Quote:
Hi brian,
i am kinda get stuck with my career and thinking about MBA. I am becoming 30 this year.
here is my profile:
Education Background:
I moved to united stated from china when i was 17 and attended 2 years of high school here. then i attended State U of NY in Binghamton, graduate with BS in Computer Science. My GPA was 2.9 (maybe 3.0, kinda forgot already...)
Work Experience:
after graduation, i worked as an IT consultant in a small retail company (the company has 6 stores and less than 20 employee).I started to learn more about the business side of the company, and get involved in the management team. After one year, i was promoted as an assistant manager of the company.
After another two years, i was promoted as the general manager of the company, directly under the owner.
So far I worked there for 6 years. It is a small company, so i was involved in many different area such as operation, marketing, HR, etc. However, because i don't have a solid academic background in business management, i was just learning things myself as i work.
Extra-cirricular:
Back in my college years, I was the guitarist, music coordinator and band leader in a christian fellowship's music team.
I am also a part-time photographer.
Language:
Fluent in english and Chinese (both Mandarin and Cantonese)
Why MBA:
Because the company i worked for was so small, and the fact that I don't have solid business management knowledge, i kinda get stuck in the career path. I am hopping by getting into MBA program, i can learn the solid knowledge, and able to have a career change.
GMAT:
I am still preparing for GMAT. I am pretty sure i can get 700.
Question:
1. I don't have a great undergrad GPA, and i don't have a impressive working experience in some big company. With a GMAT of 700, what kind of B-school can i get in? top 30? top 50? or not even?
2. i really like McCombs, because of their dual degree program. Do i have any chance getting in?
3. If i am applying school like McCombs, is there a big difference between a GMAT score of 700, 720 or 730?
thank you for your time reviewing my profile!
KChen,
Thank you for your profile submission. On the basis of the information as presented, and under the assumption of strong essays and recommendations and a GMAT score of 700 with a Round 1 application next year, our past experience indicates you would be between competitive and stretch (closer to competitive) at McCombs, Kenan-Flagler, and Marshall, and between competitive and stretch (closer to stretch) at Tepper. With a GMAT score of 730, you would be strong at McCombs, Kenan-Flagler, and Marshall, and competitive at Tepper.
In terms of your application, the following are a few points to keep in mind:
As you can see, the difference of 30 points in a potential GMAT score for you does make a fairly big impact in chances. We have seen plenty of candidates accepted into top programs without work experience at a brand-name firm. However, since your GPA is below the average for most top programs, and because you potentially have little extracurricular involvement after graduation (schools need to see this as well), you will need to make up for these gaps in other areas.
Perhaps the biggest issue I see is that you may need to give your future career plans a fair bit more thought prior to applying to business schools. Saying that you are "stuck" in your career, without explicitly stating a function, geography, and/or industry for where you want to go is not nearly enough - in fact, using this terminology in essays and/or MBA interviews would (in our experience) effectively nullify the rest of your application. In your essays you're going to need to be much more specific about how you can transfer the skills and experience you have gained into a different career. Based on what you have done, I can see you transitioning into an entrepreneurial job (if you like working in small firms) or perhaps into a CPG or retail marketing role with a larger company (if you really enjoyed the industry). But, that is for you to think about.
In terms of your work experience, you'll want to consider the positives that you can highlight in your resume and in your application (you've done some of this here, but you seem to come off as almost apologizing for your work experience). As far as I can tell, these would include a number of promotions and increasing responsibility, access to a number of functions in the company, strong recommendations from the owner(s), and presumably strong accomplishments tied to the success of the company.
Another opportunity to write about in essays is your move from China to the US at 17 - I would guess that it took time to improve your English skills and become acclimated to American culture. Definitely consider talking about this in a story in the essays.
Finally, since you are not a native English speaker, I would encourage you to consider having a native speaker help read through your essays and applications for spelling, flow, and grammar.
Best of luck,