Cornell / Johnson - 09-23-2020 | Clear Admit ApplyWire

September 23, 2020 5:05pm ET

Applying: Cornell / Johnson, Dartmouth / Tuck, Harvard Business School, UCLA Anderson, USC / Marshall, UVA / Darden

Intake Year: 2021

Pre-MBA Career: Business Development/Sales

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology Companies: Accenture , Bain , BCG , McKinsey , Apple , Microsoft , Tesla

GPA: 3.57

Years of Work Experience: 7

Location: Boulder Colorado

Post MBA Location: West Coast or Northeast

Notes:

I’ve been listening to the podcast series since early March and am obsessed; it takes up the first 30 minutes of my Tuesday run.

I’m a first year college student that went on a full ride (mix of scholarships and grants) to a large liberal arts college in Texas.

After college I spent two years teaching English in Spain and then returned to the US doing about 18 months of the inside sales life before landing a job in the travel/tech industry doing account management in Texas/Oklahoma. Since joining my employer I’ve been promoted twice and had the chance to work in D.C. and now Colorado/Utah.

Outside of work I am an ultra runner, rock climber, and mountaineer. I compete at the 50km to 50 mile distance, and was supposed to run my first 100 miler this fall before COVID. I feel the dedication I have to my sports is applicable to the MBA grind

I’m currently enrolled in the HBS CORe class to boost my lack of quant background (international relations undergrad) and plan to take the GMAT in October (expecting 680-700 and am prepared to take twice).

Short term post MBA I want to tap into strategy consulting for more knowledge/education before leading global sales of being a CRO.

I have a passion and excellence for sales that I feel will be unique amongst a quant heavy cohort with value I feel will be useful for the classroom.

Goal is to apply in round two and I have two main questions (but would love additional insight/feedback):

1) how realistic are my school expectations and choices based off a desire for consulting/sales post MBA?

2) I feel like my goals long term can be seen amongst many applicants: how do I stand apart? Should I avoid speaking to my consulting desire and focus on sales/biz development?

Happy to provide more details as needed but would love to hear from you two.

Like (0)

Show Comments (5) Last: October 6, 2020

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1576 Impact at work, in your current role, will be important. You are right, your running/mountain climbing can definitely serve to showcase attributes that adcom seek, especially if you do it to a high level. I would focus on a short term goal that makes best sense for your path going forward, rather than try to pitch something you think adcom might prefer. Really push hard for that GMAT score. A score in the 700s, with a decent GPA, impact at work, your athletic exploits, and a strong picture emerges. Re school selection, there’s a gap between HBS and the rest, I’d target another program in M7, just in case. Kellogg? (1)

anon64112 Likes Earned: 2 Thanks, Alex! Current impact at work: individual contributor focused on digital advertising/paid media for small, medium and large enterprises in the hotel/travel sector. I have been chosen as a formal mentor to 3 new U.S. hirers since early 2019 (about 33% of my team's hires since then). Have also been awarded a job shadow opportunity for preparation into people management (shadowed abroad in Spain). While no people management title (due to various limitations in people manager #s), I have tried to get my hands on any opportunities I can to show the selfless leadership mentality to help the overall team success. Consistently seen amongst peers as a leader in my department. Re: Kellogg - I would love to throw another M7 in the mix to see what happens. I'm worried about over-extending my recommenders (across 7 schools). Should I drop something that's more low-hanging or is there a way to not overwhelm my recommenders with tons of school submissions? (1)

boyd_spencer Likes Earned: 2 Sorry, Alex! That was not supposed to be anonymous - it's me. Ha. Cheers, Spencer (1)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1576 A number of programs now use the common letter of rec questions from GMAC, so that should help. We have all the rec questions of top programs on this site, you can explore them and help your recommenders see where questions overlap, etc. HBS is a valid reach, but a big reach. I’d plug that gap with Kellogg. (1)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1576 More details on this candidacy in this episode of Wire Taps: https://www.clearadmit.com/2020/10/episode-123-wire-taps/ (0)