Hello Eugenio,
Eugenio wrote:
Thanks in advance for taking your time out to review my profile. Your response will be highly appreciated! Here is a brief resume:
Citizenship – Russian Federation
Nationality – mixed
Age - 23 years old
Gender - male
Thank you for sharing your profile with
MBA Prep School. I will evaluate your profile on a few different dimensions and use a rough rating scale of 1 - 4 with 1 being top quartile or best.
Academics: 2/4
You attended top universities in Russia, and I think this moves to a 1 out 4 when you finish the Bachelor of economics with perfect grades. It does raise a question about your academic focus; however, that you were working full-time while going to school. On the other hand, I think your solid academic performance while also holding down a full-time job will be viewed positively overall. In your application, I suggest you explain the necessity of working. Your full-time job may also explain why you don't have a great deal of leadership as a student, an assumption I am making because you didn't mention it and you were a full-time employee.
Work Experience: (2.5/4)
The positions you held as purchasing manager aren't typical for pre-MBAs. The bright spot on this dimension is that you seem to have accomplished a great deal and distinguished yourself as a top performer. The main reason I put you almost in 3rd quartile is that you have only 1 year of experience post graduation. In fact, it appears, you were still dividing time between studies and working. The other detractor is that you are now unemployed. I don't think it will be viewed positively that you've left your job to focus on MBA admissions, especially given that you were already combatting the issue of "limited" work experience. They will let some candidates in with your work experience profile but those spots are very hard to come by. You're probably best waiting a year and having a blue-chip work experience on your resume, all things being equal.
GMAT (1.5/4)
You are on the verge of a top quartile score here, especially relative to others from your region/demographic. I wouldn't postpone a first round application purely to retake the GMAT. Your score is solid enough. However, if you do wait a year, retaking and earning a higher score will make the GMAT a selling point of your candidacy.
Leadership Portfolio (2/4)
Looks like you've demonstrated your leadership potential on the job. I don't see evidence of student leadership or leadership outside of work; therefore, I score this as 2nd quartile for the top-tier business schools you have short-listed. Much of your competition will have a more extensive leadership experience-set than you have presented to me.
Overall (2/4)
All the schools you have listed are a reach. Perhaps, the fact that you are from an under-represented region, have solid academics, a unique story, and work experience while in school will be enough to get you in. However, I think applying next year with a stronger resume, more leadership experience, a completed degree in economics, and a higher GMAT score will seriously strengthen your candidacy.
We welcome you to visit our website, Eugenio. The videos and section of our eBook on strengthening your candidacy before you apply will be beneficial. And if you do apply this season, your execution of all of the elements of your application need to be first quartile to overcome some of the drawbacks I've pointed to. I am certain
our application prep program will help you build an outstanding MBA application. I hope to see you around the
MBA Prep School Virtual Campus.
Best of luck!
Tyler