Profile Review - Public Sector Pivot

Question

Demographics : US / Male / 30

Education : Top 40 US university, 3.3 GPA, Economics major

GMAT : 700 (48Q / 38V / 8IR)

Work Experience : I’ve worked for two separate federal agencies as an economist. My prior agency focused on publishing economic data, whereas my current one is involved with foreign  investments. At my previous job, I functioned more as a project manager - leading a team developing software to help simplify production of our data products. In my current position, I’m a technical expert helping direct foreign investments into new businesses. In total, I’ve received 5 promotions over the course of working 7.5 years.

Extracurriculars : Held officer positions in several undergraduate clubs.

Post-MBA goals : Ultimately, I feel like I have reached the end of the road in my current position. I am debating on whether to 1) pursue a full-time MBA program and pivot to management consulting in order to gain exposure to different industries or 2) enroll in a part-time MBA program and look to apply for management positions within the federal government. The decision partially depends on if I am accepted full-time and receive some scholarship.

Schools : Full-time targets — Yale SOM & Tuck / Full-time reaches — MIT Sloan & HBS / Part-time options — UChicago Booth (Weekends) & Georgetown McDonough.

***

I realize that I am a non-traditional applicant and don’t have many colleagues to get feedback on business school applications, since federal employees usually stay within the government. I feel that I need to boost my GMAT score. However, I’ve only topped 625 on my mock GMAT FE tests. I’m wondering if I should swap to the GRE.

Any input on my profile is much appreciated!!

MBAPrepCoach · Answer

Very interesting work background - you have diversity in your corner on that one, and I think they would believe you could make good classroom contributions. I love the progression. You could go for CBS & Yale EMBA for that reason; no min WE and Yale 7 years. Most require 8 years.

I’m optimistic because of the above but don’t really know your record of leadership post grad, anything? Any indication of contributions outside of work, hobbies even?

I do wish your score was even 20 points higher to put you in fighting range for top schools (Booth would be v interested bc Economist) we need to make it less of a downside of picking you.

Get aggressive with GMAT like hire a tutor who can give you a fresh way to look at the test or take GRE and see if that’s a better investment of your time in terms of ROI (hope you love vocabulary flash cards).

That’s my perspective- you can go either road. Would be interested in working with you on your applications. Former Macro Instructor ha!
 dc.econ 
Cheers 
Farrell

Posted from my mobile device

MBAGuide · Answer

dc.econ Disclaimer- not associated with the thread owner but responding because I found your profile interesting As Farrell mentioned, you certainly have a profile that stands out, in my opinion, exactly the kind a professor of macroeconomics would love to hear from in MBA class

The end of the road reasoning is a very valid one that adcoms consider when evaluating applications. But I am also a little confused about your level of responsibility in the current organisation. Management consulting firms like to interview students who bring some sector specialisation and yours is very unqiue, but at the same time they also value those who have had some level of management experience at the pre-MBA stage, because the type of roles offered at top B-schools require a lot of stakeholder management and problem solving. Swapping to GRE can be a good idea in my opinion because we are seeing more an more of diversity candidates being considered through the GRE exam. Give a mock exam I'd say and decide for yourself. The verbal is certainly easier and the quant too (IMO). Best wishes Aanchal Sahni (INSEAD MBA alum, former INSEAD MBA admissions interviewer) Founder, MBAGuideConsulting LinkedIn |WEBSITE: https://mbaguideconsulting.com/ | Message(WA): +91 9971200927| email- mbaguideconsulting@gmail.com

mbaMissionMichael · Answer

Hello dc.econ, and thanks for your post.
I am not sure who the prior two people are who responded to you; they should not be responding to an mbaMission thread either. So please keep that in mind 😊

As for your post, the application process is truly holistic, and committees will look at your stats (GPA and GMAT/GRE), work experience, and extracurriculars.

Your GPA of 3.3 and GMAT of 700 is solid, but for full-time programs that you are targeting, I agree that it would be wise to boost your test score. If you have the time, give a GRE practice test a try and see if you feel more confident in scoring at or above your desired schools’ averages. Your stats, as they current are, are more in line with your target part-time programs, but I do think it’s worth seeing if you can gain admission into a full-time program. That would be ideal for your career pivot. (Although still realize that over half of part-time students switch careers, and therefore, a part-time program is a valuable alternative if full-time happens to not work out!)
If you are unable to increase your test score, you may still want to illustrate to the schools that you have the academic ability to succeed in the classroom. You could showcase your quant ability in your resume, your recommenders could do the same in their recommendations, or you could take a supplemental course such as stats or calculus, or HBS CORe (but if so, consider that soon!).

It is hard to gauge your work experience without knowing your accomplishments and impact you have made there. It is nice to see that you have led teams, as well as having already been promoted several times. It’s important to show you have made an impact and demonstrated leadership at work. Ideally this will be supported by strong recommendation letters as well. It will also be important to explain why you want your MBA (and why now, given your age), and to also illustrate the skills you already have which are transferable. Be sure your story makes sense, and is realistic and specific.

If you continue to strengthen your profile, you do have a chance at top schools like SOM and Tuck, but they are extremely competitive, and each school simply does not have the room to admit all the world's qualified applicants. For that reason, I suggest applying to several schools, including reach, target and safety. Hopefully they will see that you have a compelling story and are someone who will add value to the classroom and community.

If you would like to discuss your story or anything else in greater detail, please sign up for a free consultation. It is never too early to get started.
Good luck!

Profile Review - Public Sector Pivot

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