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Top 10 or top 15 Bschool chances? [#permalink]
 30 Jan 2013, 14:29
Hi,
So I am just trying to evaluate my chances at a top American business school when I apply for Fall of 2014. Below is a quick recap of my profile:
Graduated in 2010 with a low GPA 3.11 (majored in finance & accounting) from a state school in Texas. My grades in my first two years were horrific but the last two years were much better. Luckily I was able to secure a spot in a new college-hire program at one of the supermajor oil companies (a Fortune 5 company) due to submitting only the last 2 years worth of transcripts on my application (even then I was very lucky to get the job as they had a hard cutoff at 3.5 and my gpa was lower than that, I guess I interviewed well or they REALLY needed a diversity candidate). I am of south asian decent.
I had always been a good student but I had a medical issue in college and I really struggled with it. I'm not sure if I am even willing to share it with the adcoms so that is why I am looking for other ways to mitigate the low GPA portion of my application.
I was able to move up at the company relatively fast (moved jobs twice in less than 2 years) and now am a financial performance analyst within a commodity trade group on the trade floor. I am also sitting for my CFA level 2 exam this June (hoping to pass it!). In addition to the CFA, I am hoping to mitigate the poor undergrad gpa concern by creating an alternative transcript, I have taken one finance class at UCLA Extension thus far and got an A in it, I'll be taking another class soon, probably either statistics or calculus.
I'll be taking the GMAT in June and will be shooting for a score of around 700.
Extracurriculars:
- Mentor at a youth refugee organization in Houston (volunteer once or twice a week)
- Finance volunteer at a free business counseling non-profit (currently working to help a local small business secure a $230k loan to expand business)
- WILL be volunteering in Rio de Janeiro this spring break helping build a home for a family living in a favela in the city.
What are some realistic possibilities as far as schools are concerned? Columbia is my dream school but I know it will be very tough....
The following is a list of schools I want to get into:
Columbia/NYUStern/DukeFuqua/UCLAAnderson/Rice/UTAustin
Out of these schools which do I have best chance at?
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Manager
Joined: 25 Oct 2012
Posts: 145
Concentration: Strategy, Organizational Behavior
Schools: London Business School (LBS) - Class of 2002
WE: Management Consulting (Consulting)
Followers: 2
Kudos [?]:
54
[1] , given: 1
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Re: Top 10 or top 15 Bschool chances? [#permalink]
30 Jan 2013, 15:45
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Hi, You have not mentioned your career goals. It would be really important to have clear post-MBA career goal, as well as long-term career goal. Make sure you show transferrable skills that will help you succeed in your post-MBA career, and passion for you long-term goal. Sounds like you've done well professionally, and your volunteer business counseling work sounds great. You can try to explain reasons for your low GPA, and the alternative transcript will also help. Upward trend in the last two years also a plus. If you can put forth strong essays that demonstrate leadership capabilities and clearly articulate why MBA, why now, why a particular school, then you should have a good chance. Research the schools by talking to current students and alumni to see how the schools support your career goals. Good luck! Christine Lin If you find this post helpful, please give it KUDOS! pacman007 wrote: Hi,
So I am just trying to evaluate my chances at a top American business school when I apply for Fall of 2014. Below is a quick recap of my profile:
Graduated in 2010 with a low GPA 3.11 (majored in finance & accounting) from a state school in Texas. My grades in my first two years were horrific but the last two years were much better. Luckily I was able to secure a spot in a new college-hire program at one of the supermajor oil companies (a Fortune 5 company) due to submitting only the last 2 years worth of transcripts on my application (even then I was very lucky to get the job as they had a hard cutoff at 3.5 and my gpa was lower than that, I guess I interviewed well or they REALLY needed a diversity candidate). I am of south asian decent.
I had always been a good student but I had a medical issue in college and I really struggled with it. I'm not sure if I am even willing to share it with the adcoms so that is why I am looking for other ways to mitigate the low GPA portion of my application.
I was able to move up at the company relatively fast (moved jobs twice in less than 2 years) and now am a financial performance analyst within a commodity trade group on the trade floor. I am also sitting for my CFA level 2 exam this June (hoping to pass it!). In addition to the CFA, I am hoping to mitigate the poor undergrad gpa concern by creating an alternative transcript, I have taken one finance class at UCLA Extension thus far and got an A in it, I'll be taking another class soon, probably either statistics or calculus.
