hsWang

<B>以下是引用<I>beautylady</I>在2004-9-5 19:51:00的发言：</B>
Hi, Wang! I am applying to Haas for a an MBA. I have 2.7 undergrad GPA and 9 years of work experience with the last position as a Materials Manager. I have not been employed for the past 2 years due to the birth of our son and right now working on setting up a business with my husband. Who would be the best person to write a recommendation letter in this case?

Thank you!

Good question. First of all, if the rest of your candidacy is strong enough, your undergraduate GPA can certainly be mitigated. A high GMAT score will help a lot toward assuaging any concerns about your academic abilities though.

There are many different options for recommenders. Previous employers, suppliers, and clients can write strong recommendations about your career progression. Colleagues from extracurricular involvements can also write effective letters of reference. I don't have nearly enough information about you though to competently help you select your recommenders. You need to first build your candidacy, story, and themes. It is also helpful to complete the essays before selecting recommendations, assuming you have enough lead time before the application deadlines. With all these in place, you can accurately gauge your strengths and weaknesses and determine what you may need substantiated in your recommendations.

(Just a bit of insight into our proprietary methods of ensuring our clients's chances are indeed maximized at each school to which they apply.)

Don't hesitate to contact me directly if you would like expert assistance and a competitive advantage with your Haas application!

Sincerely,
H.S.Wang

hsWang

<B>以下是引用<I>mialanhero</I>在2004-9-6 11:43:00的发言：</B>

<P>I am looking to apply to a few of the top 10 MBA schools in the U.S., but I have no post-undergrad work experience.
How will this effect my chances of being accepted?
I will give you some background. I am a mature student (30 yrs. old) and I did have sales and purchasing background before going to university.I will graduate in May 2005. I am planning to take my GMAT this summer and I my goal is to score above 700. My GPA is just shy of 3.0 and I hope to improve upon that. I coach youth football in the university. I volounteer at the local food bank during the holidays and I will soon be a participant in the commerce society.
Will all of the above make me a strong candidate or is the work experience (lack there of) going to be too much of a factor to overcome?
The schools I am specifically looking at are Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, Duke, and Kellogg.</P>
<P>Thanks in advance. </P>
<P>
</P>

Thanks for your inquiry.

It is possible to be admitted into a top school without any work experience and certainly more probable to be admitted without post undergrad work experience. The key is to demonstrate the level of maturity, leadership skills, teamwork skills, etc. that someone with more experience would progress.

If your school is on the 4.0 scale and you score 700 or higher on the GMAT, your academic qualifications hurdle has been easily cleared at any school.

(On a separate but related note, despite what some may say about extremely high GMAT scores helping applicants, there is just no truth to this and any admissions officer will tell you as much. Each year good applicants with sub 600 GMATs will be admitted to top school and, this past year, 8 out of 8 Stanford applicants with perfect 800 GMAT scores were dinged. Enough said.)

Your extracurricular activities appear OK. In addition to a well-prepared application that includes, among other things, good reasons for why an MBA, why now, diversity, etc., your chances will largely come down to the exact level of responsibility you had in your previous sales and purchasing work.

Best of luck with your future applications!

Sincerely,
H.S.Wang

hsWang

<B>以下是引用<I>brilliance</I>在2004-9-6 19:25:00的发言：</B>
I have been working for a top software company as program Manager for 6 years.
Now, i want to attend MBA at stanford.
Though i surf the HBS website, i didn't like the school environments and surroundings.
I am still confused about whether i should dive for MBA.
1) Do you think stanford will fit for me?
2) i haven't sit for GMAT yet

Hope to hearing from You.
Thanks and regards

Thanks for your inquiry.

Harvard is a great school and it has produced a lot of satisfied alumni over the years. If you're on the fence about Harvard, the best thing to do would be to visit the campus in person or talk with some HBS alumni.  

I'd likely encourage you to wait until the second round. I'm not sure you can prep for the GMAT and submit a well-prepared application within the next 2 months.You may also want to take some time to carefully think through your future career goals and ensure you are confident of the best next steps to attain them.

