Hi! First I'd like to thank the team for the great podcast - it certainly makes my Monday morning more exciting :)

Now about me... Asian American male (US/Canada/Hong Kong citizen) who grew up in HK. Studied computer science at a lower ivy (i.e. Penn, Cornell) and started my career as a software engineer at a major bank (i.e. JP Morgan, Morgan Stanley). After ~2 years of working as an developer, I transitioned into a tech product role and eventually moved to a PE firm (i.e. Blackstone, KKR) as a PM.

In terms of career goal, I'd like to join a big tech company as a PM in the short term to hone my product skill-sets. In the long term, I'm keen on going back to fintech and potentially try entrepreneurship. I am looking at an MBA to round out my technical background and to take a breather at a place where I can also explore and grow my network.

Outside of work, I am huge into giving back so it will probably be the theme of my application. Just to name a few things that I've done: I've been mentoring high school kids for years and I have fund-raised for the high school and mentoring organization, I am on the board of an alumni organization, and I've also volunteered as a PM for a COVID-related startup.

Finally, I understand that my GPA is a concern (it really came down to poor time management and immaturity), so I've taken HBX Core and passed with high honor.

Aside from the usual "what are my odds", I'd also like to hear thoughts about my GMAT score; I am planning to retake it within a month (aiming for 750/760), but is my current score insufficient as it stands, considering that I am Asian American and that my GPA is so-so? I'll be applying for round 2. Thank you all!