Profile Evaluation - International Applicant from SE Asia

[ktlee1981]

Hi, I would appreciate an evaluation of my profile for the usual suspects (HBS, Stanford, Wharton, MIT Sloan, Columbia, Chicago Booth, and Tuck). Common thread for all of these is their strength in private equity/venture capital.

Stats:
Citizenship: Malaysia
Age: early thirties
University Education:
Bachelor of Arts, majoring in East Asian Studies, from a top-ranked Australian university
Bachelor of Law (graduated with Highest Honors), from a top-ranked Australian law school (feeder to the state supreme court and High Court of Australia, as well as the Australian equivalents to the U.S. top ranked Wall Street law firms)
GPA: 3.8 (U.S. equivalent based on WES evaluation)
GMAT: 760 (49Q/46V/6IR)
Professional Experience:
5+ years at a leading European investment management firm with around EUR35b in assets under management -- 2 years in Europe, 3+ years in Asia, experience advising investment teams on legal issues relating to investments in China, India, Southeast Asia, Australia, and Western Europe, currently leading a small team of 4 legal professionals in Asia. Steady upward career trajectory with 3 promotions in 5 years. Highly regarded by senior management at my firm for leadership, initiative and ability to "get impossible things done". My firm has sent a number of people on to Cornell and Columbia, but not that many to HBS, Stanford or Wharton (a few hires from there).
Extracurriculars:
After University: mentor, alumni association mentoring program -- mentoring law students and undergraduate humanities students in their career choices; committee member, regional alumni association in SE Asia -- organizing networking sessions, career mentoring for young professionals, etc.
During University: co-founded several student organizations, edited student yearbook, published short fiction in university literary magazines
Extras:
Passed CFA Level 1
Lots of travel in Australia, Asia and Europe
Interests include landscape photography, creative writing, martial arts
Languages: English (native), Chinese (working proficiency), Malay (working proficiency), Indonesian (basic working proficiency)
Post-MBA Goals:
Transition from private equity lawyer to private equity investor in Asia

Thank you very much!

[MBAPrepAdvantage]

You have a very strong profile and are competitive for your target schools. Age, though, might work against you for HBS and Stanford as they generally prefer applicants below 30. You need to show by actual responsibilities and accomplishments (in addition to promotions) your actual impact commensurate with your age.

Good luck,

[ErinaApphelp]

Hi,

Congratulations for your GMAT scores!!
You have a good profile and your target schools should be within your reach. I would suggest you to skillfully write application essays and exhibit leadership qualities, awards/achievements in or outside work place, ability to work with others and other aptitudes during the final interviews. Try your chances in b-school(s) by clicking https://goo.gl/onTKu.

To get some more clarity on b-school application process and inputs from top b-school grads, kindly attend the webinar conducted by b-school alumnus. For more information and to register your name, click https://tinyurl.com/orhuqum

Regards
Erina

Hi, I would appreciate an evaluation of my profile for the usual suspects (HBS, Stanford, Wharton, MIT Sloan, Columbia, Chicago Booth, and Tuck). Common thread for all of these is their strength in private equity/venture capital.

Stats:
Citizenship: Malaysia
Age: early thirties
University Education:
Bachelor of Arts, majoring in East Asian Studies, from a top-ranked Australian university
Bachelor of Law (graduated with Highest Honors), from a top-ranked Australian law school (feeder to the state supreme court and High Court of Australia, as well as the Australian equivalents to the U.S. top ranked Wall Street law firms)
GPA: 3.8 (U.S. equivalent based on WES evaluation)
GMAT: 760 (49Q/46V/6IR)
Professional Experience:
5+ years at a leading European investment management firm with around EUR35b in assets under management -- 2 years in Europe, 3+ years in Asia, experience advising investment teams on legal issues relating to investments in China, India, Southeast Asia, Australia, and Western Europe, currently leading a small team of 4 legal professionals in Asia. Steady upward career trajectory with 3 promotions in 5 years. Highly regarded by senior management at my firm for leadership, initiative and ability to "get impossible things done". My firm has sent a number of people on to Cornell and Columbia, but not that many to HBS, Stanford or Wharton (a few hires from there).
Extracurriculars:
After University: mentor, alumni association mentoring program -- mentoring law students and undergraduate humanities students in their career choices; committee member, regional alumni association in SE Asia -- organizing networking sessions, career mentoring for young professionals, etc.
During University: co-founded several student organizations, edited student yearbook, published short fiction in university literary magazines
Extras:
Passed CFA Level 1
Lots of travel in Australia, Asia and Europe
Interests include landscape photography, creative writing, martial arts
Languages: English (native), Chinese (working proficiency), Malay (working proficiency), Indonesian (basic working proficiency)
Post-MBA Goals:
Transition from private equity lawyer to private equity investor in Asia

