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lynlyn
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lynlyn
Hi,

I'm planning to apply for MBA schools early next year and would like to have your advise on program selections.

Background:

Age: 29
Gender: female
Ethnicity: Asian
Visa: F1 working on OPT

GMAT: 750

BS: Psychology; GPA 3.5; degree obtained outside the US
PhD: Educational Psychology; GPA 3.9; degree obtained from a Big 10 school

WE: 3 years working in non-profit educational institutions/organizations as a research scientist/data scientist. Currently co-managing one of the three most important projects at the organization. I am also doing independent consultation outside of work.

Others: tons of volunteer experiences, most of which were related to education

I would like to switch my career through MBA. My goal is to get into the consulting or market research or finance industry. Any advise on what programs I should target at? Is there any chance for me to get into M7? Thank you!

Hi lynlyn,

Thanks for posting! You've got an interesting background and great stats to boot. I think as long as your essays and story are clear and concise (specific roles post-MBA, why MBA?) you will be a competitive candidate at the M7.

I would focus on either finance or consulting/market research, otherwise it looks like you aren't sure what you want to do. It's ok to cast a wide net once you are in school, but admissions committees want to see that you've sat down to think about what you really want out of an MBA and that you've connected the dots. I think for your background, consulting with a skew towards data analytics makes more sense than finance since you've got experience leading projects and working with large sets of data.

Your next strep should be to narrow down your goals and think about who your recommendors should be. In addition, you should begin creating buckets of schools (reach, target, safety) after doing a bit of research. Let me know if you would like to discuss things further and feel free to reach out at [email protected]. Happy to help!

Regards,
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Hi lynlyn,

First of all Congratulations on your GMAT, you have done an excellent job there. Glad to see a profile like yours. According to me you overall have an excellent profile. The M7 must be doable if you can write excellent essays. But you should also target other B schools having excellent placement records in Consulting role.

While assessing your application, top b-schools look for candidates who have demonstrated leadership qualities in their professional or personal lives. Leadership qualities don’t necessarily mean leading teams – they could also mean the initiatives you had taken, your achievements, impact-orientation, and career progression.

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A few more thoughts for you to ponder on lynlyn:
  1. The academic arc, specifically the big10 school will help a lot. The GPA is something to like a lot too. On the objective scale, together with the GMAT, you'd be in the right ballpark!
  2. The work experience sounds good since it's in the data space which is quite relevant. It will however be important to understand the impact and career acceleration achieved therein. This is an area where it appears some part of brand sheen may have been reduced - so say more.
  3. For reasons mentioned here, I am afraid we don't speculate on school selection. That being said, I'd say you should develop more granularity and clarity in your post-MBA pitch. Not just for the schools, but for yourself too.
  4. You've not mentioned anything about ECs; this is why ECs matter. Anything here?

Hope this helps some.

Cheers,