Hi ikcotyck,
Happy to share my thoughts on your profile. Overall I think Sloan is in range for you, you've got great GPA and GMAT stats. But it's not a school that I would consider very safe for you, so I'm glad you have a range of programs on your list. That said, I would definitely give Sloan a shot as it fits great with your goals, and also tends to be more open-minded about experienced candidates (work experience range is 0-15 years).
Beyond the strengths in GMAT and GPA, I think you've got an interesting story around returning to your tech "roots" especially since it relates to your parents business too. In your legal career, you've had exposure to diverse transactions, had executive level exposure, and succeeded in often ambiguous and high pressure situations (all important qualities!).
The challenges are your experience level (not a dealbreaker but puts more scrutiny on your reasons for an MBA now) and lack of extracurriculars (totally get you've had a demanding job but some of your fellow applicants have worked demanding jobs in banking/consulting, etc. and managed to keep involved with activities, so you may still fall short there. Emphasize the personal hobbies / interests and any organizations you were involved in during your past degrees). The final challenge I see for you is to avoid the perception that you are "degree shopping" and really committed and serious about the MBA. This needs to be an important part of your essays.
On your other questions, I think there's a slight % drop in acceptance rate between R1 vs R2, so if you can make it in R1 that's ideal, but don't rush or put in a mediocre application because of that. On the salary question, I do think it relates to the point above about being committed to the MBA and showing that you've done your research on what post-MBA roles look like, which companies you'll target, etc. If you can show that you've thought through that decision carefully, and already taken steps to make that move, I don't think they'll hold that against you.
Best of luck!
Kate
ikcotyck wrote:
Hi all, I'm considering applying for Sloan and would love an eval. I also posted this in the Haas thread. I'm applying for Tuck and CBS in R1. For R2, I'm looking into NYU, Yale, Ross, Fuqua, Tepper and Anderson (I'm focused on mostly NE and Cali, below HSWB). Are Haas and Sloan realistic possibilities for me as well?
Also I saw some stats on Sloan admissions by round - would there be a significant difference if I tried to apply to Sloan in R2 vs R1?
Background/Demographic: Canadian (Chinese ethnicity), born and raised in a major city in the Canadian Prairies. My parents immigrated to Canada decades ago and ran a successful business in the IT consulting space (B2B) for 30+ years
GMAT: 730 (Q49, V41, IR8, AWA pending)
Undergrad: Computer Science at top Canadian university (UGPA 3.88 - I believe its GPA scale matches that of US schools), also minored in Math and History
Grad: Computer Science MSc at same university (GPA 3.9), J.D. (law) also at same university (usually considered top 1-2 law school in Canada)
Experience: 7+ years in NYC in the restructuring/corporate reorganization industry - about 5 years as lawyer in Vault 15 firm (i.e. one of the BigLaw firms), about 2.5 years as secondee from that law firm consulting major international banks and managing their distressed/stressed loans (at these banks, have managed billions of dollars in exposure; as a lawyer have advised on a wide range of companies in a wide variety of industries with anywhere from tens of millions to billions of dollars of debt). Very interesting industry as it is a combination of skills - technical/legal, financial and human elements. Often very high stakes and high pressure.
Extracurriculars/Activities: None post-school (lawyer is nearly a round the clock job...) However, I am pretty active whenever possible - skiing, running (also did a triathlon last year), hiking, rock climbing, etc. I am also an avid (lifetime) gamer and tech geek.
Story/Post MBA: In short, I'm looking to transition back into tech, looking at the product management or business development. roles in particular. Long-term, either head a major product or transition into VC or tech PE. Since I'm probably a bit out-of-the-box and older than the average candidate, this may merit a bit more of an explanation. In undergrad/grad, I was a pretty academic type - I did a lot of theoretical computer science and it was immensely enjoyable, but following some self-reflection I wasn't quite sure about how much of an immediate practical impact I could have as an academic. This was why I transitioned into law (both academic and impactful!). While I love the work I'm doing now and seeing a significant impact from the work that I do, I never lost the tech bug and I want to reconnect with my roots in the industry - but this time from the business side. I'm seeking an MBA in order to build fundamental skills essential to have a successful business career in the tech industry. Curious to see if this makes sense to you guys and to the adcom! I would emphasize that I'm equally comfortable with quantitative concepts in finance/computer science as I am with highly complex legal documentation and communicating those concepts to a more general audience.
Other: Not sure where to put this but something that just occurred to me - post-MBA my salary would almost certainly be much lower than what I'm making now - I don't think this should be a big factor one way or another (in fact it may be positive as I'm looking to make a career switch, and not chasing money). However, is this something that could be viewed negatively (as in it could impact their stats for pre-MBA vs. post-MBA salaries)?
_________________
Kate Richardson
mbaMission Senior Admissions Consultant
Chicago Booth Alum, over 80 5-star reviews on GMAT Club
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13 Jul 2018, 18:43
