kevinlnyc wrote:
Hi Jon - thanks for putting this together and being so helpful.
Profile
-24 year old male
-3.1 GPA from a mid school in Boston (Northeastern/Boston University/ Boston College). Acct and Finance major. Took plenty of Advanced accounting courses and got B+s.
-720+ GMAT expected. Currently studying.
-2 year work experience in an Asset Management role in a real estate investment management firm. Middle office role.
-Current work experience as the only Acquisitions and Capital Markets Analyst for a real estate development firm akin to a private equity firm. Great experience and able to be hands on in every part of the real estate process from sourcing to acquisitions to construction to fund raising. Hope to be promoted to Associate before I apply to school.
-EC in school: Professional director at my school's business fraternity. Fund raised and organized charity school events.
-EC outside of school: Helped under-privileged families with filing free tax returns.
-EC professional life: Working as a mentor to young entrepreneurial kids with great ideas. No leadership role but hoping to attain.
-post mba goal: Connect with and partner with the school's professional network to source and build affordable housing in NYC. My past professional experience and ec experience has been devoted to real estate and helping the less fortunate.
besides middle of the road GPA, some blips on my resume including a C/econ/freshman, C/taxation/junior, and B-/calculus/senior. My gpa did steadily increase over the years although I admit I was an average student. IMO a B- in calc is a blip. C in tax was because prof was a major dickhead, gave out raw grades instead of curves.
I will do everything and anything it takes to get into a top 10 school in particular Stern and Columbia. What do you think my chances are? Will it better my chances if I build an alternative transcript? I know I can get an A in quant courses. My mind was not in the right place in college.
Hello there,
So, the first and most important thing for you to do at this point is of course to ace that GMAT. A 730+ will change things a lot. And since you are relatively young, I would make sure I got that grade before applying even if it means delaying your plans by another year. (which you should likely do anyhow, given your low work experience).
The defining factor will be WHAT did you do at work? How well have you performed? what firm did you work for? Any leadership? Basically the details about your work experience are also vital to your success.
Since anyways I think you could wait one more year before applying, you might also want to add one more community service activity. You have some stuff there, which is good, but it's a bit light. Helping at a fraternity and folks with taxes won't match up with other candidates who have been giving five hours a week for the last five years… so find something you are interested in, and make that happen this year too.
I think that should be some good goals for the next next already, don't you?
Hope this helps,
JF