MDisciple87 wrote:
First of all, thank you for taking the time to evaluate my profile.
Profile:
Age: 26 (Don't plan to apply until 2015 cycle)
Demographics: American White Male. Naturalized Citizen that immigrated from Romania at age 7.
GMAT: 730 (49Q/41V)
College: Grad 2009. BS Econ/Math Minor from University of Michigan. 2.5 GPA with a downward trend and an atrocious senior year that forced me to delay graduation by a semester. I plan to balance this by taking 3-4 classes at a local university and building an alternate transcript.
Post-College Work Experience: Moved to out to New York City on my own with no experience to work in finance. Cold-called way into 6-month unpaid investment banking internship. Took 1-year full-time job in Macy's finance department. Since, I've been working 2 years at a private equity type shop specializing in low-income affordable housing. Have had 1 promotion and will most likely have 2 more years and another promotion before business school.
Extracurricular: Started regional chapter of national fraternity alumni club and serve on its board, serve on board for local chapter of university Alumni club. Plan to get involved more with a few other mentoring organizations.
Post-MBA aspirations: Professionally, I would like to work in Investment Banking or Private Equity. Personally, I would like to use my time and influence to help the fight against cancer and reshaping and strengthening our public education system (sounds cheesy, but these are causes personal to me).
I know that due to my low GPA I have a a long shot of getting into the top programs, but I believe that I have a good story and am going to put my best foot forward. Therefore, I have 2 questions:
1. Should I retake the GMAT? I know I did well and am in the range for 'normal' applicants with a good quant score, but will it make a significant difference if I score even higher or am I better off working on other parts of my profile?
2. Are there specific classes you recommend for for building an alternate transcript?
Thank you,
Alex
Alex,
Thanks for your post. To answer your questions:
1. No. Spend more time taking courses, writing your essays, and working on other aspects of your application.
2. If you haven't taken or done well in any of the following: Statistics for business, calculus, accounting, and economics. You may also want to consider a CFA.
Best,
Linda