HBS, Wharton and Stanford application suggestions?

jganimefan

I'm currently preparing my application for 2012年秋季入学.

Should I apply to R1 or R2 to HBS, Wharton and Stanford. Only planning to apply these 3 schools.

A little about my background:
GPA: 3.3 from top engineering program in Canada
GMAT: 720/ 5.5 - first attempt with lots of help from CD!!!
WE: 2.5 years in major consulting firm (financial services industry)
Extracurriculars:
- prospective board members for 2 music related non-profits,
- media volunteer Team Canada during Beijing Olympics,
- taught orphans and children in Chile, South America for 3 weeks,
- ran 2 students associations during university.

Complication: I just joined my current employer 2 months ago, if I apply R1, my recommenders might not know me well and may not provide a good recommendation.


Any suggestion is greatly greatly greatly appreciated!!!!!

gelukkig

Wait for one more year might be better, you can have your recommender know you better, from perspective board member to current board member, gain more maturity, your profile now look nothing special to HBS and Standford, stretch to Wharton since WE is too short + GMAT is not stellar

jganimefan

From your perspective, what makes a strong application? I like to hear your opinion.

jiandaobu

也许老爸老妈非常牛吧，我猜的。

elihu

(⊙o⊙)…。。。我保持观望。。祝你好运

JonFrank

Hello my friend, happy to offer up some thoughts.  Well if you are ONLY applying to these three schools, then yes you HAVE to apply during Round 1.  And even then, you wont have a GREAT chance at any of these schools—after all, nobody does!  J  I wish you could boost your GMAT just a bit—the lowest score for Booth, for a mainland China applicant last year, was 730!  L  Nuts.  But you have some great international experience especially—I like your profile.  I say, go for it!  But I would consider retaking the GMAT if I were you… Hope this helps and good luck!

Jon Frank
HBS 2005

jganimefan

Thank you for the suggestion Jon, I'm Chinese-Canadian (not sure if that changes my profile), I left China when I was really young. I'm debating about applying next year R1 at this moment now. By next year I would be able to get a stellar recommendation from my current employer. And potentially have a research patent under my belt.

As for the GMAT score, I have heard mixed sentiments about my score, some HBS grads have told me, as long as you've hit the median, the score becomes just another data point. And if you over 700+, by retaking it, the school might feel you could have used that energy on boosting up other areas of your application (such as non-profit consulting).

I'm curious to hear your point of view on this.

Thank you.

JonFrank

Thank you for the suggestion Jon, I'm Chinese-Canadian (not sure if that changes my profile), I left China when I was really young. I'm debating about applying next year R1 at this moment now. By next year I would be able to get a stellar recommendation from my current employer. And potentially have a research patent under my belt.

As for the GMAT score, I have heard mixed sentiments about my score, some HBS grads have told me, as long as you've hit the median, the score becomes just another data point. And if you over 700+, by retaking it, the school might feel you could have used that energy on boosting up other areas of your application (such as non-profit consulting).

I'm curious to hear your point of view on this.

Thank you.

-- by 会员 jganimefan (2011/7/14 20:22:10)

Wow, LOVE the idea of a research patent! That is awesome stuff for sure.  And no, I couldn’t disagree more with the folks who say that you shouldn’t retake the GMAT if you have a 690 or 700 or 710.  If you think you can do better, then show that to the adcom of course!  We all assume that eeeveryone has a good background, some ECs, good work experience etc.  So the question is, do you have a good GMAT score or a great one?  If you feel STRONGLY that you can retake your GMAT and raise the score, then it’s a no brainer my friend.  Retake the test.  Show how smart you are.  Don’t overthink it…


Jon Frank
HBS 2005

junhe

Why are you even asking for advice on this forum?  There's a ton of business school forums in Canada and the US.  With your background, you should really be posting there.  They are going to be a lot more relevant to your situation than any given here.