Cornell / Johnson - 11-16-2021 | Clear Admit ApplyWire

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November 15, 2021 8:14pm ET

Applying: Cornell / Johnson, Harvard Business School, Northwestern / Kellogg, NYU Stern

Intake Year: 2022

Pre-MBA Career: Product Management

Post-MBA Target Industry: Technology Companies: Apple , Google , Microsoft

GRE: 322

GPA: 3.4

Years of Work Experience: 5.5

Notes:

Mainly interested in the 1Y programs (Kellogg, NYU Tech, Cornell Tech) since I'm already a PMM but looking to transition slightly to PM, and throwing HBS (2Y) just in case!

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Show Comments (10) Last: January 23, 2022

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1677 Impact and progression at work will be important. Are you involved in activities outside of work? Do you have any geographic preference post MBA? Curious what your undergrad degree was. Might also consider Wharton/Sloan/Haas? (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1677 Also, numbers will be a little lower than average, might consider MBA Math, etc? (0)

grichmond Verified User. Likes Earned: 1245 The bar will be high for some 1YR programs in terms of academic background. For instance, Kellogg 1YR is really designed for those with business undergraduate degrees (who graduated fairly recently and can easily bypass some of the core courses). Because these candidates are often younger, there is an emphasis placed on counting stats (GPA, GMAT/GRE), and your numbers aren't necessarily jumping off the page. Have you taken the GRE more than once? Are you an ORM in the applicant pool? More of a URM? All these aspects (along with ECs) will matter in determining your competitiveness at the range of schools on your list. Best of luck and feel free to share more information here.
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fab-c Likes Earned: 13 Hi Alex and Graham! I am an Asian Canadian woman, 28 years of age. I have a business undergrad degree with all the courses required for the Kellogg 1Y program so that should not be an issue. For geographic preference, I'd like to work for big tech in the states in the short term and long-term I'd like to come back to Canada. I've had two FAANMG companies reach out to me for potential offers via LinkedIn and I've told them about my plans for the 1Y MBA. They said they're interested in my profile, don't mind waiting a year, and we've stayed in touch since. In terms of impactful work, I've joined my product when it was near collapse and have succeeded with my PM to turn things around and make the product profitable mainly through a customer advocacy and joint marketing campaign that I started with some of our F500 customers and by creating some much needed corporate wide processes for launching cloud products. These processes have also triggered a company wide re-org. I have a high visibility role where I often speak to journalists, have published industry articles, present at events (Ex: one of my proudest achievements was organizing and leading a panel discussion with execs from companies like Uber and Barclays, which was presented in front of 7500 attendees. In terms of progression, I was the youngest person to be promoted to PMM in my company's history. I've also had increasing responsibilities, going from marketing 1 product to now having 7 products under my belt, and have won the "top 10% of employees" award for three consecutive years. My company has also offered a post-mba role if i return, where I would be a Sr. PM for 7 emerging products, directly managing a team of 15. I'm also involved with the recruitment and mentoring of women at my company as part of our women in tech initiative. I have similar EC activities to promote the advancement of women in management. I would be open to Wharton/Sloan/Haas, curious to know if you think my profile fits better at these schools instead of those I've selected? (Ouff - sorry about the long-read, I slightly got carried away!) (1)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1677 Your WE does sound very good. I would add W/S/H to your list of target programs, if you can. I hate to say it, but if your GRE score was higher, then I’d be confident you’re an M7 profile. You may still be (assuming impact at work, and outside of work). (1)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1677 More details on this candidacy in this episode of Wire Taps: https://www.clearadmit.com/2021/11/episode-201-wire-taps/ (0)

fab-c Likes Earned: 13 Hi Alex & Graham, thank you for adding me as a candidacy to the podcast! I've listened to it over a dozen times and still manage to find new helpful tidbits at every listen. To give a quick progress report - I, unfortunately, didn't have the bandwidth to apply to Sloan or Berkeley, but I've applied to Wharton as you recommended. I did more research on the program and Wharton quickly became a top program for me (even contending for top choice alongside Kellogg) - so a HUGE thank you for that suggestion! Three quick questions if you have a moment: 1. I've become really interested in the CBS program (both August and January intakes). Given their rolling admissions, do you think it may be worth sending an app their way? Or would it be better to wait until June when the January intake applications open up? 2. Regarding MBA Math, I have taken quant courses in undergrad (Finance A+; Stats B; Macroeconomics A+; and Managerial Accounting B+) but I'm hoping MBA Math can still round out the lower GRE. Would you still advise I take it and report this to all the schools I've applied to? 3. I'm officially a "people manager" as of last week! Expected to grow the team to 3 people before the MBA, but not sure if this is worth telling the schools about? (0)

alexbr4 Verified User. Likes Earned: 1677 For Columbia, applying now for August intake will be very challenging, might be worth waiting and targeting early app for January etc. Doing MBA Math can’t harm your candidacy, and shows you are preparing for the return to school, so if you have the bandwidth to do it, I think it still makes sense. Not sure, re reporting the change in work, only because I’d think your WE is where your profile already stands out. Certainly worth mentioning during any interviews. (1)

grichmond Verified User. Likes Earned: 1245 Hi fabc! Thanks so much for getting back to us, and for the kind words about the podcast! I am thrilled to hear that we've helped you along your path! I am in agreement with Alex on most fronts; 1. Pursuing MBA Math certainly wouldn't hurt - and would have the dual benefit of getting you ready for b-school and enhancing your candidacy for admission. 2. I suspect that in light of your stats and the time of year, it may be best to wait for J-term at CBS. With that said, you could certainly give it a shot for August and then fall back to a J-term reapp if things don't pan out. 3. I don't think you need to update the admissions teams regarding your promotion. I just feel that your work experience is already pretty off-the-charts good. With that said, if you were writing to the admissions teams to update them on your MBA Math result, and wanted to drop in a quick update on the work promotion too, that could potentially fly. Best of luck to you and thanks so much for being a member of this community! (2)

fab-c Likes Earned: 13 Hi guys, thank you both for the input! I'll hold off until summer for the CBS app and in the meantime, I'll begin MBA Math :) (1)