Real Numbers

Hispanic/LGBTQ

Studied data science and business at Ivy+ undergrad

Worked for 2 years doing strategy at a high growth fintech unicorn. Promoted twice. Led multiple large initiatives over the course of my time and sat on a few high up leadership boards.
Worked for last year at a fintech startup as head of strategy.

Activities: Lots of leadership and high impact roles in charities, sports teams, and college clubs. Have a few successful side hustles and advise multiple startups.

Why MBA: I have a personal/family and professional (ECs and side hustles) background and interest in media that I want to combine with my passion for tech and innovation by working in AI (strategy) and Media and Entertainment. I hope this isn't seen as too much of a leap, but I feel confident in my ability to demonstrate my continued passion for the media space in my applications, essays, and through my ECs.

Essays: Wrote about how my lifelong passion for media and the arts has shaped the person I am – through my personality, what I do, and relationships.

Interested to hear people's thoughts.

I've recently transitioned from working in K-12 education to working in talent at a consulting firm. I'd love to get an MBA to flip from internal to client-facing. In particular, I want to work in human capital consulting/strategic HR.

In addition to being a former teacher, I'm also a mom to an 18-month-old. While I know that being a student and mom may be difficult, I'm ready to take on this challenge to pursue my career goals while being a role model to my daughter.

I'm a black and Middle Eastern, female Ivy League grad with a BA in Government. 30 years old. Planning to apply R2.

I worked in HR for a large multi-national food and ingredient corp for 5.5 years in the US, Switzerland, and South Korea.
- Started in a 3.5-year rotational development program for high-potential recent grads.
- Operationalized an industry-wide consortium in partnership with a US federal agency to diversify the sector. The consortium won an innovation award and is now a standalone not-for-profit research center.
- Increased diversity in global senior leadership by 24% YoY.
- Captured 40M+ in synergies during a post-acquisition reorg.
- Following the program, promoted to lead a multi-million dollar system implementation in EMEA & APAC as part of a business transformation.
- Member of the Executive Diversity Council
- Mentee to the CHRO

In the community:
- VP for Recent Grads for the local alumni club
- Won alumni fellowship for public service for a project teaching cultural awareness to inner city kids through art
- K-pop fan club (followed a group on tour in Europe and in Asia)

Recently earned my MFA in London. No transcripts yet.
- Selected as the Departmental Student Coordinator (DSC) for my Uni's post-grad art department.
- As DSC, restructured and introduced new systems resulting a 300% increase in resolved student complaints YoY.
- My art research and practice became increasingly hybrid, combining the freedom and radicality of art thinking with my HR background.

Post-MBA / Life Goal: My art research and practice have taught me that the world would be a much better place if we all cared about profit a little less and did our best to live by a love ethic (bell hooks). I believe that world can exist, and I wish to build a business that incorporates my HRt ("H-Art") practice with business to transform ways of working and prove that prioritizing love as much as profit leads to better outcomes for all.

I'm taking a break right now, but I have two strong recommendations from previous direct supervisors who have supported me throughout my journey.

My concern is my GRE score and my GPA.
- I struggled when I started college, so my grades were poor at first but gradually improved, ending with an annual GPA of 3.8.
- My calc scores from freshman year aren't great. My stats score from junior year is strong.
- After doing social science, HR, and art for 10+ years, my GRE quant score was only a 158 (V: 166, AWA: 5.5) even with a couple months of test prep.
- I'm taking calc courses online with LSE and HarvardX to show that I'm able to do quant in a normal setting, but I don't know if it's going to be enough.

I can't change my GPA, but should I try to retake the GRE?

Any guidance would be super appreciated! I know I've written a book, so thank you so much for making it this far!

- White Female in the Forte MBA Launch Program
- Finance and Economics major at average Mid-Atlantic university
- 3 leadership roles during undergrad, including 3+ years at a non-profit
- 2 leadership roles within my organization and 2 with outside professional organizations
- Post MBA Goal: infrastructure portfolio manager at pension or sovereign wealth fund
- Wondering what GRE/GMAT test scores to target ahead of R2 deadlines at the schools I am interested in

I love listening to the podcast - it has been really helpful!

Since sponsored, near-term have to go back. Long-term hope to lead growth stage biotechs through their scaling process and need the network of investors and broader base of education to do it.