I have no way of competently stating whether Stanford is a good fit for you with so little information. (Neither can any of the staff at Stanford.)  If you would like to discuss your school selection criteria as well as the pros and cons of an MBA versus MPA with one of our consultants, please do not hesitate to contact me directly.

Best of luck with your applications!

H.S.Wang

hsWang

<P>以下是引用<I>crossmoon</I>在2004-9-7 10:52:00的发言：
All throughout my undergraduate education, I never anticipated going to business school. Thus, I never really focused on grades. Instead, I started two companies - both of which failed, but generated sales of RMB 100k or so - and graduated in 3 years. In total, I earned a 3.0 from a not so famous university with a degree in Computer Science.
</P>

Thanks for your inquiry.

One of the biggest fallacies we see, whether we are conducting ding analyses or working with re-applicants, is overconfidence from high score GMAT applicants. I have discovered thei nformation about how Stanford rejected 8 out of 8 applicants last year with perfect 800 GMAT scores. Your academic qualifications, i.e. transcripts and GMAT, account for about 35% to 40% of the admissions decision at most top b-schools and you will find plenty of below average-GMAT test takers on their campuses.

If your friend had a good career progression and extracurricular involvement, then he was dinged because he had a weak story. A very large percentage of applicants are clearly qualified for a top MBA when GMAT scores, GPAs, career progression, and extracurriculars are considered. (Let's face it. No one with a 1.8 GPA, 380 GMAT, and one year flipping burgers at McD's is going to bother applying to a top b-school.) What differentiates those who are admitted from those who are dinged is their applicant stories.

We take a long phone consultation just to help determine the main themes for an applicant's story; I don't have nearly enough information to competently tell you what you should write and how you should write it here. However, you would be well advised to be very succinct when addressing your weaknesses and find some good, differentiating themes for your story. Leadership is important at all of the schools and, yes, even more so at HBS. Original introspection and acute analysis will differentiate those who are admitted from the many more who are dinged.

Best of luck with your HBS application!

Sincerely,

H.S.Wang

[此贴子已经被作者于2004-9-8 13:20:18编辑过]

hsWang

以下是引用sunnyrain在2004-9-8 12:49:00的发言：

Hi, Wang,

I am new to this board, and hope this is the right way to ask a question: I have a question about MBA admission acceptance-deadline timing. If I receive an offer of admission from one school (my second choice), and my acceptance of that offer is due several days before I hear from the other schools I've applied to (one of which is my first choice). I am thinking of asking them if they could extend the acceptance date to a few business days after the date that I hear from the other schools, so that I have full info before making a commitment. What do you think/any suggestions? Also, should I contact the Admissions Director whose name is on the acceptance letter, or the general admissions email?

Thanks in advance!

This is a good question. You certainly should contact the Admissions Director directly and request the extension. We have found that these are granted in 95% of the cases with no issues or hassles. Best of luck with your applications! Sincerely,

H.S.Wang

hsWang

以下是引用LANDER在2004-9-12 21:10:00的发言： Hello, Wang, I am highly interested in going to a top tier B-school, possible focusing on International Business. Though I am well traveled, I thought if my ultimate goal is a position at IMF or World Bank or Int''l Consulting firm, it might be a good idea to do some volunteering (maybe in business development) in an underpriveleged nation for a few months. My goal is a top school- harvard, Yale or Insead or london school of economics. I have excellent work experience- 4 years total, 2 years at a top financial service firm in a very unique quantitative position. I haven''t taken the GMAT yet but I am guessing with a lot of hard work I''ll get in the 680-700 range. The one thing holding me back is my GPA. It''s about a 3.1- because of 1 bad semester and 2 bad grades. I graduated from a Chinese Ivy university where made it very difficult for students to get straight A''s. Just wondering if the abroad volunteerism would help me (especially if I''ll be pitching in my essays that I want economic development to be my career path) and what my chances are for getting into the schools above that I mentioned. I''ve also heard that it helps your chances a bit if you are female...is this true? thanks! Thanks!

