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Profile Review Request

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boogs
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Joined: 26 Jul 2009
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Profile Review Request [#permalink] New post   Updated on: 29 Sep 2009, 00:17
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With my career goals in high technology, I've looked at various rankings and researched alma maters for established leaders in the field, and come up with a preliminary list of potential programs: HBS, Stanford, Berkeley, MIT, UCLA, USC, Carnegie Mellon, Chicago, Northwestern, Columbia.

I've got a couple questions:
* Does my list of programs seem realistic? Are there any other good programs for me to consider?
* I understand that adcoms know certain universities grade tougher, and certain majors are tougher, but do they know specific courses within universities that are difficult? Do I need to stress that some of my best grades occurred in some of the toughest courses, or will they already know?
* On a similar vein, are adcoms familiar with the amount of time necessary in my fields of work (to explain my lack of significant ECs after college)? I know the time requirements for some finance fields are well known, but I don't know if the same is true for specific engineering fields.


Thank you for your help!

Originally posted by boogs on 05 Aug 2009, 22:44.
Last edited by boogs on 29 Sep 2009, 00:17, edited 1 time in total.
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AlexMBAApply
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Re: Profile Review Request [#permalink] New post   09 Aug 2009, 09:44
Everything other than HBS or Stanford are within reach (i.e. if you want to apply, go ahead, just treat them as lottery tickets, and no, there's nothing you can do to make you more competitive).

Secondly, don't worry about the GPA - it's fine. You probably have to mention something in an optional, but don't dig yourself a hole and over-explain.

As for extracurriculars, adcoms probably won't cut you much slack if you don't have much as an engineer - if you are really working that hard at work, the hope is that you have enough team/leadership experience to highlight that your lack of strong extracurriculars won't be a huge concern.
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boogs
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Re: Profile Review Request [#permalink] New post   11 Aug 2009, 00:35
Thanks for the honest and non-sugarcoated feedback. I appreciate hearing an unbiased opinion that doesn't simply tell me what I want to hear. I will most likely remove H/S from my list unless I do better than expected in R1 and I can find good candidates for a 3rd Rec.
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boogs
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Re: Profile Review Request [#permalink] New post   17 Aug 2009, 20:55
Hi Alex,

I just wanted to follow up and ask for one last bit of feedback before I arrange recommenders and get to work. While I listed 3 potential areas for post-MBA employment, I have decided to focus in my apps on developing a tech startup. This is my preferred occupation, but I think I was being unnecessarily honest when saying I could end up in a "safer" job. I intend on differentiating myself by showing that I have the technical ability to create something from scratch (through work history and recs) AND the overall vision and "soft" skills (through recs and essays). I have very specific areas of interest to highlight.

With those goals in mind, I have decided that location (not in the middle of nowhere, close to tech brainpower), support for entrepreneurship, and general reputation are important to me. I also would prefer somewhere more quant-heavy, as I like numbers.

I have created a shortlist of: Berkeley, UCLA, USC, Texas, Carnegie Mellon, and Tepper. Do you think this is a good list? Are there any notable exceptions? What do you think my chances are with this list?


Thanks a lot!
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AlexMBAApply
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Re: Profile Review Request [#permalink] New post   17 Aug 2009, 23:09
I think you can be a little more ambitious than that.

Swap out two of USC, Texas, Carnegie Mellon, and Tepper for two of Sloan, Kellogg, Wharton, Chicago or Columbia (probably at least Sloan).
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boogs
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Re: Profile Review Request [#permalink] New post   17 Aug 2009, 23:24
Whoops, I realized that I made a typo in saying Carnegie Mellon and Tepper... the same school. I meant to say CMU and MIT... so that takes care of one of the swaps. I will evaluate the other programs you listed as a potential swap. Thanks again!
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Re: Profile Review Request [#permalink]
17 Aug 2009, 23:24

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