hsWang

OK, have a nice holiday!

hsWang

以下是引用windyzheng在2004-10-12 11:22:00的发言： Thanks in a advance for considering my questions! In the Summer 2002 I graduated from SHJTU with Bachelors Degree in Management. I have worked full-time 2 years. I am an Internet Marketing Specialist in a company. I have built a team to work on research projects within the company, and now I manage the marketing division. I want to apply to a Business school, and University of Michigan is on the top of my list. I am affraid, 2 years of work experience is not enough, although I feel that I have strong leadership quilities. I wonder if MBA admission officers will question the possibility of studying full-time and working full-time simultaneously? I have also been leading volunteer activities in my community for past three years. Within my volunteer work I organized activities, and managed fund-rising project. How much consideration does admission commitee give to volunteer work? My TOEFL score is 640, GMAT 660, and GPA 3.5. What are my chances to be admitted to one of the top schools? Should I wait, and aqcuire more work experience?

You ask a good question. Yes, work experience is just a stat, similar to your GMAT score. Just about every admissions officer you will encounter will encourage you to apply when you are ready. When the additional work experience is bringing you closer to your post-MBA career goals and you feel you've achieved the necessary career progression to gain the most from your b-school experience, then you should apply. I know this sounds a bit vague but it's really all I can say in email/discussion board format given the amount of information you provided. On a final note, you may be able to pull a low factor out of the fact that you worked full time and went to school full time. Be warned though, that a lot of applicants attempt to do just this and it's not going to be as impressive if, for one thing, your grades were not strong.

Extracurricular involvement may be the most often overlooked and least understood aspect of the b-school candidacy. It is important not just in quantity, but also in terms of what you did (think leadership, initiative, and organizational skills) and the involvements fit with your application story. If it looks like you were only involved to impress an admissions committee and gain admission to business school, it becomes a major red flag/liability.

At certain schools, your GMAT could be an issue given you are an international applicant and depending on the exact breakout between your quant and verbal scores. I assure you that international applicants with 660 GMAT scores do get admitted into top schools every year, but they have to be a little bit stronger in the other aspects of their candidacies.

See my comments above. Don't hesitate to contact me directly. We can more precisely help you determine if you would benefit from additional work experience and develop a customized and detailed action plan to ensure you are optimally positioned for your future b-school applications. Best of luck with your applications! Sincerely,

H.S.Wang

hsWang

以下是引用gladiator在2004-10-17 22:45:00的发言： Hi and thanks for your help in advance. Its nice to hear from people with experience in reviewing applicants. My parents live in the U.S. and I will likely get my greencard in 3 years. Is it significantly harder for a canadian to be admitted than an american? Concerning work experience, I am a financial analyst working for a blue chip food company, which recruits significantly at my favorite schools in the area of marketing. I currently work on a category team consisting of marketing and sales. As part of a team, I help release promotions as well as launch new products. After working with marketing, i've decided that i'd like to take on that role. However, I would like to get my MBA so as to develop the necessary skills in preparation of becoming a product manager. Being a finance guy, does my background stand its ground in front of the bankers and consultants? In addition, I have had an unbelievable amount of responsibility since starting. Finally i have not participated in many extracurriculars since i finished school. But i will be learning a third language part time as well as spending two weeks teaching englishvolunteering) overseas in a very needy country. Should i look to do more in addition to this? Or would that area still be weak?

Thank you! We take a lot of pride in our qualifications and quality of our services.

It's not that much more difficult. If you are a qualified applicant with a good story to tell, you will be competitive with a green card and you will be able to pursue your post-MBA career goals up to 3 years sooner.

Your experience does not have to be directly comparable to that of a consultant or investment banker. If you can demonstrate a good career progression, you will be fine. There will be a lot of other financial analysts also competing for those precious few spots at the top schools, so don't bank completely on your financial analyst position for differentiation.

Assuming you submit well-prepared applications, additional extracurriculars could easily be what separates an acceptance from a top 5 school from a borderline ding. I would certainly look to beef up this area of your candidacy. Don't pick extracurricular activities haphazardly though. Find ones that will complement your story. These should also be activities you are most likely to enjoy. I don't know enough about you to opine on the usefulness of an alternate transcript but this and many other areas can certainly be covered in a 1 hour pre admissions consultation. Feel free to contact me directly for more information on our services. Best of luck with your future applications! Sincerely,

H.S.Wang

[此贴子已经被作者于2004-10-17 23:25:36编辑过]

hsWang

以下是引用foolstar在2004-10-19 10:31:00的发言： 我是2001年毕业于国内top3 学校，后在五大会计师事务所工作了两年，然后辞去了工作, 准备GMAT和申请。我的GMAT成绩是720，TOEFL 640。GPA 3.5我去年申请了一次，但连面试都没有争取到。请问我这样的情况，今年如何准备？ 谢谢

Thank you for inquiry!

Frankly speaking, you're a qualified candidate for a top b-school. You have good undergraduate studies background, excellent employer, fairly good G/T scores. But you failed last year. I think a quite possible reason is your rash preparation in essay writing. Most applicants would make this mistake. Another reason might be you gap since you resigned from the public accounting firm. You might have failed to well explain it.

For the application this year, I suggest you find a company that could supply proof when neccessary. But in doing so, don't re-apply the schools you had applied last year. The the next step is to prepare your essays with 10000% efforts. If you realize that you could not present striking essays, then find a reputed writing service institute for editing or consulting service. This will be more helpful for you than fumble by yourself. Should you need our service, please reach directly.

