Profile Evaluation - Mobile Business Strategy

Question

Hi Everyone I'm 31 years old east Asian American female aiming to apply in R1 for Fall 2012 matriculation. Please share your thoughts on my profile. Thank you in advance. I appreciate your feedback!

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. GMAT Aiming 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 -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 & Extras Native 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 Schools Wharton London Business School INSEAD Oxford Post MBA Plans Would 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. What are my chances of getting into my target schools? Also, does anyone have suggestions on what other schools I should target? And what I should improve on? Thank you in advance, Enkie

bakfed · Answer

Hi enkie, I think you absolutely have a shot at these top programs that you're looking at. You have a pretty interesting background that can be put into a good story in your essay. Is there a reason why you've divided your list into one US school and three European schools? Did you prefer to just work in Europe post-MBA? At this point, there's really nothing else that you can work on (besides acing that GMAT and working hard at your new position). I really think that given your experience and your stories, with a 700+ GMAT score, you can get in one of the top b-schools. Whether you choose to include some other top b-schools in the states will probably be your preference. If you choose to be in New York, also look at Columbia. Otherwise, a quick glance at the ranking would tell you that Harvard, Stanford, Kellogg, Sloan, and Booth are all considered top of the top. Again, I think you have a shot at getting in, even with your higher age, but if I were you I'd still throw in just one or two other schools outside of the top 8 b-schools, schools such as Tuck and Haas are also considered great.

jordanhendrix · Answer

agree....even this post is fun to read!

enkie · Answer

Haha, thank you (if you are referring to my post, that is).

enkie · Answer

Bakfed, thank you for your thoughtful response. It was really encouraging. I didn't choose many US schools because I kept reading about age discrimination with some of the top programs (and felt a little discouraged). Your advice makes a lot of sense -- I will probably add HBS, Stanford and Sloan to my top choices. I targeted the European schools because I think it would be a great exp to live abroad for a year or two. I am open to employment all over the world (with a focus on developing and third world countries, I might end up in some parts of Asia or Africa). As for the US, I already have a Columbia degree and significant work experience here, so I thought it would be interesting to add an international perspective to my academic credentials. With that said, I am really attracted to Wharton because they have a strong focus on new media and innovation. AHHHHH, well first thing's first, I gotta get into a school first.

I will focus heavily on acing the GMAT in May, then start working on my essays over the summer. Do you think it would help my application if I vacuum-packed and sent the admission committee some of my best dishes?

Thanks again! I really appreciate your feedback. Enkie

Profile Evaluation - Mobile Business Strategy

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