<p>It depends on the top grad program you are talking about. Gaining admission to a PhD program in computer science is very different from gaining admission to a top MBA program. I will talk about MBA programs, since that’s what you are interested in.</p>
<p>-MBA programs value work experience above pretty much everything else. You need good grades, but what you really need is to show progressively responsible work experience in which you rise relatively quickly to a position of leadership. Top MBA programs only uncommonly accept students straight from undergrad. There are two reasons for that: one, much of the classwork is predicated upon the assumption that you have real-world work experience; and two, nobody wants to hire an MBA with no work experience. For these reasons, most MBA students have at least 5-7 years of work experience. With that said, your goal in undergrad should be to get into a top firm where you can get at least 2, but more ideally 3-7 years of work experience. Many people at top MBA programs do management consulting, investment banking, or securities work for several years.</p>
<p>-In undergrad, the best way to prepare is to seek out business-related internships and to seek out leadership positions. So run for SGA or top positions in other important campus organizations; the internships you should seek are summer positions at business firms. It helps if they are in fields in which you are interested (like tech) but they don’t have to be.</p>
<p>-I’ve noticed that the young techies on my campus are doing a lot of entrepreneurship and independent work. Nowadays, tech geniuses are popping up out of college. Learn skills and then produce something that you can show to people. Create your own app solving some problem or making some process easier; design a webpage; write a tech-help blog. Have a product to show people what you can do. A lot of other young techies around here spend time working on start-ups. I’m not saying YOU have to start the start-up, but some of them intern with start-ups (usually for free).</p>
<p>-Your race won’t be a factor, as the tech and business fields both have proper Asian representation. Your sex might be, but not for admissions. Mostly for scholarships that are directed at increasing the amount of women in both business and tech. For example, the American Association of University Women offers scholarships to women in certain science-related fields, and women of color in business, law, and medicine, to get a master’s degree:</p>
<p>[Selected</a> Professions Fellowships : AAUW: Empowering Women Since 1881](<a href=“http://www.aauw.org/what-we-do/educational-funding-and-awards/selected-professions-fellowships/]Selected”>http://www.aauw.org/what-we-do/educational-funding-and-awards/selected-professions-fellowships/)</p>
<p>-Your study abroad won’t hurt you unless you don’t do well. It can help you in several ways. The most direct is if you go on a tech- or business-related study abroad and/or intern or work within those sectors while you’re there. An indirect way is that you can strengthen your language skills in a language in-demand in the business world (right now Chinese is hot. Who knows what it will be by the time you are working, though) and learn how to interact with different kinds of people from different cultural backgrounds. Those skills are always valued. Plus, I’m a big proponent of doing some things just because you want to, and not just for their grad school value.</p>