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youngh00n
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youngh00n,
Given your startup experience, demonstrated leadership, and TforA experience--which make you a competitive candidate--I suspect your results last year were due to poor execution (essays, perhaps reco letters) and GMAT score. In other words, you do seem to me to have a profile that should have enjoyed better luck at least at Booth, Kellogg (they interview almost everyone). Your new GMAT has definitely helped you as has your additional year of leadership at the startup. Your goals make good sense given your experience, and I like the addition of Tuck and Haas to your list. You might also look at Columbia, Duke, Michigan, and/or Yale. The feasibility of HBS and Stanford will depend on the depth and meat behind the profile you shared, but you should definitely aim high. I'd be glad to provide more focused feedback if you share your resume: paul@admitify.com.
--Paul Bodine, Great Applications for Business School, www.admitify.com

youngh00n
Lots of detail... thanks in advance!!

Stats
GMAT: 740 (Q49, V41, IR6)
Undergrad GPA: 3.77 from a public university
Undergrad Major: Accounting
Graduate GPA: 4.00 from a public research university
Graduate Major: Education (req. by Teach for America)

Demographics
Age: 26 now, 27 by matriculation
Gender: Male
Citizenship: US
Ethnicity: Korean-American

Work Experience

Data Encryption Startup (2013-Present)

Company Profile
- 7 people when I joined, currently 40
- Revenue expected to be 5x since I joined 3 years ago
- Acquired a European company last year and Silicon Valley company this year
- Acquired the Silicon Valley company in a joint venture with world's largest flash memory producer
- In a very niche industry
- Company has offices across globe despite being such a small company (APAC, EMEA, LATAM, Canada, and USA)

My Role at the Company
- Started out as accounting manager, promoted to controller
- However, the scope of my responsibilities is more akin to a project manager
- Involved in inventory sourcing, pricing strategy, sales operations / purchasing, some HR, due diligence, logistics, etc, etc
- Direct manager of five
- Youngest member on the "executive / lead" team

Significant Accomplishments
- Created company-wide bonus system that helped lead to a doubling of direct sales
- Implemented inventory re-ordering model to increase operational efficiency by 20%
- Collaborate across functions to develop budget / forecasts every year for company
- Currently working on relocating inventory production from Asia to US, and warehousing some inventory in Europe and Asia

Teach for America (2011-2013)
- Taught upperclassmen (~160 students / year)
- Taught math
- Selected by school district to revise math curriculum after my first year of teaching

Significant Accomplishments
- 80%+ of students achieved over 1 year of learning
- Students outscored district by 8% on district course assessments (historically, 0% achieved proficient / advanced)
- Incorporated technology to personalize learning (see outcomes above)

Extracurricular
- College and youth pastor at my church for past 4 years
- Mentor and started tutoring initiative at local non-profit that teaches students how to build electric cars
- President of campus ministry during college

Goals
- Long-term: CEO of ed-tech company or CEO of data security company (not married to either one. honestly... I don't know what exactly I want to do 10 years from now)
- Short-term: Management consulting

Other Considerations
- Applied to HBS, Booth, Kellogg, and Sloan last year (R2). Interviewed at Kellogg, and dinged w/o interview at all the other schools.
- Goals in my application last year:
1) Long-term: CEO of ed-tech company
2) Short-term: Growth Lead or Strategy role at leading ed-tech firm (too bizarre??)
- Had a 710 GMAT (Q49, V38) when I applied last year
- Had only one direct report when I applied last year
- Recommendations (I think) were solid and not the issue

Target schools this time around
Stanford, HBS, Booth, Kellogg, Tuck, Haas... open to suggestions

Looking for HONEST feedback. What are my strengths / weaknesses, and my chances? Thank you!!
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A few additional perspectives for you youngh00n:
  1. Not a fan of dissecting the past but I know this can play up in your mind a lot. From purely a data oriented approach, the GMAT and merely 2 years of experience are likely to have been big culprit here. Can't really comment on your essays/goals story without having seen em.
  2. The profile improvements are meaty enough to warrant a second look from most schools. Read the post here for a general overview from a re-applicant perspective.
  3. This brings us to the final point about the goals story. From an outside-in perspective, the consulting pitch sounds quite forced and a bit flip-flop in nature. This will require a fair amount of articulation and justification, more so because people tend to write Consulting as a goal when all else fails. Make sure you are not feeding into the stereotype here - schools would hate to see someone with your kind of potential do that. You have some excellent things going for you and worth leveraging. So go for it!

Cheers,
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youngh00n
Lots of detail... thanks in advance!!

