I will be applying through the Consortium in round 2, I would like to know if I have a legitimate chance at Ross.
Background:
29 year old Hispanic male from a low-income household.
Enlisted U.S military prior to attending undergrad, graduating in spring 2019.
Neither parent attended college with one parent not completing high school.
Undergrad:
Big 12 Public school in Texas, not UT (Hometown university)
2.9 GPA (Economics major, minor in Chinese)
GPA will likely be my biggest hurdle. I come from a family, both immediate and extended, with no post-secondary education. After my time in the military, I wanted to change that trend. Early academic struggles were due to my unfamiliarity with college academics while balancing working 30 hours a week. I still work the same amount per week, but much better time management.
My GPA is weighed down from "C's" and "D's" in introductory courses like Pre-Calculus, Intro to Anthropology, and freshman English.
After learning how to approach college academics I saw a significant improvement in my performance.
I have made "A's" and "B's" in:
Managerial Economics
Intermediate and Advanced Chinese
Intermediate Macroeconomics/Microeconomics
Calculus
and most of the other Economic courses I have taken.
GMAT: 620(cannot recall split)
This was a testing of the waters, going in I fully intended on retaking a second time. I have been using
TTP for quant and
MGMAT for verbal. I scored a 660 on my most recent practice exam. I have another 5 weeks of extensive studying before I sit in mid-December. I am fully invested in making up for my GPA though the GMAT exam.
Work Experience and Leadership:
I feel this is the strength of my application. Early in my career I began to seperate myself from my peers. I was given a waiver to attend an enlisted leadership academy, I was too junior in rank and only 19 years old. I made the most of the opportunity and was 1 of only 4 honor graduates in a class of about 240. A year later, while deployed to Afghanistan, I was selected to instruct courses to Afghan police officers. Using an interpreter, I taught classes in marksmanship, first aid, and basic law enforcement tactics. While in Afghanistan I was nominated and approved for promotion to Sergeant, ahead of several peers senior to myself. I received multiple awards for accomplishments in leadership positions towards the backend of my career.
Post MBA goals:
Transition into consulting to develop expertise in a specific field, then transition into a management role after a few years.
I have my mind set on attending a T15 business school. I am applying to 5 of these programs this year, knowing there is a legitimate possibility I can strike out at all five. Should that happen, I will stay at my current university for a 2nd major in Chinese and reapply next year. If I do need to reapply I will target T15 again, but add a few programs like McCombs and Jones(Rice).
I am targeting schools that have a reputation of being military friendly, with the exception of Yale. I understand Yale is likely out of my league, but I feel culturally it is the best fit for me. I am applying to Kellogg, Yale, Tuck, Ross, and Johnson. Any advice would be appreciated!
Considering you have not graduated yet. I would recommend two programs for you that will provide support before your MBA and after. The first is MLT (Management Leadership for Tomorrow) who can help you prepare for your MBA applications. They have considerable resources and a proven track record of placing applicants into top B-schools with scholarships. They have a few different programs but the one I recommend is their one-year MBA prep where they help you prepare your essays, improve GMAT scores, network with skills, prepare for interviews and many other valuable resources that help you be a stand-out candidate.
The second program is the Consortium for Graduate Studies of Management that allows you to apply to six business schools at a significantly reduced cost. There is a common application for all of them which also greatly simplifies the process. Finally, they offer a fellowship to many of the participants which covers full tuition.
Waiting an extra year could make a huge difference in the quality of school you matriculate to and the amount of scholarships you receive. Best wishes.
close
Updated on: 24 Nov 2018, 11:15
