Amerasia Consulting Group, LLC

Client Case Study: Amadeep

admin — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:37:50 +0000

Amadeep had a non-traditional background for an Indian applicant. He was less than two years out of an engineering program and had risen quickly as a VP within an automotive supplier. He role was within plant operations and production management. A significant factor in his profile was the fact that his father had started the multi-billion dollar automotive supplier and Amadeep risked looking like a “child of privilege.”

Amadeep worked with his consultant to focus on addressing the perceived lack of work experience in his essays while providing only professional recommendation for his selected MBA programs. In his personal essays regarding his values, norms and beliefs, Amadeep focused on his commitment to philanthropy and a “double-bottom line.” He chose to write about his philanthropic pursuits within a traditionally hostile environment of worker-management relations. Amadeep realized that he needed to expand his MBA search as he had a sub 3.0 GPA and a GMAT that bordered on 600.

In his school selection, Amadeep elected to focus on programs that demonstrated a commitment to social entrepreneurship and with a strong finance emphasis. Taking an intense approach, Amadeep and applied to more than 10 programs in Europe and North America. The result – Amadeep was accepted to one top 10 American MBA program and tow of the top 10 European programs.

Los Angeles MBA Workshop Announced – May 15th

admin — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:55:27 +0000

The Los Angeles MBA Admissions Workshop is a seminar series that introduces attendees to the critical components of the MBA application process. Attendees will leave knowing what they need to do to maximize their changes of getting into the best business school program possible.

As MBA deadlines loom this is your chance to nail down your application and approach to your essays. Significant time and focus will be paid to the common MBA essay types. Attendees will learn how to construct impactful MBA application essays through a step by step writing process.

Meet other LA locals who are planning on attending graduate business school and getting their MBA. Gather to trade tips, get application and admissions advice from graduates of top MBA programs in a relaxed atmosphere. No questions are off-limits or out of scope!

Held approximately every 4 weeks, this Workshop covers the following areas:

> MBA Application Strategy and Planning
> MBA Essay Writing and Resume Editing
> MBA Program, School Selection and Visits
> MBA Timing, Deadlines and Application Submission
> MBA Recommendation Letter Approaches
> MBA Reapplicant, Older, Younger Applicant and Special Circumstances Planning
> MBA Admissions Committee Insight and Interview Preparation
> MBA Waitlist Response, Admissions Rejection and Ding Analysis
> GMAT Test Prep Programs and Study Plan

The Workshop’s organizer, Paul Lanzillotti (http://www.linkedin.com/a/paullanz) is a 2004 UCLA Anderson graduate, a current MBA Admissions Consultant, a former MBA admissions interviewer, a former Kaplan GMAT instructor, a former IT and management consultant and mechanical engineer. Additionally, he has worked with 100’s of MBA applicants over the past 8 years.

The Workshop welcomes any new members and we look forward to seeing you at our current Coloft location in the Santa Monica area of Los Angeles. Additionally, you can follow this group on Twitter. (http://www.twitter.com/la_mba)

Space is limited to 25 attendees at each Workshop. Reserve your spot online at http://www.la-mba.org.

Client Case Study: Rahul B.

admin — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:35:27 +0000

Rahul had a long history of project leadership with his professional career and a demonstrated commitment to community within his personal life. However, he had one critical issue in detailing his candidacy. Having a US government issued security clearance he could only detail a small fraction of his actual work experience. This would have a number of primary devastating effects on his application – Rahul would have nothing to mark on his resume and application and nothing to say during the interview.

With a limited subset of information Rahul and his consultant worked to place focus on his leadership style and soft skills rather than detailing project specifics such as client names, products and numbers. Additionally, Rahul elected to complete the optional essay in order to explain why client names and some details in his essays (such as product details) were redacted.

Rahul ended up receiving interview invitations to four of the five top 20 business schools to which he applied. He prepped with his consultant for every interview focusing on framing his work experience and leadership skills without seeming elusive or lacking depth. He was eventually accepted to three of the four programs with which he interviewed. Additionally, he was waitlisted at one of these programs which required that Rahul and his consultant embark on a 10 week update and correspondence campaign with the necessary admissions committee. He made sure his updates were clear, to the point and appropriately elaborated on his covert work experience. This served to bolster his work experience while only providing significant information to the admissions committee.

Client Case Study: Alan W.

admin — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 03:51:29 +0000

Alan came from a traditional management consulting background. He seemed to be the perfect candidate for a top MBA program. He had solid progression at Deloitte and had recently achieved a promotion to Senior Consultant. Having coached Special Olympics basketball for five years, he had recently taken his team to the state championship. His GMAT was above 700 and his GPA was a 3.5. Adding to his profile – Alan was a former NCAA athlete.

