Profile Evaluation: Real Estate, Hotels, and an MBA!

[briangtsmith]

Hi all,

I am 25 years old, will be 26 when school starts should I get in. My "stats" are below:

- 3.25 cumulative GPA from The George Washington University, with a major in International Affairs, concentration: East Asia. I studied abroad in Tokyo and am fluent in Japanese.

- During university, interned at The Ritz Carlton

- Accepted into management training program with The Walt Disney Company. Spent 1 year as a Front Desk Manager at 2 hotel properties.
- Left Disney for re-opening of The Plaza in NYC. Took position as opening Front Desk Manager.
- Spent 8 months at The Plaza...decided I was more interested in the development/real-estate side of hotels and left for REDAC, Inc, a Japanese real estate company.
- Promoted after 1 year at REDAC, after proposing a new division be created. Now work as an Asset Manager, as head of that division, managing buildings functioning as extended stay hotels for Japanese corporate clients. Advise on hotel operations and oversee all building aspects, including renovations.

- Paper Practice tests (Kaplan, Manhattan, McGraw Hill, etc): 650-720
- Practice CAT Exam (Manhattan GMAT): 42Q, 38V: 680

Target Schools:

USC
UCLA
Stanford
Georgetown
Emory
Vanderbilt

My goal is to embark on a career in hotel development.

So, do I have a shot?

[mbamission]

Hi Brian,

Thanks for writing in. You definitely have a non-traditional MBA career path that should help differentiate you in your applications. Given the academic information you provided though you may want to diversify your mix of schools. Stanford is likely a reach and UCLA may be as well -- I think you could be in range for Emory and Georgetown, and Cornell may be a reasonable reach since there may be some synergies with the Cornell Hotel School that you could talk about on your application.

Best of luck,

Jessica Shklar, Senior Consultant
mbaMission