Berkeley / Haas - 04-07-2022 | Clear Admit ApplyWire

April 6, 2022 9:09pm ET

Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Dartmouth / Tuck, Harvard Business School, Michigan / Ross, MIT Sloan, Northwestern / Kellogg, Stanford GSB, U. Chicago Booth

Intake Year: 2023

Pre-MBA Career: Airline Pilot in Middle East (5 years)/ Military(Mandatory)/Country's pilot training program developing advisor

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, MF, Auto, Aerospace Companies: Bain , BCG , McKinsey , Other

GMAT: 740

GPA: 4.0

Years of Work Experience: 7

Location: Korea

Notes:

My family lost everything due to bankruptcy during my senior year of high school (my parents are missionaries in Africa, where I grew up, so they do not have a solid income) - I stepped up and decided to work as an aircraft cleaner and made my way to work as a pilot for an international airline in the Middle East. I studied for an online bachelor's and master's degree while working to both finance my own education and help my family pay off the debt. I have co-founded a remote church in Africa - as a missionary bush pilot and a multicultural center helping undocumented foreigners to settle in Korea. I am hoping to transition to the management side of Urban Air Mobility (UAM) to make a greater impact on society with my love of aviation and my experience in aviation operation side as a pilot

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Show Comments (6) Last: April 20, 2022

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1584 Potentially, there is so much to like, here. Your challenge may be to show fit, and that you can translate your experiences in terms of impact and progression. Your outside-of-work activities sound outstanding, too. Be good to hear from you how you see a top MBA being the right next step. (0)

ronlee96 Likes Earned: 2 Hi Alex, thank you so much for your reply. "To show fit" - do you mean how I fit into each school or the MBA program? I have a few meaningful reasons to explain why I want to transition to the UAM industry and my progression in my career. As for the top MBA as the right next step, I want to lead the UAM manufacturing company in the long term. Being a typical airline pilot, I do have operational experience in aviation but I require business and management skills from a top MBA to achieve that. (1)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1584 Yes, fir “non-traditional” candidates, showing how you’ll fit, make the most of the MBA experience, and understand how you the MBA makes sense for you will all be key elements to address. That said, there’s a lot to like! (1)

grichmond Verified User. Likes Earned: 1153 Yours is a highly non-traditional candidacy, but given your GMAT score, incredible personal story, and seemingly feasible/realistic goals, I think you could find success at some of the very best programs. I do worry a bit about the online degrees...but presuming the transcripts demonstrate rigor, and the schools buy into the GMAT as being proof of your solid academics, it could be fine. How old are you? I assume if you studied while working, you are still in the sweet spot for admissions (e.g. somewhere in that 24-30 range)? Best of luck!
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ronlee96 Likes Earned: 2 Hi Graham, thanks for the comment. Regards to transcript rigors, I am enrolled and finishing a dual bachelor's and master's degree - do you think that shows academic rigorness? I am 26 at the time of the application. (1)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1584 More details on this candidacy in this episode of Wire Taps: https://www.clearadmit.com/2022/04/wire-taps-229/ (0)