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What is the weakness in your profile about which you are most concerned?

3% [2]
9% [5]
22% [12]
7% [4]
9% [5]
15% [8]
5% [3]
0% [0]
9% [5]
16% [9]
Total votes : 53
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bherronp
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What is your application's Achilles heel? 20 Jun 2007, 06:17
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Well we've seen what is worrying those entering b-school this year in the "pre-mba complex" thread:

https://www.gmatclub.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?t=45189

So now its time to see what those of us applying for 2008 are already sweating over. What weakness do you see in your own profile that you fear may keep you out of your preferred schools?

For me, it is a lack of significant community service activity since I left undergrad. This is also personally disappointing, since I was pretty involved in my community throughout high school and college.
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rhyme
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What is your application's Achilles heel? 20 Jun 2007, 06:25
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I was an 07 applicant, but I voted anyway. Lackluster work experience (or at least I felt that way about it in comparison to some people)
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dabots
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What is your application's Achilles heel? 20 Jun 2007, 06:29
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lack of community service for sure. it will bite me in the a$$
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bherronp
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What is your application's Achilles heel? 20 Jun 2007, 06:31
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rhyme
I was an 07 applicant, but I voted anyway. Lackluster work experience (or at least I felt that way about it in comparison to some people)
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Sure, 07 applicants are welcome to vote in the poll and reflect on what they were worried about. After all, I voted in the pre-mba complex poll. :)
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What is your application's Achilles heel? 20 Jun 2007, 07:15
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bherronp
rhyme
I was an 07 applicant, but I voted anyway. Lackluster work experience (or at least I felt that way about it in comparison to some people)

Sure, 07 applicants are welcome to vote in the poll and reflect on what they were worried about. After all, I voted in the pre-mba complex poll. :)
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Thanks for your vote. :wink:

I chose low GMAT score because at the time mine was about 40 points below the mean/median. I think a slightly lackluster performance in any one of these categories can usually be compensated with stellar performance in another. For example, my GMAT sucked, but my essays were rivoting (I think).
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What is your application's Achilles heel? 20 Jun 2007, 08:55
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Low-ish undergrad GPA.

L.
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What is your application's Achilles heel? 20 Jun 2007, 10:06
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Personally speaking, I vote for "Poor essay writing capabilities".

As rhyme, pelihu et al say, the chances of success rides a lot on the execution of the application and when we say execution, we mean "essays" to a large extent.

Every other choice in the poll provides a data point for the application. But if the application does not present the data points coherently with one data point supplementing the other, the results will more often than not be negative.

In my case, I think the data points are there. It's a matter of execution and if I dont get in, I will atleast know why.
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What is your application's Achilles heel? 20 Jun 2007, 10:23
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ncprasad
Personally speaking, I vote for "Poor essay writing capabilities".

As rhyme, pelihu et al say, the chances of success rides a lot on the execution of the application and when we say execution, we mean "essays" to a large extent.

Every other choice in the poll provides a data point for the application. But if the application does not present the data points coherently with one data point supplementing the other, the results will more often than not be negative.

In my case, I think the data points are there. It's a matter of execution and if I dont get in, I will atleast know why.
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Good but make sure your GMAT score is close to Indian Average !

