latinmba wrote:
Hi Paul,
I would really appreciate your evaluation of my profile. Thanks in advance.
28 years old, married male living in Latin America.
GMAT: 750 (Q49 / V44 / AWA 4.5)
Academics
- BSc in Economics from a top university in my country. I graduated 3rd in my class with a 3.4 GPA. Several internships during college. I was chosen twice as one of the best one hundred undergraduate students of my country.
- Incomplete MSc in Economics in other Latin American country (I did not write my dissertation because I needed to work fulltime to support my family. GPA: 3.02.-
Full time Work experience
Right after graduation I worked in strategic planning for a metropolitan city government during 3 years. At the end of my job I was selected by an international organization to represent my country in a summer forum about federalism (I traveled to two different countries and shared experiences with other 15 people from around the world.
During my MSc I joined a local consulting firm in Mexico for a short term assignment where I co-leaded the design of a technological business incubator.
After dropping the MSc I decided to begin my career in the private sector and I joined a major insurance company. I was selected for a new training program and I had to spend some time in NYC. This program allowed me to interact with the top management of the company and colleagues from all over the world. My first assignment after the training program was as an interim manager of a profit center unit in other Latin American country where I had to cover for 5 months the maternity leave of the permanent manager. Since then, I have been senior analyst of a key department where I have generated almost US$ 1 million in new business during my first year (40-45% of the new business budget for this year). In this year I have also volunteered to train all the new staff of the company on the strategic vision and corporate culture (around 40 people).
By the time of matriculation I will have 6 years of full time work experience.
Community / Extracurricular Activities
During College:
I was a volunteer for a non profit organization that promotes education in the US and Canada. I was involved in a leadership program intended to help college students develop their skill as global players.
I was member of the organizing committee of a major national conference of economics students. I served as academic coordinator for several activities of this conference.
After College
I started writing economics & finance articles for several newspapers in my home country. By the time I left the country I had written more that one hundred articles. I even had a weekly economic column in one of these newspapers. After leaving the country I stopped writing because of the current critical political climate and the civil liberty violations.
For the last 5 years I have volunteered as economic advisor of a local chamber of commerce in my home country. As part of my involvement with this organization I had given many lectures about economic development and economic impact of new laws.
I speak Spanish and English fluently and I have a good knowledge of French and Portuguese. During the last 5 years I have worked in three Latin American countries and traveled to other four.
Why MBA, what will I do with it, and why now?
I want to get the MBA to further develop my career with my current employer. Right now I am in process of explaining my plans to the company but I do not anticipate any problem. I do not expect financial support from my company but I want to expand my network of contacts in USA while I am doing my MBA. I want to ultimately lead a country operation in Latin America and I am aware that I need to build up my general management skills. I think that I have matured enough to understand the value of the MBA degree and I also consider that I have now a clearer picture of my career goals. I plan to complement my MBA degree with an insurance & risk management designation that I will start by the end of this year.
Potential Schools:
Wharton (it has an insurance & risk management concentration)
Columbia (it is located very close to my current employer’s global headquarters)
LBS
Duke
Yale
What are my chances at these schools?
How could I handle the incomplete MSc degree? I think that I have learned a lot from that experience and I feel that the rest of my background reflects that I am a tenacious person who does not give up easily.
What other schools would you recommend to apply?
Thanks again for your time.
latinmba,
You have a remarkable profile and I think your odds are good at all the schools you mentioned. As for explaining the MSc, just tell them why the degree became less relevant to you. There's no harm in changing course when you decide something is not right for you, but tell that what was wrong, what caused the change in your perception. This is hardly a deal-breaker. Given your goals you seem to need a good general management program. Have you heard of Harvard?
You might as well give HBS a shot IMO. Maybe also consider Michigan, Tuck, and Virginia. You can aim high.
Good luck,
close
11 Aug 2007, 22:50
. I think you are the first person that I have seen receive the official "Paul Bodine thinks you should apply to Harvard" seal of approval. 
