Hi Alex,

I was wondering if you could help me get a feel for how I would stack against other applicants. My first choice-school is UCLA, although I would be absolutely thrilled to go any top 20 US school. I recently graduated from my UG career (March 2007) and plan on applying to business school in three or four years, so while I'm not actively working on my applications per se, I am actively trying to build my applicant profile.

Background:
Education
Bachelor's Degree in Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Minor in Economics
UC San Diego
Overall GPA 3.3; Econ GPA 3.8

GMAT:
690 (Q46 V38), AWA 5.5
I plan on retaking this to get a score 700+.
My MGMAT tests were all 750-760, so I think nerves may have gotten the best of me.

Work Experience: (This area concerns me.)
Currently - 1yr as a Research Assistant at Genentech Inc.
During my college career, I held a prestigious internship for Pfizer for over two years.

Volunteer/Leadership Experience
- I held a leadership for Publicity Chair for a charity organization during my senior year. (Duration: 1 yr)
- I also held the Service Chair for community service sorority on campus during my freshman year. (Duration: 1 yr)

Do you have any suggestions for me that could make me a stronger applicant? My main concern is that my work experience is primarily focused in on research/the sciences. Do you think that UCLA is within reach?

Having a non-business background isn't really an issue. At most top schools, a large chunk of the class came from non-business occupations and undergrad majors.

What is key no matter what your occupation or profile is that you can demonstrate a well rounded candidacy -- that you have serviceable to decent analytical skills, and strong interpersonal/team/leadership skills -- whether such skills are demonstrated through your work experience or extracurricular activities. If the nature of your job is highly analytical, then the "soft skills" will need to come from your extracurriculars.

In any case, based on what you wrote UCLA should be within reach so long as you execute well on the application and you continue to progress in your career over the next few years (whether technically or managerially -- if it's mostly the former, then make sure you stay involved in whatever extracurriculars you enjoy outside of work to show that you're not just a techie, but someone who can manage people).

Alex Chu
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com