tvconefive wrote:
i just finished my GMAT, 730 (47Q 42V), and im trying to get a feel for what schools i will be competitive at and what other schools may only consider me a stretch applicant. ill try to provide my complete profile to make things easier.
undergrad education: BA business management at california state university of fullerton. overall and major GPA of 3.8. courses taken in stats and calculus. graduated high honors, not sure what rank though.
work experience: one year at the SEC as a securities compliance officer. and the last 4 years at a F500 commercial and consumer finance company. currently work in the commercial services division, managing a portfolio of commericial loans ranging from $2MM to $20MM. was promoted twice during that time, to AVP status.
i have already secured two good recommenders from work that will basically confirm whatever i ask them to. and writing essays has always been a strong suit for me, so i know that if i take as much time to craft those as i did studying for the gmat, i can knock out good individualized essays. interview skills im pretty confident in as well. im a bit lacking in community involvement but i can be a bit creative in that dept. if need be.
so all in all, i do feel like i can put a good application together. my goals are to get into i-banking, private placements or venture capital. my current job is not in those specific fields but i have developed a good sense of businesses and financial statement analysis to know what makes good businesses run. no designs on branching out in my own company.. strictly a company man, that is looking for the best exposure with the best companies.
what im worried about is the strength of my undergrad institution. i felt it was a great school, but theres still a slight stigma with state schools im afraid. do you think this is something i should address in most of the optional essays? i mean i did well enough in high school to get into good programs, but i chose state for financial reasons and proximity to home at the time. i would hate for that decision to hurt me this far down the road? please advise.
other than that, my preliminary list right now includes, USC, UCLA, Berkeley, NYU, Yale, with Columbia, Northwestern, Chicago and Penn being the dream schools id like a shot at. should i consider dropping some of those top 10 programs and adding a few more safties like Texas or UC Irvine (close to home again. hah). thanks in advance for your replies...
tvc15
Don't worry about the state school, no-name school, or third-tier school when you have a 730 and a 3.8 and a strong professional record and hopefully adequate extra-curricular (BTW, creativity is OK, but making things up isn't creative, and it is very dangerous.) You clearly excelled in school and the GMAT shows that you could have excelled at a more demanding school. Don't take away from your excellent undergrad record by putting down the school or apologizing for it.
Your list is appropiate for you and I encourage you to apply to those schools. Still if you want to ensure that you are a student next September, yes add one safety school to the list.
Good luck!
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11 Oct 2004, 01:39
