bosunmba wrote:
Dear Paul,
Thank you very much for your willingness to provide this service!
Below is my profile:
Academics:
B.A. in Economics – University of California, Davis c/o 2007
GPA: 3.81 with High Honors (completed both university honors program and departmental honors thesis)
Phi Beta Kappa
M.S. Taxation – Golden Gate University (San Francisco, CA) c/o 2008
GMAT:
720 (95%, 45Q –77%, 42V – 95%) AWA 6.0
Employment Information:
Peer Coordinator, Davis Honors Challenge (University Honors Program) (5/05-6/07)
-Responsible for advising and coordinating social and professional development programs for honors program consisting of over 500 students. Duties included inviting guest speakers, giving resume and public speaking workshops, as well as providing guidance and academic advice to students.
- Taught an honors seminar to 15 students on how to best utilize the school's resources and become a successful student
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (Intern 6/06-9/06, Full-time employment deferred - 6/08)
-Participated in summer internship program
-Elected to complete a MS Taxation to better understand the Tax profession before employment
Extracurriculars:
Delta Sigma Pi, co-ed Business Fraternity (9/04-6/07)
-Held leadership positions such as Pledge Class President, VP Finance, Senior Vice President, and President
-Named Collegian of the Year for Region (Member of the Year 04,05,06)
-Heavily involved with demonstrated progression of leadership roles within 3-year involvement
Student, Davis Honors Challenge (9/03-6/07)
- Conducted and presented findings on first ever analysis of ethnic diversity at Picnic Day, UC Davis's signature event with over 40,000 attendees daily for University Administration
- Researched, interviewed students and faculty, and created a seminar to help lower student attrition in Mathematical and Physical Science majors (Presented to Dean in hopes of institutionalizing Seminar, but results pending)
Founder, Streetsmarts, program that educates high school students in better money management
-Created program to teach youth to better handle their money, going over concepts such as the time value of money, the importance of credit
-I have only recent begun the program, first testing the materials with a small group of 12 students at local high school, but hope to expand into a weekly workshop open to all students at a local high school
Personal Facts:
I unfortunately do not have any oustanding tales of major hardships, although I am an immigrant of this country, or any extremely unique circumstances. I am hopeful that my sincerity and hard work, however, will help me perservere in reaching my goals. I have had many leadership experiences, from being captains of sports teams in high school to holding multiple leadership positions in my organization on campus. I greatly enjoy the learning experience from being a leader, and have consistently sought out opportunities to become a more effective leader. I am currently obtaining a Masters in Taxation to attain greater knowledge in order to thrive in the Tax profession that I will begin next year. After a few years of work experience and after hopefully having acquired a firm background of corporate taxes and finances, I hope to obtain an MBA at a program that will not only sharpen my leadership and management skills to challenge me academically, but also be exposed to individuals who will be able to open my mind on these matters from their experiences, and an environment that will allow me to network with similarly minded individuals. Ultimately, I would love to have the opportunity to reach a leadership position within a company in which I can make difficult but challenging decisions and have a large impact on the well-being and future of the company. An MBA will definitely assist me to achieving this goal.
I am also very passionate about teaching and education; I hope to someday become a lecturer after retirement. I have been involved in many mentor roles, beginning from high school, to college (from being the peer coordinator, to creating and teaching freshman seminars to help them adjust to the university, and finally the Streetsmarts program that I have recently began). I hope to have the opportunity to attend HBS, Wharton, or MIT Sloan in 4 years or so, but Stanford would be an amazing and ideal choice, as it is the only school of the 4 that offers a joint MA Education degree with its MBA program.
I understand that it will still be a few years before I apply, and even after 3 years or so of work experience, I will still be at the lower end of most accepted applicants of my choice schools in this area. With an important piece of the puzzle missing, it is probably difficult to accurately evaluate my chances. However, I hope to be equally as involved both within and outside of the workplace when I do begin working full-time.
Furthermore, I had consistently scored a bit higher on most of my practice GMAT tests (740-760), and believe that I was merely nervous and sleep deprived on test day. Will a 20 or 40 point increase in my GMAT make a large difference?
Any advice on how I can pursue further activities in the next few years that not only will make me competitive for such schools such as Stanford and HBS, but also suits my interests and goals, as well as my candidacy for such schools would be greatly appreciated.
I have noticed that you have been extremely candid in your responses to profiles in comparison to other similar Admissions Consultant Services. Thank you for your time and consideration- I eagerly await your opinion.
Sincerely,
Bo
Bo,
As I read your profile, I kept thinking, 'great, too bad he's so young,' so it's a relief to hear that you are just doing some pre-planning. WHat you have done so far academically and extracurricularly is impressive and distinctive. I particularly like the "Founder, Streetsmart" part. That's the kind of thing the 'ultra-elites' like to see.
However, you are a bit of unknown quantity professionally speaking. Based on your achievements so far I have no doubt you will rack up some outstanding professional experiences in the coming years. You will need to if you are aiming as high as you are. So think leadership and impact. And use your professional experiences to focus your post-MBA goals--they're too vague right now.
Given where you're aiming *anything* that will improve your profile is probably worth pursuing including trying to add 30+ points to your GMAT. I also recommend that as you get a bit closer to applying you begin to build networks at these B-schools: visit, talk to students and alumni. The schools notice which applicants have personalized their school evaluation process.
Good luck,