Mr. Government Engineer

Hi Mr. Government Engineer,
Congratulations on winning the SMART scholarship! This is Debbie Choy from mbaMission. I think you have a lot of strengths in your profile! I especially like that you are gaining transferable STEM skills and experiences in the military, while serving the country. You have a strong undergrad and Masters GPA – that will help offset your soft GRE score. Consider retaking it if possible; the closer you can get to the Cornell average of 320, the better your chances. I also like that you’re coaching baseball. AdCom likes to see that you’re a leader in your community. Do consider what other community organizations you might be interested in where you can perhaps step into a leadership role. For example, perhaps you can coach baseball for underprivileged kids. Finally, top schools are looking for candidates with a few years of work experience under their belt, so as to bring real-world insights to classroom discussions. I encourage you to apply in the next year or two. In the meantime, if you can beef up your standardized test score and community leadership, I think you’d have an even better shot at Cornell. Wishing you the best in your MBA journey!

Hi Mr. Government Engineer, Melisa here from Stratus Admissions. I love to see all of the professional develop that you continue to strive for – it shows your commitment to personal growth. And it also helps explain why you are ready to jump into an MBA program to continue that personal growth. However, I am concerned about your lower than average years of work experience, which is less than Cornell’s average of 5 years. While your technical props are definitely above the average for your age, an admissions committee will value overall years of experience that will enhance the experiences you bring to contribute to your class. Another challenge with fewer years of experience tends to be less opportunities to lead. While schools can help you develop your leadership skills, they will want to see clear indications of your leadership to date. The limited information available in your profile is not currently highlighting your leadership – so this is something you can develop. While your undergrad and MS GPA’s will help off-set your GRE score, the average for male engineers tends to be even higher than the stated average at a given school. Not knowing where you are on your testing journey, I would suggest you take the GRE again. I would also suggest you wait a couple years, enhance your leadership profile and take the GRE again. Best of luck!