Profile Evaluation Request Please (unique circumstances)

Question

post deleted for privacy reasons, thank your commenting

GMATveteran · Answer

Overall, I think this has the makes of a compelling narrative to adcoms.

You can easily portray yourself as an innovative and adventurous self-made man who discovered his academic gifts at an early age, and accumulated ample entrepreneurial experience (one that is naturally filled with both success and failure). This self-made man widely explored multiple aspects of what the business world has to offer, and is now ready to narrow his focus (through an MBA program) now that he has found his niche in the market.

From what I understand, everyone needs a "self brand"/"elevator pitch", from which the rest of your story develops. The above is an example of what yours could be in one short paragraph... with edits of course...

As for your academic and professional failures/setbacks (excuse me for dwelling on them, but I feel I should address it since you mentioned it in a way that stood out), here is one strategy to use them in a favorable way:
1. Your interests & experiences are numerous and diverse, it is only natural that you're good at certain things & bad at others. The multitude of failures just shows that you're not afraid of taking risks and that you can persist in the face of setbacks & difficulty. You should own them & be unapologetically proud of them. You can also use them to demonstrate the need for an MBA as a means of improving your future chances of success.
2. Pick 2-3 failures that are most memorable and use them for failure essays. If you write an articulate & compelling story about what you've learned & how you've grown as a result of a particular setback, I'd say that would make an interesting story to read for the adcom.

That said, of course, its always good to give greater emphasis to your successes and demonstrate a rapid learning curve/career progression.

As for extra-curricular activities, if you haven't done a lot, perhaps you can describe in-depth one or two success stories & highlight the impact you had in a quality-over-quantity sort of way.

adamtn · Answer

Thank you GMATveteran.

You summarized my skills and experiences so beautifully! Your post makes sense but I'm still worried about no extra-curriculars. Part of the reason I really didn't have time to do EC's is because entrepreneurship takes a lot of time, I didn't have a 40hr/wk job after which I could help out in the community. Still I could have involved my business while doing something for the community but, oh well I didn't think of it that way until now. When you say talk about a success for the EC's, do you mean like the "service" I provided my customers, how I treated my employees, etc?

What about the recommendations?

Thank you once again and congrats on getting into Ross!

Anybody else is welcome to chime-in as well!

GMATveteran · Answer

What do you mean "NO" EC? You just posted on your original profile that you did consultation work for your church, why isn't it considered EC? I'd say it is if you make it so, especially if you can describe the positive impact that your advise had on your church community. It sounds like you have very little EC (which is different from "no" EC), you can explain that on your optional essays, & say something to the extent of "Even though my community participation was limited, my input had a major impact..."

As for recommendations, I think if you can get a professor from Vanderbilt to write you one, that could be an option. If you have very satisfied clients (with whom you worked extensively, not just someone to whom you sold something), that would be adequate as well. All you need is 2-3 people.

adamtn · Answer

Thanks again for the excellent input. I see now, you were talking about the "quality" of the help/advice I provided even if I didn't do "much" (quantity) of it when you spoke of quality vs quantity.

I think I'll be able to figure out the recommendations part, there are a couple of clients who were exceptionally pleased.

It all makes sense, thank you!

Profile Evaluation Request Please (unique circumstances)

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