RonMexico wrote:
If you would be kind enough, would you please take a look at my tersely written profile and answer a question or four regarding my candidacy.....
US Naval Academy 2000, History, 3.27 GPA (Roughly a 3.7 GPA last two years - had a bad freshman run with chemistry classes.)
US Naval War College, M.A. National Security and Strategic Affairs, 4.0 GPA (Finalist for top student)
730 GMAT - over 80% on both (2 years ago)
29yo - First in family to attend college - Mexican American and fluent Spanish Speaker.
Active duty Navy fighter pilot - done a few trips bombing Iraq from aircraft carriers with a few medals to boot. Also served as a aircraft tactics instructor, have led over 70 sailors, managed a multi-million dollar training contract, spent a few months in a team that wrote the allied master air attack plan.
Currently assigned as an exchange fighter pilot with the British Royal Air Force - I live in the UK, fly their squadron jets and lead their pilots into action over Iraq.
My extracurriculars have included teaching Mexican immigrants English (alone), coordinating trips to visit sick children with the squadron, and a few other random acts of volunteering. Sadly, no major leadership positions - a good deal of my time was spent on aircraft carriers, and I really have yet to settle down here in the United Kingdom and do anything besides fly, deploy and drink ale.
I would like to get into consulting or IB.
With that abstract out of the way, I have four questions:
1. I will not be able to leave the service until early 2010 - the military owns your soul for a while if you fly jets. is there much that should be done now regarding my candidacy? Will age be a major factor?
2. Is there anything I can (or should) do to compensate for my modest GPA? Will my Masters factor at all? Might post-bac. business classes here in the UK be in order?
3. I hate to "game" community service, because all I have done so far has been accomplished totally oblivious to the context of an academic application. That being said, is it warranted to bolster my extracirriculars further? I am assuming my love of Rugby, existentialist literature and the aforementioned ale will not help my cause....
4. What schools do YOU think I should shoot for - I would like to do the H/S/W trifecta with Columbia to boot.
I avidly look forward to reading your opinion, Sir.
RonMexico,
Impressive and distinctive profile. Your age will be a modest negative but you can compensate for it by explaining the 'own your soul' bit to them, by giving them a really crystallized and savvy post-MBA career vision, and by generally wowing them as an applicant. I think 32 is about the upper limit of the middle 75% or so at most U.S. schools, so clearly they admit people older than that, and of course European schools skew older than U.S.
I don't think the GPA is an issue given your master's, your GMAT, how long ago your GPA was, and the fact that it wasn't all that low anyway. Not sure postbacc courses are needed, unless you have some low grades in quant or 'pre-MBA' type courses.
Your extracurriculars look great, but since you are aiming high you may want to ramp them up as much as possible, and by that I mean focus on leadership roles and impact (the more of both the better). The rugby etc. can be thrown into the pot to show how interesting and affable you are but are not key components of your profile.
I wouldn't discourage from applying to H/S/W and CBS but would also encourage you to look a bit lower in the rankings to increase your odds, for example, Chicago, MIT, Michigan, etc. I recommend that you spend some time narrowing those goals and building bridges with people in those fields so your goals sound more thoughful. If you can do *anything* now that would allow you to get some exposure even on a part-time basis to IB and MC I would recommend it, so schools see that you know what you're getting into and have already began acting on your goals. If there are ways to gain (or deepen) 'business-relevant' experiences in your current situation you may want to do that.
Good luck,
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Updated on: 19 Aug 2009, 03:25
