yangshou

对于TOP5MBA有种说法是GPA和GMAT只是衡量申请者能否顺利完成学业的

essay和面试才是决定学校入取的,这种说法对吗?

hsWang

以下是引用vanillawang在2005-8-4 1:59:00的发言：

hi, Wang

How competitive would you say I am:

25 yr old
Female
3-yrs experience investment bank
620 GMAT
3.6 GPA at non-top school

Thanks!

Hi, your GMAT is much below the average admitted applicants to top schools and your work experience is also a little shorter than the typical students. A key item I don't see here is the leadership potential reflected by your work experience as most top schools values this very much.

Additionally, your competitiveness will depend on your extracurricular activities and other factors. It is entirely possible that you will be competitive with a well-prepared application. Please don't hesitate to contact us directly if you would like a competitive advantage with this application.

Sincerely,

Wang

hsWang

以下是引用yangshou在2005-8-6 22:08:00的发言：

我的GMAT750，自认为很有领导潜力，但是GPA只有2.0,所学专业是计算机,我很不喜欢纯技术工作,很枯燥,毕业后从事的是管理工作,我能通过事例解释我GPA超低的原因,我适合管理工作不适合技术和科研工作

准备申请HBS/KELLOGG/STANDFORD,自认为这几所学校的风格很适合自己,特别是standfoed,我很喜欢它的激情和个人英雄主义风格

如果通过essay和面试,他们认同我的领导潜力,也就是说其他方面都符合他们的要求,

会不会仅仅因为我的GPA超低而拒绝我呢?

THX

Hi Youngshou,

Thanks for your inquiry. Generally speaking, it's hard to find an obvious weakness in the typical students of HBS/Kellogg/Stanford. The average GPA is above 3.6 for these schools. But it doesn't mean you'll have no chance to get into these schools, because the real big schools perform more open than those who need high GPA to earn better ranking. Therefore, your essays will play a critical role in your application. The quality of essays will decide whether you can have an interview chance that allows you to explain face-to-face your qualifications.

By the way, I would like to tell you some admission features of the three schools. HBS sends out interview invitation only after they review and feel satisfactory with the applicant's essays. Kellogg would like interview almost every applicant. Admission to Standford almost totally depends on the quality of essays, and quite possiblly they will give offers without an interview with the applicant.

Best of luck with your applications!

Sincerely,

Wang

hsWang

以下是引用yangshou在2005-8-6 22:33:00的发言：

对于TOP5MBA有种说法是GPA和GMAT只是衡量申请者能否顺利完成学业的

essay和面试才是决定学校入取的,这种说法对吗?

It's partially right. GPA and GMAT are also important, but less than essay and interview. Of course, that is for top 10 schools.

hsWang

以下是引用weirdsu在2005-8-8 0:23:00的发言：

Hi,what kind of shot do I have at schools like HBS, Wharton, Stanford, Kellogg, Sloan with the following -

- 720 GMAT / 3.6 gpa
- bs and ms in engineering at a top university
- 3 years technical work experience at a very well-known tech company (industry leader)
- interesting business related extra-curriculars in college (but that was 3 years ago)
- an internship as a summer i-banking analyst (again, 4 years ago)

Negatives:
- have had very little opportunity to demonstrate leadership in my job.
- not a great interviewer
- recs will probably be mediocre (don't think my superiors/peers at work really have any concept of how to write a good rec and don't think there is much interesting stuff they can say about my work experience)

Any chance at schools like Haas, Anderson, Columbia, if not at the 'top 5'? i am looking to apply in round 1 for these schools and start school in the fall of '06.

Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks!

Hi Weirsun, thanks for your inquiry!

Your academic qualifications are fine and you've cleared the hurdle at any school. The admissions committees are not going to be impressed by your employer's market cap. What they will care about, though, is your career progression. Furthermore, it will be a bit more difficult to differentiate your work experience given the large number of tech applicants b-schools see each year.

You may need to do some quick positioning work to address these issues before the fall arrives. Unless it can be spun properly, your lack of recent extracurriculars will also likely be a strike against you.The lack of leadership experience will hurt you.

Interviews can be practiced and very nearly perfected. It's a matter of knowing what questions they will ask you (questions vary from applicant to applicant given their different backgrounds) and receiving critical feedback on your responses and if and how those responses can be further strengthened.

For the record, the vast majority of recommendations are considered good in so much as they make flattering comments about the applicant. (Of course, these recommenders are selected by the applicant for just these qualities.) The key to getting a truly great recommendation that can help get you into that top 10% to 20% of admitted applicants, though, is to select the applicants who also know you well and substantiate your story and themes.

Even with round 1 applications, you are likely fighting an uphill battle given the partial information I received about you here. In other words, unless there are some good 憌ow?factors to help mitigate some of the concerns you shared, you are not going to be competitive at a top 5 MBA program and you will be a stretch at a top 15.

If you would like a very detailed analysis of your candidacy as well as a detailed action plan to ensure you are properly positioned for your future applications, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Best of luck with your applications!

