Profile Review Request

Congrats on the GMAT! Hopefully that will put you in a much stronger position. As a peer, not an expert, I still think that Wharton/HBS are probably out of the cards unless your work experience is in a prestigious firm (I'm guessing not based on your salary). You can gauge this by asking yourself whether your team/group/role with the firm typically places people into top MBA's. So your time is probably better spent on your other reach schools. I've known some super impressive people to get outright dinged at Wharton. That being said, it was a stretch for me too and I still applied - all you have to lose is a few hundred dollars and 20 hours of your time.

If your work experience is steady at a decent firm in a decent role I think you have a shot at CBS/Booth/Kellogg - I wouldn't expect to go 3 for 3 but hopefully get in to one. Sandy at hbsguru once made a comment that most schools outside of H/S/W don't outright reject people with 770 GMAT's and OK work experience. I think 760 GMAT probably fits in there too. You have enough work experience that your GPA is probably overcome by the GMAT and CFA track, and the URM background doesn't hurt.

In your application craft a story that really shows where your passion came from for sell-side research. If you can tie this into your URM background probably all the better, but don't make a stretch that isn't there. Without knowing the details on your work experience I'm unsure how you would sell it, but targeting top tier programs I assume you have had some track record of success. Some apps let you really display your growth (like Booth which gives you a lot of room to comment on EVERYTHING) and some don't (like Wharton, pretty much GPA/GMAT/Essay). Don't repeat information on the larger apps, be 'interesting' enough that there is always more to say (factually - not by being too verbose). Attend all the events you can for these schools. They give you a handle into what they look for in applications, a feel for the student culture and attendance is usually tracked.

MIT is regarded as a big deal finance school - a lot of research has come out of the institution. And the rigor of their program is well regarded. I would try to attend one of their web chats and see if you can get more information specific to sell side research. The chats are held frequently. I don't think they're better than Booth/CBS (maybe Kellogg for finance) but I don't think they're worse either. I could be wrong.

Your tier 2 schools all look good (Duke/UVA/Tuck/Stern); I think, but am not positive, that these are 3 of the toughest second tier programs to get into (behind maybe Haas) so again I would hope for one or two of three.

I would suggest narrowing down your list to 2-3 target reach schools (CBS/Booth/Kellogg, don't count Wharton or HBS if you app), 2-3 second tier schools and maybe one school out of the top 16 (Cornell or UT Austin). While some people do apply to more than 5 or 6 schools in round 1 I don't know how they find the time; it is a very intense process. Also, outside of a few of the M7 (Booth, Wharton, HBS and Stanford that I know of) that have standard recommendation forms other schools start asking for different things from your recommenders. So it keeps from putting too much on them too soon. Then in round 2 if you haven't landed a dream school you can focus on hitting the other second tier programs.

Thanks so much for the help and the clarification on the application process! I am likely to drop Duke and UVA from the list and stick to the big finance-placing northeastern colleges. Regarding your emphasis on not applying to many schools, I forgot to say that I plan on applying to NYU, Cornell, Tuck and Carnegie Mellon via the Consortium and then doing individual applications for Harvard, Wharton, Columbia and Booth. This would effectively make it 5 applications total because the Consortium application (from what I know about it) is a one-application process for all member schools.

Regarding my GPA, I think I can spin that appropriately because my first semester in college was absolutely disastrous. I was almost kicked out. I made it up the rest of my college career with difficult courses and stellar scores but semester 1 always held my GPA down. I'd likely have around a 3.4 GPA if I dropped semester 1.

Two more questions:

1) How are you liking the Booth program?
2) How imperative do you think passing CFA Level 2 is? I plan on passing but do you think I should make sure I pass (i.e., sleepless nights to make sure I pass that infernal test)?

This fall begins my first year with Booth. I can say that of all the schools I researched and attended events for (in addition to HBS, Wharton and Stanford these include Columbia, Kellogg, Tuck, MIT, Duke and UVA) Booth's student body has impressed me the most. The students are incredibly engaged and it speaks volumes about the program. In addition, when I attended events for Booth everyone just seemed so much more down to earth and relaxed than at other schools. Sometimes the same people whom I had previously met at other university's events. First Day was awesome; if you are admitted be sure to attend. The academics are very impressive and the mock class we had rocked. In terms of recruiting they have rock solid success and a phenomenal reputation with recruiters. Just as an admit it has already begun opening doors as I begin my transition from finance to consulting. I hope you have a similar experience should you pursue their program.

A friend of mine who went to a top business school informed me earlier in the application cycle: "If you get into Booth, Go To Booth! Awesome School!". I know several cross-admits with Wharton who are selecting Booth and nearly everyone I know who got into Kellogg and Booth is going to Booth on the basis of their interactions with the schools. Of course, that's largely self selection as those people are more likely to be at Booth's events.

I don't think L2 is make it or break it for you. My point was that passing L1 doesn't really mean anything to adcoms or to hiring managers/recruiters, but people start to assume you will finish once you get through L2. So it can help but I don't think if you fail L2 that it means you won't be accepted somewhere on that basis. In your shoes I would put in the time though, because if you can finish L3 before school you will have a leg up in recruiting. Though be aware that I've heard people with their CFA or on CFA track tend to get technical questions early on in the IB recruiting process so you may want to brush up on Level 1 & 2 FR&A and equity analysis before you go to campus. Level 3 has almost no FR&A. It's is pretty much 100% portfolio management.

Thank you very much for your perspective on everything. Highly appreciated. That is what I love about this forum, people are always willing to help one another with their questions. Fantastic community.