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wraider84
Joined: 16 Mar 2019
Last visit: 05 Feb 2021
Posts: 61
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 50
Location: United States
Concentration: Technology, Strategy
Schools: HBS '22 (D) Stanford '22 (D) Stern '22 (A) Sloan '22 (D) Wharton '22 (D) Kellogg '22 (WA) Booth '22 (M) Darden '22 (A$) Duke '22 (WL) CBS '22 (D)
GMAT 1: 760 Q49 V47
GPA: 3.67
WE:Consulting (Consulting)
Schools: HBS '22 (D) Stanford '22 (D) Stern '22 (A) Sloan '22 (D) Wharton '22 (D) Kellogg '22 (WA) Booth '22 (M) Darden '22 (A$) Duke '22 (WL) CBS '22 (D)
GMAT 1: 760 Q49 V47
Posts: 61
Kudos:
71
18 Apr 2019, 07:58
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Bookmarks
Hi, I believe I have a somewhat unique industry that I want to work in post-MBA, but a bit worried it might work against me and I would be better off emphasizing a more traditional line of work. I currently work in one of these convention industries (consulting) and would not hesitate to return there, so could also speak to that. However, my passion is the sports industry in some type of strategy or management role. This is not necessarily limited to teams or leagues, but many North American sports are at an interesting point where gambling and fantasy sports are revolutionizing and disrupting the status quo. As I will get to in my profile, I also have a background in my ECs that lead a strong story here. However, I know many schools implicitly prefer "safe" or "conventional" paths post grad that have a highly likelihood of success or prestige so worried that emphasizing this might be a negative factor. Now let me get into some stats:
Demo: White Male in Northeast US, age 25
GMAT: 760 | Q: 49 | V:47 | IR:8 | AWA: 6
GPA: 3.65
Undergrad: Elite (non-Ivy) East Coast Private University, Economics Major with Minors in Physics and Math
Work Experience: Will be 3 years at Accenture as a Management Consultant at time of application, closer to 4 years by the time school would begin. Promoted twice in the span (Analyst -> Senior Analyst -> Consultant). Work mainly focused on Financial Service companies, for a time had a focus on London operations and was the sole US team member brought over to London for a period to meet with senior clients.
ECs:
- In college was a founding member of a new club on campus which focused on the intersection of sports, business, and statistical analysis. I was the first featured writer for the club (had a certain number of articles up), and was featured on a professional radio to discuss some of these. An example of one of the articles was a look at if it made business sense for the NFL to move a team from Florida to LA (this was 2013), looked at things like demographics, socioeconomic indicators, and history to try to predict and make suggestions for the best course of action.
- Was an assistant editor for a school newspaper, started as a writer myself then eventually worked up to help edit and mentor younger writers
- Lead role on the campus recruiting team for my company, responsible for managing outreach to students who received fulltime/intern offers and tracking our success rate on offers
- Lead role in internal company team which is introducing a new system for recognition and rewards for strong performance in certain areas which don't always get recognized (i.e. non-client work). Team of 3 of us rolling this out for approximately 500 impacted employees.
With my background and stats I'm hoping to target top schools like Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, MIT, NYU, etc. I'm worried that my post grad goals might be a concern and maybe I shouldn't emphasize those on applications? For what its worth I already have a somewhat decent network in the industry (including 3 of the other founders of the club, they all already work in the industry).
Demo: White Male in Northeast US, age 25
GMAT: 760 | Q: 49 | V:47 | IR:8 | AWA: 6
GPA: 3.65
Undergrad: Elite (non-Ivy) East Coast Private University, Economics Major with Minors in Physics and Math
Work Experience: Will be 3 years at Accenture as a Management Consultant at time of application, closer to 4 years by the time school would begin. Promoted twice in the span (Analyst -> Senior Analyst -> Consultant). Work mainly focused on Financial Service companies, for a time had a focus on London operations and was the sole US team member brought over to London for a period to meet with senior clients.
ECs:
- In college was a founding member of a new club on campus which focused on the intersection of sports, business, and statistical analysis. I was the first featured writer for the club (had a certain number of articles up), and was featured on a professional radio to discuss some of these. An example of one of the articles was a look at if it made business sense for the NFL to move a team from Florida to LA (this was 2013), looked at things like demographics, socioeconomic indicators, and history to try to predict and make suggestions for the best course of action.
