Hi all, kindly need your help in assessing whether I have a good chance of getting into B-Schools in the US this year or if need to do some pivots in my profile before applying
Target school: MIT Sloan, Harvard, LBS. If possible I'd like to apply for 2023 R1 or R2 for 2024 class
Profile:
- 28-year-old male (as of 2023)
- Significant minority, but with few caveats, which I will discuss below; Non-Javanese, an atheist, and identify LGBT
- GMAT Score: 660, V49, Q31, IR7 -> will discuss later why my Quant is superlow
- IELTS Score: 8.5.
- Passed the CFA level 1 exam
Academics:
- Major: Pure mathematics
- University: Top 1 Engineering School in the country
- GPA: 3.01/4.0 (I know, it's very low, as I'll also discuss below)
Work Experience, from most recent to earliest:
- 3 yr Quantitative Finance/Software Engineer Lead & co-founder at a local cryptocurrency exchange/hedge fund, still in its angel/infancy stage
- few months pro-bono technical consulting -on the side from the above role- for the Indonesian government for its blockchain adaptation
- 0.5 yr Technical co-founder for an e-commerce startup; went under because of Covid
- 2 yr Data Scientist at a FinTech Startup
- 1 yr Investment Analyst at a local securities brokerage
- 1 yr Equity Sales at a local securities brokerage
Extracurricular (from recent to earliest):
- Active member of pretty much all of the Indonesian blockchain communities; Generally giving speeches, education, and the likes
- Local motorcycle clubs, held a few chair/committee positions in the past
- Active member of some scientific research clubs in Indonesia. Generally giving speeches, education, and the like. Held a few chair/committee positions in the past
Essays and Recomendation:
- I will make a case about the Indonesian government's plans on adapting blockchain, considering MIT's Digital Currency Initiative at Sloan will be a good place to develop them
- My recommender will be my CEO and knows me very well. He holds a Master's and Ph.D. in math from a US State uni and a Canadian Uni respectively and did some Investment Banking in one of the Swiss Banks before founding our current company. He's also a major blockchain evangelist and the go-to guy in the whole country for both companies and the government regarding that technology.
With my profile in mind, I have a few questions
Regarding my work experience:
Should I stick with my original plan to apply this year or should I move to more well-known companies first? It seems that most B-schools generally consider applicants from well-known companies/governments in a better light than smaller ones. The three companies I've worked for are local, non-market leader companies. Even though I've co-founded 2 companies, one failed and the current one is still in its infancy, with not much in terms of branding or prestige.
Moving to a more well-known company is a tempting route. However, I am running under a time constraint because I am also applying for a state scholarship, which requires an acceptance letter in 18 months. If I am to postpone my application, I run the risk of nullifying my scholarship. I'm also leveraging the fact that my government is initiating a major blockchain project in my scholarship; If I postpone, I may lose that momentum in my scholarship essay, or my application essay, or both.
Regarding my GMAT:
I took my exam a week ago and have been studying for roughly a year without major breaks. My score is 660 Q31 V49 and cancelled it.
Regarding the verbal, I have no complaints and I don't think it was a fluke, since I answer all of the questions with confidence.
The quant section, however, is a completely different story:
I have severe ADHD and minor numerical dyslexia, which means I have
some trouble in numerical operations, eg no matter how hard I try, I cannot memorize even simple 1-digit multiplication. Randomly ask me what \(7 * 8\) is and I will pull out a pen-and-paper and start counting. This is bad for the Quant section, even though I have no trouble with the actual material; I've done the OG and reviews with no trouble, considering I often use calculators anyway.
In any case, I know that GMAC offers some leniency for disabled test-takers. However, from what I can gather, the process is long and tenuous, with no guarantee that they'll consider my case. For the record, I also lack a major paper trail (doctors diagnosis) since I have just been diagnosed a few years back, and my first doctor actually didn't write a written case.
Is there any tips for my case on the GMAT?
I'm also retaking the test in two weeks so wish me luck!
Regarding my Profile:
Non-Javanese, an atheist, and an LGBT. While the first is an obvious case of a racial minority, the others cannot be readily proven ie my ID card still identifies me as a Muslim and I'm an underground LGBT. Atheists and LGBTs are severely prosecuted in Indonesia, which is a majority-conservative Muslim country.
Worth noting that I'm also a survivor of clinical depression, with a few suicide attempts in the past. My depression was the main culprit that made my GPA low. In my academic transcript, there is a significant difference between before I was treated and after I received medication halfway through college, my scores improved significantly.
Should I mention these facts in my application? Is my case for being a minority a valid argument that may appeal to universities? Is my case of depression a valid justification for having an average undergraduate life?
As a side note: Are Indonesians considered under or overrepresented in B-Schools? I think there are few of us in B-schools esp those in the US and not a lot of us apply, either, unlike say Singapore, China or India
Thank you for reading post! Any inputs or comments will be greatly appreciated.