fairplay01 wrote:
Hi! I'm planning to apply for fall next year or the year after, hoping mainly to build my profile - would appreciate it if anyone can give me any advice:
Background and nationality: 26 years old, Chinese male, one of the Southeast Asian countries
Undergrad Information: University College London, Engineering (second class upper)
GMAT: Second take 710 (V36 Q50), IR 5 (just took today, might cancel and retake); Cancelled first take 690 (V37 Q48), IR 5
Work experience and leadership: 1 year in my country's sovereign fund (PE and equity research analyst roles), before working in a non-MBB (non-big4 either) as a junior strategy consultant. Also, I was my ex-Prime Minister's intern for 2 months in university days not sure how much will this info help.
Community and others: None at the moment. Used to represent my uni for archery in a competition or two. Was a national Scrabble player up to 18 years old. Also was a volunteer tutor + helped a rural community build a house (literally) when I was 18. Was an assistant Karate coach for young children for a while during weekends.
Entrepreneurship experience: Not really like a business per se, but I started the first student-run consulting group in my country, started Jujitsu club during college, was class representative in university)
Post MBA goals: Either entrepreneurship or work in VC, with a focus on fintech perhaps. Still not entirely sure about motivation for a MBA at the moment - for now it's mainly the prestige.
Anything else? First-gen, secured full scholarship for my entire undergrad, interned at multiple consulting firms and a renowned local PE firm. I also travelled to 20 countries in university not sure if that helps.
Schools I am planning to apply to: HWS, MIT, Columbia
Personal thoughts on my strengths and weaknesses in profile:
Pros:
- First-gen student, strong extracurriculars when I was 18 (lol) so I guess I can spin the story of me coming from a poor background (e.g. became a national scrabble player at 16 at a Chinese school) and very self-made
- Full scholarship record
- Generally interesting I feel? (worked for my Prime Minister, did martial arts, played Scrabble, archery etc)
Cons:
- Career is not exceptional (sovereign fund for a year, then strategy at Tier 2 not Tier 1)
- Very average academics (2:1, below average GMAT of 710)
- Feels like my extracurriculars weren't too impressive after 18 years old
Was hoping to obtain advice on: 1. should I cancel my GMAT scores in the next 72 hours (noting that my IR was 5), 2. anything that stands out, and what can I possibly do in the meantime to boost my profile) 3. Grades - not sure if that would be a little bit of a disadvantage as a Southeast Asian male consultant.
Thanks in advance!
Your professional stats are impressive, even if you are coming from tier 2 rather than tier 1 consulting and even considering that your GMAT score is going to be low for Wharton given your demo. Your academic stats are also nothing to snuff at, even if you think they are mediocre, because your pedigree has some name recognition and international signaling.
You seem to have a pretty good handle on your strengths and weaknesses and how adcoms will evaluate you generally. What alarmed me most about your write-up is your intention to “spin the story of me coming from a poor background.” Be careful how you do that. SEA applicants don’t realize how overrepresented the cliche story of “pulling themselves up from their bootstraps” is for their demographic and how overrepresented their demographic is in the applicant pool relative to available spots for international students. Many times the first drafts that we get from these applicants (we usually do 4-5 so it’s okay if the first is bad), has about 50% of the content about the odds that the applicant beat just to get to college. They talk ad nauseum about how their parents sacrificed so much for their success and it just turns into such a cliche. The truth is that their success to achieve XYZ table stakes credential in MBA was given their upbringing and household wealth just isn’t differentiated given their demo. These stories *ARE OBJECTIVELY IMPRESSIVE,* but, in our experience, are so plentiful in written apps that they are going to be boring and repetitive to the adcom. A careful, subtle and not word-intensive (you don’t want to waste real estate on this!) nod to the long-odds of your professional/academic success given your family’s resource constraints may be prudent, but it SHOULD NOT be a major part of your application or a whole essay.