However, Alan had no idea what he wanted to do with his career upon graduation from a top MBA program. His initial, off the cuff goal was to move into video game product management. Alan had no experience in this realm but was convinced that he could develop the necessary brand management skills in business school. When pressed for more details by his consultant, Alan simply responded that he “had always liked video gaming.”

Embarking on a several week vetting process that included hours of research on Alan’s part and some soul searching, Alan eventually came up with career goals that made sense for his background. Alan chose to build off of his current work experiences at Deloitte in creating emergency response software for disaster preparedness. He specified “SMART” short-term goals that told the admissions committee he was indeed employable the day after graduation. Taking it a step further, Alan articulated long term goals that build off of his consulting expertise, love of sports and philanthropic pursuits.

Alan went on to receive acceptances at Wharton, HBS, Ross and Kellogg. Having visited all the schools, Alan and his consultant discussed cultural fit with each school. Alan decided to attend Kellogg and is now taking his morning runs on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Client Case Study: Maureen B.

admin — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 03:58:16 +0000

Maureen was a re-applicant, having applied to several top ten schools the year before. At 31, she was leaving the traditional age range for full time business school applicants. Her challenge would be to explain “Why MBA?, Why now?” without signaling to the admissions committee that she may be looking for an “escape hatch” from her current career. She had switched from outside consulting roles to several management positions at clients while eventually transitioning back to a management consulting start-up. The bipolar nature of her work experience would also call into question her ability to discern a specific career path. Additionally, as a management consultant with 80-hour work weeks, she had spent only a limited amount of time in traditional philanthropic activities.

Maureen worked with her consultant to draw out her extracurricular activities given the depth of her work experiences. While she had great business acumen and polished subject matter expertise, she addressed the zig and zag of her career progression by telling a story of being pulled (unexpectedly) into a entrepreneurial venture. This needed to be specific as it would be assumed that she had not liked her former-client, product management job and had elected to use an “escape hatch.” Additionally, Maureen worked to explain her six years as an undergraduate in her values, norms and beliefs essay. Her explanation of transitioning from pre-law to business was based on her having to leave school to address a critical family issue.

Maureen elected to be conservative in her school choices and applied to only Haas and UCLA Anderson. She was accepted to both and is now a Bruin.

Client Case Study: John H.

admin — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 03:58:43 +0000

John had accomplished a lot on the sales and trading floor of Credit Suisse. Having gained the confidence of the trading team, he was the only Sales Assistant to be entrusted with formal trading authority. However John faced two distinct challenges, his lack of formal leadership responsibility and his sub 3.0 undergraduate GPA. Additionally, having assumed many the responsibilities of a Junior Portfolio Manager (as a Sales Assistant), he would need to place emphasis on his longer term goals and how an MBA would enhance his short term career path.

John worked with his consultant to detail how an MBA would provide a holistic view of his investment banking organization. Additionally, having volunteered for a number of firm-wide initiatives at Credit Suisse, John elected to emphasize some of these experiences in order to provide support for his need for a 360 degree view of his organization. In order to add a multi-faceted element to his candidacy, John detailed the annual charity event that he had organized with the support of his Credit Suisse colleagues in his more personal essays.

This proved to be a winning combination with the more finance oriented programs at Columbia, NYU and Cornell. John was accepted at all three programs and received scholarships at NYU and Cornell. John’s consultant helped walk him through the ROI of attending all three programs. Having visited all three programs and knowing each program’s culture, John elected to attend NYU Stern and is looking forward to continuing his path in sales and trading.

Diagnostic Consultation

byoung2 — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 13:02:48 +0000

Speak with an Amerasia Consulting Group (AACG) consultant without any financial obligation. This free diagnostic of your candidacy is mean to provide you with a snapshot of where you stand with respect to your fit with a targeted program.

Engaging the right admissions consulting firm is one of the most critical decisions you will make in the application process. As such, Amerasia encourages all potential clients to contact our competitors as well. We trust that you will convinced by both the merits of our process and the holistic insight provided by our consulting team.

Schedule your complimentary consultation.

Admissions Workshop

byoung2 — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 13:02:26 +0000

Join the Amerasia Consulting Group during our monthly, in-person, three-hour admissions workshop – located at UCLA Anderson in Los Angeles. These workshops provide attendees with a high-level view of the admissions process and their overall responsibilities within it.

MBA Application Strategy and Planning
MBA Essay Writing and Resume Editing
Business School Selection, Visits and Interview
Timing, Deadlines and Application Submission
Recommendation Letter Approaches
GMAT preparation

Reserve your spot online here.

A Boutique Experience

byoung2 — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 13:01:10 +0000

The Amerasia Consulting Group (AACG) is a Los Angeles-based boutique admissions consulting firm. The firm has over eight years of experience in improving the effectiveness of our client’s competitive positioning.

AACG has parlayed this experience into a holistic and meticulous admissions consulting experience. This experience is enabled by a comprehensive process that starts with a competitive analysis of your candidacy and extends through to the date of business school matriculation.