Profile Eval

[Guest]

Thank you for any help.

I am looking to go to a top 10, preferably, top 5 school. I am yet to take the GMAT, but I expect to score in the low-mid 700s.

I am looking to enter in 2010.

Quals by entry (2010):

Work Experience:
3 yrs with large IT consulting firm. Promoted to project management within 9 months and currently looking to move to either the PMO or to do more business analysis. Tapped to lead business development work, successfully delivering multiple winning proposals.

(Project Management Professional (PMP) certification from the Project Management Institution.)

Interned on Political Campaign summer before graduation

Education:
Tier 3 school (on the top of the tier if it helps at all. They gave good scholarship)
B.A 2007
GPA: 3.46
Majors: Political Science, Philosophy
Minors: Religious Studies, European Studies, International Affairs, Economics

Award and Honors:
Phi Sigma Tau National Philosophy Honors Society
Pi Sigma Alpha National Political Science Honors Society
Omicron Delta Epsilon International Honors Society in Economics
Academic Honors Scholarship
University Office of Student Activities Service Award

Leadership: (College)
Student Government (3yrs): President, Comptroller
Led 20 student rebuild effort in New Orleans after Katrina
Sat on Board of Trustees, University Senate, Undergraduate Academic Affairs Committee etc (pretty much everything there is to be involved with)
Lots of fund raising, worked to break unfair contracts etc (Lots to say here)
Student Lobbying: Lead and actively participated in annual state lobbying for the maintenance of TAP and HEOP funding for all New York State students

Organized and Produced 5 student films featured at the annual dept festival, taking multiple awards (best in show, best film, best production value) out of 50 entrants.

Religious Studies Dept: Conference and Event planning for an endowed chair who has now gone on the be the top in his field at Michigan

ECs: (College)
Philosophy Club, Economics Club, Concerts (Lewis Black, The Roots etc), Student Democrats


Since I graduated I have donated time to a couple fund raising projects with small NGOs across the globe in order to help meet the Millennium Development Goals as a UN remote volunteer. To be honest it isn't a great deal of time, couple hours a week, couple months a year.

I have a friend who runs a non-profit providing after school programs to kids in NYC and Europe, so I was thinking about getting involved with him if time allows.

I am also planning on taking an "MBA prep" class from the NYU school of continuing and professional studies in Accounting and Finance to bolster my quant background.

Goals:
Management Consulting to gain experience then go into international development work with the United Nations, lending the business skills acquired to help businesses in economically under developed regions gain a foothold.

I am concerned that my over-represented industry category, tier 3 school, lack of quant background and lack of activity since graduation will make me less than competitive. My mother was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer last October so I haven't really had a lot of time to donate to other people, as that time has gone to my family. I don't see myself being able to do much more than listed above, but I am still managing to sleep at night so I have some time to spare.

Thoughts and Suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks
-B

[MBAApply]

Schools like Columbia, Kellogg, Sloan, Chicago and Tuck will be stretches (even if you do get more involved in extracurriculars, take more courses, etc.) -- but you have enough of a shot that it's worth at least putting in applications for 1 or 2 of these schools.

Schools like Duke, Darden, Michigan, Haas, NYU, UCLA, Cornell and Yale are schools that are in your sweet spot. Put together a strong written application (and assuming you interview well), you should be competitive. Choose 3 - 4 schools from this bunch.

Alex Chu
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com