Profile Evaluation for an International Applicant
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09 Nov 2014, 04:11
Hi,
I'm currently thinking of getting my MBA and taking the GMAT sometime next year. However, I will need to either get a scholarship or take out a student loan to get in so I'd like to go for the best program that's realistic. As of now, my profile looks like this:
Age: Currently 24, plan is to apply after passing the 3rd CFA exam. Earliest possible would be late 2015 but I'd rather apply in 2016
School: Top 3 school in the Philippines (Ateneo de Manila), BS in Business Management, minor in Finance
Leadership: Course representative for my course, which has the largest population among all the courses in my school
GPA: 3.06, this is one of my concerns as well because the grading system in the Philippines is a bit different compared to the US. People very rarely graduate with grades above 3.75. For reference, my 3.06 GPA was good enough to finish in the top 20% of my class.
Work Experience: 2.5 years in a mid sized local bank, first as a management trainee and then as a Corporate Banking Account Officer. Finished top of my management trainee class and was promoted after my first full year of service in a Corporate Banking position. In January 2014, I moved to a boutique M&A advisory firm as an Associate.
Other: I've passed level 1 and 2 of the CFA exams and am enrolled in Level 3 for the June 2015 test. I plan on applying after I've passed all 3 exams.
Recommendation: I work with UPenn undergrads and a UCLA MBA grad as senior executives. I also work with some senior executives of counterparties who have gone to Wharton and Columbia. Would getting recommendations form those guys be a good idea?
Would my current profile be competitive with a low 700s GMAT in Harvard/Wharton (my top 2) or Columbia/UCLA? Factoring in potential scholarships, what schools should I target? Conversely, what GMAT score should I target for Harvard/Wharton and Columbia/UCLA?