Talino wrote:
Hey guys, please let me know what you think. I'll be turning 29 the October of my first year in business school. Although I've had several projects that have required me to lead engineering contractors, I have not gotten officially promoted and have not been in charge of anyone on my team.
I have delegated work plenty of times and have managed projects both within and without my company, but I am not sure if this counts as "leadership experience" because that can be so subjective.
Personal:
Filipino(Asian/Pacific Islander/Hispanic, gee which do I go under?)
Male, 28 years old at matriculation
GMAT: 730
Education:
BS Computer Engineering GPA: 3.4 at a regionally ranked school
Experience:
4.5 Years, Energy/Green Engineering for a Fortune 100 energy company
Extracurricular:
Over 130 Hours per year of church leadership. Mentor and teacher of over 25 inner city teens from different backgrounds. I had a missions trip overseas, but it only lasted one week.
I was president of a professional society during college with over 250+ members and I made a significant impact on the school's engineering program and student's careers opportunities.
Target schools: Booth, Yale, UT Austin, Columbia, and H/S/W
Target Post-MBA: Energy/Consulting
You're targeting a very ambitious group of schools and that's fine, as long as your mentality is to go to the top or bust. Leadership can come from various activities, not necessiarly from leading people (in fact, I'm sure you've heard or even had a leader who's managing someone, but he/she can't manage!!). Leadership can certainly come from taking initiatives, demonstrate ability to think, embark on extracurriculars and lead volunteers. Whatever it is, make sure you address it fully and don't sell yourself short. Your GMAT and GPA are great for any of the schools on the list and while I think it's an ambitious group of schools you're going for, you do have what it may take to get into at least one of them. Obviously, H/S/W are going to be extremely tough as they're much focused on brand-name recognition (pedigrees, if you will). Booth and Columbia are still going to be hard, but with some luck, it just may work. Your sweet spots should be the Yale, UT Austin, and their peer schools - Michigan, Virginia, UCLA, NYU, and Berkeley.