Berkeley / Haas - 04-21-2022 | Clear Admit ApplyWire

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April 20, 2022 5:56pm ET

Applying: Berkeley / Haas, Columbia, Cornell / Johnson, Harvard Business School, IESE, London Business School, MIT Sloan, Stanford GSB, UPenn / Wharton, Yale SOM

Intake Year: 2024

Pre-MBA Career: Sports Manager

Post-MBA Target Industry: Consulting, Technology, Entrepreneurship, Other, Undecided Companies: Deloitte , Amazon , Apple , Facebook , Google , LinkedIn , Tesla

GMAT: 750

Years of Work Experience: 3

Notes:

I am a 30 yo (M), from Greece,

I have worked as a general manager in an Escape room Company with multiple stores in Athens, Greece for 2 years.

(Devised/programmed agendas and training plans for employees. Facilitated the creation of new escape room compliance by obtaining materials and equipment.
● Improved production and marketing by implementing best social media practices.
● Oversaw and mentored newcomers as well as former personnel to increase organizational productivity).

I have also done two 3month internships in the Sports Industry.

a) Olympiacos FC, Athens, Greece worked in the management department as an assistant to the CEO/

b) Boston Braves FC, Boston, USA, was part of the management department .
Coordinated with executive management to organize
international meetings with two Portuguese clubs, compliance with relationship development.

Currently, I am working as a project manager for an eSport organization based in London (4months till now).

I will be moving to Miami in September to do my Sports Management internship for 6 months.

By the time I apply for my MBA, I will have approximately five years of working experience mainly in Sports management positions, 2 of which are on US soil.

I do have :

1) Masters' degree in Sports Management and Legal skills ( honours), ISDE Barcelona

2) HBS Online CORe Credit pass with honours

3) ECPE Michigan Honours (900)

4) IELTS 7,5

HOWEVER, I do have a Certificate of Higher Education from Brunel University London in Politics and Sociology as I did not finish my degree for various reasons.

Do I have a chance for T10? T25 or at least T30?

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Show Comments (8) Last: May 2, 2022

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1676 Just to clarify, you did not complete an undergrad degree, but have a masters degree? Can you add context as to why you didn’t complete your undergrad? What are your post MBA goals, short- and long-term? (0)

ge-kakavas Likes Earned: 0 Yes that is correct I did not complete my undergrad, due to various reason mostly covid first quarantine in combination with serious family problems back home. Post MBA I am seeing myself working preferably in the US, Strategic Management/ General Management is my preference. I would prefer to work in the sports industry as I do have a better understanding having worked/studied/ participated. However, I would be open to manage in any industry. Long term I see myself in ceo/General manager position of a Sport Entity. ( Club/ Organization) (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1676 You will need to use the optional essay to explain the circumstances of your undergrad and grad degrees. For your goals, I’d stick with the sports industry, it’s an aspect of your profile that helps you stand out. (0)

ge-kakavas Likes Earned: 0 Do you think that I would have a chance for one of my choices using the optional essay and explaining the situation? (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1676 It’s possible, something we’ll plan to discuss on an upcoming podcast episode. (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1676 More details on this candidacy in this episode of Wire Taps: https://www.clearadmit.com/2022/05/wire-taps-231/ (0)

ge-kakavas Likes Earned: 0 Hello Alex, I just listened to the podcast and first I would like to thank you for your kind words. There were some useful tips and guidance in your discussion and some questions I would like to answer to make it a little bit more clear and help you understand the situation in detail and possibly provide me with some more guidance. So, 1) Military service in Greece it is one year and it is completed 2) Let me give you a general breakdown of my case 18 years old got admitted in Athens University of Economics and Business in Business Administration Bachelors Degree. I pursued the degree for two years then I stopped due to a unpleasant ''visitor'' from my early ages ( 9-11) cancer, and did some more treatment and surgery to fight it and become completely healed. This whole process ended in my early 21s in which I ended highly overweight and needed to do something for myself more important than studying at the time being. So I decided to work out, lose massive amount of weight 32kg and eventually become an athlete in martial arts be the age of 23. Which was a huge success for me. From 2010-2015 apart from all this I did casual esports related jobs such as esports event organizations. In 2015 I started working in the escape room company you mentioned as a General Manager until 2017, as I had applied and got accepted by Brunel University London. ( politics and sociology). The reason I applied for a university in the UK was that I wanted a fresh start in my life in general and more well known university in order to pursue the master in Sports Management which was my dream. ( to work within the sports industry). During my last year in Brunel University, when the quarantine was tough, due to various reasons I decided to come back to Greece. By that time I was already accepted by the new University in Barcelona for my Master in Sports Management and Legal Skills. So I decided to not finish the undergrad and continue with my Masters degree. ( In the meantime I did the two sports related-internships, as I was already studying 3 online sports management courses by FC Barcelona, thus made it easier for me to get accepted in sports internships before starting my Masters degree). Finally, I did my masters degree while working in the esports team based in London. Now I am moving in the USA (in September) to do my masters internships as it is a sandwich degree academic part-internships and it is mandatory. I I will be doing a 6 month internship in Miami, FL. The last two years I also acquired the 750 GMAT score and the HBS online CORe with high honors. The reason I am planning ( if I do have real chances) to apply for 2024 are first that I need to finish my internship in the US and second that I wanted to 1,5 more year of experience to boost my chances a little more. To make it a little more understandable: 1) 2010 Athens University of Economics and Business, BA in Business (18yo, dropped out after 2 years due to serious illness) 2) 2013-2017, Lost massive weight to improve my health conditions and became Martial Arts Athlete. -2015-2017 General Manager in an Escape room company in Greece with many locations in Athens. 3) 2017 Brunel University London, Politics and Sociology -In the meantime 3 online courses Sports Management Related FC Barcelona, -Got accepted into Sports Management and Legal skills masters degree - Decided to not finish the Brunel degree for various reasons during covid quarantine - Did 2 sports related internships, one in the best football club in Greece, second in Boston. 4) Started my Masters degree in Barcelona, finished with 8,07/10 and now I am starting my degree's internships in Sports in Miami Florida ( September 2022) - Acquired the 750 GMAT score and the HBS online CORe with high honors. All in all, I wanted to pursue an MBA into on of the top 10 institutions and stand out in the working industry after hopefully in Sports. Feel free to ask me any more questions, and thank you in advance for your assistance. (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1676 So you will be 32 when you apply? You’ll have two challenges: 1. To show “fit”, essentially that the MBA makes sense for you and you’ll fully engage. 2. Telling your story, succinctly. You’ve travelled a different path, overcoming some major challenges. You’ll need to do a very good job articulating your story, honestly. For this, it may be worth looking at admissions consultants to provide you some one-on-one guidance. You’ll certainly need to use the optional essay to explain your academics. That all said, being Greek, with a 750 GMAT, and Sports industry experience, there’s elements that may help you really stand out. (0)