We will be collecting all our profile evaluations and application review responses posted at GMATClub and other forums under the MyMBAAdmit thread to provide a single resource for our readers.GMAT 740, GPA 3.6, Economics background. Chances for an MBA?mysteryman wrote:
Hello hello!
I really appreciate the opportunity to get some feedback. Thanks in advance for reading all this.
General
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Age: 25-26
Gender: Male
Nationality: French, USA Permanent Resident (for the past 10 years)
GMAT: 740
Education
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B.S. in Economics from UC Davis
GPA: 3.6
Work Experience
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I started as a trader for a boutique brokerage firm in SF (1 year).
I decided that it was too specific a field for me and I wanted to get broader exposure so I joined a small high tech company as a Financial Analyst (~60M a year in revenue). It was a high growth company, focused on increasing sales rather than profitability. I quickly became the go-to guy for anything related to the company's ERP system. I was the lead in the testing and upgrade to the new system. Developed the budget model for the upcoming two years, determined the inventory reserves, tracked the cash forecast, etc... After a round of layoffs, I took over the responsiblities of the senior analyst (who was let go) and worked directly with the CFO. (2.4 years)
To push my career along, I then joined a bigger high tech company ($2B a year revenue) that is focused on profitability rather than growth. I am a financial analyst for FP&A and I am the administrator of the forecasting system (serving 200+ finance users) and regularly coordinate with all the business units. I will also be the lead in the implementation of the new system. (2 years by the time I start my MBA)
Why I want an MBA
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I'm very happy with what I do and I want to continue on that path. I need an MBA to develop my general management skills. In the short term, I want to become the finance manager for a high growth business unit in a medium-big company. That way I will see the ERP system (and its limitations) from a different point of view. In the long term, I will want to establish or lead an ERP system company aimed at small to medium businesses (think Oracle for smaller companies) because I think a lot of what exists currently can be revolutionized.
Extracurricular
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While at school, I was a marketing intern for a local company, working 12 hours a week
Officer of Business Leaders club
I've developed and maintained websites for 4 local non profit organizations.
I hold group workout sessions 3 times a week. (5 to 6 people) and I've written a book about it (self published)
Schools
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I am interested in applying to the following schools:
UC Berkeley, Haas
London Business School
UCLA, Anderson
Could you please suggest a few additional schools that would be a good fit for me? Or revise the list above?
Thank you very much for your help!
Hi mystery,
From an academic perspective, you have all the numbers in place - a good GPA, strong GMAT, a relevant undergraduate major, and a degree from a well-known university. I would rate this part of your profile as strong.
On your personal and extracurricular aspects, I like the variety of activities you have been involved in. From our experience both with admissions and clients, ,we believe that the more different your extracurricular activities are from what you do on a daily basis, the greater scope they have to induce the Wow factor for the AdCom. The only caveat in this is even while different, your accomplishments should remain believable/credible by being supplemented with metrics. In your case, I don't think this will be a problem. A book, self published or not, can't be challenged, neither can 4 websites (especially if you provide their urls). The group workout sessions give an interesting angle to your profile, and if you provide your services pro bono, these could be well-positioned as community service by providing health benefits for those 6 people. Also, even from your brief description above, you are demonstrating a number of desirable personal attributes that b-school admissions like - leadership and initiative being key among them. Your background as a French national adds more diversity and will help to further strengthen your profile. If you position your activities to demonstrate the skills and attributes that the program is looking for, I think these could make strong stories for your essays, while adding flavor by being completely different from what you do as a professional.
Finally, your work experience shows career progression, substantial accomplishments and strong ambition - this is from the leadership of the various work projects you mentioned, your credible reasons for your multiple job switches and the achievements you racked up in place. Your short- and long-term MBA goals seem to be in place as well, and can be easily related to what you have done before. In order to retain your credibility in the ambitions you profess in the application, the last part is always important. However, to err on the side of caution, in case your quick job switches are questioned, I would recommend using either the main or optional essay to describe your career progression in a similar fashion as you have described above, while still tailoring it to the program.
In summary, I think you have a strong profile, with strengths in each of the dimensions as we discussed above. I would even recommend getting more ambitions with your school selection, and including a few top schools in your list such as Stanford, Harvard, Chicago Booth, Berkeley, etc. that have both the corporation connections and strong entrepreneurial programs you are looking for. If you would like more help with school selection and evaluating your chances at each, we offer a 10-page Candidate Profiling and School Selection that evaluates over a hundred business schools in the US and abroad, and meets just that need.
The ultimate success of your application rests in how well you communicate your past achievements and future ambitions to the AdCom, and equally important, how well you customize it to the program on hand. That's where we can help. Compelling essays that show off your many achievements in relation to the school's expectations, as well as demonstrate the attributes and skills that you can contribute in the incoming class, will help you build a convincing application package.
Feel free to drop us a line at
mbaconsult@mymbaadmit.com to discuss your application further. Check out our
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