Profile evaluation and School pick

Question

Hi there,

I am an international candidate from China. I am now working and living in Singapore.

GMAT-770/AWA 6.0; TOFEL (waived because my PHD is accomplished in English)

GPA - undergraduate 3.5 out of 4 in microelectronics (Top 3 Univ in China)
 - PHD (4.3 out of 5) in microelectronics (No.1 University in Singapore)

4 years of working experience in semiconductor manufacturing industry (will be 5.5 years before MBA starts)
=> first 2 years: mainly technology focused; process integration and device study
=> current job: product engineer, still technology based but with more involvement in customer support

Interested to have a career in general management or consulting with focus in high tech/electronics/semiconductor industry

I am eyeing on INSEAD 2013 Jan intake.
I think my most obvious weaknesses would be   my age   (almost 33 years old in 2013. ;-<) and  lack of any management/business/consulting related experiences .

Appreciate if I can have your advice and comments on my chances for INSEAD and if possible, recommend any other MBA programs better fit my profile and career goal (I am looking at 1-year program only)

Thanks very much in advance.

Chang.

PersonalMBACoach · Answer

Chang,

Thanks for posting a detailed profile, makes the evaluations more useful.

You have a very good profile on the surface, 770 GMAT, 6.0 AWA, grad GPA pretty good etc. The work experience is ok, yes I agree because it is not quite business focused it is not ideal, but these programs take lots of non business folks, especially if you can tease out in your application that you were involved in customer facing roles, business decisions, leadership roles etc.

INSEAD has a slightly older class so I am less concerned with your experience. The fact that you are older is less important as the # of years of experience and if you don't count school, its not that much. If you count school, you are well above the average but given your strong scores and good GPA (depending on the rank as I ask below), you have a shot at this program.

Some questions for you:
1) How is a 3.5 at your undergrad? What % rank would that be?
2) What do you want to do post MBA? You should think about this as you consider programs
3) What regions do you want to study in? Only Europe? Interested in studying in the states or anywhere else?

I can certainly recommend some good schools for you once you let me know answers to those questions. Feel free to reach out for specific advice or if you just want my insight once you let me know these answers. Good luck!

-Scott

-Scott
scott@personalmbacoach.com
www.personalmbacoach.com
--Free application strategy discussion & initial essay review
--Insider tips and mock interview preparation

robertlau · Answer

Hi Scott,

Thanks very much for your prompt reply. Please find my reply to your questions below.

1) How is a 3.5 at your undergrad? What % rank would that be?
 => GPA OF 3.5 out of 4 is in the top10% range.

2) What do you want to do post MBA? You should think about this as you consider programs
=> I am considering general management/strategy layout in high tech/electronics/semiconductor company or consulting position with focus on the similar electronics/high tech industry.
=> I have the necessary technology expertise (undergrad/PhD studies and research) and working experiences with the front line manufacturing and product management. 
=> Thus at this point of time, I need MBA program to provide me with more exposure to general management and business strategy skills to fulfill my goal.

3) What regions do you want to study in? Only Europe? Interested in studying in the states or anywhere else?
=> Since I am only looking at 1-year program, it seems that Europe MBA program is the most suitable.

StacyBlackman · Answer

Hi robertlau,

Your numbers look excellent (congratulations on the excellent GMAT score). My primary concern with your application is your leadership and work experience. Admissions teams will be looking for individuals who have displayed progression and leadership in their career.

I recommend you read this case study of an engineer who was accepted into Columbia, Tuck, and MIT by differentiating himself through his experiences:

https://www.stacyblackman.com/comprehens ... ies/case2/

Regarding your age, you should not be worried about an imaginary cut-off line. However, you should be prepared to explain your reasoning for attending business school.

Hope this was of help.

Cheers,

Conrad and the Stacy Blackman Team

Admissionado · Answer

Hey there sir,
I'll just add to what my colleagues have said and say that you should have pretty good chances with INSEAD. Age is less of an issue with European programs in general than it is with US. They are MUCH more flexible. The main issue is not age but employability and personality. I mean with a Phd, your GMAT, you are obviously a very clever fellow. Show them that you can translate this into business, plus for INSEAD specifically show them your more "Well-rounded" side. In my experience, INSEAD loves people with a funny bone, with passions, with wit, and charm. (it IS France, you know!) So if you have a love for Early Gothic cathedrals, and if you a bit comic actor between your night stint as a master sushi chef and your weekends as a horseback riding teacher, it's stuff you will want them to know.

PersonalMBACoach · Answer

Chang,

You have a good profile to apply to INSEAD and I wouldn't be concerned about the age as I said, specifically for INSEAD and Europe in general. That said, there are 1 year programs in the US that you could look into, but only recommended if you want to stay and work in the US, if not then these won't help you as much in Europe as a local program would (specifically around recruiting, networking etc)

Besides INSEAD I would look at IE. Also you can consider IMD, HEC (16 month, not a year)

-Scott
scott@personalmbacoach.com
www.personalmbacoach.com
--Free application strategy discussion & initial essay review
--Insider tips and mock interview preparation

robertlau · Answer

Hi guys,

Really appreciate all your inputs and advices here......

As I mentioned above, I am looking at 1-year program and planning to go back to Asia (most likely Singapore) for career development after MBA.

Thus, I am looking at INSEAD and IMD as my current choices.
INSEAD has a Singapore campus, so should be ideal for me.
FOr IMD, as i read from its brochure, 70% of its graduates find a job in europe. Does this indicate that IMD might not be as suitable if I am looking at asia job market after graduation?

Thanks.

Admissionado · Answer

Well, actually what it means in that probably most IMD students are from Europe/want to stay in Europe

What about other Asian schools? HKUST, NUS, etc???

robertlau · Answer

Hi there, here is my school pick rational.
1. I am only planning for 1-y program
2. My future goal is in general management/consulting in electronics/high tech industry.

So I am thinking INSEAD and IMD are more suitable in this regard.

Any advices otherwise?

Thanks very much.

Admissionado · Answer

That makes sense

You could also look at some English programs, notably Said. And keep in mind that LBS has this flex option that lets you finish in 15 months, if that works for you.

robertlau · Answer

I have a doubt regarding IMD though.

I have read through the 2011 IMD class profile and found that almost all of them already hold a "prestigious" title before MBA as "senior manager" or "director", or "company founder". However, my background does not have much direct exposure to "management". Thus, does my profile look too "weak" in terms of current achievement for IMD?

Thanks for all your guys' feedback here.

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