Ask AdmissionsConsultants

[AdmissionsConsultants]

Originally Posted by GMAT2008

Hi David,

I guess there is a mistake, somehow I got the same answer as exlaw.

Thank you,
Maria

Hi Maria,

I apologize for the confusion. I have had some troubles posting my responses today due to technical difficulties.

In regards to your profile, I must state that you have a very impressive background and your academic profile most certainly demonstrates your potential. However, you will have to try extra hard to make your profile stand out as being unique and sincere. Given the fact that you are a PhD candidate suggests that you might be more of an academic who is simply interested in being a life long student. Thus, it will be important that you eradicate any doubts that the admissions committee might have in regards to your potential as a MBA candidate. In order to do this, you will need to complete some career mapping to better understand your own career objectives and to thus be able to express those career objectives to the admissions committee. I state this for it appears to me that you are not quite certain as to why you want the MBA. If the admissions committee picks up on this uncertainty, your chances will be hurt drastically.

I also encourage you to strongly consider gaining some work experience before embarking on your MBA. This will help you clarify your career goals and the work experience can help ensure you get the most out of the unique MBA educational opportunity.

Best of luck with your applications!

Sincerely,

David Petersam
DPetersam@admissionsconsultants.com
703.242.5885

[GMAT2008]

Hi David,

Thank you so much for your quick reply. Your advice is very helpful.

It will be very helpful for me to get some advice about how to do the career mapping. I am not sure what you mean by this. Should I go to a career counselor?

Thank you very much for your help,
Maria

[newgmatgirl]

Hello David,
I am a new user on this site and found your thread today. Before I expose my background and request your advice, I wanted to thank you for the remarkable public service you are offering the users.

I am a 32 year old female employed as an informatics consultant in a large biotech company. After my early graduation from high school at an age of 16, I had a late start in life, starting college 7 years later post-graduation at the age of 22. I say I have had a unusual background for several reasons.

For one, I was an extremely gifted student in high-school but due to family problems was allowed to graduate early. I was quite advance in all my studies and therefore had met majority of my requirements. After graduation, I was determined to put myself through college and although it happened a little later than desired, was accepted to U of Arizona for Molecular & Cellular Biology as well as for Computer Science. I received multiple scholarships in engineering, although none of them were nationally recognized fellowship/scholarships. As a dual major, I graduated with a 3.6 GPA.

Second, my college background is a bit unusual. My goal was to combine the computer science to understand biological discovery. This led to a job in an academic setting working with scientists in developing information systems that they that can be efficiently used for the daily work-flow. The work involved was both at the software and hardware level, as well as heavy business analysis.

After 2 years working at an ivy league school, I moved into a company environment at a biotech company. I have been here for about 3 years and have been recently been promoted to a supervisor role. I lead 5 people. My work here is research informatics operations related and I believe that my background suits me quite well for an operations management background.

Now here's the twist. I have been considering switching careers into finance. I am quite analytical and enjoy working with numbers. While, I understand those are not good enough reasons to change careers, I guess my main question to you is in regards to how a person who chooses to change career directions look to B schools. Is that frowned upon and is there a way special way to model your application? I am willing to stay in operations, but would like to learn more about switching directions.

I prefer to enroll in a top 10/15 schools. My top choices are Ross, Wharton, Chicago, Kellogg, and Haas. I have not taken the GMAT yet, but will in a month. My last question is this: given my profile, what type of GMAT score should I shoot for and are there any other things that I should do before I start applying for schools?

Thank you in advance for your reply.

[SkolR]

Dear David,

Thanks for this wonderful service that you provide, looking for some valuable advice from you.

I am planning to join part time MBA starting Fall'08. I was aiming at Fall'07 but got a dissmal 570 on my GMAT and did not see any logic in applying for the schools I am aiming for -

Wish list - Wharton, Kellogg, Sloan, Chicago GSB, Ross, Tuck.