All the talk of essays being key sounds BS after M7..as they need Indian/Chinese top scores to prop up their Avg. GMAT
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What is your application's Achilles heel? 20 Jun 2007, 10:58
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dabots
lack of community service for sure. it will bite me in the a$$
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Doubt it. You just are thinking about things in too narrow of a definition. You use the term community service... when really you should be thinking extracurriculars. Recast your definition and you will be fine. Keep it too narrowly defined and you will struggle to find things.
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What is your application's Achilles heel? 20 Jun 2007, 11:22
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I voted for GPA. I'm also old. Things worked out pretty alright though.
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What is your application's Achilles heel? 20 Jun 2007, 11:54
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pelihu
I voted for GPA. I'm also old. Things worked out pretty alright though.
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nice understatement
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What is your application's Achilles heel? 20 Jun 2007, 12:20
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07' applicant as well. I voted too young/lack of WE. I was 23 while applying and had one year of "post-grad" work. I think the whole idea that WE during college is not counted in overall WE is garbage. I opened and ran a restaurant with $5.2 MM annual revenue and Duke told me I was dinged because I lacked sufficent WE? Oh well, to Rice I go. BTW, if anyone is in to college baseball, Rice is one game away from going to the championship series! :)
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What is your application's Achilles heel? 20 Jun 2007, 12:33
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squali83
07' applicant as well. I voted too young/lack of WE. I was 23 while applying and had one year of "post-grad" work. I think the whole idea that WE during college is not counted in overall WE is garbage. I opened and ran a restaurant with $5.2 MM annual revenue and Duke told me I was dinged because I lacked sufficent WE?
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That's ridiculous! Given that something like 75% of restaurants fail, I can't believe they discounted your experience. And a $5 mil operation ain't exactly a taco stand either.
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What is your application's Achilles heel? 20 Jun 2007, 13:18
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rhyme
dabots
lack of community service for sure. it will bite me in the a$$

Doubt it. You just are thinking about things in too narrow of a definition. You use the term community service... when really you should be thinking extracurriculars. Recast your definition and you will be fine. Keep it too narrowly defined and you will struggle to find things.
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I have been working on taking this approach, but it still seems that the most popular MBA admissions guides (at least most popular here) like Montauk's book and MBA game plan, seem to say (to me) that you need both interesting ECs and solid community service. I hope your perspective is correct, because I am fine on EC, not so good on community service. Unless they're willing to count the entire new IT infrastructure that I put in at my Dad's small business which helped them survive during some very dark times as community service.
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What is your application's Achilles heel? 20 Jun 2007, 14:24
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bherronp
rhyme
dabots
lack of community service for sure. it will bite me in the a$$

Doubt it. You just are thinking about things in too narrow of a definition. You use the term community service... when really you should be thinking extracurriculars. Recast your definition and you will be fine. Keep it too narrowly defined and you will struggle to find things.

I have been working on taking this approach, but it still seems that the most popular MBA admissions guides (at least most popular here) like Montauk's book and MBA game plan, seem to say (to me) that you need both interesting ECs and solid community service. I hope your perspective is correct, because I am fine on EC, not so good on community service. Unless they're willing to count the entire new IT infrastructure that I put in at my Dad's small business which helped them survive during some very dark times as community service.
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I would stay away from family stories like this. I immediately want to discount their importance before I've even read what you did.

If you want help brainstorming, let me know....

some thoughts

Check out meetup.com for ideas... doesnt cost that much to start your own thing.
Member of your schools local alumni chapter? Can you get a leadership role w/ them? (I asked mine and got put in charge of a 400 person group and ran admissions interviews for almost 500 applicants)
Ever done anything pro-bono or interesting, like gone hiking? backcountry skiing? fishing?
Do any of these things regularly or with some reasonable frequency?
Ever take any cooking classes? Is it something you do in your spare time?
Have you reached Level 60 in WOW yet? Are you spec'd for casting intimidating shout? If I say Leroy Jenkins, do you automatically laugh? Just kidding.
etc
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What is your application's Achilles heel? 20 Jun 2007, 14:34
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rhyme

Have you reached Level 60 in WOW yet?
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What will be the reaction of the adcom if someone writes this as his leadership achievement, "I led a team of 10 night elves and 10 dwarves to completely annihilate a horde team of around 30 on XYZ PvP server" :lol:

Heck, level 60 (or close) in WoW is too nerdy even for an ex-gamer like me.
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What is your application's Achilles heel? 20 Jun 2007, 14:54
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mNeo
What will be the reaction of the adcom if someone writes this as his leadership achievement, "I led a team of 10 night elves and 10 dwarves to completely annihilate a horde team of around 30 on XYZ PvP server" :lol:
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:lol:
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What is your application's Achilles heel? 20 Jun 2007, 15:14
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mNeo
rhyme

Have you reached Level 60 in WOW yet?

