Intern
Joined: 11 Sep 2012
Posts: 18
Location: United States
Concentration: Marketing, General Management
GPA: 3.54
Art business background - profile evaluation request
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03 May 2014, 12:40
I am hoping to apply ED to Columbia for the Oct. 2014 deadline and if that does not work out, I was thinking of applying to Stern, Yale, and Cornell. I am requesting a profile evaluation from anybody that can provide me with any valuable insight as I am coming from an unusual background for business school…
Stats:
White/Male/LGBT (if that is of any consequence)
GMAT: 700 (Q 45, V 42) (Planning on taking Calculus this summer to cushion my quant score a bit. Got an “A” in business statistics in college.)
GPA: 3.54 from a decently ranked liberal arts college (business major). Postbaccalaureate classes at Columbia University.
Extracurriculars: Very strong in college. Volunteered for well known LGBT charity in NYC in recent years but no major leadership or anything of the sort.). I run a popular photo blog with over 3 million hits as well if that counts for anything.
Essays should be strong. Will probably use a consultant to get my story straight.
Recommendations should be excellent.
Work experience: Now this is where it gets to be a bit more ‘non-traditional.’ I have been the Assistant Director of a major New York (and London) based art gallery for the past 3 years (and an associate at the same gallery prior to that for 2 years). We have dealt with many a-list clients and institutions (Met Museum, Louvre, British Museum etc.) and are one of the top galleries in the world for our particular segment of the art market. We probably have the largest inventory in the world for our particular field ($100 million +). It is a small business that the average person would be unaware of unless they were in the art world.
I would like to get out of my current field and transition into luxury retail and into a more corporate function. I realize that I will have to perfect that statement a bit more. I have many reasons for wanting to leave my current field but the main reason is that government regulation (import regulations for works of art entering the United States) in my field has reached such a point that I don’t believe that my industry will exist in this country in 5 years time. The field has also become competitive to the point of no return as the available worldwide inventory shrinks everyday (as more works of art are donated to museums).
Thoughts on my background? Particularly the work experience part of it? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.