cyberminer
Education: Graduated 2008 from a top 40 school with a B.A. in Business Economics and a 3.6 GPA. My Econ/Stats grades are all A's and I am strong in the quant department. I don't doubt my ability to score around 750 on the GMAT with enough study/prep. I scored a 5 on AP Calc BC in high school - I can do the maths.
Resume/Work Experience: Pretty dreadful. I graduated into the recession without a job and a lot of personal problems. I worked in technical recruiting for five years, then did a coding bootcamp and have been working as a Software Engineer for the past two years. All no name companies, though I will consolidate some of the positions to avoid seeming like a job hopper. The only theme I can think of relates to my passion for technology. As you can imagine, I am not sure I can overcome this area.
Recommendations: I can probably muster a few from solid individuals I worked for before. Hopefully that is.
Why I want to go: I want to move into a Product Management role, build my network and hopefully get into venture capital one day. I am a passionate technologist and I want to increase my strategic thinking skills.
Personal Story/Essay Material: I am a first generation college graduate who moved here from overseas at the age of 16. My Mom is bipolar and my Dad is an emotionally abusive college dropout. Im not crying a river, but I want to know if I can work that into my essays and if they will care?
Given I score around 750 on the GMAT, what are my odds at a top 10 given I am 30, turning 31 in December, and would be hastily applying for round 2 in early January? I'd also be ok with UCLA.
If I dont stand a chance at UCLA, then I won't pursue an MBA as the opportunity cost/ROI won't be worth it in my opinion.
Hey dude!
so let's start with good news: YES you stand a chance at UCLA!!
I think Top 10 schools will be stretches given your work experience, but even there you could have a shot (so choose 1-2 schools form top 10) but if you concentrate your applications in the 10-20 rankings (where UCLA is located along with similarly good schools) you should be fine.
The one thing that makes no sense whatsoever is your goals. From recruiting to software engineering to Product management to VC is not a realistic or plausible career arc, and if you present that, it might raise some red flags. We can discuss at length what might be a better goal, but given your IT and training experience, I'd go with Consulting with a focus on IT. It's a good classic goal, and people get well placed after MBAS and it fits you well. Afterwards, what you ACTUALLY do at your MBA is up to you!
Drop us a line and let us hook you up!
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