Hey PallMall:
Those cigarettes are unfiltered, right? I always wondered who smoked those.
Well, I see we meet again. I knew the username sounded familiar and its been well over a year since I answered your question about moving into a DoD position. I see you made the jump and I hope my old advice helped.
Anyway, from what I can gather, you certainly have a unique and strong profiles for the program you list - even at Lauder. Now, you have to take my advice with a grain of salt as I have a little insight into your goals. I'm going to assume that they involve working for strategy and/or management consultancy - basically, a continued trajectory. We know your 700 GMAT score is a little below average, but I think that your unique background certainly enough to overcome a 10 or 20 point deficit. For example, it is extremely rare to know Arabic as a second language. This is not only valuable to potential employers, but you can also probably provide you a unique insight into the Arab culture(s). This understanding can be quite useful if communicated correctly within your essays - a diversity, empathetic, worldly POV. You can possibly use it with the specific theme – that your understanding of Middle East cultures, people and recent events has allowed you to understand a part of the world that most people tend to lump together in a non-constructive way.
As far as other programs to investigate further, I would take a look at:
Stanford GSB and Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) - (
https://gsb.stanford.edu/mba/academics/ ... nerSchools)
Haas MBA/MA International and Area Studies (
https://mba.berkeley.edu/academics/concu ... grees.html -
https://ias.berkeley.edu/)
HBS/HKS (MPA/ID-MBA -
https://www.hks.harvard.edu/degrees/mast ... curriculum)
MIT Sloan/Harvard Kennedy School Dual Degree (
https://mitsloan.mit.edu/mba/dual/mitsloan-hks.php)
Columbia SIPA (MBA/MIA in International and Public Affairs -
https://www.sipa.columbia.edu/about_sipa/index.html)
Tuck (MBA/MA in International Relations with Johns Hopkins -
https://www.sais-jhu.edu/admissions/ma/joint/tuck.htm)
Chicago Booth has an MBA/MPP program. NYU Stern offers the MBA/MPA and of course you already know about Wharton. I think your application at Gtown is a lock.
I hope this gets you started out on the right path. If you would like to get on the phone and hammer out your options, email me at
mba@amerasiaconsulting.com to set up your free consult.
Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti
PallMall wrote:
Personal: 28 years old, US Citizen (29 at matriculation)
Work Experience: 4.75 years at matriculation
I will have spent 2.25 years with the US Department of Defense in an analysis position. Prior to this I worked in management consultancy with a Big 4 professional services firm and also directly with the government on primarily defense, public, and civil service projects.
Education:
Master's from a top 5 UK university in international relations (2i = 3.5 US GPA)
BA from a top 30 (US news and world report) private university, though my major school (IR) was rated in the top 5 to 10 nationally. (3.1 GPA, 3.55 major GPA)
Additional information: Rowed (crew) competitively during my master's and afterwards, proficient in French and basic knowledge of Arabic, and I've lived abroad extensively throughout Western Europe and the US.
GMAT: 700
Target Schools:
I am primarily interested in programs that factor in / have an international focus
Wharton-Lauder
Yale SOM
Georgetown
Do I have a shot at either of the first two realistically and are there any other programs you'd recommend?