Profile Evaluation, Please!

Question

Hi! I'm looking to apply this fall for a full-time MBA starting in 2023. Below is a quick snapshot of my background. Would appreciate any and all advice/comments/pointers!

Asian-American, Male, 29
GPA: 3.38/4.00
College: International Studies Major from Top-35 U.S. college
GMAT: 730 (Q49, V41, IR 7, AWA 6)   -- Debating whether it's worth taking one more time to see if I can get a higher score?

Work Experience:  Have been working in tech companies post-college in a variety of different roles from sales to customer success. Currently in an operations role where I handle day to day marketing activities as well as reporting and analytics on marketing efforts for the company. I am the sole marketing operations employee supporting a greater marketing organization of 20+.

I'm looking to use my MBA to pivot industries, to move towards a more international business role. Goal is consulting at MBB with a focus on international companies and perhaps a couple stints overseas here and there. This goal will probably make more sense given the following personal background.

Personal:  Trilingual in English, Mandarin, and Korean. Extensive international experience: 5+ years living and going to school in China as a Korean-American and also multiple summers spent doing volunteer work in many countries in Southeast Asia and along the Eurasian border. Domestic work life has been fine, but in many ways I am looking to branch back out into the international world. I've always felt more at home in cross-cultural settings and continue to be more interested in areas where there are many intersects of life, culture, business, etc. Hence a goal to use my MBA to pivot into international business, specifically on international consulting projects at MBB-like firms.

I've taken periods of time between jobs to be abroad volunteering but also just living, showing a commitment to international personal and work life, so total years of official "work experience" will be just over 5 as I apply to b-schools.

Target Schools:  Wharton Lauder, HBS, Dartmouth Tuck, Georgetown McDonough // These four sit at the top of my list right now for Round 1 applications. They're either big consulting schools or they have strong international programs that I've visited and were impressed by.

Thank you in advance for the time! Excited for the application process despite the long road ahead for the next few months!

desertEagle · Answer

Your profile is great. All the diverse experiences make it more appealing.

Your Score is good. I think with your diverse experience and great profile, 730 is a good score. However, You can take one more attempt to get a better score. You have 3 month time left to take another attempt at GMAT. So, take it. It may boost your chances to get a great scholarship too.

Final advice. Do work on your application. You can improve score from 730 to 760 but that will not be a big change compared to a good application against an average one. Application, essays and extracurriculars can greatly enhance your chance to get into your dream B school than improving from 730 to 760.

Best of luck

suh92 · Answer

Thanks! Definitely looking to spend quality time on my application. I'll take your advice into consideration for taking the GMAT a third time!

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

Hi  suh92  to start with some positives, not a lot of Asian males work in marketing so that is something that might set you apart a bit. However, marketing is hard to translate across cultures so if you are going for an office outside of China hmm. Is it possible to put kind of a strategy slant on what you do? Can you argue that the analytics and reporting have served as the blueprint for building effective marketing strategy and you have campaigned for data-based decisions at the organization? I think that would be a good path to take. I really encourage you to focus on ways to demonstrate value add and organizational impact you have made through your work there.

I like the international work experience and agree that Wharton Lauder is a great target. You will need to think about your long-term goals and come up with a convincing case for Why Lauder; why you want an international career and how you will focus your studies at Lauder to achieve that end.

If you do go there I might recommend you do a one “period” at INSEAD their sister school and try to recruit there. If you are really wanting to double down on an international career, I am wondering why INSEAD isn’t on your school list? They just have the international MBB hookup there and if you choose to repatriate hopefully you wont be leaning on your alma mater at that point.

If you are serious about HBS, and to a lesser extent Wharton Lauder, I do think you should try to bump up your GMAT 10 or 20 points because you are part of competitive demographic and your grades are OK but not great. Why would they pick you over someone with the same work background with better grades and a higher GMAT? Consider what might be the answer to this question and incorporate that throughout your applications.

I do like that you have engaged in ECs however I am VERY WORRIED that you have taken time off between jobs to engage in them. Depending somewhat upon how long we are talking. Gaps between jobs are a red flag and raise questions for employers so definitely address this in the optional essay. You might include a section in your resume speaking to community leadership or some similarly named section so you can “show for” that time. Try to quantify the achievements you made there so it doesn’t look like you need to escape work periodically. I would advise you to speak with an MBA recruiter for MBB or even maybe someone who is a recent graduate doing interviewing to find out how that reads and how to mitigate potential concerns there.

As for your school list, being part of a competitive demographic, I think you should apply to more schools. I am not sure if this is you but a lot of candidates think ok if I don’t get into #1 ranked school then I will get into #20 ranked school but it does not work like this at all. You are not sure what they will see in you and who else is applying. For example one of my clients this past round was admitted to Booth & Kellogg but dinged after interview at Haas and waitlisted after interview at Ross and NYU. I think maybe apply to another M7 school and a couple more ranked in between GT and Tuck. (if you arent interested in LBS/INSEAD which seems a better path for what you want really)

“They're either big consulting schools or they have strong international programs that I've visited and were impressed by.” OK hmm HBS doesn’t seem to fit either of these and international isn’t how I would define Tuck as compared to many other schools. Really, all top 15 maybe top 20 schools recruit well for consulting so that shouldn’t be a huge criteria (one of my past clients graduated from NYU is a manager at MBB and got in through his NYU network which isn’t a consulting school at all). I would do some introspection and informational interviewing to figure out what you need out of business school to be successful at the work you want to do post MBB and long term, consider where the gaps exist and target schools with the clubs/culture/curriculum to best address those gaps. Also, cross reference those with where you align with their mission statement and stated values.

Profile Evaluation, Please!

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