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need some advice...urgent

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risin1phoenix
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need some advice...urgent [#permalink] New post   Updated on: 10 Nov 2010, 08:51
I want to apply for top B-schools for fall 2011. My profile:

B.E 2004..decent grades -> 2 yrs at a major Automobile firm ->Shifted to finance. 2 yrs at a proprietary trading firm -> Went for a Masters in Quantitative Finance. I wouldn't like to bring up the name of the school here. Though people know it, I had a horrible experience. 3rd grade faculty and no relevant jobs at all. My grades are really poor as I had no motivation at all after joining. Graduated in 2009 and joined another large prop trading firm at a decent pay and profit sharing. -> Now the firm is closing down its office in the country I'm employed. So in a month I'd be unemployed. ->??? :cry:

My previous GMAt is 710(Maths-50, Verbal-37). I've reapplied for GMAT, and let's say I can manage a score of around 750. I'm having a hard time finding decent, relevant jobs and everywhere I go , ppl ask why I want to move from front-office to middle office/back-office. Given this situation, do I have realistic chances of making it to B-schools ranked between 5-15? I'm specifically interested in Stern, Haas, Duke, Cornell, Yale to name a few. I don't want to go to another school which doesn't have decent placement records and waste thousands of dollars again. Another thing I'd like to mention is I can get a good reco from a few profs, from my current job (spent less than a year) and from the Automobile firm (which is too far back). I won't ask the 1st prop trading firm for reco due to personal reasons.

Is it still possible to make it to a top B-school? My main reason for doing a MBA is a brand name and a good network(which I obviously won't mention in my applications). I think these are the only things that matter in finance.

Pls..need some insights

Originally posted by risin1phoenix on 16 Jul 2010, 04:10.
Last edited by risin1phoenix on 10 Nov 2010, 08:51, edited 1 time in total.
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bakfed
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Re: need some advice...urgent [#permalink] New post   20 Jul 2010, 15:52
risin1phoenix wrote:
I want to apply for top B-schools for fall 2011. My profile:

B.E 2004..decent grades -> 2 yrs at a major Automobile firm ->Shifted to finance. 2 yrs at a proprietary trading firm -> Went for a Masters in Quantitative Finance. I wouldn't like to bring up the name of the school here. Though people know it, I had a horrible experience. 3rd grade faculty and no relevant jobs at all. My grades are really poor as I had no motivation at all after joining. Graduated in 2009 and joined another large prop trading firm at a decent pay and profit sharing. -> Now the firm is closing down its office in the country I'm employed. So in a month I'd be unemployed. ->??? :cry:

My previous GMAt is 710(Maths-51, Verbal-36). I've reapplied for GMAT, and let's say I can manage a score of around 750. I'm having a hard time finding decent, relevant jobs and everywhere I go , ppl ask why I want to move from front-office to middle office/back-office. Given this situation, do I have realistic chances of making it to B-schools ranked between 5-15? I'm specifically interested in Stern, Haas, Duke, Cornell, Yale to name a few. I don't want to go to another school which doesn't have decent placement records and waste thousands of dollars again. Another thing I'd like to mention is I can get a good reco from a few profs, from my current job (spent less than a year) and from the Automobile firm (which is too far back). I won't ask the 1st prop trading firm for reco due to personal reasons.

Is it still possible to make it to a top B-school? My main reason for doing a MBA is a brand name and a good network(which I obviously won't mention in my applications). I think these are the only things that matter in finance.

Pls..need some insights


what's your gpa when you graduated in 2004? (You mentioned "Decent", but the adjective is relative to individual)what's your gpa when you graduated from Masters? Your GMAT score is fine; I really don't see a point in retaking unless you can score 750 or above. There will be a lot of explaining to do on your application as to why you made certain decisions in your life, such as why you went through the Masters program anyway even though you hated it. You need to be able to convince AdComs that you are now making the right decision. You'll really want to land another job soon as the last thing AdComs want to hear about is someone talking about how he/she can't find jobs. At any rate, there are a lot of holes I'm seeing in your story and I'm sure AdComs will see them as well. You'll need to cover these holes up and explain some uncovered ones.
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risin1phoenix
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Re: need some advice...urgent [#permalink] New post   20 Jul 2010, 18:09
we didn't have a gpa system then in 2004, but i was ranked 13th among 46 students. So i thought it's decent, given my extracurricular activities.
my graduate gpa is really low though, at 3.3/5. The reason i'm retaking the GMAT is to show the AdCom that i can be academically competitive and what happened in grad school is just an exception (given that i do score above 750). It was after 2 trimesters (after sep 16th, Lehmann), I realized that finding relevant jobs was going to be very difficult, but i didn't see the point in quitting the program after paying so much.

I feel i can explain almost everything, except good professional recommendations. And the reasons for which i quit my 2nd company in 2008 was completely personal and I'd avoid getting into it. So i do realize the hole here.
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Re: need some advice...urgent [#permalink] New post   21 Jul 2010, 09:32
risin1phoenix wrote:
we didn't have a gpa system then in 2004, but i was ranked 13th among 46 students. So i thought it's decent, given my extracurricular activities.
my graduate gpa is really low though, at 3.3/5. The reason i'm retaking the GMAT is to show the AdCom that i can be academically competitive and what happened in grad school is just an exception (given that i do score above 750). It was after 2 trimesters (after sep 16th, Lehmann), I realized that finding relevant jobs was going to be very difficult, but i didn't see the point in quitting the program after paying so much.

I feel i can explain almost everything, except good professional recommendations. And the reasons for which i quit my 2nd company in 2008 was completely personal and I'd avoid getting into it. So i do realize the hole here.


As long as you realize that there are things that may need patching on the application, you're off to a better start. Of course, some times are better to keep quiet than to discuss on the application, and you're going to have to use your best judgment on that. I personally think that with a 710 on GMAT, you've already shown the AdComs that you're intellectually capable of learning the material, but if you're all geared-up for another GMAT, do it, by all means.

Here's some things you should consider about re-taking your GMAT at your current stage:
if it goes up substantially (740+), you're in good shoes then as you made a good decision.
if it goes down substantially, AdComs are going to wonder exactly what your intentions were and your decision-making skill.
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Re: need some advice...urgent [#permalink]
21 Jul 2010, 09:32

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