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boyie
Joined: 01 Aug 2013
Last visit: 05 May 2014
Posts: 5
Concentration: Strategy, General Management
Schools: Kellogg '16 Booth '16 Stanford '16
WE:Law (Law)
01 Aug 2013, 09:20
Kudos
Bookmarks
My profile:
Educational Background:
The University of Texas at Austin
B.S. Chemistry- GPA 2.69 (ouch, I focused on undergrad research a lot)
Northwestern University
M.S. Materials Science and Engineering - GPA 3.65
Age: 29
Ethnicity: Pacific Islander
GRE Exam: 700 Quant/700 Verbal/5.5 Essay (I took the GRE over 5 years ago when I applied to graduate schools)
GMAT: --- currently in prep period
Work Experience - 3 years
For some time after graduate school, I thought I wanted to pursue the legal field and thus I worked at an early stage pharmaceutical company handling their patent portfolios. In addition to drafting/prosecuting patents, I developed and implemented the intellectual property strategy that handled our numerous trademarks and copyrights along with our sizable portfolio. I was also involved with business development, often checking up on contracts, performing due diligence on deals with bigger pharmaceutical companies and other things like that. As I became more serious with law, I ended up getting poached at a rather reputable law firm in their intellectual property department.
For the past two years that's where I've been, drafting/prosecuting patents, assisting in patent and copyright litigation doing research, and advising clients on developing intellectual property strategies to align their IP with their business goals. It's that last part that I truly enjoyed to where a few of the startups I work with are wanting to poach me from my firm. I love aligning IP with product development and R&D goals for these high tech startups, and I am currently in the process of founding my own startup in medical diagnostics as a result, working with an inventor from a top school.
Extra Curricular:
I have served as a director for a non profit organization that helps at risk youth get off the streets, where I handle financials and help write grants to get more money. Unfortunately, my law firm took up time, so I had to drop that, but I still regularly volunteer my time through the Citizen Schools program, where I taught for a year changing the solar cars and technology modules to excite the kids more. It has been a blast.
My Goals:
I have been really excited by Stanford, Northwestern, Chicago and Harvard due to their strong connections to the startup hubs of the Bay Area, Chicago and Boston. I want to get an MBA to fill in the missing pieces I need (mainly business foundations, valuation, general management, finance) to really bring my startup to life and eventually go into venture capital. I am considering applying to the JD/MBA programs, but really, I feel my focus should be on the MBA due to what I want to do later on.
Are my goals reasonable? What are some other schools that I should look at? Any advice or tips on ways to strengthen my application would be appreciated.
Again, thanks for reading and I appreciate any feedback you might have.
Educational Background:
The University of Texas at Austin
B.S. Chemistry- GPA 2.69 (ouch, I focused on undergrad research a lot)
Northwestern University
M.S. Materials Science and Engineering - GPA 3.65
Age: 29
Ethnicity: Pacific Islander
GRE Exam: 700 Quant/700 Verbal/5.5 Essay (I took the GRE over 5 years ago when I applied to graduate schools)
GMAT: --- currently in prep period
Work Experience - 3 years
For some time after graduate school, I thought I wanted to pursue the legal field and thus I worked at an early stage pharmaceutical company handling their patent portfolios. In addition to drafting/prosecuting patents, I developed and implemented the intellectual property strategy that handled our numerous trademarks and copyrights along with our sizable portfolio. I was also involved with business development, often checking up on contracts, performing due diligence on deals with bigger pharmaceutical companies and other things like that. As I became more serious with law, I ended up getting poached at a rather reputable law firm in their intellectual property department.
For the past two years that's where I've been, drafting/prosecuting patents, assisting in patent and copyright litigation doing research, and advising clients on developing intellectual property strategies to align their IP with their business goals. It's that last part that I truly enjoyed to where a few of the startups I work with are wanting to poach me from my firm. I love aligning IP with product development and R&D goals for these high tech startups, and I am currently in the process of founding my own startup in medical diagnostics as a result, working with an inventor from a top school.
Extra Curricular:
I have served as a director for a non profit organization that helps at risk youth get off the streets, where I handle financials and help write grants to get more money. Unfortunately, my law firm took up time, so I had to drop that, but I still regularly volunteer my time through the Citizen Schools program, where I taught for a year changing the solar cars and technology modules to excite the kids more. It has been a blast.