I'll be taking the GMAT in June and will be shooting for a score of around 700.
Extracurriculars:
- Mentor at a youth refugee organization in Houston (volunteer once or twice a week)
- Finance volunteer at a free business counseling non-profit (currently working to help a local small business secure a $230k loan to expand business)
- WILL be volunteering in Rio de Janeiro this spring break helping build a home for a family living in a favela in the city.
What are some realistic possibilities as far as schools are concerned? Columbia is my dream school but I know it will be very tough....
The following is a list of schools I want to get into:
Columbia/NYUStern/DukeFuqua/UCLAAnderson/Rice/UTAustin
Out of these schools which do I have best chance at?
_________________
 Christine Lin | Marvel Admissions
http://marveladmissions.com/ | Marvel Admissions Blog
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Manager
Joined: 25 Oct 2012
Posts: 145
Concentration: Strategy, Organizational Behavior
Schools: London Business School (LBS) - Class of 2002
WE: Management Consulting (Consulting)
Followers: 2
Kudos [?]:
54
[1] , given: 1
|
Re: Top 10 or top 15 Bschool chances? [#permalink]
30 Jan 2013, 16:34
1
This post received
KUDOS
Hi, That is great that you're working on the CFA, especially since it is related to your career goal. You're doing everything you can to compensate for the low GPA by building an alternative transcript. Having a high GMAT score would help also With my clients who want to join private equity, VC, and hedge funds, I tell them to prepare to put in extra effort to network and meet people within the industry. I did consulting for the investment management industry for many years, and was invovled with Hedge Funds Care here on the West Coast. http://www.hedgefundscare.org/I recommend you do some informational interviews with hedge funds to learn more about the work, and what skills and experience they're looking for. Good luck! Christine Lin If you find this post helpful, please give it a KUDOS! pacman007 wrote: MarvelAdmissions wrote: Hi, You have not mentioned your career goals. It would be really important to have clear post-MBA career goal, as well as long-term career goal. Make sure you show transferrable skills that will help you succeed in your post-MBA career, and passion for you long-term goal. Sounds like you've done well professionally, and your volunteer business counseling work sounds great. You can try to explain reasons for your low GPA, and the alternative transcript will also help. Upward trend in the last two years also a plus. If you can put forth strong essays that demonstrate leadership capabilities and clearly articulate why MBA, why now, why a particular school, then you should have a good chance. Research the schools by talking to current students and alumni to see how the schools support your career goals. Good luck! Christine Lin If you find this post helpful, please give it KUDOS! pacman007 wrote: Hi,
So I am just trying to evaluate my chances at a top American business school when I apply for Fall of 2014. Below is a quick recap of my profile:
Graduated in 2010 with a low GPA 3.11 (majored in finance & accounting) from a state school in Texas. My grades in my first two years were horrific but the last two years were much better. Luckily I was able to secure a spot in a new college-hire program at one of the supermajor oil companies (a Fortune 5 company) due to submitting only the last 2 years worth of transcripts on my application (even then I was very lucky to get the job as they had a hard cutoff at 3.5 and my gpa was lower than that, I guess I interviewed well or they REALLY needed a diversity candidate). I am of south asian decent.
I had always been a good student but I had a medical issue in college and I really struggled with it. I'm not sure if I am even willing to share it with the adcoms so that is why I am looking for other ways to mitigate the low GPA portion of my application.
I was able to move up at the company relatively fast (moved jobs twice in less than 2 years) and now am a financial performance analyst within a commodity trade group on the trade floor. I am also sitting for my CFA level 2 exam this June (hoping to pass it!). In addition to the CFA, I am hoping to mitigate the poor undergrad gpa concern by creating an alternative transcript, I have taken one finance class at UCLA Extension thus far and got an A in it, I'll be taking another class soon, probably either statistics or calculus.
I'll be taking the GMAT in June and will be shooting for a score of around 700.
Extracurriculars:
- Mentor at a youth refugee organization in Houston (volunteer once or twice a week)
- Finance volunteer at a free business counseling non-profit (currently working to help a local small business secure a $230k loan to expand business)
- WILL be volunteering in Rio de Janeiro this spring break helping build a home for a family living in a favela in the city.
