jpday wrote:
Profile Eval Request:
- white male
- 710 GMAT
- Bachelors degree at state school, 4.0GPA
- Masters in Accounting, 3.8GPA
-CPA
Work: Big 4 auditor with 4 yrs experience at matriculation; experience in Healthcare, Asset Management & Life Insurance industries (private & public companies, governmental entities & NFPs); promoted to senior associate in 2 yrs v. the standard 3 yrs; lead senior associate on largest client in greater atlanta market (Bham, Nashville, ATL); tons of experience leading teams of 3-7 and working in larger teams of up to 100; substantial work with cross functional teams across the US & the globe (UK, France, Greece, Australia, India, Argentina); worked on $1 billion acquisition of life & annuity entity and currently working on $5.8 billion pending merger; responsible for creating budgets for engagement team, including a 26,000 hour budget on largest audit client in my market; instructor & career mentor for younger staff, teaching classes on ethics and technical accounting issues; campus recruiter for US firm
Outside of work: worked with 2 charities in impoverished areas of Alabama, teaching children about personal finance & raising awareness about literacy; highly involved in church, leading worship teams of 4-5 for services with 100 in attendance; highly involved in another ministry focused on physical & spiritual racial reconciliation in the Deep South; helps organize several 24-48 hr outreaches to a recovery center for at risk and recovering women; lots of international travel (UK, Ireland, Thailand, Jordan, Romania, Israel, Canada and Mexico)
Career goal: work with a small, new PE firm in the south
Schools: Harvard, Darden, Fuqua, London Business School, Mccombs
Concerns: Given my demanding work schedule, I was only able to spend 2 weeks on the GMAt. I'm confident I could've done much better with more study time but I'm applying class of 2017; is this going to hurt me?
Hey there,
So so far so good. Your GPA is great, your charity work is fantastic, and your work experience is relatively strong.
Since you are aiming for top schools, a few more things will play a role: Your achievements at school (were you for example Valedictorian?); the school and its rankings; how far you can bring yourself to your goal before applying.
If you feel you can get at least 20-30 points higher on the GMAT, there's no reason you should not retake. I mean you are aiming for Top schools, and the difference between a 710 and a 740 is the difference between someone who is bringing the class average GMAT down, and someone who is bringing it up.
Up to you though - because it can cause a delay in your application, and can be a bit of a risk, esp. since your score is quite good already.
Let me know what you think,
JF