My profile -

Age: 29 / Indian

Education :

MSEE (Telecommunications) - Univ. of Houston - Main Campus (GPA - 3.4) - completed within 9 months (don't know if that helps) - Texas State scholarship

BE (Instrumentation) -Univ. of Bombay (72%)

Job profile :

Total work ex - 7 yrs - in the Wireless Communications industry

- last 2 years as a Business Development Manager for a consulting company - product development, strategy planning for 4G technologies, brand management, executive consulting for multi-million dollar projects

- 5 years progressive growth starting as level 1 engineer to Sr. Principal engineer (consulting throughout) with companies like Nokia, Motorola, AT& T, Verzion, Nortel, Lucent

- worked as a PeopleSoft consultant to help pay off school tuition. Worked 20 hrs per week alongwith taking more than 4 grad courses per semester.

Extra-Curr -

-Founder member and public relations in-charge for student body at Univ. of Houston
-Organized charity cricket tournament in KS for Save-A-Life foundation
-Part of organizing committee of the Midwest County Cricket League
-Organizing committee & founder member for inter-college festival in Bombay
-Winner of intercollege personality contests
-Represented school in math olympiads, quiz contests
-United Nations Organization awareness certifications (Level I, II,III) in school

I am planning to start part time MBA and if it works out transfer to full-time (is it even possible?). My target is to score 720+ in GMAT but am currently stuck at 670 and looks like will end up around that (hopefully not!)

My question is -

1. Are admissions for part time MBA in ivy league schools as tough as their full-time admissions? In other words, what are my chances in either of them?

2. Like everyone I plan to spend a lot of time in crunching out some sterling essays, what else do I need to do to enhance my chances?

3. Would a recommendation from a current part time student in these schools help? He is also my manager. Does a reco from a VP or a CEO from a mid size firm have more weightage over that of a manager in a fortune 50 company?

4. What are some of the best schools for Strategy Planning management?

5. Am I overshooting? I dont see the point in doing an MBA for any other school. If my acads are weak, its a thing of the past and one has to live with it, but what else can one do to increase the chance of getting into these schools.

6. NOT being an IT person and working in the Wireless Telecomm industry - how can I use it to my advantage. Most people I see (excuse my ignorance) either have an IT or a finance/banking or a marketing background.

A Million thanks in advance, if you did not fall asleep and actually read it all. Any feedback would be a million more.

Cheers

[AdmissionsConsultants]

Originally Posted by GMAT2008

Hi David,

Thank you so much for your quick reply. Your advice is very helpful.

It will be very helpful for me to get some advice about how to do the career mapping. I am not sure what you mean by this. Should I go to a career counselor?

Thank you very much for your help,
Maria

Hi Maria and thanks for your inquiry again.

As mentioned, one way to better determine what career path you would like to follow is to obtain some work experience outside of the academic arena. You had stated that you were not quite sure if you wanted to stay in academia. Before you apply to a MBA program, it is important that you have a career direction. Admissions committees will be looking for candidates who are focused and who are determined to acquire an MBA for specific reasons. Thus career mapping is a key component to complete before you go on to identify your target schools. I state this because you will want to target schools that have strong concentrations in the areas that may be of interest to you and your overall career goals.

If you would like to discuss your career profile and options in further detail, our consultants can certainly help you with this endeavor. Please feel free to contact our offices at the number listed below.

Best of luck with your applications!

Sincerely,

David Petersam
DPetersam@admissionsconsultants.com
703.242.5885

[AdmissionsConsultants]

Originally Posted by newgmatgirl

Hello David,
I am a new user on this site and found your thread today. Before I expose my background and request your advice, I wanted to thank you for the remarkable public service you are offering the users.

I am a 32 year old female employed as an informatics consultant in a large biotech company. After my early graduation from high school at an age of 16, I had a late start in life, starting college 7 years later post-graduation at the age of 22. I say I have had a unusual background for several reasons.

