Chances of Admissions

Question

Hi everyone, 

I am a recent college graduate and am preparing to work 2 years before applying to business school. 

Profile:
-Asian American
-3.5 GPA from undergrad at a top-3 school (H/Y/P) (Computer Science major, Economics minor)
-740 GMAT
-Published 2 scientific papers in Computer Science journals
-Vice President of a Minority in Business club
-Postgraduate traveling fellowship in Asia (1/4 of a year travel) to meet and learn from distinguished people in international business and government
-Program Manager in a new group with heavy media coverage at Microsoft. I will start work in late fall.

I would really appreciate it if you could:
1) Advise me on my target business schools given my achievements. I would love to attend a top school such as Stanford, Berkeley or HBS, but I'm not sure where I stand.
2) Advise me on how I can make my application stand out in the coming two years, especially given my route through a non-standard company such as Microsoft.

Thanks!

dabots · Answer

i think you are in great shape right now. and microsoft is not non-standard, and if you are a pm i think it would make sense going for an mba.

what id suggest you do now is find some good extracurriculars you can participate in for 2 years so you can demonstrate some passion outside of work.

bluehuedue · Answer

Great advice dabots! I think another one of my passions is medicine/healthcare, so I am trying to get involved in public health issues in my area.

I would greatly appreciate it if others could chime in with their take on my situation. Thanks!

nontraditional · Answer

I would focus on career progression and getting leadership responsibilities at Microsoft. A couple of promotions there is pretty good indication that you'll be successful wherever you go.

Also, I agree with dabots about getting extra curricular stuff going. EC's are fulfilling, valuable on your apps, and not that hard to get involved in. One thing to keep in mind is that you should have EC's that are not in your area of professional experience. They're supposed to round you out.

That's my advice. It's worth what you paid for it.

Nice job on the GMAT.

Best,
nontraditional

kryzak · Answer

wow, you have a great potential profile!

As for extracurriculars, follow a passion, whether it's a sport, game, activity, or whatever... never use the excuse "I don't have time". Just keep it up. You don't need to do a lot, just pick one or two that you like. If you can throw in some leadership in this, that would be even better, but not necessary.

Also throw in some volunteering work, preferably with leadership. Be CONSISTENT with it. Don't just do it onesy-twosy here and there. Do it on a regular basis (it doesn't have to be every week or every month, but if you keep it up for 2 years at a regular interval and show that you are doing it because you like it, not because you want to put it on a resume. 

Other than that, do good work at Microsoft and you're sure to get into H/S/W and wherever else you apply to!

PaulBodine · Answer

bluehuedue,

I can't advise you on schools to target since you didn't tell me what your post-MBA goals are. You have the beginnings of an excellent profile but you will need to accumulate some leadership experiences if you want aim for top schools in two years. Since you may not get substantial or formal leadership early on at Microsoft, I highly recommend that you spend the next two years pursuing as high a leadership role as you can in a community organization that you care about, even if you have to start one yourself. This could really help you.

Good luck,

bluehuedue · Answer

Hi Paul,

Thanks so much for your reply. Being a recent college graduate (I haven't even started work yet!), I did not realize that my desired post-MBA job influenced my admission chances. However that raises an interesting question--given my background what post-MBA job would optimize my chances of getting into a Stanford or Harvard? 

Ideally, I would like the next to years to inform what I want to do post-MBA, although I'm interested in venture capital/private equity, entrepreneurship, management at a technology company, although all with a slightly international flavor.

PaulBodine · Answer

bluehuedue, 

Well, the stock answer would be that Stanford might want to here about some boldly ambitious social entrepreneurship long-term goal with perhaps consulting as the short-term. And HBS would want to hear about private equity or perhaps senior executive with some multinational. But the question you ask is not a serious one. Though HBS and Stanford will ding people with wacky or unambitious goals or who appear clueless about their goals, they don't favor certain career tracks so much as they favor certain types of applicants: polished, big-vision, high-impact leaders who change whatever they get involved in.

Good luck,

Chances of Admissions

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards