Ms. Coding Tech Leader

Hi, it’s Rachel Nelson from Gatehouse. It’s great to see and feel passion and your love of coding shines through! It’s nice to see this passion spillover into work and volunteer activities. The key thing I would want to know is what you mean by “strategic direction of emerging technology”? This is very vague. For someone who is so deeply involved in the topic I suspect you have a much clearer idea of what you want to do – or maybe simply of the impact you want to have – than you have shared here. And so I would push you to really explain your short and long term goals and how an MBA will help you. This is true for everyone but with 7 years under your belt you want to show why an MBA will help you achieve the career goals you can’t otherwise (and why an exec MBA isn’t for you!).

The other thing – the elephant in the room – is your undergrad GPA. This is not make or break and your major was a hard one but still you are going to want to demonstrate to the schools that you are capable of doing MBA level work at these types of competitive programs. Your solid GMAT starts to do this but I would also look to highlight any analytical or similar capabilities and experiences you have had in your work or other just to confirm that you really can succeed in business school academically. I wish you lots of luck!

Hi, it’s Nisha from mbaMission. I really enjoyed reading about your journey in discovering your passion for coding and helping people both at your company and within the greater community get into it as well! Your profile reminds me of that of a successful candidate I worked with last year who loved introducing girls to technology (in her case, through the nonprofit organization ChickTech).

Your desire to transition to the strategy side of technology makes sense to me – it sounds like you could go in a couple different directions: a.) technology product management b.) strategy consulting for tech companies, with the long-term goal of internal strategy at a technology organization or an org at the intersection of tech and public policy. Whichever path you choose to highlight in your applications, you’ll want to make a strong case for how Tepper and the other programs you’re targeting will help you achieve it via its resources within and outside of the classroom.

The one point of concern is academics – the average GPA for the programs you’re targeting is about a 3.4 or so. A couple suggestions: 1. utilize the optional essay to explain your undergrad performance in a way that shows ownership and responsibility while highlighting extenuating circumstances (in your case, switching your major later on 2. retaking the GMAT to get above the schools’ averages, which will help offset your GPA – I would aim for a 710+. This will help maximize your chances of admission.

I hope that this helps a bit – best of luck, and please reach out if you’d like to discuss in more detail via a free consultation.

Hi Ms. Coding Tech Leader, This is Donna Bauman with Stratus Admissions and I am happy to add some further comments on your profile. I agree with the other assessments above and would like to add a few more things for you to consider. I also love your passion for coding that comes through. As you consider your experience and why you now need an MBA, what challenges have you faced where you feel an MBA will help you better solve these problems? Your own experience and challenges are the building blocks to the “why MBA and why now” questions that admissions professionals will want to know. I had the opportunity to interact with many admissions directors last week through an industry conference (Association of International Graduate Admissions Consultants, AIGAC) and I heard from many admissions professionals—including Tepper—about how helpful it is for applicants to do school research so that their career goals are very clear. Demonstrate through your application that you understand how Tepper can help you reach your goals. While your GMAT is in target range, your GPA is on the softer side. The good news for you is that since you graduated several years ago it matters less than someone with just 2-3 yrs of work experience. Review your transcript and if you need to shore up your quant coursework consider taking something like HBS’s CORe program. Look for other places to shine; school research is an area where everyone can shine if they put in the work. Talk to students in the Business & Technology club to get a sense of internship and recruiting options. Reach out to the Tepper Women in Business club as well. I suggest you follow the same pattern for Kelley and McDonough and you may want to add Foster to your school list as well. Try to quantify the impact of your program to teach non-technical employees to code; maybe you can add value to MBA programs by offering a similar program to your MBA peers! Think about how you can also add value to the programs that interest you. Best wishes in reaching your MBA aspirations and please reach out if you have any other questions about your profile!