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Hi Gil,

Any suggestions on my profile would be greatly appreciated.

I am 24 yo White male
I have my BA in Anthropology from University of Florida 3.5gpa
I am working towards my Doctorate of Pharmacy degree from University of Florida (Top 10 in pharmacy schools) 3.3gpa
Expected GMAT 710

I will graduate in 2 years and begin "working" as a clinical pharmacist for 1-2 years, however it will basically be equivalent to more schooling. Typically not too many pharmacists take this route of two years of residency, probably less then 10%. But I am definitely looking at 3-4 more years before applying to B School.


I hear they look at your undergrad gpa a lot and although mine is decent at a glance my first 2 years were abysmal, including a medical withdrawal for a semester and some dropped courses (followed by 3.9ish average for the next 2 years to make it into Pharm school). So, I was wondering if most business schools will look past my first 2 years of grades, especially if I turned it around, or would my grades from the higher education be weighted more?
Yes, according to our experience, the fact that you turned it around, and achieved a 3.9 in the last two years of college, will have a significant positive effect (compared to a situation where you had, say, a 3.5 GPA in each of the 4 years).

I was not very involved in undergrad (some community service) however I am extremely involved in Pharm School, including being the president of an organization, and holding a position in another.

With that being said perhaps the advice that I would most benefit from would be what do I need to work on to become a stronger applicant. And maybe even with the negatives I have now holding me back where I should aim for.
Any way you can get some more managerial/leadership experience in these coming few years? Manage people? Start an organization/department? Initiate some successful projects? This may help. Also, any way you could get some distinctions/citations at work? This should help too.
As to schools - under the assumptions of GMAT 710, strong essays and recommendations, and focus on schools which are at least somewhat healthcare-oriented, our experience shows that you will be a competitive-to-strong candidate at UNC, competitive-to-strong at Duke (closer to competitive), competitive at Haas and NYU, competitive to stretch (closer to competitive) at Wharton, Columbia, MIT and Kellogg, competitive to stretch at Stanford, and stretch at HBS.



I really appreciate you taking the time to read this and give me your opinion.

Thanks!

You're welcome. Good luck!

Gil Levi
Aringo.com

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I'm in the process of selling my small business (website and brick & mortar store) and it's always been a goal of mine to get my MBA. My friends tell me I'm crazy and that my experiences starting & running my business have already earned an honorary MBA, but I'm drawn to the degree for other reasons aside from career progression.

I do believe it's a waste of my time and effort to go to a school outside the top 10, however, as I'm really after the credibility, the network, and the exposure to other smart people. That brings me here...I'm not sure if I'm a candidate for a top program. If I'm not, then perhaps my time & effort would be better spent on starting the next venture.

A brief bio:

• 32 year old white male currently living in Houston
  
• graduated from Texas Tech University Honors College in 2002 with a degree in MIS (3.5 GPA with an F on the transcript)
  
• received a few merit based scholarships during undergrad, was very active in student government & other organizations
  
• studied in London during undergrad
  
• worked in London/Europe during undergrad
  
• started my own business immediately upon graduation
  
• grew business revenue from 0 to 2 million. Employ between 6-12 people depending on the time of year.
  
• recently started investing in/managing rental homes. Currently have 4 with hopes of 8 by year end.
  
• started a charity in my deceased sister's name that awards annual scholarships and donates for research
  
• not extremely active in the community (mainly due to running a business), aside from assisting with a few charity golf tournaments
  
• climbed mt kilimanjaro and mt mckinley*
  
• now in the process of selling my retail business after weathering and navigating through multiple business cycles

Please let me know your opinion. I took the GMAT 15 years ago and got a 680 with no preparation. Although I'm noticeably rusty right now, I think I can do better than that and I'm currently taking a Veritas class.

On the basis of the information above, and under the assumption of strong essays and recommendations and a GMAT score of 700, our experience shows that you will be a competitive candidate at schools such as Duke, Michigan and Darden, competitive to stretch (closer to competitive) at schools such as Tuck, competitive to stretch at Kellogg and Chicago, competitive to stretch (closer to stretch) at Wharton, MIT and Columbia, and stretch at HBS and Stanford.

You may find application tips and scholarship info for most of these schools here:
https://www.aringo.com/schools.htm


Thanks for your help.

HI!

Ill try to be concise.

25 years old (26 by Fall of 2012), African-American male, first-gen College grad.

3.34 GPA through 2-years of Community College, A.A. and A.S. 3.11 GPA during two years at a large state college, B.S. Business Finance, 3.24 GPA Cumulative.

GMAT: 690 (q:44, v:40), first attempt. I don't plan on retaking unless I am rejected from every school for 2012 matriculation. Hopefully work experience will help to make up for the low quant score.

Work: Director of Finance for a for-profit educational institution, 3 direct reports (all with degrees and all older than myself), also the youngest Director of Finance, of 10, in the Southern California District. Impressive work experience! The director title helps.

Only Extra-C is through work where I'm one of the founding members of the Management Trainee Mentor Program in which we mentor newly hired Management Trainees as they complete a 2-year rotational management program.

