Hi there! I'm not sure how long you've been at Sircon, but if it's a recent move you've made then it may be worth waiting another year so you can complete the development program and possibly move into a new role. I think that would look great from an admissions perspective. Plus many MBA students are around 28 when they apply. Your GPA is OK, below average for top programs, but hopefully you took challenging coursework. A high GMAT will definitely help. Hopefully you have a solid study plan in place because it can be tough to reach 750! Definitely emphasize the non-technical side of your BA role, that will be important to demonstrate working in technical and non-technical teams. I think product management would be a good fit for you because you have technical experience to back it up and the MBA will help you round out your skillset. Many try to go into product management without a technical background and it can be challenging. I'm not sure I quite understand why you'd go the MBB route, so if that's the route you want to go, make sure you have clear reasons for why and evidence of how it'd be a good fit for you personally.
So right now I'd say your academics are OK (though hopefully stronger with GMAT), work experience seems pretty strong (though not super unique and could be strengthened perhaps with more leadership experience), and your volunteer work seems pretty strong too (assuming that is something you've done for awhile and keep up until you apply).
I'd start with a range of schools within the top 25 and if the GMAT goes well then you can skew towards the higher end of that. Though I think the top 5-7 schools are going to be pretty tough so perhaps just apply to 1 or 2 in that range. Schools that might make sense given your background / interests are Tepper, Fuqua, Ross, Sloan, UCLA, Texas, and Haas, with Haas and Sloan being the most difficult of that group.
Good luck, and keep us posted if we can help with anything else!
Kate
mitchsuch wrote:
Hello,
I would like to thank you in advance for evaluating my profile
24 y/o Caucasian American plan to apply the October Before my 27th birthday or 28th birthday depending on where I am professionally (10/26/1991)
No GMAT yet shooting for 750GMAT
GPA: 3.3 Dual major of MIS and Finance
Extra - curricular: Hospice volunteer, I spend time with dying people help their family with bereavement and housework during/after the death and write biographys on the people I visit after their death for the families consumption.
Work experience: 2 years implementing a statewide budget system where I was the principal SME and wrote all of the extensions and SQL statements serving as a joint BA/Tech role.
Now until my application: Working for Sircon which is a company that was bought by Vertafore. I am the lead BA ona cross functional team that handels Sales>implementations>Support for fortune 500 insurance carriers (AFLAC, Gerber, EMC, Bluecross etc.) I write reports, lead training, implement software and write PDI and SQL for clients. We are an agile shop and many of our developers get poached by Google. Next year I will participate in the companies Leadership development program where I will be transferred to Development or product management with a possible raise in title and at the very least more diversified experience to groom me to be a leader that has seen all aspects of business/software.
My goals are to either go MBB for 2-3 years and exit or go straight to software/startup management.
I have not narrowed down my list at all yet and still have a lot of time, right now I am working on GMAT prep and minor research. I want to know what my range is in terms of schools, what my experience looks like (is it unique) and what else I should be doing.
Thank you for any advice, I greatly appreciate the services you all provide.
Best,
Mitch