Ms. Clean Tech

Hi there! It’s Stephanie Horn, Master Consultant with the MBA Exchange and recent Poets and Quants “Top 10 Admissions Consultants”. Ms. Clean Tech, you have several strong attributes in your profile. Your engineering degrees and strong GPAs show your ability to handle quantitative rigor. I would wish for your GMAT score to be higher, however. You have a solid tenure in your job with promotions and awards. However, you will need to find clear, compelling stories for your application that show your leadership skills, your ability to think strategically and adapt to changing conditions, and your strong teamwork and communication skills. Your extracurricular activities all seem to be connected to your job. That’s fine, but show that you excel in all areas of your life — what do you do outside of work that is both fun and fulfilling? Your list of target schools are all right on track for a career in consulting and operations — I would consider adding UCLA and Cornell to the list.

Hi, it’s Kate Richardson, Senior Admissions Consultant here. You have great GPAs, and your background as a female engineer with manufacturing experience should be attractive to your target schools. The multiple promotions are great too, and show that you’re on a fast track. I’m also curious about the title of Ms. Clean Tech, which you don’t say much about in your profile info, but assuming you work in Clean Tech now, I think that’s a hot field and will help you out a bit too. Your extracurriculars are good, but since they seem mostly work related, make sure you use other opportunities (like the video questions for Kellogg, the personal info on your resume, etc.) to show any interesting passions/hobbies you pursue outside of work too. The part of your profile that gives me the most pause is your GMAT score. I think that’s going to make your chances tough at Kellogg, or another top 10 school. If you could add 30 points (I know, easier said than done!), your odds would change dramatically.

Hi Ms. Clean Tech, this is Donna Bauman, Senior Admissions Counselor at Stratus Admissions weighing in on your profile. I think engineers have an ideal pre-MBA background as they have a solid quantitative background that can then be applied to solving business problems. In my 20+ years in MBA admissions on both the school and counseling side I can say that engineers have traditionally thrived in MBA programs. Your strong undergraduate and masters GPA in engineering are in the plus column for you. It also adds greatly to the classroom discussion when you have people with a manufacturing background to add a different perspective to the bankers and consultants in the classroom. Your Clean Tech background is also something that will add value to any MBA class. The weakest link in the profile I see is your GMAT which is 40 points under the average however with your solid work experience you may be able to overcome this. Certainly use the time before your application is due to try to increase your GMAT score, but also do your Kellogg research now. Talk to students in the Automotive club, the Consulting club and even the Women’s Business Association so that you have a better idea of how you can contribute to Kellogg as well as gain the knowledge that will help you make a successful career transition. If you can do these things exceptionally well, you have a chance to gain admission because you bring some strong work experience and community leadership. I can also see Ross as a great choice for you for the opportunity to gain hands on learning to make the transition to consulting. You might also look to MBA programs where there is a push to increase the number of women in the class such as UNC Kenan-Flagler, Cornell Johnson or CMU Tepper.