Think of it this way: most M7 MBAs (including Wharton), are 30-40% non-US students. Of those, many are dual passport holders, or longtime residents, or came here for college or are already working here, or are somehow already “American.” That that leaves a very small proportion of spots for all international students, and an even smaller still sliver for SEA applicants. AdComs target international students from all over the globe, but there are concentrations in terms of countries from which applicants apply. Central Asia, Latin America (ex-Mexico), Africa tend to be underrepresented relative to SEA/China (you represent both of those demos given the geographic vs. ethnic heritage you identified in your post). So you are going to be competing with a lot of people for a small number of spots. Of those people, many (most?) are going to come from either 1) crazy wealthy family business backgrounds 2) under resourced backgrounds (which, in our experience, seems to be the predominate share). Such is the reality of wealth inequality, unfortunately. So, if you make your application all about the way you beat the odds and how much your family sacrificed, you really aren’t going to separate yourself from the masses of other applicants who are going to be writing about the same thing. Make your point (subtly, without much fanfare), and then get away from that subject.
Frankly, I think your scrabble interest could be turned into something really interesting. Research the schools – see if there is a scrabble club. Are you coming from a muslim country like Malaysia or Indonesia? Many schools have board game clubs that are really hot with observant non-drinking students. You could organize a scrabble competition! Check out Wharton’s Strategy & Board Games Club:
https://groups.wharton.upenn.edu/strategygames/home/Many people think they have to be leaders in high profile non-profits that they founded in order to have ECs big enough for b-school acceptance. The reality is different - you just need to play up what you have. It’s better to play a weak recent hand well than to try to play up stale accomplishments. If you “haven’t done anything impressive EC-wise since 18” don’t write a bunch of stuff about what you did when you were 16. That’s a red flag generally and a mistake that is frequently made by international applicants. If you’ve been a competitive scrabble genius since you were a kid, say so. BUT make sure to tie it to the present and how that will benefit the particular b-school community(e.g., “I still organize weekly games for my friends in XYZ city, and we all look forward to the annual competition I organize for XX… I’d look forward to continuing the tradition as the [Xst] president of Wharton’s Strategy & Board Games Club, where I’d look forward to expanding the club beyond the bounds of B-school students to include professors and faculty as well.”) Adcoms love it when you can use your niche skills to build community. You may not be the smartest person in the room, but you’ll be more than smart enough to be there, and you can be a utility player bringing people together to create the kind of organic synergy b-school is known for. Reach out to the club members from the club website to learn more about the club so that you can reference those conversations and your knowledge of the club in your application – that will show that you know how to network and that you “get it” with regard to networking’s importance in business.
The work at a sovereign wealth fund is differentiating, more so than the second tier consulting firm. If you talk about career aspirations, it would be smart to play up that aspect, especially in combo with your government/political ties (working for PM!). That could also be differentiating! Potential career paths that come to mind - IFC or other World Bank-type stuff, UN, IMF. Your background could also give you a leg up in top-tier dual Masters in Public Administration / Masters Business Administration programs. Since it’s Wharton we’re talking about, you could consider a dual app to Fels (at Penn) or consider Wharton’s partnership with Havard’s Kennedy School. Every MBA program wants people to have aspirations of public service or at least public-private partnerships. That reflects positively on their brand and their international visibility, especially if you are considering going back to Asia post-MBA. Keep in mind that you don’t have to do exactly what you say you want to do professionally in your application when you actually get to MBA. Nobody will hold you to those stated application aspirations – many (most, even!) change their minds!
Your internationally-oriented experience (both in terms of your education and your work experience), is impressive enough that I think you could still shoot for M7 with your 710 GMAT score (which is going to be a standard deviation lower - maybe even more than one standard deviation lower - than the average for SEA demographic accepted students for these schools). You just need to make sure that your strategic positioning (e.g., what you want to do short-term and long-term and how that aligns with your prior accomplishments and demonstrated passions) is flawless and differentiated from your peers applying from the same geography.
Best of luck to you!
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11 Oct 2021, 09:30