Best of luck with your applciation!

Sincerely,

H.S.Wang

hsWang

以下是引用BOYKING在2004-10-19 11:16:00的发言：

Hi, Mr. Wang, thanks for offering such a wonderful place!

I am assistant VP and marketing manager in a local company, but i hope to get higher development. I have got master dgree in a Chinese famous university. Can i be successful If i apply to top20 b-school?

Hi, Boyking. You have good position, which can well demonstrate your leadership skills. Your academic background is good too. But I don't know your GMAT/TOEFL score and any other things. Since successful application depends many factors, I can't give you a confirmed answer for your question. But I think you are a promising candidate if your are willing to invest suffiicent time and energy to your application, with right attitude.

Best of luck with your future application!

Sincerely,

H.S.Wang

hsWang

以下是引用lakegirl在2004-10-19 12:51:00的发言：

add my information here: my GMAT 690, TOEFL: 620, GPA:3.4

what's my chance to get into a top b-school?

Hi, Lakegirl.

Surely you have a good chance to get into a top school according to your basic information. But the success is left to your big efforts in choosing match schools and preparing application materials, especially admission essays. Once you have done it well, you are halfway to be an MBA student in a prestigious businees education center.

If you have questions on the details how to prepare your application, please contact me freely.

Good luck!

H.S.Wang

hsWang

以下是引用foolstar在2004-10-22 11:31:00的发言： hi, wang, could you tell me what do the different MBA rankings mean? thanks.

A very interesting question!

MBA rankings are just one source of information you should consider in evaluating schools. The difference between one publication's MBA rankings and another's is as simple as what information they collect, how they collect it, and how they weight it. At the end of the day, though, they want to sell more of their publications. The fact is that most of the top MBA programs stay at the top; shifting is slight and not always due to overwhelming changes at a school. It's important for you to do your own research about the school you want to attend, because the rankings information is not tailored to you and your needs. Did you know that sometimes a good school won't get ranked because the alumni base is not deemed large enough? There's only one ranking that should count—your own! Hope I've helped you clarified it!

Sincerely,

H.S.Wang

hsWang

以下是引用bluesyy在2004-11-6 2:00:00的发言：

想请问一下，optional essay是最好写还是不写。我听一个很老道的朋友说，一般要写的话，都是解释一下你weak的方面，比如为什么gmat不高，GPA很低，工作了那么久或那么短......所以如果你没什么weak的话，最好不写。是这样么？

还有他说第一轮申请比第二轮更好，是这样的么？

请帮我指点一下啦！谢啦！

Thanks for your questions. (Sorry for reply in English, but I think it can better express my thoughts and ideas.)

The optional essay is a place where you can explain something that is important but that wasn't addressed elsewhere in the application. And it doesn't have to be about something negative (though it usually is). If you think you have soemthing as good as a favorable addition to to your former essays, then do it. It may help build yourself a multi-dimentioanl image.

For example, if in your former essays, you have focused too much on professional experience, then it is somewaht necessary to tell some community service stories in the optional essay. At this moment, it's better than explaining some weakness or leaving it blank. Anyway, don't ramble on, but be brief and to-the-point.

There are no obvious advantages or disadvantages between Round-1 and Round-2. Some schools even declare that they admit the same sumber of applicants in each round. But for international applicants like you(if you are in mainland), pls don't submit your application in Round-3. It depends much more on good luck than your strengths.

If you want to apply top schools for 2005, you still have time. You can submit your personal information to our free evaluation system. We can give you a brief but comprehensive evaluation, and some constructive advice. The link is http://www.topway.org/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=871 Or you can further contact me for any available help from our profesional service.

Best of luck with your applications!

Sincerely,

H.S.Wang

hsWang

以下是引用bluesyy在2004-11-6 18:07:00的发言：

hsWang, thank you so much for being so responsive!

In this case, I see what you mean. But in my case, I believe that I have already described a full myself in my previous essays, professionally and personally, and I cannot figure out what to write further in my optional essay. Is it better for me to write something more? Is admission committee would prefer to read this optional essay, which, I think, may mean that I have more interest in the school? If I dont write anything, do you think there will be any problems?

As my friend said, he did not encourage me to write if I dont have anything more special to say. After reading an optional essay I write, he commented that I just repeated myself. So in this case, what do you think? I am just worried that if I do not write that article, it would deduct some value from me overall.

Thank you for your help!

Here I'd like to repeat what I've mentioned above: "The optional essay is a chance that you take to explain something that is important but that wasn't addressed elsewhere in the application" . If you believe you've done everything well in other essays, and you have no obvious weakness, then leave it blank. Don't write anything redundant that may add to admission officer's reading burden. I think they will appreciate your consideration.

You have no need to worry anu deduction of your overall value, since you have shown them well enough in other essays. "one optional essay mean that I have more interest in the school" is unnecessary. You should explain it well in the essay" why this school".

Good luck!

Sincerely,

H.S.Wang

hsWang

以下是引用bluesyy在2004-11-6 23:49:00的发言： thank you so much for your answer. you provide reasons and sound more convincing than my friend. so i will go on with my other essays. thank you so much!

You're welcome! I look forward to good news of your application.

Sincerely,

H.S.Wang