Thanks for your inquiry.

First of all, if you only have 2 bad grades and you achieve a GMAT score in the 680-700 range with some balance between your verbal and quant percentiles, your academic qualifications will not keep you out of b-school. Your work experience also appears to be very solid. With decent extracurricular activities and some differentiating factors in well-prepared applications, you should be competitive at all of these schools. Abroad volunteerism, particularly if it is related to your future economic development career goals would certainly help your chances if your stated long-term career goal is the same as described above. However, I think it is only fair to warn you that your future career goal could be a risky one *if* you can not adequately back up your sincerity and how your accomplishments and experiences to date have made that goal attainable. A lot of applicants state grandiose and altruistic goals and get dinged precisely because the admissions committees doubted their sincerity. Besides, there just are not going to be that many post-MBA opportunities in your desired field. Best of luck with your applications! Sincerely,

H.S.Wang

hsWang

"I graduated from a well-known university in China. I have strong work experience, but my GPA is only 2.5.

Some one told me to make a fake of m undergraduate transcript. Surly I don't want to do that. But my low undergraduate GPA is really a problem, would you please help me find a way to solve this problem?

Thanks! "

Thanks for your inquiry. As for the low GPA, you can do two things to remedy them:

(1) Do you know WHY you had low GPA? If you do, explain why but don't over explain as it may give readers impression that you are not confident in your ability. If you don't know why, don't explain because it will sound you are looking for excuses.

(2) Get high GMAT scores. US schools have a formula that transfers your GMAT scores into GPA and average them with your undergraduate GPA.

In general, I don't think you should worry too much about your GPA. I respect you for not to cheat.

Best of luck with your application!

Sincerely,

H.S.Wang

[此贴子已经被作者于2004-9-13 15:09:57编辑过]

hsWang

以下是引用LANDER在2004-9-15 12:04:00的发言：

Thanks for your advice.

I think one thing I'm wondering is what sort of extracurricular activities does one do that looks good on an application? I just don't know how people fit them in either. I see tons of i-bankers going off to harvard and wharton b-school each year and they barely have time to sleep, let alone volunteer or pursue any side hobbies. Also, in terms of the essays- if admissions committees are looking for sincerity, what does someone write about who wants to pursue a career in finance, and make a killing on wall street? Do they sincerely write essays saying they wanna make a ton of money and retire at 40 or start their own hedge fund in Greenwich? I guess I'm just confused about how anyone can have a sincere, admirable goal for b-school and express it well in essay form. Finally, if my ultimate goal was the IMF or World Bank, you are saying there aren't that many opportunities available at those organizations for an MBA? What about Int'l Consulting positions?

I am pretty uneducated about typical career paths for an MBA aside from Wall Street, so any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and regards.

You ask some good questions. The fact is we could write a very thick book and still only scratch the surface of the business school admission process. Besides, it still wouldn't be incredibly valuable (even though it would be written by true experts with admissions committee experience who have actually made accept/reject/waitlist decisions) because each applicant needs to develop a unique application story with themes that support that story and best address each of the essay questions and their fit at the different schools. Basically, if you want to maximize your chances, you need more than simply grammatically-correct essays in your application and there are many different strategies, stories, and themes that will work successfully for different applicants. We normally take a full consultation just to provide an in-depth assessment of a candidacy, advise on school selection, and begin coming up with strategies, stories, and themes.

To your final point, there are indeed opportunities out there for MBAs in international organizations such as the IMF and World Bank. They are just not as numerous as those opportunities in the more traditional career paths. Your future career goal may work for you. I simply wanted to point out a few potential issues in case you had not yet considered them. Don't hesitate to contact me directly if you would like to schedule an appointment with one of our expert consultants. Best of luck with your applications! Sincerely,

