Profile evaluation for dark horse, please

[gmatfin]

Numbers are slightly fudged for anonymity...

3.5 from a top 25 undergrad
.

I'm having a difficult time figuring out where I would be a competitive candidate, since I don't fit the typical app profile at all. Any evaluation of my chances, however blunt, would be nice.

[Jon@Admissionado]

Actually from what you wrote, you don't seem like such a "dark horse" at that. Being a head teacher is most excellent. As is starting a sports team (though we need more info here - what is this team? a professional sports team? something else?) Also we'd need to get more info from you i.e. country of origin, GMAT, leadership experience (i.e. how many you led as head teacher). But to be honest your profile seems very interesting and unique, plus with a 730 GMAT, you are in preeeeetty good shape there. Your largest obstacle is likely to be your age.

One last note r.e. your goals: Given that there are like a million applicants who are coming from tech and have tech goals, you might want to rethink "going into high tech" as a goal. There'll just be too many applicants with far better tech experience, who can weave a better story. Connect your goals to your career history, and it will make your application a whole lot smoother.

[gmatfin]

Thanks for your time.

Some more info: I'm American, male

[Jon@Admissionado]

Well you don't need to CHANGE your goals, it's just a question of what angle are you gonna take.

You COULD present it as "I have tech goals" but than as an AdCom member I would raise a skeptic eyebrow or two.

If, on the other hand, you tell me, I have goals in Education(al technology) and all I need to do is fill in some tech gaps, then your story starts to make a whole lot of sense.

[PrepMBA.AlexLeventhal]

Hi gmatfin,

You are indeed a dark horse from my perspective, but there are also fewer of you applying, so it is what it is. I would not worry about that.

And education technology is a hot area, so I think your high tech marriage with education is very attractive.

Given your age, you will be more on the hook versus the average applicant to clearly define your short and long term goals.

Your GMAT is a plus. Was that your first time taking the test and is there any meat left on that quant bone?

Where did you do your undergrad if you feel comfortable sharing?

Alex

[gmatfin]

Thanks for the feedback. To answer some of your questions:

My undergrad was done at a private school similar in reputation to Notre Dame.

That was my first time taking the gmat and I think there are some more points on the table with both quant and verbal on the gmat. I was expecting to have to take it again because I felt like I was still learning a lot in quant (didn't even start 3 of the mgmat quant guides) and hadn't done much extra work on verbal since it is a strong area. I am considering taking it again, but I think I may have a time management problem w/ essays, etc.

I'm still having a tough time figuring out where I would be competitive at, given my non-traditional profile. Here is what I'm guessing:

Super Reach:

Harvard
Stanford
Wharton
Chicago
Columbia
Haas
MIT
Northwestern
London

Reach:

Dartmouth
Yale
NYU
Duke
Virginia
Michigan
Cornell
UCLA

Target:

Tepper
UNC
USC
Georgetown

Safety:

?

Any feedback on this list? It would be much appreciated. I would like to apply to all, but I guess I am going to just try to choose 8-12 so my recommenders don't hate me. I want to make sure I get in somewhere as I'm not getting any younger, so I think applying to only 4-6 schools would be too risky.

[Jon@Admissionado]

A relatively rough estimate, but here is our adjusted list:

Super Reach:

Harvard
Stanford
London

Reach:
Wharton
Chicago
Columbia
MIT
Northwestern
Dartmouth
Duke
Virginia



Target:
NYU
Yale
Michigan
Cornell
UCLA
Haas
Tepper


Safety:
UNC
USC
Georgetown