bobcat2016 wrote:
Guess i will join this prestigious group
Age/Gender: 28 white male
GMAT Score/GPA : GMAT:690 / GPA:3.3 ivy league
Work Experience: [industry/years] 7 years out of college. 1 year in public finance in philly / 4 years in tech investment banking in SF / 2 years in strategy & corp dev in boston at tech company
Location: Boston
Schools applied to: Wharton / Haas / Tuck / Columbia / Booth / MIT
Any consulting services used: [Yes/NO, Who?] No
#Interviews: 1
#WL:0
# Dings: 6
Optional:
Which ding hurt the most and why?: Haas. Really wanted to go back out west and thought it was the best fit for me (entrepreneurship). Also only school i got an interview at which i thought went pretty well. guess not... Tuck also stung pretty bad. put a lot of effort into that app, did the whole trip up to Hanover for the interview which i thought was pretty good. damnit.
Why the lack of success? Low GMAT. All of the schools i applied to were reaches. MIT and Booth were sort of hail marys that i threw back in Nov/Dec because i panicked and thought only applying to 4 schools wasn't enough (i was right...). Probably could of put more effort into them. I thought my essays were pretty good, had a bunch of people read them but i guess i am questioning that now. my recommendations were good, i read both of them.
What next? I guess reapply next year. try to boost my extracurriculars. I do have a couple questions that id love input on:
1. Am i getting to the age where i am too old to apply and schools will look at that as a negative? If i apply again this fall, i will be 29 then, turning 30 in Q2 of 2017.
2. How do schools view re-applicants? Am i screwed at the schools i applied/got dinged at?
3. I am going to try to take a math course online to supplement my GMAT / show i am taking the initiative. Any recommendations?
I'm sorry to hear things did not work out for you. I agree that with a 3.3, you really need to do better on the GMAT to have a good chance at any of these schools. I'm happy to talk about tutoring options if you would like. If you are under the average on one (GPA or GMAT) it can work, but to be under on both is really tough.
On the essay front, I can't comment on the specific essays until I review, but having too many cooks in the kitchen can hurt. I would be happy to talk with you about how I could help you this time around with a focused effort.
1. Am i getting to the age where i am too old to apply and schools will look at that as a negative? If i apply again this fall, i will be 29 then, turning 30 in Q2 of 2017.
You are still fine to apply this year. You are above the average age, but not that much above. I wouldn't wait any longer though.
2. How do schools view re-applicants? Am i screwed at the schools i applied/got dinged at?
You will be fine. Schools accept re-applicants all the time. HBS put out a stat that 10% of their class this year were re-applicants. As long as you improve your profile, you will be in good shape.
3. I am going to try to take a math course online to supplement my GMAT / show i am taking the initiative. Any recommendations?
I strongly recommend focusing on the GMAT first. Courses are good to take, but only when you have done as well as possible on the GMAT. A bump in the GMAT score will go much further than any online course.
Send me a note to discuss further:
scott@personalmbacoach.comBest,
Scott
_________________