mbaMission Admissions Consultant
Joined: 25 Apr 2013
Posts: 4406
Given Kudos: 1
Re: Profile Review - 710 GMAT, 5+ years experience
[#permalink]
09 Jun 2013, 14:37
Hello,
Thanks for sharing your profile, which overall sounds like a strong profile with a lot of interesting experiences to contribute to an MBA class, which is important.
Overall I see your strengths based upon the info you shared here as follows:
-strong work experience demonstrating quantitative and analytical abilities, international exposure, leadership, and working at Goldman is a plus
-general international experiences, exposure, and language ability
-extensive community experience and accomplishments (beyond the average applicant)
-diverse set of extracurricular interests and activities
-solid GMAT score
Areas of weakness or uncertainty:
-GPA/academics are average to slightly below average
-your post-MBA goals as related to your current/previous roles.... the admissions committee will be wondering why consumer products, or just want to hear more about your post-MBA goals and how what you've learned in the prior roles will help you with your future career path. This is not necessarily a weakness as many change career paths in some way after the MBA, I just wanted to let you know where some questions might arise and things you'll want to be sure to explain
-it's just slightly unclear how the community leader portion fits in with the goals in operations within consumer products, maybe you just mean in addition to your professional role or somehow as part of your career?
-of course your APPLICATION ESSAYS are the biggest unknown at present and will likely have the greatest impact on your admissions decisions, since you have a pretty strong profile otherwise. Remember that the essays are the personal part of the application, and the one place where you create something from scratch to represent who you are, so it's important to spend a lot of time and effort on them, and also to demonstrate a fit with each school that you apply to as that can sometimes make the difference.
In terms of the schools you listed, Sloan and Kellogg would be the biggest reach; followed by Haas and Tuck. Anderson likely easiest on your list, though still very competitive, so if you are looking for more of a 'safety school' you may want to look at a school in the 15-25 rankings just to include one, BUT you also should only apply to places you would truly be happy attending, so keep that in mind. Most applicants find that applying to 3-4 schools at least per round of admissions is about all they can do to the best of their ability without sacrificing quality. Some with a lot of time on their hands manage 5-6 but it's difficult.
Yale and Haas on your list are known for their specialties in non-profit management, which you seem to have an interest in, but then that's not what you are aiming for in terms of your career goals. Most top programs will provide the skills you need for operations and/or consumer products without a problem. In terms of schools that really pride themselves on hiring for consumer products, Kelley (Indiana) comes to mind; in terms of operations, you might also look at Tepper and/or Ross.
Please let us know if you have additional questions, and wishing you good luck on the process!