My Goals:
I have been really excited by Stanford, Northwestern, Chicago and Harvard due to their strong connections to the startup hubs of the Bay Area, Chicago and Boston. I want to get an MBA to fill in the missing pieces I need (mainly business foundations, valuation, general management, finance) to really bring my startup to life and eventually go into venture capital. I am considering applying to the JD/MBA programs, but really, I feel my focus should be on the MBA due to what I want to do later on.
Are my goals reasonable? What are some other schools that I should look at? Any advice or tips on ways to strengthen my application would be appreciated.
Again, thanks for reading and I appreciate any feedback you might have.
01 Aug 2013, 14:43
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi there-
Thanks for posting your profile and background. In general you have some interesting aspects to your profile that will help you stand out and be remembered to a certain degree, though much of it may depend upon how you present your story and your experiences within the essays & resume.
It is still going to be a challenge to gain a place at say Stanford or Harvard simply given how many competitive applicants there are out there (and Stanford's class size in particular is smaller than average, so even fewer places available). Though it sounds like you have valid interests in those programs. You just might want to add 1-3 schools that are outside the top 8 or so, some more variety in selectivity, to ensure you have an option no matter what (but--only add programs you would truly consider attending!!).
Your strengths based on what you've included here are:
-less common nationality
-less common industry and experience, with the legal aspects, patents, etc
-your non-profit director and other community experiences are a plus
-some start-up experience
Your weaknesses and/or challenges are:
-undergrad GPA is certainly a flag... though partially mitigated by your graduate school GPA. A mention in the optional essay would probably be appropriate
-ensuring you present your story in a coherent way, (not apologizing for being unsure about your career post-graduating for example... focus on what you learned and gained from all of your experiences and emphasize how your past led to your current MBA goals which lead to your future goals)
-simply the fact that the schools you have mentioned are so extremely competitive
In terms of your goals, planning to work on your start-up is a valid option, just be sure it's realistic if that's your immediate post-MBA goal; VC goals are sometimes seen as more lofty/unrealistic since it's just so hard to get into.....
For more ideas on how to choose the best schools for you, we do have a free e-book available on that at: https://info.mbamission.com/Selecting-Yo ... ram-E-Book if you are interested.
Let us know what other q's you have and good luck!
Thanks for posting your profile and background. In general you have some interesting aspects to your profile that will help you stand out and be remembered to a certain degree, though much of it may depend upon how you present your story and your experiences within the essays & resume.
It is still going to be a challenge to gain a place at say Stanford or Harvard simply given how many competitive applicants there are out there (and Stanford's class size in particular is smaller than average, so even fewer places available). Though it sounds like you have valid interests in those programs. You just might want to add 1-3 schools that are outside the top 8 or so, some more variety in selectivity, to ensure you have an option no matter what (but--only add programs you would truly consider attending!!). Your strengths based on what you've included here are:
-less common nationality
-less common industry and experience, with the legal aspects, patents, etc
-your non-profit director and other community experiences are a plus
-some start-up experience
Your weaknesses and/or challenges are:
-undergrad GPA is certainly a flag... though partially mitigated by your graduate school GPA. A mention in the optional essay would probably be appropriate
-ensuring you present your story in a coherent way, (not apologizing for being unsure about your career post-graduating for example... focus on what you learned and gained from all of your experiences and emphasize how your past led to your current MBA goals which lead to your future goals)
-simply the fact that the schools you have mentioned are so extremely competitive
In terms of your goals, planning to work on your start-up is a valid option, just be sure it's realistic if that's your immediate post-MBA goal; VC goals are sometimes seen as more lofty/unrealistic since it's just so hard to get into.....
For more ideas on how to choose the best schools for you, we do have a free e-book available on that at: https://info.mbamission.com/Selecting-Yo ... ram-E-Book if you are interested.
Let us know what other q's you have and good luck!
boyie
Joined: 01 Aug 2013
Last visit: 05 May 2014
Posts: 5
Concentration: Strategy, General Management
Schools: Kellogg '16 Booth '16 Stanford '16
WE:Law (Law)
02 Aug 2013, 20:48
Kudos
Bookmarks
Thank you so much for your prompt response! What other schools would you recommend? Right now my dream school is Kellogg if only because a few of the startups I have worked with have founders from Northwestern and a few were even Northwestern spinoffs.
As for my story, I would love to talk with you in private about that. I think I have a coherent one, but I could always use a second opinion afterall. Thanks once again!
As for my story, I would love to talk with you in private about that. I think I have a coherent one, but I could always use a second opinion afterall. Thanks once again!
