Profile Evaluation - Fall 2011 Applicant

[kathy kim]

closed

[mbamission]

Hello,

Thanks for your inquiry and your detailed email. I think that you are right to avoid HBS. I think that it would be a stretch. In terms of CBS and Wharton, at 31 I also think that you might face an uphill battle at both of those schools. As you mentioned, you are just on the upper range of students that they typically admit to the full time MBA program. So it is possible. I would recommend that you get across your reasons for not pursuing an MBA earlier in your career and explaining why this is the right time for you. It seems like you have a clear understanding of the former. I don’t know your reasons for wanting an MBA now, but I certainly wouldn’t write that you want an MBA because the real estate market has slowed down. You seem to be a very reasonable person, so my guess is that you would not write that, but I felt that it was important to mention it.

I have seen some slightly older applicants to those schools asked about whether they would be interested in the part-time or executive education programs. I recommend researching those programs to determine if you are interested in them. Even if you’re not interested, you can explain that to the AdComs from an informed point of view. I think that you answered your own question about writing about your condo board. Although I do not know what you had to deal with as a part of your condo board, I would say that is probably not a good idea to write about it in an essay about leadership. I would encourage you to consider leadership you have shown at work.

Your question about whether you should spend less time on your hobbies and get more involved with a volunteer activity is a tough one. I don’t think that you should become involved with volunteer activities solely for the purpose of applying to business school. Perhaps you can become a bit more involved with the activity (or activities) you are already involved with, taking on a discrete project that you can write about in your applications. I have seen people demonstrate the impact that they have had on an organization through a project that doesn’t force them to completely change their lives. You may decide to cut back a bit on one of your time intensive hobbies as you plan to apply to business school. Consider it a small sacrifice for an investment in your future.

Sincerely,

Akiba Smith-Francis
MBA Mission
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