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Profile Evaluation

by Guest Thu Aug 28, 2008 10:02 pm

Age: 26
Undergrad: Ranked in the top 10% of class at a top Canadian Univeristy (McGill/Queen's/U of T)
GMAT: 750 (Target)

Work Experience: 3+ years at boutique consulting firm. Highly entrepreneurial work environment provided significant opportunities to develop well rounded business skills and enhance leadership abilities through client exposure and firm development; received multiple promotions.

Extracurriculars
- Varsity Level Athelete while in university with recognitions for academic achievement while competing at a varsity level
- Actively involved in other student clubs throughout undergrad
- Little extra-curricular since university due to significant work commitments

Objectives for MBA
- Short-term: Develop skills and gain experience to advance in consulting industry
- Long-term: Start up my own advisory / investment firm

Questions
- How will my application stand out at top schols (HBS, Wharton, Stanford) as well as other top-10 schools (Kellogg, Tuck, Chicago)?
- Are there certain aspects of my background that I should emphasize so as to not come across as a "typical consultant" and differentiatie myself from applicants from the global strategy firms?

Thank you!
MBAApply
 
 

by MBAApply Fri Aug 29, 2008 2:15 pm

First off, the fact that you mentioned UofT along with McGill and Queen's suggests that you went to UofT, because no McGill or Queen's alum would mention UofT in the same breath :-) I'm just teasing you.

Anyhow, HBS, Wharton or Stanford are going to be stretches. You have a strong profile and your resume probably wouldn't be out of place in the resume books of any of these three schools, but note that there's enough people like you applying to these three that have the same shot as you do (and as a Canadian you'll be benchmarked against other Americans in the same profession as you -- ie. consulting). It really comes down to a combination of application execution and luck. But again, you have enough of a chance that it's worth at least giving all of them a shot.

Schools like Kellogg, Chicago or Tuck you should be in the mix -- so long as you put in a strong application, you won't need as much luck. You have a reasonable shot of getting in. If I were a betting man, my guess is you'll most likely end up going to one of these schools next year (which is hardly a consolation prize, since whether you go to Kellogg or Harvard, you'll still have the same shot at getting into McKinsey or whatever your real career goals may be).

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