Hey Karl:
I realize there are a few more questions that I needed to answer.
1 - I answered most of this in my previous post. Harvard is the program that "prefers" younger applicants. However, I believe that this is somewhat of a misnomer. If we cannot see the individual data points, it is hard to make concrete conclusions about what is causing Harvard to skew "younger." Personally, I believe that Harvard is getting younger because they are accepting more female applicants and because they are widening their range (i.e. types of applicants they are willing to consider seriously). do I have a data set to back this up? No, I do not. This is just my hypothesis given my lack of insight into Harvard's individual accepted applicants. overall, I would not pay much attention to age. You are not that freaking old. If now is the right time, and you can make a case for that, then now is the right time. That is the best and most mature way to look at the age game.
1A – if you want to know what schools are strong within the technology industry, all you really have to do is take a look at each school's career Center reports. Haas is an exceptionally strong school when it comes to placing their graduates into tech firms. You are right when you say that if you cannot get a position within the technology industry (after graduating from Haas), you are going to have a tough time getting into banking and to a lesser degree, consulting.
2 - I am not really sure what to say about this one. If you are ready to go, then you are ready to go. An extra year of work experience is not going to make a difference – upon graduation – because if you are qualified for a job and the firm likes you, then the going to hire you. There is not some invisible bar or years of work experience that will be required. I think you are splitting hairs here.
3 – this depends on the program. If you are going to go to Haas, I would say that you want to articulate how the Haas network in the Bay Area will help you land a job there. If you are applying to Wharton, then you can leverage the strength of their international network to get a job. It is not a one-size-fits-all. Again I would refer to the career Center reports to see where graduates are headed. If a lot of them are staying local, then I would not tell the school that you want to work internationally. Rather, I would tell the school how much it is location is an advantage – among other aspects of the program of course.
The bottom line with visa issues and international students is that if you have the qualifications and you have the network, you are going to get hired. It may take a few more weeks or months, but you are going to get hired. Some advice here – I would stick to schools with a really strong career centers, and located closer to major metropolitan areas. These would be programs outside of the top 2 or 3 schools. So she had to choose between Kellogg and Chicago Booth for example, I would dig deep into placement statistics, and worry less about what school happens to be number 4 and what school happens to be number 5 in the rankings.
I think I have answered all your questions at this point. Let me know if you have any more. Again, please reach out to me the email –
MBA@amerasiaconsulting.com.
Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti
KarlMartell wrote:
Specific questions:
1) Am I competitive at H/S? Or should I just target the rest of the M7 (which ones)? I'm also going to be 28/29 at matriculation, while H/S prefer younger candidates.
1') I'm considering Haas in addition to the M7 due to it's strong ties to the West Coast tech firms - amirite? Or is Columbia/Booth/Kellogg/MIT better for tech anyways? If I don't get tech because of the visa issues, would I be at a disadvantage for consulting/banking from Haas?
2) Should I aim for 2 or 3 years of full time work experience? At the European offices both ways are common (unlike the US where the pre-MBA MBB track is usually 2 years). 2 years is obviously faster and preferable, but many post-MBA jobs seem to require at least 3 years pre-MBA experience.
3) Should I be clear in communicating that I want to stay in the US after graduation? I've heard that some schools tend to avoid this type of candidates because it's difficult to find employment for them.
Thanks a lot!!!
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