Auslander wrote:
Good morning,
Could you please help evaluate my profile for Harvard/Stanford/Wharton?
Age: 30
Sex: Male
Citizenship: Ukrainian
Background: telecommunications (Ericsson)
GMAT: 710 (Q:50, V:35), AWA 4.5
TOEFL: 110 (Reading 30, Listening 29, Speaking 27, Writing 24).
Education: Moscow State University (top 5 in former USSR), IT (applied mathematics and computer science).
Languages: Russian (mother tongue), English (fluent), Ukrainian (good).
Work experience: 9 years:
2 years in Russia/Ukraine,
1 year Malaysia,
1 year Pakistan,
2 years South Africa, Sub Saharan Africa and West Africa countries: Botswana, Zambia, Cameroon, Senegal, etc.,
2 years Kenya and East African countries: Uganda, Madagascar, etc. ,
currently working in Singapore as a senior telecom engineer.
Helped Ericsson to keep several important customers by solving long standing technical problems in the customer's
network. Provided technical support to the sales team which finally led to increased sales for a number of operators.
Worked in different positions: engineer, support engineer, solution architect, in quite a number of job positions
had to lead a small team of new engineers (2-5), assigned and controlled their tasks, transferred knowledge.
Post MBA plans:
Middle management position in telecommunications area (project manager for example) just after MBA school
and top management position (VP, country manager, CTO) within 5 years after MBA degree.
Currently I have worked in a number of technical positions in telecoms in different areas, for instance
radio network, IP, core (GSM, WCDMA) so I believe I have more than enough knowledge for a management position.
Questions:
1. Am I considered old for Harvard/Stanford/Wharton?
2. Should I retake GMAT to improve my chances? Average scores from GMATPrep, Kaplan varied from 740 to 770.
3. Should I retake TOEFL? Or should I ask to reevaluate the result (especially writing section as it significantly
lowered my score)?
4. What should I concentrate on in my application?
Thank you,
Pavel.
Pavel,
Thanks for your questions. To answer them:
1) You may not be
too old, but you maybe too experienced for these programs by having significantly more experience than most students at these schools.
2) A higher
GMATcan never hurt, but yours is competitive at your target schools.
3) If your TOEFL is above the school's minimum, move on to your other aspects of your application.
4) The international aspect of your profile is striking -- specifically your work in Third World countries. I am sure you must have some fascinating stories. How these experiences have influenced you should make good reading.
You might be interested in:
Roadmap to Bold & Brilliant MBA Essays.Best,
Linda