ProfileUG GPA: 2.475 Mechanical Engineering (Ivy non-HYP)
Grad GPA: 3.33
WE: 78 months at matriculation (3 different companies 5 different positions most recently in a Project Manager role)
GMAT: 730 49Q 40V 6IR 6AWA (first and only take)
EC's: 4 years of coaching children on the weekends and 2 years of mentoring high school students
Minority: Asian American Male
Why MBA?I didn't really know what management consulting was until I had to do research on the profession for my Masters of Engineering Management thesis. The more I read about it the more enamored I became with the field and eventually when I realized that my current career path couldn't get me there I decided I needed to take the steps necessary to do so. I appreciated the problem solving abilities of the strategy consultants and I found the business problems very intriguing as I had began to read some excellent economics books and management articles. Unfortunately, the more I looked into the profession, the more I realized that I needed to take the GMAT and get an MBA to break in. A detailed description of my GMAT experience can be found here:
https://gmatclub.com/forum/journey-to-a-surprising-189718.html#p1452828Which Schools?When I took the GMAT (May 2014) I had listed Tuck, CBS, Sloan, Stern, and Johnson as the schools to send my scores to. With very little research, I had assumed that those would be the 5 school's I'd target in R1. I wanted to stay in the NYC area because my wife would be tied to this area for the next 4 years for her career and so CBS ED was at the top of the list. However as I continued with my school research I realized that there were other schools that I had not initially considered that would be a great fit for me. Eventually I swapped out Tuck and Stern for Kellogg and Ross.
- CBS- This was the first school that I started working on my application for given it was at the top of my list and it had the earliest application. I had hoped that if I was successful with this application I wouldn't need to put anymore effort towards the other ones and my MBA application journey would end. Unfortunately that would not be the case, however I learned a great deal from this application and it helped me shape the ones I would finish later. I actually initially thought I would say that I was targeting a career in real estate given my background in construction and familiarity with a few real estate professionals in NYC, however as I talked to those professionals I realized the work was not quite what I thought and I found it much harder to connect my past work history with that profession. And so I decided that honesty would clearly by the best policy as a strategy and laid it all out there. I just focused on showing how much I knew about the school and management consulting and how I saw myself utilizing the skills I had developed pre-MBA. Alas, my efforts would lead me to an unfortunate rejection without interview in early September
Edit: (I forgot Sloan!):
Sloan- Great school! I did a campus visit in July while on my way up to NHMS for a NASCAR event and loved it. During the information session, all of the admissions staff who were present were extremely friendly and helpful. They had invited a current student who was doing an internship in the area to discuss his MBA experience and why he chose Sloan. They really have a collaborative and innovative culture. The campus was great as well, it was centrally located and although I currently live in the NYC area, I love the Boston/Cambridge area. Unfortunately, Sloan is another highly competitive school and I was unfortunately rejected without interview
- Tuck- After the rejection from CBS ED, I was feeling pretty dejected and decided that I was only going to put forward the work for my "super stretch" schools only if I had a real connection with the school and its community. Although I love Hanover (I lived in NH for 2.5 years), I didn't feel like the school fit me as well as Kellogg had. And so I decided to redirect my efforts towards Kellogg.
- Kellogg- Great school, great location, and great placement for management consulting. While researching schools I came across Kellogg and the more I looked into it, the more it seemed like it matched the best parts of my undergraduate experience. Although it's large, the campus, students, and community make you feel welcomed. Every interaction that I had with someone from Kellogg I left with a smile. It would be a "super stretch" school for me, but I thought the essays gave me an excellent opportunity to highlight my strengths. Fortunately, I would end up with a waitlist and we'll see how it goes! My interview recap can be found here: https://gmatclub.com/forum/calling-all-kellogg-applicants-2015-intake-class-of-173722-280.html#p1428459
- Stern- Stern was originally on my list because as I had stated, I wanted to stay in the city with my wife. However after many conversations with her and further research into Stern, I realized that Stern wasn't really a great fit for me and let Stern go for Ross.
- Ross- I was pleasantly surprised to find Ross in my search for business schools. The campus was in another great location (although many don't find the midwest desirable I find it to be a very pleasant change of pace compared to life in NYC). Similar to Kellogg, the school had a lot of pleasant attributes and the student/alumni community seemed great. I went to an admissions sponsered event in NYC and had a great time talking with current students and alums about their experience in Ann Arbor. Because of this, I was extremely disappointed when I received my rejection from them
- Johnson- I always had Johnson on my list. I know several Johnson graduates and with Cornell's growing presence in NYC I knew that I would be able to find an internship or post-MBA job near my wife. Besides it's location and proximity to NYC, I met Kim Szpiro and Ann Richards at an event in the city and they were absolutely wonderful! They represented the school extremely well and helped build my enthusiasm for the school as I continued through their application. Their application was also pleasantly unique and gave me the perfect opportunities to highlight my abilities and my own uniqueness. I was fortunately accepted in Johnson and I'm excited to see what the next few months brings. My interview recap can be found here:https://gmatclub.com/forum/johnson-cornell-class-of-2017-calling-all-applicants-172804-340.html#p1445589
- Tepper- Finally Tepper, I connected with the school after accepting an invite to meet James Frick for a "one-on-one" at the MBA Tour in NYC. I had a friend that had gone there and knew that Carnegie Mellon already had an excellent reputation for its engineering program and so I figured its business school must be of similar caliber. James was a great resource to talk to and he helped connect me with a local alumnus that spoke to me more about his experience and his career thus far. These interactions (as well as a fee waiver
) convinced me to apply to the school. I had a wonderful interview with another admissions officer and fortunately I have been admitted with $$ scholarship! My interview recap can be found here:https://gmatclub.com/forum/calling-all-tepper-cmu-applicants-2015-intake-class-of-173847-220.html#p1449752
Now I have a few weeks before the first deposit is due at Tepper and Johnson and I need to decide which of the two I'd rather attend. In the meantime I plan on remaining on the Kellogg waitlist with the hope that I can eventually get an admit.Update: Well I was just released from the waitlist at Kellogg and although it's sad to be rejected, I'm extremely excited to be heading to Ithaca for the next 2 years! After attending Destination Johnson and meeting other extremely interesting and intelligent people, I'm happy about how everything's worked out. I'm really looking forward to the next chapter in my life and if anyone has any questions about Johnson as they're looking at schools, feel free to PM me!
