Eval request for career changer/non-traditional

[Seoul13]

Hello All -

1) Personal: 29 yrs old; American; White male.

Also the first in my family to graduate university, if that matters.


2) Education:

Regionally well ranked small private university
"¢ B.A. - International Studies / Minor - Asian Studies , 2007
"¢ GPA: 3.17/4 ( 3.57 in last 3 semesters)
"¢ Studied abroad in Mexico for credit.
"¢ Also studied in Russia and Guatemala, though it's not on my transcript for credit.

EC: During university I was quite active in my fraternity, intramural sports, some volunteer work tutoring at risk children in the local community, and I also did a few more things (including Hurricane Katrina relief). I also served a year as a student government representative.



3) Work Experience:

* Navy: Joined a special program but was discharged because of an eye program. (4 months)

* Large Insurance company: workers' comp case handler. I investigated new claims, managed them, and settled the case with the claimant or attorney at the end. (9 months). I decided it wasn't right for me at the time and I decided to move to Asia, which was always a desire of mine.

* Asia: 1) I have been teaching English, history and math for the last 3.5 years. 2) Work for a publishing company part-time creating study material for national English exams. 3) Currently developing a website with a partner at the same publishing company. The website will be an electronically based teaching platform where students can take video lessons, receive writing instruction, and feedback. It's in the opening phase, and we're currently marketing the website to the desired market.


4) Recent Extracurriculars:

* Baseball team coach and player for 1 year in a recreational league.

* Myself and my co-captain started a new team and recruited players to play on a team in a semi-pro level baseball league in Korea. It's amateur in that we aren't paid, but the level is extremely competitive. Outside of the pro league here it is ranked as the most competitive amateur league in the country. I am also a player on this team. As a team we have helped the Korean Special Olympics Baseball Team prepare for competition by practicing and scrimmaging with them.

* Current intermediate Korean and Spanish speaker.

5) Plan

* I wish to make a career change into international business. Emerging markets and sustainability, sustainability and political economy are interests of mine.

My biggest worry is not having a very stable work history, plus I have worked for three schools during my time here. It is contractual work though, and moving on to new and better positions is quite common.

6) GMAT -

* Last GMAC practice exam: 650, Q37 V41

* I have barely cracked math beyond refreshing the basics. I believe I have a mid 40s math score, and a bit higher verbal score in me.

* I'll be taking the test in mid to late November.



7) Target Schools -


I'm hoping to target good international schools such as INSEAD, LBS, IMD. For the states Michigan, Virginia, Northwestern, Chicago, Cornell, Emory, Olin,UNC. Maybe a few in Asia such as HKUST, SNU, Yonsei, CEIBS.

Would I have a chance at any M7?

I know a lot rides on the GMAT. But assuming I'm around 700 where do I have a realistic chance at being accepted?

Thanks!!

[MBAApply]

Assuming a 700+ on your GMAT, here's where you stand:

Top 8 (Booth, Kellogg, Sloan, Tuck, Columbia, Haas) and LBS/INSEAD/IMD: you have an outside shot; choose 1-2 at most
Top 16 (Ross, Duke, Darden, Cornell, Yale, Stern, UCLA): these are where you should focus on; choose 3-4 from this list
Top 30 (Emory, UNC, etc.) as well as the Asian schools: these are safeties. Choose 1-2 from this list.

In short, the main drawback is the negative stigma of teaching English in Asia. In the past, it wasn't seen as a career-oriented job, and tended to attract folks who were a bit adrift and lost - and went there to "find themselves" so to speak. And many of these English schools in Asia were hardly selective - as long as you were Caucasian and had a pulse, you'd get the job. And adcoms know that. Again not every English school is like that obviously and your experience may not be like that, but no matter how you spin it, you'll be coming into the process with a lot of baggage. The adcoms will discount what you do, so it's really a matter of degree -- and hopefully not enough to ding you (or that they give you enough credit for what you did to admit you).

Good luck on the GMAT

[MBAPrepAdvantage]

With a 700+ score I would still venture H/S/W is out-of-reach and the other schools would still be long shots. Your lack of a stable work history would be less of a factor if you had very high grades. But low grades and your work history together make acceptance to the most selective schools in the world a lower probability.

You really should add more schools in the 8-15 range then just Cornell before proceeding to Olin and UNC which with a 700+ GMAT score and high quality applications are more like safety schools.

You are competitive for the Asian schools.

I wrote this and noticed Alex's post, so I agree with him in that you should be target outside of the M7.

Best of luck on the exam,