- Was an assistant editor for a school newspaper, started as a writer myself then eventually worked up to help edit and mentor younger writers
- Lead role on the campus recruiting team for my company, responsible for managing outreach to students who received fulltime/intern offers and tracking our success rate on offers
- Lead role in internal company team which is introducing a new system for recognition and rewards for strong performance in certain areas which don't always get recognized (i.e. non-client work). Team of 3 of us rolling this out for approximately 500 impacted employees.
With my background and stats I'm hoping to target top schools like Stanford, Harvard, Columbia, MIT, NYU, etc. I'm worried that my post grad goals might be a concern and maybe I shouldn't emphasize those on applications? For what its worth I already have a somewhat decent network in the industry (including 3 of the other founders of the club, they all already work in the industry).
22 Apr 2019, 18:13
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Bookmarks
Hi wraider84,
First off, I understand your concern about the unique goals, but I don't think the goals you presented are that unrealistic given your background. Plus, admissions is not really screening for how unique or common your goals are, rather they're interested in whether the school can offer you coursework and opportunities that align with your goals, and whether you have the existing foundation and the required drive to achieve those goals. I think in your case, you do. Plus I've also seen some past clients write about goals in the sports industry and it's worked well (as long as they have the passion/foundation to back it up). I'm glad MIT is on your list, I know they have a conference on Sports Analytics. Might also be worth checking on Kellogg -- I think they have a Sports Management offering or at least a course in it.
Otherwise, your GMAT and GPA look great. Work wise seems strong too, and the stint in London is a nice differentiator compared to most US based consultants. I also like that you've taken opportunities to get involved in the firm. It would be nice if you had an extracurricular outside the firm, but I know that's hard to keep up, especially if you're traveling, so that's a common issue we see with consultants.
I think overall you're in good shape to move ahead. Stanford and Harvard are reaches for almost every applicant, but give them a shot, I think your profile is strong enough!
Good luck!
Kate
First off, I understand your concern about the unique goals, but I don't think the goals you presented are that unrealistic given your background. Plus, admissions is not really screening for how unique or common your goals are, rather they're interested in whether the school can offer you coursework and opportunities that align with your goals, and whether you have the existing foundation and the required drive to achieve those goals. I think in your case, you do. Plus I've also seen some past clients write about goals in the sports industry and it's worked well (as long as they have the passion/foundation to back it up). I'm glad MIT is on your list, I know they have a conference on Sports Analytics. Might also be worth checking on Kellogg -- I think they have a Sports Management offering or at least a course in it.
Otherwise, your GMAT and GPA look great. Work wise seems strong too, and the stint in London is a nice differentiator compared to most US based consultants. I also like that you've taken opportunities to get involved in the firm. It would be nice if you had an extracurricular outside the firm, but I know that's hard to keep up, especially if you're traveling, so that's a common issue we see with consultants.
I think overall you're in good shape to move ahead. Stanford and Harvard are reaches for almost every applicant, but give them a shot, I think your profile is strong enough!
Good luck!
Kate
wraider84
wraider84
Joined: 16 Mar 2019
Last visit: 05 Feb 2021
Posts: 61
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 50
Location: United States
Concentration: Technology, Strategy
Schools: HBS '22 (D) Stanford '22 (D) Stern '22 (A) Sloan '22 (D) Wharton '22 (D) Kellogg '22 (WA) Booth '22 (M) Darden '22 (A$) Duke '22 (WL) CBS '22 (D)
GMAT 1: 760 Q49 V47
GPA: 3.67
WE:Consulting (Consulting)
Schools: HBS '22 (D) Stanford '22 (D) Stern '22 (A) Sloan '22 (D) Wharton '22 (D) Kellogg '22 (WA) Booth '22 (M) Darden '22 (A$) Duke '22 (WL) CBS '22 (D)
GMAT 1: 760 Q49 V47
Posts: 61
Kudos:
71
23 Apr 2019, 06:51
Kudos
Bookmarks
mbaMissionKate
Hi Kate,
Thanks for the thorough response, I appreciate the reassurance in my path. I will definitely look into Kellogg more, I know that Columbia also has some sports management related courses. Appreciate the reminder on Sloan, our club in undergrad actually sent people to that yearly and for some reason I never put 2 and 2 together with the name! I do agree on ECs outside of the firm, I will try a bit to see if I can find anything that fits between now and application time, though I know the short time might look a little superficial then, so will have to work around that. I am a regular triathlete, have been for ~7 years so maybe can discuss that as well. Its not spectacular like volunteering or other ECs, but can use it to showcase some character traits like perseverance if needed.
Thanks again,
Max
