Thank you for your reply and thoughtful suggestions. I am more than happy to share some of my previous applications with you. May I have your email address for this consulting?
Hi -
We are happy to offer you some feedback. If, once you read this, you feel talking via Skype would be helpful to you so we can really dig into the details of your candidacy, just let us know. I would be delighted to do that.
So in no particular order are some current hurdles/issues with your profile:
- There is no tie between your background and goals. Saying that you want to go into sports management or some type of sports-focused industry is fine, but you need to ground that in some way to create confidence among admissions officers. Validating your career narrative doesn't have to be as straight-forward as linking it to a prior career in sports but there does need to be some touch point with sports because that is a huge shift and one that begs the question...why? For example, perhaps you have always had a passion for sports and been involved with them throughout your life. Did you play on a team of any sort in college - it doesn't look like that is the case. An obvious question an admissions committee could ask as they read your essays is "How does this applicant know s/he wants to go into sports management? S/he doesn't appear to know anything about it/have any knowledge about it." You don't admissions committees to ask questions as they read your about your career narrative. You want the logic to be sound/present in your work. I see that you are taking sports courses now...I'm not sure that solves your problem. I need to know more about these courses. The problem is that taking them feels more reactive as opposed to proactive. Does that makes sense? It's still great that you are doing it. Just note that with the schools you applied to last year, if you re-apply to them, they may be less impressed with the classes in your profile that new schools would be because new schools would see that you proactively began learning about the industry of interest before ever applying....see the difference? Additionally, yuou do want ti make sue your career narrative is both realistic and ambitious from short term to long term.
- Show more interest in the schools you are applying to. That doesn't mean you need to visit the programs as that can be costly logistically and financially. What that means is that you must do thorough research and demonstrate fit. I haven't seen your essays. So I don't know how you showed fit with each school. That also means going to information sessions when they are in your area. in your case, as you want to move into the sports industry, try to get in touch with alums at your schools of interest who are in that industry, Learn from them. Make effort. Interestingly enough I got exposure to sports management when the real estate development group I was a part of from 2003-2007 bought the New Jersey Nets and moved them to Brooklyn. The field is very dynamic and tough. But folks in it love to talk about it with others as you can imagine! Make the most of that. Don't be bashful.
- Other possible challenges: low extracurriculars during and since college. I just don't know enough to comment on that. From our experience working with clients, we don't sense that admissions committees put a great deal of weight on extracurriculars since college. They put more weight on how you got involved during college, assuming your college offered ways to be active outside the classroom. Why? Because they believe the way you conducted yourself in college is a strong indicator of how you will conduct yourself in business school. Obiously, that is just a general statement as lots of folks have reasons for not being involved during college. That's what optional essays are there for - to explain such things. In any case, here again, I just don't know enough about your profile to weigh in. I also have no idea how you captured your experiences in your resume, or how strong your LORs were. Your resume must offer a snap shot of your life. It must articulate your path from college through to the present day in a thoughtful, action-oriented way as opposed to a task-heavy manner. Your LORs need to offer content that support assertions your other materials are making in terms of your strengths and accomplishments. If they are inconsistent or embody the wrong tone, they could hurt you.
I don't believe the following were issues in your profile:
- Your GPA in college
- Your 3 year of experience at time of matriculation
I also want to stress the following. You seem concerned that it is getting tougher each year for Chinese applicants to get into business school. That is true. However, more properly stated it is simply getting harder every year for ANYONE to get into business school. It isn't just about one's ethnicity. You goal is to make yourself as unique as possible so that your competition isn't anyone, because there isn't anyone expresses him/herself with the color, depth, and level of preparedness that you do, regardless of your ethnicity, age, career-to-date, career ambitions, or even test scores.
I hope you found this helpful. Again, if you would like to schedule a free consult so I could see your resume and perhaps 1-2 schools application materials so I could offer a more customized assessment, let me know. Good luck to you this year with your re-application effort!
Kathryn Lucas, Founder
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