready to work on my education again.

How should I approach all my obvious weaknesses during the admission process?

Thank you for your feedback.
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by Brett N » Wed Sep 23, 2009 7:07 am
Just be honest and open about your experiences in your application and talk about how these experiences will make you a great candidate for their school. I know a mother of two who graduated from Tuck last year.

As for some of your weaker areas, I wouldn't talk about them too much. Everyone has weaknesses and you can talk about things that happened in your past but try to bridge them into something positive.

You want professional help in doing this, feel free to contact me directly.
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by dragoljubce » Wed Sep 23, 2009 7:33 am
Thank you Brent for encouraging feedback.

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by TomV » Thu Sep 24, 2009 6:22 am
We've noticed that profile evaluation requests are common on this site so we created a free profile evaluation system on our website ivyappsuccess.com. Now you can easily submit your personal information on our website and we will send you a reply via email within a day.

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