Profile Evaluation

Question

Could you be so kind as to provide me with some advice on my profile?

My profile:

Degrees: B.A. Russian Studies (4.0 GPA) from state public
 M.A. Russian Studies (4.0 GPA) from Middlebury College

GMAT: scheduled for August (strong verbal in practice tests, working on quant)

Study Abroad: Russia (2 years)

Languages: English (Native), Russian (Fluent), German (Fluent), Spanish (Intermediate, currently learning), 
Ukrainian (having a baby girl that will speak only Ukrainian with mother)

Years Abroad: Russia (2 years), Germany (4 years)

Work Experience: Taught Russian for two years as TA at university, 3 years teaching English and Russian as a freelancer in Germany.

Extracurriculars: musician, novelist, organize an economics discussion group, jogging

I am a US white male, 30 years old, married with a child. I am looking to start an MBA in Fall 2012. My main interests would be working in consulting or energy, given my experience internationally.

What kind of score should I shoot for to have a chance at: Wharton (reach), UT (preferred job location), and maybe you have advice on other schools to keep in mind as long shots and within reach. I realize my GMAT will play a big role.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

AlexMBAApply · Answer

Without the GMAT it's really hard to say.

In any case, your biggest challenge is convincing the adcoms how your work experience to date would be of value to MBA recruiters as well as how it could help you contribute in b-school, without sounding completely convoluted (i.e. how teaching students is similar to managing a division or company).

Being fluent in Russian can be an asset when it comes to recruiting for Russian-oriented jobs (either with a Russian company or a multinational doing a lot of business in Russia and the former Soviet republics), but language fluency on its own isn't really enough. The big concern that adcoms and MBA recruiters will have with you is the lack of "corporate" experience (in plain English, you've never had a traditional office job). If you combined your Russian language fluency with even a year or two of "office job" experience (finance, marketing, HR, etc.) it would go a long way in boosting your candidacy for b-school as well as MBA recruiting. Of course, you're in a catch-22 because you're not getting any younger for full-time MBA enrollment, but it's just something to keep in mind. You can certainly get to whatever it is you want (working at an energy company or consulting), but just know that it's going to be a much tougher sell if you were trying to work at Lukoil, Shell, or at a mgmt consulting firm.

An alternate path is to work an office job - doesn't matter in what function or industry (my guess is it'll either be marketing, sales, HR, etc. given your lib arts background) and then after a year (or maybe a few years) -- consider applying for a part-time or executive MBA while continuing to work. With a family to take care of, that may give you the most financial flexibility.

In any case, from a practical standpoint, just focus on the GMAT before thinking of anything else. You can always apply Round 2 if you don't have time to submit applications by the October Round 1 deadlines.

soonerliberty · Answer

First, thanks for your prompt reply. It's much appreciated.

I know it's a hard sell. Perhaps managing a family and running my own freelance English teaching business will be enough. But I'll see what happens on the GMAT.

Once I have a score, I'll come back and see what you think.

Once again, thanks.

AlexMBAApply · Answer

Focus on "running a business" angle more than the teaching. That is what you need to lean on.

As for family - remember that b-schools are evaluating you as a career professional. When they say they want to know you as a person, they really mean within the context of being a career professional. So the non-work stuff that you choose to weave into your narrative should be able to provide more insight into what makes you tick as a career professional.

That's why talking about your personal life (spouses, children, significant others) as important and essential as they are to us -- are not really relevant to b-school applications. And they shouldn't be. We all deal with work-life balance, but your ability to manage that has little to do with your effectiveness as a career professional, because it has more to do with your life as a whole (and again, b-schools aren't evaluating YOU as a whole, but you as a career professional).

There are extraordinarily successful people who have horrible personal lives. Conversely, there are mediocre professionals with loving and rich personal lives. They aren't related, and some may even argue that it's a distinct tradeoff (which I'd disagree with, but there's enough folks out there, adcoms included, who do believe that it's about making hard tradeoffs especially early in one's career).

Ultimately, adcoms don't want to be put in a position to make a value judgment on someone's personal/home life -- their ability to be a mom, dad, caretaker or whatever. Again, it's about your professional career.

soonerliberty · Answer

Thanks again.

I realize they don't want to hear everyone's sob story. However, one reason I lack traditional experience is because I have sacrificed three years of my career living in Germany (where my visa is restricted to only English teaching), so that my wife can finish her medical studies. That was entirely my fault, and I own that. I do have some limited sales experience, but only a couple of months. Would any of that be relevant at all?

Other than that, I will focus on running my own English business as a freelancer, which requires good marketing and organizational skills to succeed in a very competitive market.

But, yes, it's obviously a glaring weakness in my profile. What kind of GMAT would I need to compensate for such a flaw? My practice exam without studying was 640, but my math needs improvement. I still have 3 months, though. I'm thinking I need to have a high 600s, low 700s to overcome my weaknesses, though my grades are tops. I would really like to know what kind of goal I need to set. I don't need to go to the top schools (HBS, etc.). I just want a good program that will allow me to take advantage of my broad background.

Perhaps working in a traditional setting wouldn't be such a bad idea, but, as you said, I'm in a Catch-22.

That should about do it. And thanks again for your input.

AlexMBAApply · Answer

Any business-oriented experience in your case (even if it's a few months) is better than nothing. It's just making the most of what you have. Your case is one of those examples where what is best for you in life isn't what someone else (in this case, b-school adcoms) values for their selection process -- and that there's nothing wrong with that. Some people get way too caught up in being externally validated by just *one* source (i.e. "if b-schools reject me, I must be a loser because only by being vetted by them will I ever feel worthy!").

As for GMATs, 700s if you want compete for top 16 schools. high 600s should be find for schools within the top 30. And mid-600s for those within the top 50 or so (i.e. if you're looking to go to a local school such as Fordham/Baruch in NYC, Pepperdine/UCI in LA, Santa Clara/USF in the Bay Area, SMU/Rice in Texas, etc.). What could make sense as well is if you're looking beyond the top 16 and you happen to score a strong GMAT (i.e. 700) - apply to say 1-2 top 16 schools as a stretch, and try and target lower ranked schools for scholarships as it's probably worth taking the free money if you're faced with deciding between programs that aren't in the top 16.

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