David - thanks for offering this!

Three-sentence biography

Hi, this is Nancy. I'm a 27-year-old female from China and moved to the US 8 years ago for college. I've been working as a management consultant in the finance industry since graduating from a liberal arts college. I have been tinkering with pursuing either a JD or an MBA, and ultimately felt that JD is better aligned with my personality traits and long-term interests of going into public policy.

Biggest worry about your application

College GPA (below 25 percentile for target schools)

Two ideas for personal statement

1) Track record / long-time interest in the intersection of policy, business, and law.

As a student: I researched the impact of economic policies on small businesses; interned at a policy institute in the Caribbean; provided pro bono consulting for social entrepreneurs.

As a consultant: have experience in digesting new regulations, assessing their business impact, and implementing solutions for compliance.

2) What having a bad boss / work experience taught me about professionalism, resilience, and management style.

Did you attend last time? Did I get to you?

I did attend, but was not selected.

@ Makes sense - thanks!

great idea

Is there a particular reason for how the PTs are selected / ordered? Just curious as they seem to jump around quite a bit. Thanks.

Great idea! Please count me in too!

It is absolutely much more difficult to get hired as an international student because:

Employers explicitly ask for your employment status (i.e. whether you would require visa sponsorship from your employer) during the application stage. Thus many otherwise qualified candidates are filtered out early on and do not even make it to the interviews. Note, this should not affect dual citizens as they wouldn't not require visa sponsorship.

Even if you manage to secure a job offer, your employer would still need to sponsor an H-1B visa, which is granted on a lottery basis since supply far exceeds demands. Based on 2015 and 2016 stats, candidates have a ~25% chance of winning said lottery.

H-1B visas are only valid for a total of 6 years, at which point either your then employer petitions for a green card on your behalf, or you would need to leave the country. You, of course, always have the option of marrying a U.S. citizen or a permanent citizen :)

As a result of the above structural limitations and associated legal costs, many large MNCs have stopped or slowed down hiring of foreign nationals in recent cycles (based on my firsthand knowledge and intel from friends who work in biglaw, tech, consulting and banking).

The struggle is real, man.