Profile Evaluation - White Male/Finance/740 GMAT
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15 Apr 2014, 11:37
Hello Peers!
As you have probably gathered by the header, my profile is a bit "white bread." I matriculated from college a year ago and plan on applying in 2 more for a total of 3 years of experience at time of application. Here is the breakdown as it stands.
Academic:
BA Quantitative Economics, minor in Math from a non-target school with a decent business school (~top 50), i.e., you've heard of it and think, "oh, good school" but not "wow, great school"
3.74 GPA, 3.9 in-major, 3.9 in-minor
Econ medal winner (highest avg in economics)
740 GMAT... with some studying and retake, I could bring this to a 770+ but I'm not yet sold on the value of doing so
Work:
Middle-office financial control in credit risk management at a top-2 Bulge Bracket bank (MS/Goldman)
Doing a great job so far. Natural leader so I'm always taking initiative w/ more responsibility, projects, etc. I'll just continue to work hard and should have very strong letters of rec
Extracurricular:
On a charity committee at work to increase participation in our office by organizing events with directors of local charities. It's quickly becoming a passion.
I also regularly volunteer with 4 charities (5-10 hrs/month).
My greatest weakness:
Nothing "gold-plated" on my resume. Great academic track record at a non-target school. Great employer in a non-target role.
Fun facts:
I am an avid guitarist and also involved with health and fitness. Perhaps there is a way to work some of this in as a plus (some sort of color-adding thing). I'm really not the generic business-y person and I expect this to come through in my essays.
Synopsis:
I am very interested in moving into a corporate strategy (read: think tank) or corporate development role. I am hoping for Columbia early decision and will also be applying to Wharton and Tuck as reach schools. More in my "range" are Duke and UVA but corp strat/dev is harder to move into from outside the top 10.
What are my odds?
What can I improve?
I am all ears and am open to ideas.