ballparkfigure wrote:
Hi Jon,
I am an Indian male corporate lawyer working as a senior associate at one of the most prestigious law firms in India. I have work experience of around 7 years. I work mostly on:
1. Financing Transactions: Advising international/Indian banks/financial institutions on domestic/international project financing and acquisition financing transactions; and
2. M&A and Private Equity Transactions: Advising international and domestic funds/corporates on their investments/acquisitions in India.
I graduated from a top 3 lawschool in India with average/below average marks. My rank would be around 50 in a class of 80. I am cognizant of my low marks and would attribute it to lack of motivation and interest in law subjects. My interest has always been finance and business and this is evidenced by my relative success as a finance and M&A lawyer.
I have given the GMAT once (last year) and got a score of 680. My average GMAT prep test scores were in the range of 730 and I had a bad test day - thus I plan to appear for the GMAT again with a target of a 700+ score.
I am targeting the following B-Schools:
1. NYU - Stern/Columbia (Stretch)
2. Cornell - Johnson
3. CMU - Tepper
4. UVA - Darden
5. Georgetown
My careers goal would be to work in an International/US bank in their fixed income/syndicated loans group. My work experience (albeit as a lawyer) would, I assume provide me with a basic grounding for such a role.
I believe I should be able to secure good recommendations from my direct supervisors (Partner at my law firm) and clients.
I would be grateful for any suggestions on my target schools. I am only looking at US schools on the East Coast.
My weak point are my grades and any advice on the strategy for tackling or explaining my average/below average undergraduate grades would also be very useful. Do you think I should bring up up my grades in my apps and take the lead in explaining them considering the fact that I have 7 years of work experience?
Any other advice in relation to my apps would also be very helpful. Also, in case this is relevant, I will be 29 years old when I apply.
Thanks,
Ashwin
Hey Ashwin,
Well you are definitely doing the right thing. Maybe your grades were bad, buuut if you can get that GMAT score you have been mocking at, then you will be fine for the schools you are applying to. Corporate law is a preeeetty good industry to apply from, and your goals make total sense. You just gotta have a little bit of a "Good test day."
Whether or not you should go out of your way to write about your grades in your apps will depend a bit on how bad they are, and what else you have to write.
Good luck on your retake! And let me know how you do!
Best,
JF