For one, I was an extremely gifted student in high-school but due to family problems was allowed to graduate early. I was quite advance in all my studies and therefore had met majority of my requirements. After graduation, I was determined to put myself through college and although it happened a little later than desired, was accepted to U of Arizona for Molecular & Cellular Biology as well as for Computer Science. I received multiple scholarships in engineering, although none of them were nationally recognized fellowship/scholarships. As a dual major, I graduated with a 3.6 GPA.

Second, my college background is a bit unusual. My goal was to combine the computer science to understand biological discovery. This led to a job in an academic setting working with scientists in developing information systems that they that can be efficiently used for the daily work-flow. The work involved was both at the software and hardware level, as well as heavy business analysis.

After 2 years working at an ivy league school, I moved into a company environment at a biotech company. I have been here for about 3 years and have been recently been promoted to a supervisor role. I lead 5 people. My work here is research informatics operations related and I believe that my background suits me quite well for an operations management background.

Now here's the twist. I have been considering switching careers into finance. I am quite analytical and enjoy working with numbers. While, I understand those are not good enough reasons to change careers, I guess my main question to you is in regards to how a person who chooses to change career directions look to B schools. Is that frowned upon and is there a way special way to model your application? I am willing to stay in operations, but would like to learn more about switching directions.

I prefer to enroll in a top 10/15 schools. My top choices are Ross, Wharton, Chicago, Kellogg, and Haas. I have not taken the GMAT yet, but will in a month. My last question is this: given my profile, what type of GMAT score should I shoot for and are there any other things that I should do before I start applying for schools?

Thank you in advance for your reply.

Hi and thanks for your inquiry.

I am glad to hear that you have found the forum helpful. I welcome your questions.

You have an interesting background. However, your late start for undergraduate studies brings up some questions. Thus, this is something you will have to discuss within your applications in order to explain the gap in your academic history. Nonetheless, your GPA is quite solid and if you are able to score 700+ on the GMAT you would most certainly pass the academic requirements at the schools that you have identified.

The work experience that you bring to the table is quite solid as well. In regards to switching your career path to a more finance driven profession, it is important to understand that many applicants applying to bschool are looking to switch careers. Therefore, this sort of scenario is nothing new for the admissions committees. If you are able to clearly articulate your rationale for making the switch and if you are able to clearly outline your goals and demonstrate how the MBA degree will make these goals feasible, the career move will not reflect badly on your applications.

Finally, you did not mention your extracurricular involvements. If you do not have some to reference within your applications, I recommend that you take these next coming months to join an organization or activity that will help you in this department. You have a great foundation to start with, however, a few extracurricular involvements could really add to the depth of your overall profile.

Best of luck with your applications!

Sincerely,

David Petersam
DPetersam@admissionsconsultants.com
703.242.5885

[AdmissionsConsultants]

Originally Posted by SkolR

Dear David,

Thanks for this wonderful service that you provide, looking for some valuable advice from you.

I am planning to join part time MBA starting Fall'08. I was aiming at Fall'07 but got a dissmal 570 on my GMAT and did not see any logic in applying for the schools I am aiming for -

Wish list - Wharton, Kellogg, Sloan, Chicago GSB, Ross, Tuck.

My profile -

Age: 29 / Indian

Education :

MSEE (Telecommunications) - Univ. of Houston - Main Campus (GPA - 3.4) - completed within 9 months (don't know if that helps) - Texas State scholarship

BE (Instrumentation) -Univ. of Bombay (72%)

Job profile :

Total work ex - 7 yrs - in the Wireless Communications industry

- last 2 years as a Business Development Manager for a consulting company - product development, strategy planning for 4G technologies, brand management, executive consulting for multi-million dollar projects

- 5 years progressive growth starting as level 1 engineer to Sr. Principal engineer (consulting throughout) with companies like Nokia, Motorola, AT& T, Verzion, Nortel, Lucent

- worked as a PeopleSoft consultant to help pay off school tuition. Worked 20 hrs per week alongwith taking more than 4 grad courses per semester.

