First of all, thanks in advance. I am looking for advice on two things:
1. Schools to shortlist. Sights set on Harvard, Penn, Columbia, Chicago, Stanford, Northwestern, MIT - are any of these reasonable or should I be looking at lower tier?
2. How to best avoid a "muddled" personal story with regards to the diversity of my work experience. I have quite a varied background -- management consulting, brief startup phase, business intelligence. In addition, I started taking the CFA for general business/finance knowledge. I'm afraid that all of this will make the admissions council scratch their heads as to what my story is, though personally I feel I'm building a strong foundation to succeed when I get into one of my two target industries, or an intersection of those two.
Nationality: U.S. Citizen, American-born
Ethnicity: Asian
Age: 25
Undergrad: Ivy
Major: Engineering (an Applied Math-ish concentration)
GPA: 3.7
GMAT: Have not taken yet (got 1600 on SAT's as a rough indicator for now..)
Accreditations: CFA Level 2 candidate, and a few actuarial tests (might leave these off as they were taken back in college)
Work experience- [1 year] Currently at a top 3 consulting (McK/Bain/BCG) firm in an internal business intelligence analyst role (not a consultant). Not a manager, but picked up good project management and training (others) experience. Will be able to demonstrate my impact in essays/interviews.
- [1/2 year] Unemployed looking for a job in an inconvenient economic depression. The downside of taking the risk to do something entrepreneurial...hope this doesn't come back and bite me.
- [1/2 year] Co-founded and bootstrapped a startup website - strategy, project management, coding, ran pilot. Website did not take off due to lack of critical mass, so I consider this more of an innovation/implementation experience, than a true "ran my own business". Left my previous firm on my own will to pursue this opportunity.
- [2 years] Senior analyst at a boutique financial services management consulting firm. In addition to domestic work, spent 8 months working on the ground on a few engagements in Australasia. Diverse exposure across strategy, product management, project management, business analytics, sourcing.
- [College internship] Analyst at an actuarial pension consulting firm
Extra-curriculars:Health-related:
- [2010] Volunteer at a Health-related non-profit doing on-and-off business intelligence / analytics work
- [College] Volunteer at a local hospice (a few semesters)
- [High School] Volunteer at a local hospital (a few semesters)
Music/arts-related:
- [College] Lead guitarist in a rock band; played at 3 school shows with 200-300 people in attendance
- [College] Volunteer at Salvation Army teaching violin (a few semesters)
- [College] Directed a 10-15 person skit for a university cultural show
Interests:- Big on playing music - Guitar/Piano/Voice
- Healthcare, Technology, Finance industries
- Working abroad in short-term or long-term international opportunities