Sincerely,

HS Wang

Desiderata

Hi, HSWang,

There is one requirement from HBS this year: any applicants with TOEFL lower than 267 (equivalent to 630 of paper-based test) are discouraged from application.

While unfortunately, I got 623 (5.5) this time (I had 637 (5.5) before). Will it really have strong negative impact on my application? PS: my GMAT is 730 (AWA5.0), GPA is above 3.5 with 2-year experience in FMCG giant and more than 1 year experience in a leading consulting firm.

Thanks a lot!

hsWang

以下是引用Desiderata在2005-8-8 23:50:00的发言：

Hi, HSWang,

There is one requirement from HBS this year: any applicants with TOEFL lower than 267 (equivalent to 630 of paper-based test) are discouraged from application.

While unfortunately, I got 623 (5.5) this time (I had 637 (5.5) before). Will it really have strong negative impact on my application? PS: my GMAT is 730 (AWA5.0), GPA is above 3.5 with 2-year experience in FMCG giant and more than 1 year experience in a leading consulting firm.

Thanks a lot!

Hi Desiderata,

Thanks for your questions. It's true that HBS discourages any applicant with TOEFL lower than 267. In fact, over the past years, TOEFL score of Chinese admitted into HBS has ranged from 640-660+. So you can see the importance of TOEFL to the application to HBS. One major reason is HBS' overwhelming emphasis on case study method, which requires everyone can freely attend the class discussion.

If you want to apply for HBS, you'd better re-take the TOEFL, in order to mitigate Admission Committee's concerns on your weakness in oral English. In addition, you have excelent qualifications as an MBA candidate, and if you can well distinguish yourself from the same-background peers, you have promising chance to get into HBS and other great schools.

Best of luck with your application!

Sincerely

HS Wang

Tigerli

Hi, this is a great board. I am seriously considering applying to the top 5 business schools for admission in fall 2006. I have yet to take the GMAT but am confident that i'll get a score > 700.

I hold bachelor and master degrees in civil engineering from very reputable schools. My undergrad GPA was 3.0 and my grad GPA was 3.8. During grad school, I took a few courses in the management school. i also joined a professional business association and was active in it during my stay in grad school.

I have been working for a reputed firm, and by Fall of 2006, that would be 3+ years of work experience. By the time I apply in October, it will account for 2.5 years of work experience.

I'm working as a civil engineer. my job typically involves supervision of my team as well as plenty of teamwork. I believe I can demonstrate leadership because of my supervisory roles in the projects my project manager hands to me.

As far as extra curricular activities go, I haven't been very active since graduation but plan to be now. there are some activities that i have been pursuing but I can do much better.

I'd like some input regarding my chances. any feedback is appreciated.

hsWang

以下是引用Tigerli在2005-8-11 18:39:00的发言：

Hi, this is a great board. I am seriously considering applying to the top 5 business schools for admission in fall 2006. I have yet to take the GMAT but am confident that i'll get a score > 700.

I hold bachelor and master degrees in civil engineering from very reputable schools. My undergrad GPA was 3.0 and my grad GPA was 3.8. During grad school, I took a few courses in the management school. i also joined a professional business association and was active in it during my stay in grad school.

I have been working for a reputed firm, and by Fall of 2006, that would be 3+ years of work experience. By the time I apply in October, it will account for 2.5 years of work experience.

I'm working as a civil engineer. my job typically involves supervision of my team as well as plenty of teamwork. I believe I can demonstrate leadership because of my supervisory roles in the projects my project manager hands to me.

As far as extra curricular activities go, I haven't been very active since graduation but plan to be now. there are some activities that i have been pursuing but I can do much better.

I'd like some input regarding my chances. any feedback is appreciated.

Hi and thanks for your inquiry.

For your GMAT, 700 is good. But as a general rule of thumb, the average GMAT score for an admitted Chinese national is about 30-50 points higher than the overall average GMAT score for an admitted applicant.

For your academic aspect, unfortunately, the undergraduate GPA will count more heavily than the graduate GPA due to the fact that grad GPA inflation is much more rampant than undergrad. The schools are also familiar with which schools have the reputation as the most rampant grad inflators.

For work experience, it’s the quality and not quantity of work experience that the admissions officers most care about. In terms of quantity, that will be measured as the amount of work experience you will have by your planned matriculation.

You’re in a very competitive demographic and will have to work even harder than most other applicants to differentiate your story. Hopefully, there are some good factors in these leadership and teamwork experiences to make your candidacy look extra attractive.

Don’t wait too long. Now is the time to start thinking about your school selection, application strategies, and positioning. All of these can be done concurrently with your GMAT preparations if you have not yet taken the test.

Best of luck with your application!

Sincerely
HS Wang

leileilou

Hi, H.S.W,
I'm interested in Oxford MBA. But I heard that Oxford's program is very quantitative in nature. What US B-school would you compare it to. Also, what how quantitative is Cambridge?

Thanks