Extra-Curr -

-Founder member and public relations in-charge for student body at Univ. of Houston
-Organized charity cricket tournament in KS for Save-A-Life foundation
-Part of organizing committee of the Midwest County Cricket League
-Organizing committee & founder member for inter-college festival in Bombay
-Winner of intercollege personality contests
-Represented school in math olympiads, quiz contests
-United Nations Organization awareness certifications (Level I, II,III) in school

I am planning to start part time MBA and if it works out transfer to full-time (is it even possible?). My target is to score 720+ in GMAT but am currently stuck at 670 and looks like will end up around that (hopefully not!)

My question is -

1. Are admissions for part time MBA in ivy league schools as tough as their full-time admissions? In other words, what are my chances in either of them?

2. Like everyone I plan to spend a lot of time in crunching out some sterling essays, what else do I need to do to enhance my chances?

3. Would a recommendation from a current part time student in these schools help? He is also my manager. Does a reco from a VP or a CEO from a mid size firm have more weightage over that of a manager in a fortune 50 company?

4. What are some of the best schools for Strategy Planning management?

5. Am I overshooting? I dont see the point in doing an MBA for any other school. If my acads are weak, its a thing of the past and one has to live with it, but what else can one do to increase the chance of getting into these schools.

6. NOT being an IT person and working in the Wireless Telecomm industry - how can I use it to my advantage. Most people I see (excuse my ignorance) either have an IT or a finance/banking or a marketing background.

A Million thanks in advance, if you did not fall asleep and actually read it all. Any feedback would be a million more.

Cheers

Hi and thanks for your inquiry.

I am glad to hear that you have found the forum helpful.

To address your first question, let me state that the Ivy League part-time programs are quite competitive. Because these programs target different applicant pools, it’s not fair to attempt to compare the admits based on things like their average GMAT scores. If you are planning on transferring to a full-time program at a later date, do understand that this is a possible choice but make sure to complete your research because not all schools are welcoming to this idea.

Second, in regards to your profile, you have some great work experience and your list of extracurricular activities is quite impressive. However, it will be important that you raise your GMAT score. Raising your GMAT score to a 700+ would be ideal. Nonetheless, you do have a good foundation to start with given your extensive work experience and extracurricular involvement. It will be important that you illustrate one or more “wow” factors that will set you apart from the competition.

When you choose a recommender it is important to identify an individual who is best equipped to underline your work ethic and ambition. You mention the idea of possibly asking a current student at one of your target schools to write a letter. I understand your logic; however, this plan can back fire if the individual is not knowledgeable enough to discuss your work experience and background. This being said, I suggest you ask the person who will best exemplify your overall strengths. If this person happens to be affiliated with one of your top school choices, this could be an added bonus.

In regards to suggesting a few schools for strategy planning management, I cannot begin to opine on what schools best suit your overall needs and this particular criterion without discussing your objectives in more detail. This forum does not provide enough detail to assess such issues in thorough of enough detail.

Furthermore, I would not state that you do not have a chance at the aforementioned schools. However, your particular demographic pool is highly competitive. The fact that you do not come from an IT background does indeed give you a slight advantage, however, your overall demographic pool is nonetheless overwhelming. Therefore, your essays and the message you portray in the applications will need to be clear and confident. But as mentioned, you have some great components to bring into your applications, with a good strategy; your profile could be quite competitive.

Best of luck with your applications!

Sincerely,

David Petersam
DPetersam@admissionsconsultants.com
703.242.5885

[newgmatgirl]

Originally Posted by AdmissionsConsultants

Hi and thanks for your inquiry.

I am glad to hear that you have found the forum helpful. I welcome your questions.

You have an interesting background. However, your late start for undergraduate studies brings up some questions. Thus, this is something you will have to discuss within your applications in order to explain the gap in your academic history. Nonetheless, your GPA is quite solid and if you are able to score 700+ on the GMAT you would most certainly pass the academic requirements at the schools that you have identified.