H.S.Wang

[此贴子已经被作者于2004-9-15 12:48:25编辑过]

hsWang

以下是引用laozi在2004-9-20 10:57:00的发言： Hi, Thanks in advance for taking time to answer my question. I an an IT professional with an undergraduate degree in Finance. I have a GPA of 3.4 and I have done good in almost all finance courses. I have done some good job hopping in last 6-7 years but I am on my presesnt job for last 3-5 years. Most of these compnies are blue chip companies (and I have worked as an independent consultant. I want to pursue a carrier in Finance (Brokerage firm). My first 2 years of college credits reflected a poor GPA(2.0). But once I moved to a four year college, I was only doing better. I an planning to take my GMAT in April and I am committed to get a decent score (at least 650). What are my chances of getting into NYU part time MBA or Columbia MBA. What can I do to get into NYU or Columbia. I don't have any extra curcular activities. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

This trend, where your GPA increased over the course of your undergraduate education, will help you mitigate any concerns about your grades. A strong GMAT score will further help your cause and demonstrate your strong academic qualifications. The term job hopping certainly conjures up negative images. The key here is to demonstrate a clear and favorable career progression and then, hopefully, tie that into your future career goal. Without having the details of your proposed story and themes, it is impossible to accurately gauge your chances, but I'm not sure I see how your recent DBA experience, combined with an MBA, is going to qualify you for a career in a brokerage. Furthermore, you will be grilled on some of the details of your future career goal during your interviews as the interviewer will want to see evidence that this move is very well thought out and researched. Unless you have been working very long hours and were heavily involved in extracurriculars as an undergraduate, your current lack of extracurriculars is going to hurt you. In a word, get involved and get involved soon. Don't just sign up for any activity though. Find something that will help advance your story with the admissions committee. (I'm assuming you want me to be wearing my admissions hat?while writing this.) Depending on all of your particulars, you may need an extra year for positioning and you may not be very competitive until the fall 2006 applications are released. If you would like to discuss your situation in far greater detail with one of our consultants, don't hesitate to contact me directly. Best of luck with your future applications! Sincerely,

H.S.Wang

hsWang

以下是引用frankdong在2004-9-24 11:47:00的发言：

Hi! I think I've got a very informative service here, and appreciate all the information that you've posted regularly. I'm deeply appreciative for the knowledge I've gained in this forum alone! I plan to apply for an MBA programme in the States within the next three to four years, and am keen to work towards a succesful application in a good business school. The plus points/problems that I anticipate, however, are: - My academic grades ( 78 ) are of average standard amongst my peers, but fall exceedingly short of the minimum/average GPA requirements stated by many business schools. - I am graduating from a 3-year degree programme. - I recently took GMAT, and achieved a score of 710. - I have been very actively involved in extra-curricular activities in university, having been elected into the presidential/chairperson positions in almost all of my student union/club activities. (My heavy involvement can be said to be the reason for my less than exciting grades) - I plan to work for the next 2 to 3 years, in a multinational corporation, before applying for an MBA programme. With this in mind, I have been looking through admissions requirements and prerequisites of MBA programmes in top 30 business schools, but have had trouble gauging my potential application standing. Would you think that I stand a chance of being offered a position in schools like McCombs, Olin, Carnegie Mellon and Rotman (Toronto)? Would you suggest that I take additional certificate/diploma courses in private educational institutes to boost my academic credibility before applying to MBA programmes? Thank you in advance for your advice! Many Thanks, Frank

Hi, Frank. Thanks! The gratitude is never expected, but always appreciated!

Your GPA can be mitigated in your application. It still may be a good idea to build an alternate transcript with a handful of classes. (If you take too many classes, you may be labeled a professional student/degree collector.) A three-year degree is not necessarily a problem. The top b-schools often quietly make exceptions, particularly for graduates from top programs.

I wouldn't spin it that way in your applications. The schools ideally want students who can succeed academically *and* be involved on the campus.

Gaining some professional experience is certainly a good idea. It does not have to come from working for a large MNC though. If you find an opportunity for career development in a smaller company, you should give that opportunity full consideration. (I'm wearing my admission hat?here. Obviously, if you are not comfortable in small companies, ignore this advice.)

With a good career progression, and application story you would be competitive at any business school.

Best of luck with your applications! Sincerely,

H.S.Wang