Profile Evaluation Request

[tk842]

Dear Sirs, Madams,

I would deeply appreciate you taking your time to evaluate my profile. Thank you so much in advance!

1. Demographics: South Korean Male, Age 27
2. Education:
- GMAT 730 (Q49 V41) - planning to retake early Dec (serious bowel issues during GMAT)
- GPA 3.17 @ NYU Stern (Double Major: Finance & Marketing)

3. Work Experience:

- 4 years 10 months at a regional Special Situations Private Equity firm. Responsibilities and achievements:
a) Responsibilities - investment side:
- Active throughout the investment process: Deal sourcing, analysis, structuring, execution and monitoring
- Analyzed over 200 candidate companies in Asia within the special situation bucket (highly distressed companies)

b) Responsibilities - operational side:
- Appointed as acting CEO and director of fund's flagship investment in a distressed manufacturing business
- Established overseas expansion into several overseas market, including the set up of 2 overseas offices
- Established OEM manufacturing operations and manufacturing process outsourcing
- Spearheaded the re-branding process for the company's flagship brand
- Reduced costs, boosted revenue and successfully transitioned company out of the distressed/restructuring phase into the growth phase
- Increase company valuation by 27%


4. Extra Curriculars:

- Executive Board Member: NYU Hong Kong alumni association - Organized various alumni events including partnering with Habitat for Humanity, Annual charity balls (proceeds went to Habitat for Humanity)
- Vice President: Stern Private Equity Club
- Selected as Hong Kong Representative for the Future Leaders Conference (South Korean leadership conference that selects around 150 applicants worldwide) - keynote presentation on the importance of culture for economies transitioning from undeveloped to developed.

5. Goals - To pursue an MBA and move into the Venture Capital space, where I can leverage my existing investment and operational skills to bring meaningful changes and make meaningful contributions to the human race.


I wish to apply to the following schools:

1. Harvard
2. Stanford
3. Wharton
4. MIT
5. Columbia
6. Chicago Booth
7. Northwestern Kellogg

Please let me know what your thoughts are! Thank you.

Regards,
Super Desperate Candidate

[MargaretStrother]

Hello Super Desperate!
First of all, don't be super-desperate: you have great stuff here.
GMAT? I wouldn't advise taking it again. 730 is good enough; I have never really seen any added value in having a higher GMAT than the school's median. Instead, focus your energies on leadership and school research.

Your undergraduate grades could be an issue, particularly for Harvard. You'll want to address that in your application, and show the schools you're applying to that you will do better academically in the MBA than you did in undergrad.

Missing for me here is a clear picture of your leadership: good stuff in undergrad, but that was a few years back. What is your biggest leadership role currently? At work? In the community? Leadership is the #1 driver of admission to top MBA programs, so I'd certainly recommend taking the energy you were going to throw into the GMAT and apply that to expanding an existing leadership role, in either sphere.

Long-term goals: be thinking of what you want to do beyond "making meaningful contributions to the human race." In the long term, will you work in the US, in Asia? Start a company? Rise to a leadership role in an existing global giant? Is there some aspect of the world that you really hope to impact, and that you will use your economic power as a leadership to have a specific impact on? Vision is really important for top business schools, even though it's all rather hypothetical; these schools train global leaders, and they're going to want to see your vision aligning with people at that level.

One last point, about schools: it looks like you're just going straight down the top-ten list, with a focus on urban centers. It's a pretty predictable list, whereas they're all very different programs. So I'd suggest drilling down on research and reducing this list by 50%. Do some campus visits, sit in on some classes, fall in love with a school's community, or discover that you really don't like School X as much as you thought you would. You'll be expected to have a really clear idea of "why" you are applying to each of these schools, and to be able to articulate that in your essays and interview. In my experience, fewer, well-chosen schools lead to more successful applications.

Good luck!

Margaret Strother