CriticalSquareMBA wrote:
Hey Jeff,
Your goals and personal story make sense. They're not exactly exciting (I don't mean that to be rude) in that countless other applicants will be playing the same angle. Not all will be engineering, but some will be. Pay attention to this - you want a hook - you want something to make them remember your application as distinct from the countless others.
Ok - but on to your real questions, eh?
Work experience - I get that you don't have the opps for promotion but since you've been there for years, I think there are ways to structure your resume to show clear progression and trajectory along with key leadership themes. As an engineer, you'll have a lot more on the "thought" and "eminence" side than "people" but that doesn't make them any less important!
Let's split this into a few buckets keeping the above in mind:
Stretch: Wharton (I know you said HBS but this is my suggestion)
Realistic Stretch: Kellogg
Varying Degrees of Aligned: Columbia, Tuck, and Duke
Safety: McCombs or UNC (UNC tends to feed specific firms and specific service offerings in addition to general management - McCombs is less specific in that regard so it would get my vote)
I hope this is helpful. Let me know your thoughts!
Bhavik
Your goals and personal story make sense. They're not exactly exciting (I don't mean that to be rude) in that countless other applicants will be playing the same angle. Not all will be engineering, but some will be. Pay attention to this - you want a hook - you want something to make them remember your application as distinct from the countless others.
Ok - but on to your real questions, eh?
Work experience - I get that you don't have the opps for promotion but since you've been there for years, I think there are ways to structure your resume to show clear progression and trajectory along with key leadership themes. As an engineer, you'll have a lot more on the "thought" and "eminence" side than "people" but that doesn't make them any less important!
Let's split this into a few buckets keeping the above in mind:
Stretch: Wharton (I know you said HBS but this is my suggestion)
Realistic Stretch: Kellogg
Varying Degrees of Aligned: Columbia, Tuck, and Duke
Safety: McCombs or UNC (UNC tends to feed specific firms and specific service offerings in addition to general management - McCombs is less specific in that regard so it would get my vote)
I hope this is helpful. Let me know your thoughts!
Bhavik
Hello Bhavik,
Thank you for your feedback. I agree with you about my personal story not being particularly exciting. I haven't yet determined what my "hook" will be! Do you have any advice?
I agree with your school choices, I think I can work with that list. I would probably replace Tuck with Ross.
Is it best for me to put all of these applications out in R1, or should some wait until R2? I feel like I have plenty of time to get my essays in order, I'm more concerned about perfecting my resume first.