Profile Evaluation - Young Applicant

Hi elijahchang, thanks for writing in to us.

You're quite young for many MBA programs, though different schools may have more or less strict attitudes on this. What's really important, though, especially for a younger applicant, is impact. Your promotion is exciting, and that's great to see, but you've only been managing your teams for 3 months so it may be a little early to describe how you've affected the organization. You may not have results to show yet - but if you do, make sure to properly showcase them on your applications and prep your recommenders so that they can properly describe what you've done.

Check out the schools' average profiles to see how your grades and scores stack up. Looking at your list, you seem to have a nice range. You'll want a mix of reach (Columbia and Booth would be reach schools), on target and "safety" schools, and it looks like you've got that.

The extracurriculars you're loaded with - is that from undergrad? You'll want to show that you've continued to be active in your community in some way beyond college - although, it wasn't all that long ago, you still should have something current.

Last but not least, give 110% on your applications. The admissions committees will be looking for above-your-years impact and maturity, so dig deep, reflect and show learning and growth as much as possible throughout your essays and even short answers.

The admissions committees evaluate applications holistically. Without more detail on what you've done and how you'll talk about it, it's hard to say how they'll view your candidacy. It's not a simple formula, otherwise they wouldn't ask so much of you in the process. If you can do the above, and you apply to a good range of schools as you describe, you may have good results. You certainly would be better positioned, however, if you could wait another year when surely you'll have much more to talk about post-promotion.

Best of luck to you in the process!

Julie-Anne Heafey
Senior Consultant
mbaMission