Dear MBA Apply consultants,
I would be really grateful if you could evaluate my profile, knowing how busy you are helping candidates to get into the top MBA programs.
I'll start by saying that I consider myself to be quite a strong candidate, however I need help identifying potential weaknesses that the adcoms of the universities I'm applying to could point out. Also it would be great if you could generally assess my chances of getting into my chosen schools and briefly summarize what could be the best marketing self-positioning strategy I could apply.
I am a Russian female of 26 (27-28 at matriculation) with 4.5 (5.5-6 at matriculation) years of professional experience at global IT companies in sales/marketing roles.
Career highlights: I was hired from university by Microsoft from a pool of over 500 candidates (as part of the MACH graduate program) for an Account Manager role. At program end I transitioned to another Fortune 100 software company in the role of Channel Account Manager, and I am currenty employed by a Fortune 500 security company as a Channel Manager responsible for the whole Russia & CIS territory. During my employment I have managed people, have done cross continent projects (e.g., launched an Online Software Store in Russia, which implied close collaboration eith the US HQ). With every new employer, I contributed with a solid and demostrated revenue increase, which lead to roles suggesting high-level responsibilities.
My GMAT is 750 98% Q48 (80%) V 44 (98%), AWA 5.5.
I graduated in 2006 from a top 3 Russian university - Lomonosov Moscow State University with a Major in West-European Laguages and Literatures - Magna cum Laude (GPA 3.9/4.0). Two years after graduation I obtained a diploma in HR management (became a manager and needed more knowledge on selecting, training and motivating employees) - Summa cum Laude (GPA 4.0/4.0).
I have Russian & Italian citizenships (lived in Italy in my teens) and speak three languages professionally: Russian, English and Italian. I also have conversational ability in Spanish and French.
As you probably know, community service isn't as popular among the youth in the Eastern Europe (as are similar things in the US), however, I have been an active member of a Russian charity organization helping sick children and homeless animals. I am also a member of Greenpeace and WWF.
My target programs are:
Stanford
MIT Sloan
Berkeley Haas
IMD
INSEAD
My post-MBA goal is to stay in the IT industry, but grow to a technology managing role with a broader scope (managing sales in a region like the Emerging Markets, EMEA). I am also considering IT consulting as another option.
My profile strengths as I see them:
Competitive background (limited applicant pool - IT but not Engineering)
Female with excellent academics (though this isn't probably THAT rare
)
Higher than average GMAT
Fast career progression that shows leadership potential (transition to managerial position very young)
Solid international experience
My possible profile weaknesses:
Lack of quantitative sublects in my undergrad (though I think I have demonstrated my msthematical ability at the GMAT, I will probably need to write an optional essay explaining that I'm studying calculus, accounting basics and economics with well-known books like Mankiw's, J. Utts' and others)
... anything else?
Looikng forward for a reply and thanks a lot for soing this for all the MBA hopefuls!
Sincerely,
Olga