Thank you very much!

[MBAApply]

Hi, I would appreciate an evaluation of my profile for the usual suspects (HBS, Stanford, Wharton, MIT Sloan, Columbia, Chicago Booth, and Tuck). Common thread for all of these is their strength in private equity/venture capital.

Stats:
Citizenship: Malaysia
Age: early thirties
University Education:
Bachelor of Arts, majoring in East Asian Studies, from a top-ranked Australian university
Bachelor of Law (graduated with Highest Honors), from a top-ranked Australian law school (feeder to the state supreme court and High Court of Australia, as well as the Australian equivalents to the U.S. top ranked Wall Street law firms)
GPA: 3.8 (U.S. equivalent based on WES evaluation)
GMAT: 760 (49Q/46V/6IR)
Professional Experience:
5+ years at a leading European investment management firm with around EUR35b in assets under management -- 2 years in Europe, 3+ years in Asia, experience advising investment teams on legal issues relating to investments in China, India, Southeast Asia, Australia, and Western Europe, currently leading a small team of 4 legal professionals in Asia. Steady upward career trajectory with 3 promotions in 5 years. Highly regarded by senior management at my firm for leadership, initiative and ability to "get impossible things done". My firm has sent a number of people on to Cornell and Columbia, but not that many to HBS, Stanford or Wharton (a few hires from there).
Extracurriculars:
After University: mentor, alumni association mentoring program -- mentoring law students and undergraduate humanities students in their career choices; committee member, regional alumni association in SE Asia -- organizing networking sessions, career mentoring for young professionals, etc.
During University: co-founded several student organizations, edited student yearbook, published short fiction in university literary magazines
Extras:
Passed CFA Level 1
Lots of travel in Australia, Asia and Europe
Interests include landscape photography, creative writing, martial arts
Languages: English (native), Chinese (working proficiency), Malay (working proficiency), Indonesian (basic working proficiency)
Post-MBA Goals:
Transition from private equity lawyer to private equity investor in Asia

Thank you very much!

H/S in particular aren't welcoming of lawyers, so if you apply, just know that you're a long shot there. There's more of a possibility at Wharton, but again there's literally a trickle of ex-lawyers in any given year (and they tend to be Ivy/equivalent grads who worked outside of finance/securities: i.e. trademark/IP, litigation, labor, entertainment, etc.)

With your background, focus on the following:

Stretch: Columbia, Booth
Sweet spot: Stern, Yale, Cornell
Safeties: anything outside the top 16 (choose 0-1)

With these five, you should have a more reasonable shot of getting in. If you're interested in working in London post-MBA, add LBS, Oxford and Cambridge to the mix as well.

[PrepMBA.AlexLeventhal]

Yes it's true that your age may be an issue and that the very top schools don't take a ton of lawyers, but with your stats you have every right to apply to the very top schools. And the application process is not purely algorithmic---the personal energy and insight you bring into the essays and interviews matter.

If your firm has hired at your target schools, you can also try to leverage your senior management to write recs and work behind the scenes (this tends to happen more in finance vs other applicant tracks). I believe you can wind up somewhere great with strong essays.

Alex