Stats
GMAT: 740 (Q49, V41, IR6)
Undergrad GPA: 3.77 from a public university
Undergrad Major: Accounting
Graduate GPA: 4.00 from a public research university
Graduate Major: Education (req. by Teach for America)

Demographics
Age: 26 now, 27 by matriculation
Gender: Male
Citizenship: US
Ethnicity: Korean-American

Work Experience

Data Encryption Startup (2013-Present)

Company Profile
- 7 people when I joined, currently 40
- Revenue expected to be 5x since I joined 3 years ago
- Acquired a European company last year and Silicon Valley company this year
- Acquired the Silicon Valley company in a joint venture with world's largest flash memory producer
- In a very niche industry
- Company has offices across globe despite being such a small company (APAC, EMEA, LATAM, Canada, and USA)

My Role at the Company
- Started out as accounting manager, promoted to controller
- However, the scope of my responsibilities is more akin to a project manager
- Involved in inventory sourcing, pricing strategy, sales operations / purchasing, some HR, due diligence, logistics, etc, etc
- Direct manager of five
- Youngest member on the "executive / lead" team

Significant Accomplishments
- Created company-wide bonus system that helped lead to a doubling of direct sales
- Implemented inventory re-ordering model to increase operational efficiency by 20%
- Collaborate across functions to develop budget / forecasts every year for company
- Currently working on relocating inventory production from Asia to US, and warehousing some inventory in Europe and Asia

Teach for America (2011-2013)
- Taught upperclassmen (~160 students / year)
- Taught math
- Selected by school district to revise math curriculum after my first year of teaching

Significant Accomplishments
- 80%+ of students achieved over 1 year of learning
- Students outscored district by 8% on district course assessments (historically, 0% achieved proficient / advanced)
- Incorporated technology to personalize learning (see outcomes above)

Extracurricular
- College and youth pastor at my church for past 4 years
- Mentor and started tutoring initiative at local non-profit that teaches students how to build electric cars
- President of campus ministry during college

Goals
- Long-term: CEO of ed-tech company or CEO of data security company (not married to either one. honestly... I don't know what exactly I want to do 10 years from now)
- Short-term: Management consulting

Other Considerations
- Applied to HBS, Booth, Kellogg, and Sloan last year (R2). Interviewed at Kellogg, and dinged w/o interview at all the other schools.
- Goals in my application last year:
1) Long-term: CEO of ed-tech company
2) Short-term: Growth Lead or Strategy role at leading ed-tech firm (too bizarre??)
- Had a 710 GMAT (Q49, V38) when I applied last year
- Had only one direct report when I applied last year
- Recommendations (I think) were solid and not the issue

Target schools this time around
Stanford, HBS, Booth, Kellogg, Tuck, Haas... open to suggestions

Looking for HONEST feedback. What are my strengths / weaknesses, and my chances? Thank you!!

Thank you for your profile details and I am sorry things didn't work out last year for you. I have a few thoughts for why that could have happened.

GMAT: A 740 is different than a 710 so that can easily turn a ding into an admit.

Strategy: When I work with applicants from startups (I do a lot of startup apps because they are fun), there is a specific strategy we have. Since you don't come from a well known brand name, it is important to highlight certain elements of your job and be sure to execute your story to perfection. The onus is on you to tie everything together since the admissions committee members aren't extremely familiar with your particular experience. If this wasn't done right, it could have led to either confusion or a lack of confidence in your ability to succeed.

I'm happy to look at your app from last year and give you some thoughts. Send me an email scott@personalmbacoach.com

Best,
Scott
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Hi there,

We love the detail you shared! Sorry things didn't pan out last year, but I think there is a great opportunity to tighten a few things across your application this year that will help you reach your goals. First off, congrats on a much improved GMAT score. This will help get you in the conversation at your target programs. It's clear you have the leadership experience in the workplace. What about recent examples of your leadership in the community? Does your passion show in the work you've been a part of?

When discussing your goals, the worst thing you could do is be generic. That's what makes esoteric goals so difficult in MBA applications - AdComms don't know what you're talking about and without clear details and specifics, they'll be lost. Tough to say whether this is what happened to you last year, but I can assure you, based on your current set of goals, it could mean a host of different things and without honing in what exactly you hope to accomplish after your MBA, no one will take you seriously.

Hope this guidance helps. I encourage you take advantage of our our free resources to get you started on your R1 prep. If you'd like to chat about how we can help you with your application this season, feel free to sign up for a free consultation below - we'd love to chat! Best of luck!