Good GPA/GMAT, but short work exp. Competitive this year?

[mukakucing]

Hi,

I just completed my GMAT (and I was quite shocked to see my results, gave me lots of confidence to apply for Fall'14 intake). I understand that my GPA/GMAT score is quite competitive for my dream school, but what I'm worried about is the short length of my work exp & lack of EC/leadership experience (and maybe young age). Comments would be greatly appreciated.

So here goes my profile:

Undergrad: UCLA, BS Chemical Engineering, 3.73
GMAT: 770 (Q:50/V:46) AWA and IR pending
Work History: 1 year 3 months as associate in US environmental consulting firm based in Los Angeles. Currently 9 months into an analyst position (doing asset management) at a top 3 European private bank based in Hong Kong (not my home country). Total FT work exp would be just shy of 3 years at matriculation
EC: 1 quarter as student tutor in uni, 1 quarter as grader/assistant TA in uni for engineering finance class, 1 quarter research assistant in a lab in uni. Pretty non-existent post uni other than helping out my local church.
Leadership: pretty non-existent?
Short-term post-MBA goal: Consulting/PE
Long-term post-MBA goal: Help continue with family business
Misc: 24yo at matriculation, male, Asian (non-Chinese/non-Indian), non-native English speaker (fluent in my native language of course), lived in 5 different metropolitan cities so far in life.

Dream school: Stanford
Other schools I'm thinking of: Harvard/Wharton/Kellogg/Haas/Yale
Safety: UCLA (if I can consider this as safety since I did my undergrad there)
Any other school I should consider?

Thinking of applying for R2. Possibly R1 for Haas/Anderson as there is still 1 month+ until their R1 deadline.

Thanks for your thoughts.
mukakucing

[Jon Fuller]

mukakucing -

Thanks for contacting Clear Admit for some advice . . . first of all, congratulations on your GMAT accomplishment. Very impressive. One thing that I'm curious to know is whether or not you were always planning to apply in this cycle? Or did you more firmly decide to apply this year once you had your GMAT results?

Anyway, as you've noted, your academic profile is going to garner positive attention from any MBA program out there. While the work experience that you've described shows promise, the bigger challenge is what you've pointed to as a lack of leadership experiences and more recent extracurricular activities. The raw number of years (or your age) isn't necessarily the issue at hand, but these dimensions of your profile will likely be your Achilles' heel, especially with the HSW crowd.

All of the very top programs will get a lot of candidates who have some pretty stellar academic profiles. But because they're so selective, they don't have to gush over every 770 who walks in the door - they can afford to be picky to an extent. To be most competitive, you need to have significant accomplishments to describe, be able to demonstrate impact on your company and/or clients, point to leadership experiences that you've secured and/or that you've been selected for. That last category is especially important for Stanford and Harvard; they're obsessed with leadership. Acquiring these experiences often takes some time.

Based on the high-level information that you've presented, that's going to be my summary advice for you - take some time. If you really want to help your chances with HSW, wait another year and address your weak spots as much as you can - pursue substantive opportunities where you can develop and show your leadership skills, find a few organizations that resonate with your interests and get involved. You'll be a better candidate at that point, and you'll also likely get more out of the MBA experience itself.

As for the other schools, with the right application strategy, I think you could be fairly competitive in this application cycle. Kellogg may be a little tougher than some given their focus on teamwork and extracurricular involvement. Given your post-MBA interests, I'm a little surprised the Booth, Columbia, and/or NYU aren't on your list. Perhaps you've already determined that they're not a good match to you for geographic, fit, or other reasons.

I hope that helps a bit, and I wish you all the best on your applications, whether they come this year or next!

Regards,
Jon

Jon Fuller
Clear Admit, LLC
215.568.2590

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