Hi Paul
I'm a 31 year-old east Asian American female aiming to apply in R1 for Fall 2012 matriculation. My big questions are:
- What are my chances for getting into my target schools?
- Given my Post MBA plans and current credentials, what other schools should I consider?
- In my current profile, what are my weakness areas that I should improve on?
- I keep hearing about HBS and Stanford's age discrimination, should I not even bother applying to those two schools?
Education-College - Studied fashion design 2 years at top art school (Parsons School of Design -- transferred).
-Bachelors in International Trade and Marketing at a not well known school with 3.85/4.0 GPA, Dean's List.
-MPA in International Economic Policy and Management from Columbia University (3.89/4.0 GPA). Was elected as my program's student chair.
-A+ in economics at Columbia.
*note: I worked full time through college and graduate school with full time course load.
Work Experience-5 years as Web designer and developer at medium sized education NGO.
-4 years as Assistant Director of Web Communications at Columbia University.
-1.5 years as Director of New Media at a well known, mid-sized environmental NGO.
-Just started new position (also related to new media and Web) at the US Treasury.
GMATAiming for 700+, realistically expecting 680 - 720. Just took a full length CAT exam on
Manhattan prep and scored 670. I plan to take the GMAT in 3 months, so I have some time to study.
Leadership Experience & Volunteer- Won innovation award at latest job
-Was elected student chair for my program at Columbia University. Participated in Columbia's dean search committee for the School of International and Public Affairs. Represented Columbia University on policy study tours to Japan, Nigeria and Ghana.
-Hired and Managed teams of designers, developers and vendors at all my jobs except for the very first one.
- Negotiated contracts and managed budgets.
-Lead strategy discussions at senior levels at my two previous jobs (current job is too early to tell), as well as implemented those strategies with my teams.
-Served, several times, on a panel of judges that determined scholarship awards for my undergrad school.
-Lead a viral campaign targeting Discovery Communications and Sarah Palin that received national media attention.
-For my master thesis at Columbia, I worked with a team of graduate students to produce a paper, examining the economic relationship between China and Africa. This paper was used in a Beijing briefing conference for African officials hosted by the World Bank.
- Volunteers regularly for local area cleanups and holiday toy drives.
Language & Travel & ExtrasNative fluency in English and Mandarin Chinese
Basic proficiency in Japanese and Taiwanese
Extensive travel in North America (US & Canada), South America (Chile, Argentina, Peru, Easter Island), Africa (Nigeria, Ghana), Europe (UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Monaco, Austria), and Asia (Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong)
I am pretty good at art things like drawing (charcoal, pencil, pastels) and painting (oil, acrylic, gauche). Designing for online medias. Photography.
Did I mention I make a delicious four-cheese bacon macaroni and cheese that is to die for? I played dodge ball and am absolutely horrible at it.
Target SchoolsWharton
London Business School
INSEAD
Oxford
Post MBA PlansWould like to focus on business strategy and foreign market penetration for one of the big name mobile firms in US or Europe. Would also be very interested in exploring innovative mobile technology that targets business and education use in developing and third world countries -- possible entrepreneur route. Would like to leverage my past experiences in new media and viral campaigns and my MPA in international econommics to help me go in this direction.
Thank you in advance,
Enkie