What are some realistic possibilities as far as schools are concerned? Columbia is my dream school but I know it will be very tough....
The following is a list of schools I want to get into:
Columbia/NYUStern/DukeFuqua/UCLAAnderson/Rice/UTAustin
Out of these schools which do I have best chance at? Hey Christine, Thanks for the quick response. My long term goal is to work at an Hedge Fund but I am not sure how possible that is right out of MBA. Drawing from your experience, how much value do adcoms place on an applicant pursuing a CFA and would you agree that clearing the first 2 exams would compensate a bit for the low GPA? The CFA body of work is much harder than most of my undergrad studies... My biggest concern is the low GPA, I am just hoping that somehow I'll be able to get over this hump and get into the school I want. Thanks for the encouraging advice by the way... _________________
Christine Lin | Marvel Admissions
http://marveladmissions.com/ | Marvel Admissions Blog
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Intern
Joined: 24 Sep 2012
Posts: 14
Followers: 0
Kudos [?]:
1
[0], given: 2
|
Re: Top 10 or top 15 Bschool chances? [#permalink]
30 Jan 2013, 15:59
MarvelAdmissions wrote: Hi, You have not mentioned your career goals. It would be really important to have clear post-MBA career goal, as well as long-term career goal. Make sure you show transferrable skills that will help you succeed in your post-MBA career, and passion for you long-term goal. Sounds like you've done well professionally, and your volunteer business counseling work sounds great. You can try to explain reasons for your low GPA, and the alternative transcript will also help. Upward trend in the last two years also a plus. If you can put forth strong essays that demonstrate leadership capabilities and clearly articulate why MBA, why now, why a particular school, then you should have a good chance. Research the schools by talking to current students and alumni to see how the schools support your career goals. Good luck! Christine Lin If you find this post helpful, please give it KUDOS! pacman007 wrote: Hi,
So I am just trying to evaluate my chances at a top American business school when I apply for Fall of 2014. Below is a quick recap of my profile:
Graduated in 2010 with a low GPA 3.11 (majored in finance & accounting) from a state school in Texas. My grades in my first two years were horrific but the last two years were much better. Luckily I was able to secure a spot in a new college-hire program at one of the supermajor oil companies (a Fortune 5 company) due to submitting only the last 2 years worth of transcripts on my application (even then I was very lucky to get the job as they had a hard cutoff at 3.5 and my gpa was lower than that, I guess I interviewed well or they REALLY needed a diversity candidate). I am of south asian decent.
I had always been a good student but I had a medical issue in college and I really struggled with it. I'm not sure if I am even willing to share it with the adcoms so that is why I am looking for other ways to mitigate the low GPA portion of my application.
I was able to move up at the company relatively fast (moved jobs twice in less than 2 years) and now am a financial performance analyst within a commodity trade group on the trade floor. I am also sitting for my CFA level 2 exam this June (hoping to pass it!). In addition to the CFA, I am hoping to mitigate the poor undergrad gpa concern by creating an alternative transcript, I have taken one finance class at UCLA Extension thus far and got an A in it, I'll be taking another class soon, probably either statistics or calculus.
I'll be taking the GMAT in June and will be shooting for a score of around 700.
Extracurriculars:
- Mentor at a youth refugee organization in Houston (volunteer once or twice a week)
- Finance volunteer at a free business counseling non-profit (currently working to help a local small business secure a $230k loan to expand business)
- WILL be volunteering in Rio de Janeiro this spring break helping build a home for a family living in a favela in the city.
What are some realistic possibilities as far as schools are concerned? Columbia is my dream school but I know it will be very tough....
The following is a list of schools I want to get into:
Columbia/NYUStern/DukeFuqua/UCLAAnderson/Rice/UTAustin
Out of these schools which do I have best chance at? Hey Christine, Thanks for the quick response. My long term goal is to work at an Hedge Fund but I am not sure how possible that is right out of MBA. Drawing from your experience, how much value do adcoms place on an applicant pursuing a CFA and would you agree that clearing the first 2 exams would compensate a bit for the low GPA? The CFA body of work is much harder than most of my undergrad studies... My biggest concern is the low GPA, I am just hoping that somehow I'll be able to get over this hump and get into the school I want. Thanks for the encouraging advice by the way...
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Re: Top 10 or top 15 Bschool chances?
[#permalink]
30 Jan 2013, 15:59
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