Profile Evaluation Request : Ask mbaMission

Hi,

Thanks for reviewing my profile!

Demographics: Asian, Female, 29yo
Education: BA in Economics, Big 10 School (GPA: 3.6)
GMAT: I'm planning to take it soon. Got 720-740 on official mock tests

Work Experience:
4+ years in management consulting; I work for a tech consulting division at a global management consulting firm. I got promoted twice within 4 years. I believe I have good performance records within the firm, but I'm a bit worried about the unpaid leave I had to take after the first year. Long story short, I had to take 4-month unpaid leave between my first year and second year because of some issues with my work permit. At that time, I was on secondment from my home office in the U.S. to China. However, the whole process of getting my Chinese work visa was delayed beacuse of COVID-19 and my employer put me on the unpaid leave. Also, I'm considering requesting another 4-5 weeks of unpaid(sick) leave to get medical treatment.

EC: I've been volunteering as an instructor at a code camp for girls from disadvantaged backgrounds for about 1.5 years.

Target Schools: It's a bit tricky to decide now because I haven't taken the GMAT. But I'm interested in the U.S. programs only. If I can get 730+, my target shcools would be Wharton, MIT Sloan, NYU Stern, and some other top 10 programs.

Specific questions:
1. How would these two unpaid leave periods affect my MBA applications? Will having two unpaid leaves negatively affect my applications? I was still "employeed" when my company put me on the 4-month unpaid leave. I asked my employer about this, and they said I could still say I was fully employed during this period so I assume that this won't appear on my resume. In this case, do I need to specify it in my optional essay?

2. Unfortunately, I have a pretty serious health condition and am planning to ask for 4-5 weeks of unpaid medical leave. Do I need to specify it on my application? I will still be an employer of this company but won't be paid for the 4-5 weeks. Should I avoid taking another unpaid leave?

3. When I fill out my MBA application, do I need to deduct the unpaid leave period from my annual salary? I've heard that I need to report my annual salary when I fill out my MBA applications. For example, if my original annual salary is 120K, and I took two months off, should I report 100K instead of 120K? Or should I still report 120K because 120K is the original salary that is specified on my compensation letter? I'm worried that it could leave a false impression that my annal salary went down during that year if I report the deducted amount. But at the same time, I want to avoid any potential issue with background check. For example, I report 120K and don't specify the unpaid leave on my resume but the admission committes find out that I actually took two months off and the actual amount I was paid during that year was 100K through a background check.

In general, do I need to specify unpaid leaves on my resume or any part of my applications such as optional essay? If I have to specify the unpaid leaves, will having two unpaid leaves leave a bad impression to the admission committees? I am planning to apply in 2023 and would like to know if it's better to avoid taking unpaid leave in 2023.


Thank you.

Hi there, clubuser125, thanks for reaching out. Looks like you have a really strong profile with good GPA, consulting experience, promotions, continued extracurricular involvement. I hope you were able to stay on track with your GMAT scores!

Regarding your specific questions, see my notes below:
1. How would these two unpaid leave periods affect my MBA applications? Will having two unpaid leaves negatively affect my applications? I was still "employeed" when my company put me on the 4-month unpaid leave. I asked my employer about this, and they said I could still say I was fully employed during this period so I assume that this won't appear on my resume. In this case, do I need to specify it in my optional essay? They shouldn't impact anything. You were still fully employed so you should not need to say anything about the leave periods on your resume.

2. Unfortunately, I have a pretty serious health condition and am planning to ask for 4-5 weeks of unpaid medical leave. Do I need to specify it on my application? I will still be an employer of this company but won't be paid for the 4-5 weeks. Should I avoid taking another unpaid leave? I'm sorry to hear that. This shouldn't be an issue either, and it's not something you should need to specify or report. Again, as long as you're still fully employed, it shouldn't cause an issue.

3. When I fill out my MBA application, do I need to deduct the unpaid leave period from my annual salary? I've heard that I need to report my annual salary when I fill out my MBA applications. For example, if my original annual salary is 120K, and I took two months off, should I report 100K instead of 120K? Or should I still report 120K because 120K is the original salary that is specified on my compensation letter? I'm worried that it could leave a false impression that my annal salary went down during that year if I report the deducted amount. But at the same time, I want to avoid any potential issue with background check. For example, I report 120K and don't specify the unpaid leave on my resume but the admission committes find out that I actually took two months off and the actual amount I was paid during that year was 100K through a background check. My understanding is that you can report your annual salary, i.e., 120K. But you may want to check with your company's HR department and see how they would report your salary if asked by a third party background verifier.

In general, do I need to specify unpaid leaves on my resume or any part of my applications such as optional essay? If I have to specify the unpaid leaves, will having two unpaid leaves leave a bad impression to the admission committees? I am planning to apply in 2023 and would like to know if it's better to avoid taking unpaid leave in 2023. I don't think you need to disclose these, unless they help explain something else, or are part of a larger story you want to tell.

Hope that helps!
Kate

clubuser125 wrote:Hi,

Thanks for reviewing my profile!

Demographics: Asian, Female, 29yo
Education: BA in Economics, Big 10 School (GPA: 3.6)
GMAT: I'm planning to take it soon. Got 720-740 on official mock tests

Work Experience:
4+ years in management consulting; I work for a tech consulting division at a global management consulting firm. I got promoted twice within 4 years. I believe I have good performance records within the firm, but I'm a bit worried about the unpaid leave I had to take after the first year. Long story short, I had to take 4-month unpaid leave between my first year and second year because of some issues with my work permit. At that time, I was on secondment from my home office in the U.S. to China. However, the whole process of getting my Chinese work visa was delayed beacuse of COVID-19 and my employer put me on the unpaid leave. Also, I'm considering requesting another 4-5 weeks of unpaid(sick) leave to get medical treatment.

EC: I've been volunteering as an instructor at a code camp for girls from disadvantaged backgrounds for about 1.5 years.

Target Schools: It's a bit tricky to decide now because I haven't taken the GMAT. But I'm interested in the U.S. programs only. If I can get 730+, my target shcools would be Wharton, MIT Sloan, NYU Stern, and some other top 10 programs.

Specific questions:
1. How would these two unpaid leave periods affect my MBA applications? Will having two unpaid leaves negatively affect my applications? I was still "employeed" when my company put me on the 4-month unpaid leave. I asked my employer about this, and they said I could still say I was fully employed during this period so I assume that this won't appear on my resume. In this case, do I need to specify it in my optional essay?

2. Unfortunately, I have a pretty serious health condition and am planning to ask for 4-5 weeks of unpaid medical leave. Do I need to specify it on my application? I will still be an employer of this company but won't be paid for the 4-5 weeks. Should I avoid taking another unpaid leave?

3. When I fill out my MBA application, do I need to deduct the unpaid leave period from my annual salary? I've heard that I need to report my annual salary when I fill out my MBA applications. For example, if my original annual salary is 120K, and I took two months off, should I report 100K instead of 120K? Or should I still report 120K because 120K is the original salary that is specified on my compensation letter? I'm worried that it could leave a false impression that my annal salary went down during that year if I report the deducted amount. But at the same time, I want to avoid any potential issue with background check. For example, I report 120K and don't specify the unpaid leave on my resume but the admission committes find out that I actually took two months off and the actual amount I was paid during that year was 100K through a background check.

In general, do I need to specify unpaid leaves on my resume or any part of my applications such as optional essay? If I have to specify the unpaid leaves, will having two unpaid leaves leave a bad impression to the admission committees? I am planning to apply in 2023 and would like to know if it's better to avoid taking unpaid leave in 2023.


Thank you.