INSEAD1979 wrote:
Hi Paul,
I will try to give as much detail as possible,hope you dont mind.
26.5 years old Male, Turkish
B.A in Business Administration from a top(best) university in Turkey, GPA. 3.55,studied at McGill Uni. for one term as an exchange student,SPA 3.9
Master of Marketing from a top Australian university,GPA:3.75. (with full scholarship) . I am currently doing my master while working full time. I will finish it this July.
Worked in Middle East for the biggest distributor of a major(soon to be the biggest) car company as a product manager for 1.5 years. (This company owns distributorship rights of the car brand in many countries in Middle East and Africa,has very close ties with the parent corporation in Japan and is one the biggest companies in ME) As a product manager,I handled product portfolios with millions of dollars of turnover and was considered very successful at it.
Thanks to my high performance, I was selected by the senior management of the Middle Eastern company as an ICT(inter company transfer) to go to Australia and work for the parent company(Australian subsidiary is wholly owned by the Japanese company) for couple of years. I was the first non-arab to be selected for this program. Normally,the program is only for arab nationals.
Since Feb 05, I have been working and studying in Sydney,Australia.
Currently, I am the Integrated Planning(Strategic/ Sales/Order Planning) Manager for Passenger Vehicles at the .. Motor Corporation Australia. I manage a team of two analysts(who are both 3-4 years older than I am) and interact with senior management, production planning people at the factory and planning team at the world headquarters of the company in Japan all the time.
As I said,I was also awarded full scholarship from a top Australian university and am still studying there full time( taking 4 subjects and working full time at the same time,still making sure my GPA is above 3.5).
GMAT
I took Gmat once: 700 , Q: 49 V:36 . I am currently preparing to retake it. Although it is not necessary, I feel I can do more.
Extracurricular
I worked for the management and economics club during undergrad,organizing conferences,collecting funds etc. I am currently planning to give math classes at the uni. for undergrad struggling with math and stats. I play squash and will start fencing classes very soon.
Miscellanous
Fluent in english and french. Rudimentary knowledge of German and Arabic.
During undergrad,I worked full time(8 hours) for 3 years in the Credit Card Operation Center of a major bank in Turkey(night shift),during the last 2 years of that period,I was managing a team of three.
I got admitted to MBA at Ohio State Uni and Illinois Urbana(with $10K scholarship) right after undergrad but decided not to go.
I am married and my wife is here with me.
Target Schools: MIT,Columbia,Harvard,INSEAD,IMD,LBS,HEC
I know I have a good(dont know how good though) chance at HEC,INSEAD and IMD( IMD assessed my chances and encouraged me to apply). I am curious about my chances at US schools.
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Middle eastern company I worked for and which still pays half of my salary, is owned by an MIT alumnus and has extremely close ties with MIT(endowments to MIT etc.,MIT profs visit Middle East as honor guests etc.) I am planning to get a rec. letter from MD of International Division, who looks after all countries in Middle East and Africa. He will be happy to say that I am a very important asset for the company , I will be given higher responsibilities post mba and I will be joining the team directing the investments of the International Division.
Do you think I have a chance at MIT especially using this link ? Also,do I have a chance at Harvard if I show the ad com that I have the full support of a major company who will give me leadership role? Your answer to this question is very important for me.
Finally, during my undergrad I worked for one term for the dean of the management faculty at my university in Istanbul. She is a Phd from Columbia and will give me rec. letter for Columbia as well as for others. Kindly consider this as well,when assessing my chances.
Thanks for this wonderful service.
Regards.
Honor
Honor,
You have a shot at MIT because you have a distinctive profile: Turkey, Australia, Japan, etc. I think HBS and Columbia would be stretches for you because your extracurriculars don't seem to be at the same level as your professional accomplishments. I think you have a decent to good chance at the other schools you mentioned. I recommend emphasizing the cross-cultural insights your international experiences have given you as well as your Turkish heritage.
As for the reco letters, the connections your recommenders have probably won't help you as much as you seem to think they will, especially if they haven't worked regularly with you or send in a generic-sounding letter with few examples. Ideally, you want direct supervisors who know you well and will be specific and enthusiastic.
Good luck,
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Updated on: 22 Jun 2006, 09:31
