Profile review request

Question

Hello, I would be grateful if you could evaluate my profile below. Thank you.

Demographic:  
29 year old male. Singapore citizen, minority., Law graduate with Second Class Upper Division Honours. Zero quant background.

GMAT:  
750 (Q 48, V 45, IR 6, AWA 5)

WE: 
I have about 3 years of experience as a lawyer. I work in a reputable law firm in Singapore where I specialise in corporate work and advise on M&A and banking and finance transactions. In my day to day work, I take the lead on files where I run and manage transactions, liaising with clients and counterparties independently.  A large element of my work is international - since a large portion of the transactions I work on involve companies that operate in several countries, I frequently interact with lawyers from other countries.

I also sit on my firm's pro bono committee where we organise community involvement programmes promoting legal outreach to those in need and/or the elderly. My workplace also has a very strong emphasis pro bono / volunteerism. I also manage the internship portfolio and screen incoming interns.

Being a Singaporean, I've also served 2 years full-time national service. 2 months went towards basic military training, after which I was transferred to the police force where I was in charge of managing the security of my police division headquarters and other key installations. I'm currently in the reservist force and hold the rank equivalent to an army Major. In my yearly deployments, I lead a troop of 40 officers to run security operations projecting police presence and deter/apprehend any crime from occurring.( As aside-note: would schools consider national service as counting towards WE? The reason I ask is because in Singapore, we are generally required to serve 2 years prior to entering university )

ECA: 
I've played field hockey since I was in secondary school. I was also very active and played soccer and floorball in university, regularly representing my faculty team in intra-faculty tournaments. In university, I was president of my alumni hockey team where I re-established the club and managed it to compete across 3out of 5 divisions in our national hockey leagues. In my time at the helm, we managed to firmly establish ourselves as a major player in the local hockey scene. I am currently a member of the Law Society of Singapore's sports committee where a function of our role is to organise the yearly sports tournament which we hold with the Malaysian bench and bar. I also volunteer in weekly meet-the-people sessions, where elected Members of Parliament (MPs) meet with their constituents in Singapore. As a case writer, I hear first-hand the problems which the layperson faces and feedback this to the MP and/or the relevant agency(ies).

Post-MBA Goals: 
In the immediate term, I'd like to enter into the management consulting industry (MBB would be great but I'd be happy with T2 too). The reason for this is so that I can leverage my experience in problem solving and advising clients. But more importantly I hope that this gives me a quick crash course on the ins and outs of businesses and allow me to build a strong foundation in 'business sense/instinct'. Alternatively, I'd be interested in exploring management programs/LDPs for the same reason.

In the long term, I'd like to take on a role in a company with an authentic focus on CSR or with a social impact element in their work. I'm very conscious about giving back and creating impact to others/the community and would like this to be a central feature in my career long-term.

Evaluation request:  
I would be grateful for your view on my chances of being admitted in the M7/T15 schools. Are there are any schools in particular you would recommend that I should target? I confess that I've only just started the application journey and have yet to fully know the profiles of each school. I would realistically place HSW as reach schools.

If this is relevant info, I consider myself to be introverted and hope to be able to join (and be accepted by) a school-community that has established itself to be tight knit (preliminarily, Tuck immediately comes to mind).

I'm grateful that you've read this far and welcome your assessment of my profile. If you have any recommendation on schools or any particular professor/coursework I'd love to hear them too

Thank you.

GyanOne · Answer

Hi  isawzaki

Thanks for posting. You can look at multiple T15 schools here, with options like Kellogg and Wharton on the list as well. On the HSW side, S in particular may be challenging. Some of the schools that are known to have tight-knit communities in the range you're looking at are Tuck, Kellogg, Fuqua, Columbia, Cornell, and Darden. 
- Your background as a lawyer and your public service in Singapore definitely gives you an edge and some differentiation. You should look to build on this in your personal stories. Be sure to bring out the aspect on how you went above and beyond the mandatory aspects and created value. 
- ECA and leadership are clearly there in your profile. You should be strong on these aspects for any school. 
- Your goals (LT/ST) seem a bit disconnected, because there may be other, easier paths to get to your LT. You may need to work on this bit. 
- You may also want to go through this article:  The MBA for lawyers  .

