I'm super keen on applying to B-School, with my top choice by far being HBS. I'm also applying to MIT Sloan, Stanford, Berkeley, Yale, Wharton, and at least one school abroad in Europe. HBS is by far my first choice, however, and
I'm definitely looking to partner with an admissions consultant ASAP to help with my application for this specific school ASAP. I'll make a choice based on the initial evaluations I get, and decide based on who has the best advice/insight into my profile.
My main concern is my low GPA and jumpy career history (circling around the sales/PR/marketing drain, and switching industries from toys to SaaS (tech), before settling in Sales/SaaS 3-4 years ago). I've accomplished a lot at the companies I've worked for, received 5 promotions and held leadership roles for the last 3 years, but it's still not very impressive.
During undergrad, I was seriously ill, once homeless, and worked full-time while studying, so I'm hoping this will shine a brighter light on my dim academics and inconsistent profile. I want my themes to be 1. failing, and then picking myself back up again to show tenacity, and 2. overcoming obstacles, and now wanting to start my own company to make the world a better place.
Academics:
- 3.29 GPA, social sciences
- 730 GMAT (RETAKING aiming for a 780)
- Completing HBX CORe (Harvard business 'prep' course) soon with a goal of an A (4.0) average
- Undergrad was at Harvard Extension School (I'm not sure how this is regarded at HBS? It's part of Harvard University, but obviously much less impressive than Harvard College or any other Ivy League college)
Work Experience:
- American, 3 years of international experience (Germany - working language proficiency)
- 8 years of professional experience, 4 years in people management/leadership roles
- Managed 15 people at maximum, now managing around 5 people (switched companies, and now growing the team from 0 to 5)
- 5 promotions, from intern >associate > senior associate > team lead > senior manager > head of sales
- Starting my own company, in the very early stages
Life Background:
- Aged 30
- Experienced a life-threatening illness and homeless during undergrad - hence the low GPA
- Also worked full-time during all of undergrad, taking classes at night
- Decent amount of volunteering experience
- "Theme" of my application is overcoming hardship/life threatening illness/and homelessness, and now wanting to start my own company and make the world a better place [
quote="berliner"]
ChristineFortuna wrote:
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