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kebabcurry
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GeneralEducation
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Status:Assisting candidates to get admit in to top global business schools
Affiliations: MBA
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Schools:HEC, Paris
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MG4MBACrystalBall
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mbaMissionKrista
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Hey kebabcurry
Thanks for posting. There's a lot to like here...schools don't see enough Aussie applicants and then to find one that speaks Korean! Certainly unique. I'm a little worried about the 720 -- to me this necessitates a diverse portfolio of schools -- so if you can get it up a bit, that will help you and bring more schools into reach. HBS is tough for anyone but you want to make sure you show leadership, leadership, leadership. They like big brands so that could work in your favor when showcasing your consulting experience. Your analytics background will probably mesh best with Booth and Wharton, but that 720 could again bring you down.
Goal-wise...I think either path works. Definitely look at the employment reports for each program and talk to current students to understand who is out there. You will probably find that you are more naturally drawn to one thing over another.
You should definitely set up a free 30 minute telephone consultation with a member of our team to review your profile and talk schools in more detail. Link in my signature.
All the best,
Krista
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kebabcurry
Reaching out for some guidance on realistic schools

Personal:
Age: 27 at time of Application
Gender: Male
Nationality: Australian (White)

Education:
Undergraduate degree in Mathematics. Graduated with distinction


GMAT
GMAT: 720. (47Q)
Since my undergraduate degree is in math, I took the GMAT with very little math study. I am confident I can push the Quant much higher

Work experience:
Analytics/ Data science consultant at big 4. 2 years working in Australia and 2 years working in Korea.
Was selected from Asiapac to work on first of its kind analytics project for large Korean company think LG / Samsung/ Hyundai.
Provide clients advice from analytics strategy to actually building machine learning algorithms for them.
Clients I have worked with are global leaders eg Samsung/ LG tier and the projects are very high profile
The only anglo foreigner within the company in Korea

Extracurricular activities / Other:
First in my family to go to university
Have picked up Korean since working in Korea. Often have to talk to clients in Korean
Worked with underprivileged kids back in Australia teaching them maths

Target:
Not sure here. Not interested in working in the US, so want schools with global value
eg HBS/ Sloan/ Haas


Reason for MBA
Most of my experience has been using analytics to help make better decisions i.e which city should we open a new store in. I want to move from doing the actual analytics legwork to making the decisions that are based on analytics

Post MBA
(Need to think more here)
Tech (Samsung/ Rakuten/ Amazon)
Or Return back to Asia in strategy consulting (MBB)

Hi kebabcurry,

Apologies for the delay in responding to you but we hope this finds you in time still.

There is definitely a lot working for you in terms of your international exposure and client-handling experience. Of course, that you are a Korean speaking Australian is a differentiating factor as well. The general theme of your essays could possibly build-up on you being a part of the first-generation university-goers in your family. Of course, each of these factors needs to be threaded into a set of stellar essays that are reflective of your true potential and showcase career goals that are in complete sync with your existing work experience.

Having said the above, the GMAT is a bit of a concern since 720 is a bit on the lower side for the programs you are targeting (Harvard is anyway a Stretch for everyone). Of course, if you feel you will be able to push the GMAT up, we would suggest a retake, as that will definitely boost your chances at any school. Nonetheless, we strongly recommend that you apply to a larger portfolio of schools as this will boost your chances of gaining an admit. The MBA learning will be important and instead of confining ourselves to a couple of Stretch programs, we must look at programs even beyond the top 10 :-)

Hope this helped :-)

All the best!