Profile Evaluation and Questions?

Question

Hi guys!

I just bought your book last week and so far "I'm Lovin' It!" I especially loved the section on the top 30 schools and the quirks regarding them.

With that said, I was wondering if you can take a quick look at my profile and let me know if there are any major deficiencies/pitfalls OR if there's anything that pops out that I can and should focus on in my application essays?

EDIT: Profile Archive moved to here: https://www.gmatclub.com/forum/111-t56286

I would love to hear any feedback on my chances for these schools, what I should emphasize, where my weaknesses are, and where else I should apply to.

Also, I plan to apply to Berkeley, UCLA, and Stanford R1. Maybe one of the other choices if I'm not burned out yet. Anything else will probably be R2.

truthringer · Answer

Nice post. Glad that you're enjoying the book. I think you'll be competitive at these schools. Having been at one company can be a challenge, so be sure to highlight career progression and leadership in your resume / essays. Also entrepreneurship is a great career objective, if you can discuss why and what space that's even better.

You don't appear to have any safety schools, so that's a risk. Have you considered Sloan (MIT) at all. Might be a good fit given your interests. 

I think you have a good shot. All the best!

kryzak · Answer

Thank you truthringer! 

I will definitely talk about all the different tasks that I've done at the only company I've been at, and also provide details on why I want to do entrepreneurship. I plan to interview a few people who are doing startups and some VC folks (maybe I like that more, I don't know yet) and use the details to determine how I want to put them in my essay.

Quick question, you mention I don't have any safety schools, but suggest MIT as one. Isn't MIT one of the "Ultra-Elites", tougher to get into than even Berkeley or UCLA? Do you have any other suggestions of safety schools? I don't think I will be applying to anything outside of the ultra-elite and elite schools though, since the opportunities drop dramatically outside of those two clusters.

Oh yeah, I'm not applying to MIT because of 2 reasons: 1) The weather/city (don't like Boston), 2) I don't really like how technical the campus is nor the business school when I visited. Otherwise I agree, it would fit my background better.

Thank you!

truthringer · Answer

I shouldn't have said that in the same breath. No, I didn't mean to imply that Sloan is a safety. Just thought it might be a good fit. All the factors you listed are valid for you though and thus it deserves not to be on the lsit. School visits are great for weeding schools out.

Andersen definitely shouldn't be considered a safety. That said, you noted one of the golden rules which is that you should never apply to school you wouldn't attend. Thus, if you feel strongly about attending elites and ultra elites only, then a safety isn't warrented. But the only time Andersen should be considered a safety is after an admission letter is firmly in hand.

kryzak · Answer

Understood about Anderson! Thank you again for the advice!

BTW, did you apply to any "safety" schools?

truthringer · Answer

Haha, good question. I had a similar perspective as you in that I didn't want to go anywhere that wasn't top tier. I ended up applying to Harvard, Wharton, Duke, Stanford, Michigan and Kellogg. I was a bit naive -- that's probably too many schools and none are really a safety, but that was my choice understanding what the drawback might be.

I've worked with people before who've said Stanford or Harvard and that's it.

kryzak · Answer

I guess all I can do is to complete the best application I can do and submit it!

Profile Evaluation and Questions?

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards