Profile evaluation request for Booth, ucla, ross

Hi there,

I have to agree with the feedback above that R3 is going to be tough at the top programs, even for a great profile like yours. We've seen acceptance rates drop by over two-thirds between R1 and R3 at the top 10-15 schools (and that's from already low acceptance rates in R1). Anyways, if you're committed to R3, I would suggest applying to 1 or 2 less competitive programs (in addition to UCLA and Ross) to reduce your risk. Booth is probably more of a stretch and I would prioritize it last (i.e. if you have the time).

Your GPA and expected GMAT are great, it sounds like you were a star performer at your job, excellent leadership through your ECs - so there's a lot to like in your profile. As you start crafting your story, I would encourage you to really focus on the "how" and the "why" of decisions you've made, actions you've taken, etc. and less on your technical skills and hard outputs. That's something that I see a lot of applicants with engineering/IT backgrounds do and it's really not the best way to differentiate yourself in your highly competitive demographic. I would also suggest explicitly explaining why you waited until R3 to apply. That will help eliminate any question of whether you simply "didn't get your act together in time to apply earlier".

To answer your question directly, not having a job is not an automatic deal-breaker but you will want to show what you've been doing with your time and how you've continued to further your professional development. If your volunteering work for the past year is directly related to your post-MBA goals, that's even better! Just make sure you explain that and how it all makes sense in your career path.

Best of luck to you! Keep us posted on how it all works out!

Kindly,
Melody