Please Evaluate My Profile

[MichaelP562]

Hello! If you could evaluate my profile and give me feedback, that would be very helpful!

Profile: I am a 28 year old male from the Chicagoland area. I went to Northwestern University for undergrad, studied Biomedical Engineering, and got a 3.92 GPA. I had the top GPA for BMEs and graduated Summa Cum Laude. I took the GMAT and got a 730 (49 Quant, 41 Verbal, 8 IR, 6 AWA). After graduating, I gave up a few job offers and research offers to enter into non-profit. I have 6 years of experience in non-profit work. I've lived 4 years in the Middle East (in a few different countries). I have three years of general management within the organization and have 1 year of regional management. In the non-profit organization, I also provide consulting to other teams pertaining to communication, strategy, and overall team health. Along with my non-profit role, I helped start a business that teaches Middle Eastern university students skills for study habits and leadership. A lot of schools here are not very good. So, I try to help them do better in their undergraduate programs so that they can enter graduate programs or get better jobs. I also teach the students interpersonal skills so that they are equipped as they enter the workforce.

I want to go to business school because my wife and I are wanting to move back to America so we can be close to family. I thought this would help my overall career. I'm particularly interested in general management for a Fortune 500 organization.

Please let me know if there is any other information that I should provide. What are my chances for getting into Stanford, Berkeley, or Northwestern? Those would be my top choices, because they are elite schools close to family. If I don't have good chances at any of those, I would love to hear if there are other good universities that I am more likely get into. Any advice or feedback would be so helpful. Thanks in advance!

[mbaMissionKrista]

Marhaba Michael and thanks for posting. (I spent a bit of time myself working in the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait.)

Definitely a very interesting profile and combination of stats and work experience. I definitely think you'd get a lot out of talking to one of our consultants on the phone and suggest you sign up for a free consultation. In the meantime though, my high level thought is that the 730/3.9/international work experience combo is a good one and will help you stand out during this process. The key will be showing that even though you're non-profit guy, you've got a business mindset. So I think really making sure your resume shines will be key.

I think your three schools are a good start but I'd really like you to add a few others. Mainly because I don't have a full sense of your candidacy and also because this is a competitive process so best to go in thinking "I'll apply to 5ish, get 2 or 3 interviews, get 1 or 2 offers." Stanford is tough for anyone but if you are interested in education, maybe look at their dual-degree MEd/MBA. I think Northwestern will dig the double-Wildcat thing possibly. Haas is a great option for you BUT super small program and low admit rate. Not my favorite numbers to work with. I'd like you to add Yale because I think they'll like your background, and as long as you are applying to Kellogg, add Booth too.

My other thought is that Wharton tends to really go for great stats so they will like your GPA. Might be worth a shot.

Hope that helps as a preliminary reaction!
Krista

[MichaelP562]

This was super helpful. I'm still pretty new to the Bschool applications, but it did occur to me that I would be a unique applicant. I just wasn't sure if that uniqueness would help or hurt me in the process. So, this is really helpful. Thanks for your feedback.

Stanford would be my dream school. But I realize my chances of being accepted are slim. That's helpful to hear your thoughts about NU and Haas, as well as your advice to apply to Yale and Booth. My brother went to Kellogg, and my sister went to Booth. They both liked each of the programs, and each have plenty of opinions.

Again, I appreciate your help. I will try signing up for talking with one of the consultants! I didn't know that they were free.