The work experience that you bring to the table is quite solid as well. In regards to switching your career path to a more finance driven profession, it is important to understand that many applicants applying to bschool are looking to switch careers. Therefore, this sort of scenario is nothing new for the admissions committees. If you are able to clearly articulate your rationale for making the switch and if you are able to clearly outline your goals and demonstrate how the MBA degree will make these goals feasible, the career move will not reflect badly on your applications.

Finally, you did not mention your extracurricular involvements. If you do not have some to reference within your applications, I recommend that you take these next coming months to join an organization or activity that will help you in this department. You have a great foundation to start with, however, a few extracurricular involvements could really add to the depth of your overall profile.

Best of luck with your applications!

Sincerely,

David Petersam
DPetersam@admissionsconsultants.com
703.242.5885

Thank you so much for your reply! I wanted to ask one more question and in addition, answer a couple of questions that you raised. I will first start off with your questions.

The reason I started college late is quite personal - I was quite young when I was forced to support myself and be on my own (as mentioned - 16 when this happened) and although I was quite determined to put myself through college, it became quite difficult for me to do so for several reasons - financial reasons and the lack of mentorship, "adult support" and lack of understanding about the student aid available to me comes to mind...But I was able to get my things together, learn about the resources, and finally through persistence and determination, enrolled in a university, that I was accepted to immediately. That last statement brings up another reason - possibly it was the lack of confidence and fear that I would not be able to be accepted to school. That was over 10 years ago and I have grown significantly as a person. Although I am proud to have lived through that and feel very strongly that my life experiences reflect positively on my character, I have some reservations about mentioning such personal matters in admission application. What are your thoughts?

You asked if I have participated in any extracurricular activities. Before I started college, I worked as a volunteer for an organization serving food to homeless people called Food Not Bombs. But since then I have not participated in any activities. Do you have any recommendations?

As for references, I will be using my direct supervisor and my past supervisor at Stanford University and possibly a couple of professors that I know very well. I believe that I can get some decent letters of recommendations.

Looking forward to hearing from you again.

Thanks again.

[newgmatgirl]

Originally Posted by AdmissionsConsultants

Hi and thanks for your inquiry.

I am glad to hear that you have found the forum helpful. I welcome your questions.

You have an interesting background. However, your late start for undergraduate studies brings up some questions. Thus, this is something you will have to discuss within your applications in order to explain the gap in your academic history. Nonetheless, your GPA is quite solid and if you are able to score 700+ on the GMAT you would most certainly pass the academic requirements at the schools that you have identified.

The work experience that you bring to the table is quite solid as well. In regards to switching your career path to a more finance driven profession, it is important to understand that many applicants applying to bschool are looking to switch careers. Therefore, this sort of scenario is nothing new for the admissions committees. If you are able to clearly articulate your rationale for making the switch and if you are able to clearly outline your goals and demonstrate how the MBA degree will make these goals feasible, the career move will not reflect badly on your applications.

Finally, you did not mention your extracurricular involvements. If you do not have some to reference within your applications, I recommend that you take these next coming months to join an organization or activity that will help you in this department. You have a great foundation to start with, however, a few extracurricular involvements could really add to the depth of your overall profile.

Best of luck with your applications!

Sincerely,

David Petersam
DPetersam@admissionsconsultants.com
703.242.5885

Hello David,
I sent you a reply to this, but there seems to be some technical difficulty. I see the post listed under my profile, but I do not find it under this thread. I will wait awhile and post again if I do not see the post. Please let me know if you received my reply. Thanks.

[oxygen08]

Hi everyone,

I encourage everyone to take a look at the following thread on the businessweek forums. A number of people have felt cheated by this company's service and I think it may in be in everyone's best interest to review some of the stories posted on this thread prior to signing up. Also, there are number of other consultants on the businessweek forum who can provide much more accurate advice.

http://forums.businessweek.com/n/pfx...ools&tid=71981

Best of luck to all