Working for a major corporation?

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<p>Hey every one!
So i'm an internation student (pretty old for you guys) soon to be 22.
I've served for 3 years in my country's army as a system administrator and also commanded 7 other soldiers.
I have a while untill college enrollment in 2014 so obviously i'm gonna use this time for work & some volunteering.
I'll probably work in my profession as a system administrator and my question is: Will colleges care if I worked for a major corporation? I may be able to find a job at IBM / Intel / Microsoft etc.. However, it will probably be easier to find a job at a local startup company or a local corporation, so should I put the extra effort in an attempt to work for one of the big players?
(If it matters, income of a system administrator is about 2.2 times the median pay in the country)
In addition, i'm also a fitness enthusiastic and I plan on taking a fitness instructors course. The course is 250 hours and it certifies you to be a personal trainer / gym instructor (Learning about anatomy, physiology, fitness nutrition, fitness injuries, first aid course, and training for all kinds of populations like children men women and elders.)
Will this course & job increase my chances in any way? Or because i'm intrested in economics / business majors they are irrelevant?</p>

<p>My dream schools are: Upenn & Stanford, hopefully my SAT scores will be high enough to apply there and other similiar schools.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance to any respond :)</p>

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<p>Wow thath’s an active forum, allready in the 3rd page after a night’s sleep :P</p>

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<p>By the way, is there a chance to find an on-campus job as a gym instructor or something like that?</p>

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<p>It depends which school you want to apply to. If have thought of any potential colleges you want to apply to let us know, so we can guide you. </p>

<p>Working at a major corporation doesn’t sound as good as working for a small local business, as these corporation already have thousands of employees. Whereas with small business, you can perhaps work a managerial positions.</p>

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<p>As my job is more computer related, usually older people get managerial positions (even in the smaller companies), however I did get experience “managing” in the military.
As for schools, I wrote that well its mostly Wharton , Stanford and other similiar schools.</p>

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<p>Are int’l students permited to work in the U.S. with a student visa?</p>

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<p>Yes, international students may work upto twenty hours per week on campus.</p>

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<p>TomerHd, sorry, I didn’t see that you wanted to apply to Stanford and Wharton. </p>

<p>From what I can see, your extracurriculars aren’t stellar. You say that it might be hard to work at a manegerial positions, you NEED to change your mindset. Competition for international application is incredibly high, you stand almost no chance with what you’ve written so far. These schools have rejected applicants with their own corporations, charities and organizations. </p>

<p>I hope your high school GPA and SATs are excellent, because you need to work VERY, VERY HARD this year in order to secure a place.</p>

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<p>Well yeah, I don’t have the “classic” extracurriculars that most students have.
However, I do have 3 years of military service, commanding 7 troops, working under extreme pressure at times of crysis when lives are at risk, serving in a team that works 24/7.
As for courseload, perhaps at highschool I didn’t take the most rigourous load available, but again, at the army I went through a computer course that covers nearly a year of studying in 3 months studying from 7:30am to 10pm under military conditions
As for Sat’s didn’t take it yet, got 2115 on a simulation exam I did today, still got 2 months to practice so hopefully I can get to the 2200 range.
As for managing at a company, I can probably get a managerial position at some store or something, but that pays like 1/3 of what I can get at hi-tech companies, thus my question, am I better off at a big world-wide corporation, or doing the same job for banks / insurence companies / local hi-tech companies be alike?</p>

<p>And eventually yeah, ofcourse i’m not the most amazing sure-bet candidate, but I do belive that because of my age and my experience I have a bit more to offer than most 18 year olds (Ofcourse there are many exceptions, espically in those schools…)</p>

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<p>Many American students have military experience and many many have fought in war. You really won’t stand out. </p>

<p>Not taking the most rigorous courseload may be killer here. These institutions are looking for applicants who are excellent in every way. Your computer science course might help, but it will not make up for your high school performance. Your SATs are excellent, if you can get those scores. </p>

<p>You now need to decide where you want to work. Working at a major corporation isn’t even worth putting on your CV, if you only begin nine months before the application deadline. </p>

<p>I hope you realize that you are at a huge disadvantage due to being an international student and on top of being older than most other applicants. Being older will NOT help you, instead it will make it more difficult for you to get it. (Colleges try to limit the number of adult students, as they do not usually mix with ‘normal’ students.)</p>

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<p>You have 0% chance of getting into any of the top 10 schools in the country. It’s not you, it’s the fact that you’re competing against SAT 2350’s who are 17 years old and have founded corporations themselves or conducted groundbreaking research, and have a 3.9 GPA from a top-ranked school.</p>

<p>Take solace in the fact that 98% of Americans who ARE age 17-18 also have near 0%.</p>

<p>====</p>

<p>Being successful in life means being ambitious about your goals but being reasonable about your possibilities. If you are patient, success will follow. I’m VERY good at long-term strategic planning.
Here is my advice for you:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Your best bet is to get a high SAT (2200+) and then apply to a top 15-25 undergraduate business program at a good college, excel there (graduate top 10%), get a good job, excel at that job for 5-6 years (and I mean, do INCREDIBLE work – Networking is EVERYTHING), and apply to a top 10 IVY/Stanford/etc MBA program. Aiming for a IVY/Stanford undergraduate experience is shortsighted and foolish. Think long-term, and you will be successful.</p></li>
<li><p>Here are the BusinessWeek undergraduate rankings: [Best</a> Undergraduate Business Schools 2012 - Businessweek](<a href=“Bloomberg - Are you a robot?”>Bloomberg - Are you a robot?)</p></li>
</ul>

