bryantmichaels wrote:
There is not really a shortage of Asian-Americans applying for business schools, but that doesn't mean you can't get fellowship offers. I wouldn't expect too much from the West coast schools, since your profile, which certainly competitive for your target schools, will be in a larger application pool out there of folks with similar profiles as yours. You shouldn't worry about the quant--your GMAT quant score more than demonstrates your abilities. I would say taking more math classes won't make much difference on your admisssions decision, but you may benefit from it personally as a way to prepare yourself for b-school. Also don't fret about the size of your firm. Sure, it's not Fortune 500, but you likely have more access to the decision making and are more in touch with the strategy, etc. at your job than someone at a big name firm would be. It's all in how you couch it. Certainly if some of these leadership opportunities come through for you, it would look really good, since leadership is a very important quality for applicants to demonstrate. It's smart of you to get started early. Make sure you are visiting your targe schools and reaching out to the alumni and current students, especiaily those who are in clubs and campus organizations which are of interest to you. Most schools will also let you sit in on a class and meet professors, etc. These kinds of things go a long way towards convincing the schools you are serious about going there and can differentiate yourself from the pack. Let us know if we can help.
Thanks for the advice! I definitely plan on visiting schools since I will be making a large investment (time-wise and financially). I would also like to see how I would fit in at the school and what kind of people I will be classmates with.
One additional question if you don't mind: do you think I should add a couple more "dream" schools to my list? I'm thinking about Wharton and Kellogg. With my kind of profile, do you think I will be competitive enough to justify the time for the application? I am thinking about UCLA, Berkeley (although after seeing its super low admission rate I might just strike this one off the list), Wharton, and Kellogg in the first round. And then save USC, Yale, and another school like Duke for the second round.