olso4052 wrote:
Here there. I was wondering if you could please review my profile and let me know what schools I should be targeting. I have a handful of target skills (listed at bottom), and would like to whittle down that list a little bit before applying.
Bio
25 year old US white male, will be 26 at matriculation. Looking to apply round 1 for Fall 2014 start.
Education & GMAT
- BS in Mechanical Engineering from Midwest Public Ivy
- GPA: 3.2 (3.4 in upper-division classes)
- GMAT: 710 (might retake, how much would that help?)
Work Experience
3 years (at matriculation) of experience as an Application Engineer at a large (~$1B revenue), but not well known fiber optic cable and component manufacturing company. We do large business with pretty much every major US internet and TV service provider.
My job gives me access to almost every aspect of our business (this is actually one of the things that made me interested in an MBA). I work with our customers and sales team to recommend products and receive feedback for new products. I work with our design team and product management to design and prototype new products, and I work with our manufacturing team to help implement and manufacture our products. Along side our product managers, I am the central hub for product expertise and customer support.
During my career I've done well and been able to take on a great deal of additional responsibilities. I started working with one product set in a single market (customer based, not regional) and now work with all our products in two of our three largest markets.
Awards and Activities
- A few awards and commendations at work - award for terrific customer-based work, recognition from the company president about an internal white paper I wrote.
- Member of American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
- Started an after school science program for youths in poorly funded school districts. We are partnered with and run under a larger non-profit, but myself and my co-founder have full control and responsibility of the entire program.
Goals
Short-term goal: To work as a consultant at a high-tech consulting firm
Long-term goal: To become CTO of a world-class firm in the high-tech industry and be on the forefront of driving cutting-edge technology.
Schools
Stanford
Harvard
Columbia
MIT
Haas
Ross
Kellogg
NYU
Tepper
UCLA
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. It would be really great to know where I would stand with those schools, and which would be most receptive to my application. Also, any other recommendations for schools would be great.
You have a chance at all your programs, but I would choose 2 from HBS, Stanford, MIT, Haas, and Kellogg (I like Haas and MIT given your goals) and then apply to 3 from Ross, UCLA, NYU Stern, and Tepper. You may want to consider Cornell Johnson or Duke for the 2nd group.
A higher GMAT may help you, but it's hard to say and would partially depend on how much higher you could take. 10 points would probably have little or know impact 30 or more points could have impact.
Best,
Linda