Feel free to come back with further questions or to contact us directly for a chat/deeper evaluation. We've worked with several people from backgrounds similar to yours so we can add strong value.

MBAandBeyond · Answer

Hi, isawzaki , Thank you for your post! First of all, you have a very interesting profile with a mix of a little of everything. Moreover, you have some strong academic statistics; you did score a 750 on your GMAT, which is quite extraordinary; furthermore, you did that coming from a non-quant background, that’s definitely an achievement. Finally, I would also like to point out that you need to mention your overall CGPA and academic accolades if any! About your work experience, you do have a relevant amount of work experience and did well explaining your role and responsibilities. Furthermore, I suggest you add some critical projects/cases you have worked upon and substantial examples of leadership, decision-making, and analytical skills in your work tenure. Also, having a good amount of international exposure will definitely add extra points to your profile. Now, about your question, you could definitely highlight your time in national service. From my perspective, you could get some splendid examples of leadership, a diverse work environment, and critical thinking. However, as you want to change your role as a lawyer and work in the consulting industry, you would require to give very strong points in favor of it. You could start with answering questions like - Why do you think it is a good time for you to switch? What are your aims & aspirations regarding your career switch? Why did you choose management consulting? And finally, how would you link your past experiences and skill-set with this new role? For your reference, I suggest you go through our article once on How you can justify your career switch to pursue an MBA for a career change! This would most certainly help provide insights and help you jot down the pros and cons of making a career switch. Coming to ECAs, you do have some strong ECAs; furthermore, you belong to a public service background, were a member of the pro bono committee, and have served in national service. All of these would definitely give you an edge over others. All you need to do is elaborate more about the challenges your face, the leadership role you played, the impact created by you, the new skills developed, and a bit more about the overall experience to be able to bank upon them in your school essays! Overall, you have a relevant profile and could easily target schools like CBS, Kellogg, Booth, and Dartmouth Tuck; however, you should understand that all of these are top B-schools and thus no short of stellar profiles. A heck lot of your selection will directly depend upon how well you can connect the dots between elements of your profile and present them in the form of mesmerizing essays in front of the adcom. Moreover, it would help if you could better design a better structure to align your post-MBA goals with your past experiences. Hence, If you'd like, we are happy to hop on a call with you sometime this week to discuss your profile in length and further help you with your strategy for linking your post-MBA goals, essays, and interviews regarding MBA programs; feel free to book a free session with us at your convenience. Let's create a Roadmap for R1 Sept 23 intake Cheers! Neha Hadke Profile Analyst & Channel Manager, MBA and Beyond Testimonials Email: neha@mbaandbeyond.com

BeaconCommunity · Answer

Honestly your candidacy has four incredible things going for it:
  Military experience
  Business experience
  Citizenship of a country that doesn't generate that many MBA applications
  An incredible GMAT score

There's really no limit on the programs you can be admitted to. Admissions committees would love you. Happy to put you in touch with other clients from Singapore who have done the NS who we've worked with who have been admitted to elite programs.

A 750 score suggests you're being too modest when you say no quant background =). Must believe in yourself, lah!

isawzaki · Answer

Thank you everyone for the feedback, pointers and encouragement. I truly appreciate all your input and will definitely be taking them on board. Many thanks again!

MBAGuide · Answer

Hello  isawzaki  , hope you are well

It is a delight to read your profile summarized so well highlighting just the experiences that carry a lot of weight in the admissions process. You check all the boxes for me as a differentiated MBA applicant. With a GMAT score of 750 you have demonstrated your analytical chops despite having no prior quant background. A background in M&A and Finance transactions places you strategically in a position where you will not have to climb a hill in order to show commercial understanding of business and you would be able to contribute meaningfully in classroom discussions. Your ECs are balanced too, ranging from community initiatives to sports to military training. Your goals are well-founded and reflect both aspirational and inspirational objectives. But be specific about the kind of work you would like to do in the long term (what cause? what geography? what is the problem that you have seen and what would you like to do about it?) where you would be able to leverage you consulting experience for the greater good of the community.

Stanford and Wharton could be tough to get in but definitely worth a shot with some good work on your application.

Best wishes

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