Berkeley / Haas - 12-07-2020 | Clear Admit ApplyWire

December 7, 2020 1:58pm ET

Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Dartmouth / Tuck, Duke / Fuqua, London Business School, Michigan / Ross, UVA / Darden, Yale SOM

Intake Year: 2021

Pre-MBA Career: Strategic Operations at a health department in a major city, including the COVID-19 response since February (thus the low GRE score due to limited time/energy to study)

Post-MBA Target Industry: Entrepreneurship, Non Profit/SI, Other

GRE: 315

GPA: 3.62

Years of Work Experience: 6.5

Location: New York City

Post MBA Location: NYC

Notes:

Background -
37 years old Asian American. Grew up in a single parent, immigrant, low-income household. Spent 20s overcoming depression and anxiety issues. (Parents also have mental health issues.) Started working full-time in city government and attending university part-time 6 years ago. Graduated cum laude at an ivy while juggling both at the same time.

Extracurricular -
1) Volunteer and sit in a diversity and inclusion workgroup at work;
2) Alumni board member of alma mater;
3) Spent one year training as a missionary.

Questions if selected for podcast:
- I also fall asleep on Monday nights to your podcast!

A) Will age be a weakness in my application? I'm 37, but only have 6.5 years of experience, which is right in line with the average for schools. I just graduated this May, which is why I am only able to apply now.

B) Will my mental health history be a weakness, or acceptable if crafted well? It is certainly manageable now as evidenced by work and school accomplishments over the past 6 years

C) Are my schools stretches? Haas was originally my dream school, but I've also fallen in love with Ross and Fuqua. Would I have a chance considering I'm applying R2?

D) Open to hearing any other advise you have Graham and Alex! You guys rock!

Like (2)

Show Comments (5) Last: December 15, 2020

anon20698 Likes Earned: 88 Forgot to mention that I will be applying through the Consortium, if that helps at all. (0)

anon20916 Likes Earned: 224 I am neither Graham nor Alex but just a fellow prospective student during this cycle. Thus, my comments will not be as valuable as theirs. However, I just wanted to say that this story is very compelling and that I hope you will get admitted to one of those schools. I think top business institutions need more people like you and wish you all the best! Age: It appears like programmes do have age outliers, which I assume schools usually reserve for unique cases such as yours. You'll need to show precisely how you will be committed to the programme and the community (do your research about clubs and local community opportunities and point them out in the applications. Reach out to current students and alumni as well). Story: I think you'll need to be careful with how you craft and present your story, and make sure you touch all those specific points that led you to where you are today and shaped you as an individual, focusing on the accomplishments rather than only the hardships. GRE: If I were you, I would try to find the energy to retake the GRE to show dedication and ability to improve and to avoid being included in another outlier group (age and test score in some of these schools). It might be impossible given the critical job you are doing today. Given you graduated recently, you'll be able to show that, despite your age and a full-time job, you were able to master a great GPA. Programmes: Yale SOM appears to be focusing a lot on test scores, perhaps to better their ranking, and so their GRE medians and ranges are significantly higher than other schools (including most of the M7s) but other than that you have a generally good spread of schools, albeit no real "safe school". If I were you, I would consider adding Cornell Johnson - it aligns with your post-MBA location and can align with your goals as well (and their test scores averages are somewhat lower). (1)

anon20698 Likes Earned: 88 Thank you very much, 20916. I was actually just talking to a friend and will probably add McCombs to my list. She said the same thing, that I need a safety. I will probably try to retake the GRE two weeks after app submission, hopefully still within the window for consideration during review. And I never took Cornell into consideration because I kind of want to live elsewhere, and Johnson is a bit close to home. Thanks again. (1)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1576 Some great advice, above. I agree too to get the GRE rescheduled. Note in your optional essay your plans for a retake. Be good to know more about your goals/why MBA. This becomes more 8mportant for older candidates. (1)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1576 More details on this candidacy in this episode of Wire Taps: https://www.clearadmit.com/2020/12/episode-136-wire-taps/ (0)