What will be the reaction of the adcom if someone writes this as his leadership achievement, "I led a team of 10 night elves and 10 dwarves to completely annihilate a horde team of around 30 on XYZ PvP server" :lol:

Heck, level 60 (or close) in WoW is too nerdy even for an ex-gamer like me.
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Recycle Bin: once upon a time in the land of Azeroth
Subrandom: Dave Chapelle fought David Hasselhoff
Recycle Bin: we started out life in the Valley of Trials
Subrandom: now we stack gold in big ass piles
Recycle Bin: lookin through the books on top of the shelves
Subrandom: learning spells, gonna plow some naked elves
Recycle Bin: chillin in Thunder Bluff or Iron Forge
Subrandom: we're engineers at the level of Geordi LaForge

PC Speaker:
got home from work and I had some time,
so I opened up WoW and I got online,
logged into my Shaman up on Daggerspine,
when this maxed out mother***** tried to take what's mine,
he said "I spent a thousand hours and I failed out of school,
and to justify it, I challenge you to a duel"
I said thats okay, I know you'd beat me,
look at me I'm not even at level 20,
I've got one of those things that they call a job,
and so I can't spend all day, runnin a mob,
mother****** kept pushin, wouldn't leave me alone,
I said fine b****, pretend to be Sylvester Stallone
after he won he started talkin hella sh**,
and I thought to myself, "Is this fool legit?"
I called Recycle Bin and Subrandom to the place,
and they found the little b**** and regulated on his face,
see, we don't take no sh** from internet teenagers,
pretending to to be straight gangster ass bangers,
step out of cyberspace and come over to my place,
i got a level 60 bullet for your motherf**** face

Subrandom:
remember back when 10 f**** levels was hard?
nows it's ten 60s gankin noobs in the yard,
fat stacks of gear for Blackwing Lair,
10k armor when I shift into bear,
we got all these farmers rollin on gear,
now we quick to boot em the f*** out of here,
Murlocks be screamin when we show up,
Volatile Rum's what's fillin up my cup,
today we catch no hastle in Stratholm,
droppin bosses harder than John Holmes,
updated weekly, this sh** is great,
can't say no more cause the game don't wait

Recycle Bin:
started out my life killing them boars,
now I spend my days rapin Night Elf wh*res,
catch you in the valley, and get me some head,
I swear that we're fighting an army of speds,
don't even get me started on you gold farmers,
you gotta make a living, but I need that armor,
one day I met this dude yellin "Yar motherf*****,"
tankin up mobs like a angry drunk trucker,
introduced me to the ill Druid squad, yo,
never run with em, but I'll give a priest a nod, ho,
you can melt faces but I'm smashin em in,
Windfury on my tuf so you fear Recycle Bin,
watch out, comin soon to an ass near you,
a non-stop beating that's long overdue

For the mp3: (Yes, its legal, and free)

NOT ENTIRELY WORKSAFE..


https://www.futuristicsexrobotz.com/?p=music

Zip is there.

And their other songs are equally as hilarious to listen to.

In particular...

If I ruled hte world
WoW
Welcome to the internet

are all insanely hilarious
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forcefeed
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What is your application's Achilles heel? 20 Jun 2007, 15:59
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Quite a few of those weaknesses concern me, but nothing concerns me more than lack of WE. I will be 25 at time of matriculation w/ 3 years of WE, but I question whether the rest of my strengths compensate enough to convince Ultra-Elite schools that I am ready now. I was reading through the Montauk book, and it just confirmed that I am ready now! I just hope I can portray that to the ad-coms well.

Another year working wouldn't kill me (I actually like it somewhat) but the job is too constraining.
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What is your application's Achilles heel? 20 Jun 2007, 21:08
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Mine will definitely be:

Lack of interesting extracirricular activities
Too Young
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