Profile Evaluation Request
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23 Jun 2019, 10:44
Background:
26, Asian Male
Academics:
Undergraduate: UCLA
GPA: 3.86 (Magna Cum Laude)
Major: Chemical Engineering
GMAT: 720 (Q: 48, V: 40, IR: 3, AWA: 4)*
*I plan to write an essay addressing my low IR/AWA scores. Key points for that essay are as follows:
- When I officially decided to go for an MBA (March 2019), my work was going through a work intensive maintenance window.
- I was working ~80 hours a week, 6 days a week, including days/night shifts for 12 weeks
- I tried studying while working 80 hrs a week, but the physical and mental fatigue made it tough (my work entails physical activity - climbing through equipment for inspections & technical analysis during this maintenance window).
- When the maintenance window ended, I had to transition from night shifts and had effectively 3 weeks to study.
- With verbal reasoning being my weakest subject, I choose to focus on that.
- With a relatively strong work experience and GPA, I felt that would help bolster my IR/AWA scores (and even my quant score).
- Instead of retaking the GMAT, I felt my time was better suited researching MBA programs, determining post-MBA career, & determining what I would do with my time at different MBA programs to achieve the post MBA career.
Work Exp:
4 years (currently) as a Process Engineer at a Fortune 50 petroleum refining company
A sample of major projects/achievements include the following:
- Leading interdisciplinary teams to remove equipment deficiencies & increase unit reliability
- Optimizing process unit to increase throughput & generate millions of dollar/year in profit
Extra curricular:
I am very big on mentorship so a lot of my extra cirriculars reflect this:
- Mentorship roles in a few engineering clubs as an undergrad. Help set up various events including: UCLA's Engineering Welcome Day, resume workshops, interview/internship prep, etc.
- Recruiting lead at UCLA for my company. This extends to being involved in our internship program as a supervisor & buddy. Also I have been involved with my local high school students (through my company) with discussions about college, STEM fields, career fairs, resumes, etc.
Goal:
Ideally, I hope to make a joint degree program that has exposure to tech to help switch in Tech as a product manager.
My current role has me communicating with a wide audience from engineers, operators (essentially our customers), and management, so I feel like this aspect translates smoothly. The reason I am pursuing and MBA to learn the business side of this role (different analytical tools/metrics, case studies, hands on experience, etc.) and also learn more about the tech space (joining clubs, learning how to code, etc.)
Target Schools:
MIT Sloan, Kellogg, Chicago, Wharton, HBS, GSB, Haas, Anderson, McCombs
I am planning to apply this fall for 2020 admit. I choose these schools based on the programs & the location. I still need to do more research into the culture/fit and other resources that would help my career goals.
Thanks! Please do let me know how realistic/unrealistic the goals are or if there are areas of my profile I need to address to make myself more competitive. Also, if there are other schools with a strong Tech MBA that I should be considering, please let me know.