I know that the application process can be draining both emotionally and mentally however I hope that my story gives you hope that although you may have a black mark on your application (like my GPA
: ) it is still very possible to get into a top business school. I wish everyone the best of luck on their journeys and if you have any questions for me feel free to fire away!
Edit: So I thought I'd add another section to this post to reflect on key takeaways from this entire experience to help those that are looking to apply.
Regarding GPA- I am likely in the 10th percentile or lower for the schools that I applied to as far as undergrad GPA stats go. Going into this I knew this would be my biggest hurdle. On paper, I knew that my GPA would stick out like a sore thumb to all application reviewers and leave them questioning my ability to succeed in their rigorous academic program. To mitigate this concern, my application had a few things:
- I had a relatively high GMAT. Although I feel very fortunate for receiving the score that I got, I did put a lot of work into studying. Although I had abysmal grades, at least my GMAT score showed I had the intelligence and potential to do well. My advice to those with low GPAs and low GMAT scores, take the test again. The GMAT is the one thing you can change now, undergrad GPA is now set for life.
- I was an engineering major. Although the math in business school is not really as difficult as the math in engineering, it showed that I had the minimum proficiency to be able to handle the quantitative rigors of finance and management consulting. My advice to those who don't come from quant backgrounds, take college courses in math subjects such as calculus, statistics, or even econometrics to show that you can handle the math. Also, think about doing well on the GMAT math. I've heard many admissions consultants reference the "80/80" rule for business schools, which means you need to hit 80 percentile on both the quant and verbal sections of the GMAT to be considered competitive. Now I cannot verify whether or not that's true, but if your math abilities are being questioned, having an 80 percentile or better on the quant section of the GMAT couldn't hurt
- I had an "alternate transcript." This was both a positive and a negative for my application. My graduate degree and GPA, although not stellar, showed the adcom that I could handle time management (I completed the degree while working full time) and I was diligent enough to earn a few A's. The negative aspect of my degree was that some of the coursework and purpose of my degree overlapped with an MBA in many ways. I had to then address the concern that I'd be obtaining a redundant degree. I think that the fact I labeled myself as a career switcher helped rationalize my decision to pursue an MBA at this point both with the adcom and myself
- By matriculation, I'll be 6.5 years removed from undergrad. I think the fact that my undergrad experience was a long time ago and that I had accomplished a lot since then, helped the adcom separate me from my GPA and give more weight to my GMAT and recent accomplishments.
Regarding "why XYZ school?"- In coming up with my list of schools and developing my application stories, I knew I had to address why I would like to attend XYZ school specifically and how it will help me with my career transition. I did a lot of research and talked with a lot of people. I mentioned all the people that I spoke with in each application and made sure to mention how one of their school's unique characteristics would help me along my professional journey. My advice to future applicants would be:
- Reach out to admissions teams, alumni, or current students. It's best to start from within your existing network, but if no one in your network has ties to the school, a lot of schools have links on their websites on how to connect with someone there. This should be really easy and it also shows the application reviewers that you have the social and networking skills to succeed at the school and beyond.
- Go to information sessions. Either locally (if they have one), on campus, or online. Some admissions teams (though not all) keep track of who attends these events in order to assess a candidates interest. I wouldn't say it's an absolute dealbreaker, but it's still a great way to see how the school views itself and tries to differentiate itself among it's peers. A few examples: Kellogg prides itself on its focus on teamwork and collaborative culture, Johnson likes to boast about its tight knit community and its ties with NYC, CBS likes to highlight its diversity and location in NYC. For each school there are dozens of unique or niche-like characteristics and programs set up to help a variety of students. Make sure you know what those are and how they help you in your specific professional journey
- Follow the school's current events or anything related to the MBA program specifically. You want to make sure that what you're writing about reflects the direction that the school is going. For example, an article in P&Q recently came out describing Cornell Johnson's curriculum change. As an applicant you want to be aware of what changed and why to make sure it aligns with what you're personally looking for in an MBA. Another example is Kellogg's adjustment to their school "branding." They shifted from "Think Bravely" to "Inspiring Growth." A small and subtle change, but one that you as an applicant should be aware of nonetheless.
Anyways, that's it for now. I might add more in a later edit, but I hope this helps the rest of you MBA hopefuls for now.
An update on my business school status: With much hesitation, I've declined Tepper's invitation and put down the first deposit for Johnson. I was truly and wonderfully surprised about how inviting Tepper's community was and I think it would have been an excellent school, but for a mix of personal reasons and preferences I decided Johnson would be a better school for me between the two. As for Kellogg, I accepted their WL invitation back in January and I've sent in one update since then. I'm still waiting to see if I'll get lucky around the R2 decision dates, but I'm not holding my breath.
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Updated on: 03 Mar 2015, 09:20
) then you can expect you'll have a good chance of getting an admit. The MBA application is a long and hard process and a lot of things have to go right in order to succeed. But that's why at the end of it all when you are lucky enough to enroll into a top program, you'll be able to look around at your classmates and know that you are among some extremely exceptional people. I have to say that's probably one of the things I'm most excited for.
on your journey and sorry for the long post 