<p>You have a good shot (almost guaranteed with 2200) at: Indiana (Kelley), UT Austin (McCombs), Penn State (Smeal), Miami, Wisconsin, Illinois - Urbana-Champaign.
Attend good State program –> Graduate top of your class –> Have your pick of Jobs –> excel in those Jobs and network to get into major corporate positions –> get into top MBA (you can get a 100k salary straight out of Carnegie Mellon’s MBA program, I believe).</p>

<p>Let me know what you think.
Regards, OrangeMellow</p>

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<p>Fact is though, that many Israeli students that didn’t have any major accomplishment in their lives, simply managed to prove themselves as talented people and get into ivy’s every year with SAT scores lower than the school’s avg, average SAT score in Israel is a lot higher than the avg in America, however because we are non-native speakers not many get past the 2200 mark. My GPA is about 3.7 and we have nation-wide tests so it doesn’t really differ from one school to the other :&lt;/p>

<p>My long term plan is already similar to the one you just noted; only that I’m not giving up the attempt to get to a high class school.</p>

<p>The local universities in Israel are ranked higher than most U.S state programs and cost like 1/10th of the price.
For example, I can do a double major of law and business management, and in the last semester have students exchange with Wharton.
It’s not a Wharton degree, but it does give you some of the experience and connections.</p>

<p>As for competition, I don’t compete against Americans, in Israel I don’t have all of these opportunities, our lives just get cut off when we are 18 and we go to the army, therefore we can’t open any company or try to manage anything.
Our schools don’t have clubs or very rigorous programs and most students don’t pay that much attention to their studies in high school because we don’t have a holistic approach for students enrollment and we are busy thinking about the army.
Your scores are either high enough for a certain university or they aren’t, so many people just work their *ss off on the Israeli equivalent to the SAT and just get into any local university they want, some of these universities are ranked in the world top 100.</p>

<p>About the list you noted, I’m closely familiar with it. However, I really don’t get these rankings, schools with lower internships, salaries and job placement get higher ranks than schools with better stats, the ranking is simply established on students and employers willingness to answer the survey.
For example, how is Wharton placed 4th with 95% job placement and a median salary of 70,000$, while Mendoza is placed 1st with 93% job placement and a median salary of 55,000$. Or Sloan ranked 9th with 98% job placement and the same salary as Wharton.</p>

<p>At the end of the day, yes, I’m very much aware that my chances are close to 0, but like 96% of the applicants have chances close to 0, yet like 7% of them do get into college. So as much as you guys are discouraging, I’m not going to give up the attempt. I have nothing to lose, worse case my English will get better and I’ll just use the SAT over here.
Always remember, you miss all the shots you don’t take and never say never </p>

<p>Oh, and I still didn’t get an answer, which job will boost in some way my application? (if not to Wharton then to other schools in the top 25~)</p>

<p>Thanks again for all the answers guys </p>

<p>P.s if you don’t mind me asking, what are you currently doing in life?</p>

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<p>TomerHd, I am not trying to discourage you in any way. I just think that you haven’t done enough to secure a place at these colleges. It would be better for you to spend the remaining time doing something useful, rather than working for a corporation. I have already answered that question three times. </p>

<p>I think you appear as a very ambitious and clever person, but you need to demonstrate that by doing something. </p>

<p>As for myself, I am an international student but I have created my own company and nonprofit. In addition, I am a trustee of a very big charity (~70 million members), and write for an international newspaper agency. </p>

<p>You are not alone with having bridged opportunities. I created these companies with my savings when my parents were making ~20k a year.</p>

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<p>I also started a large organization, speak at many events, have had internships where I did important research, play 3 Varsity level sports (high ranking in state), and done so all before age of 18 while overcoming major difficulties. I also have a very high SAT and good grades from a well-known school. I say this not to brag – indeed I never bring it up unless asked – but realize that many people have accomplished extraordinary things you would not believe who apply to ivies. Harvard had a 3.5% admittance rate for Regular Decision – and that 3.5% is NOT out of the general population, but out of the TOP applicants in the world.</p>

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<p>TomerHd, just to expand a little bit and respond to your prior message:</p>

<p>It’s not that I don’t think you’re a highly capable individual with lots of potential. It’s not even that I think you don’t deserve to go to a top 10 school.</p>

<p>It’s just that, in saying you want to go to Stanford/Wharton, you are being unreasonable to your own detriment. You can become just as successful, if not MORE successful, by realizing your situation, ACKNOWLEDGING it, and then creating a plan to overcome it.</p>

<p>Don’t misinterprete MeIsHM and my advice as “discouraging.” Rather, we being optimistic and encouraging, but realistic. The fact that you are trying to apply to top 10 schools demostrates you are not showing enough foresight. No one is going to prevent you from applying to a top school, but just make sure you don’t leave out the other options – I guess what we’re trying to say is: you don’t have to go to a top school to be successful (undergraduate has very little, if any impact, on your success in life. MBA/Graduate school is 1000x more important, so keep your eye out on the long-term.)</p>

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<p>There are not enough people with stats like yours to fill up the spots in top schools, also debt over breath always. Its quite odd that you went on tangents and didn’t even answer the OP’s question. Personally, I think it would be that big of a deal between the two options u have for college chances. I think it would be more practical if you went to work at the big company that pays better. To get a feel of a good profile for the schools, check out previous result threads, i think you will do fine.</p>

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<p>We didn’t go off on tangents, we were helping OP. </p>

<p>I stated several times that OP should NOT work for a major corporation. He should, instead, focus on doing something unique. He is from Israel, a country with a plethora of wonderful opportunities. He needs to show these schools that he has done EVERYTHING possible in Israel, and not just worked for Google or Microsoft for six months. </p>

<p>I said that OP had zero chance of getting accepting with his CURRENT mindset. He needs to change it! Colleges like to accept international students as they bring diversity, but OP hasn’t done anything unique compared to the average Joe who works at Walmart.</p>