*oh, also was in a Fraternity and was a member of the Black Student Union while in college but there was no relevant leadership experience.

Side story - while at the state college I supported myself with money earned through the music industry. Had a local radio / Myspace hit in 06'. Had a few decent connections in the industry and was driving to Hollywood nearly every night after classes to record / produce music. This is the chief reason why my GPA had a downward trend while at the state college. Important info! Helps explain the GPA a bit. The experience itself is also likely to be appreciated by most adcoms.

Post MBA goal: to become a Research Analyst at a Bulge-Bracket Investment Bank. Backup plan = back to general management but in a different industry.

I'm applying through the Consortium and absolutely LOVE the following programs:

NYU
Cornell
UCLA
Texas
USC
Wisconsin

Also, YES, although cliche, I'll likely be applying to HBS as an extreme / nearly impossible reach.

Any input you have in regards to my odds at these schools is greatly appreciated!

On the basis of the information above, and under the assumption of strong essays and recommendations, our experience shows that you will be a strong candidate at Wisconsin, competitive to strong at USC, competitive to strong (closer to competitive) at Texas, competitive at Cornell and UCLA, competitive to stretch (closer to competitive) at NYU and, as you predicted, stretch at HBS. Possibly, re-consider your career choices - both for the sake of the application, and for the sake of your career If your career plan was focused on the education industry, I believe your candidacy would have been a bit stronger. Something to think about...

Thanks!

Hi Gil,

I could really use your help.

Please evaluate my profile and let me know my chances:

Age : 22
Country: India
Gender: Male

GMAT: 680 (Split QA : 44, VA : 40)
TOEFL: Haven't taken it

Education:
- Bachelors in Information Technology from Indian Institute of Information Technology - Allahabad. [Institute ranks 9th in India ]
- GPA 7.5/10
- "A" in Business and Management Courses.


Leadership:
- Was Class representative and School.
- Career Expo representative at Undergrad.

Work experience:
- 6 months with Motorola as an Intern at Applied Research and Technology Centre, Motorola India Research Labs.
- Have a patent application with US PTO for the research done at Motorola (Listed as the first inventor)
- 2 years working for Cisco. (Continuing now)
- Won a Cisco Star Award (Best employee of the quarter)
- Also part of various process improvement initiatives at a Business Unit Level.
- Got promoted in the 1st year of work at Cisco.

Others:
- Involved in various Social Initiatives at Cisco.
- Active participant in the School Adoption Program at Cisco. [ We developed the school with the help of funds received from colleagues and educate the kids]
- Was a member of Prayaas at college. [ Prayaas is a program we started to educate the uneducated kids in the slum near our college]

Please let me know a few schools where I stand chance with the above profile.

Thank You..

hi Gil

i'd appreciate it if you could give a little feedback about my chances with the following profile and also the kinda schools (a few examples would be good) i could apply to considering my goals.

Age: 25
Country: India
Gender: Male
GMAT First try:660 Second try: 720 Q 47 V 42

Education:
- B.Tech in Applied Petroleum Enggineering from the the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies (A niche school catering to the energy sector, focusing on oil and gas) I was part of the very first batch graduating from the school. But i have a super **** GPA- 2.4 (will explain later)

Work experience:
- 4 years as of July '11 in a reputed petrochemical company in india. Started out as a managment trainee, promoted to an engineer officer. I am an assistant manager right now, managing a team of 15 plus people on a daily shift duty basis. Responsible for general technical management and running of the $120 million HDPE unit. I Was part of team that undertook a capacity addition revamp of the entire plant worth $300 million. Given my track record, i will most probably be promoted to the position of a deputy manager next year. I Have been preforming all the duties designated to a deputy manager since 2009 due to a sudden shortfall of experienced manpower. i can get good refrences from a senior manager and a DGM.
Also the company i work for hasnt been doing so well financially for the past couple of years, which was down to some bad choices made by the managment. Since then the Managing director has changed. i recently gave a presentation to him related to certain structural changes which can be incorporated to optimize our process as well as cut costs. some of those soulution are being implimented already. the potential saving that i proposed came out to about $5 million per annum.

Others: I grew up in a diplomatic family, staying in a plathora of diff. countries such as the states, kenya, kuwait, mayanmar, germany, UAE....the list goes on. this gave me an oppertunity to meet, interact and form lasting friendships with people consisting of a diverse background.
i have minimal extracarriculars cuz of the 7 days a week workday. but i am part of the local football (soccer) team at club level. (undefeted for 4 years running)

Reason for low GPA:
My family moved from the US to india when i was in the 11th grade. the difference between the school curriculam is staggering. I had to start from the 8th grade books and build upto the 12th grade (barely survived failing 11 grade, down to some serious mugging up) that was a time when i was putting in 8 hrs study sessions daily besides school for the length of the entire school year. suffice to say it was hell. well i managed to pass with a respectable 70 percent and got into a good technical school. metally i was sapped. and i compensated by slacking off a LOT. had i known then what i know now i would have worked harder on the gpa but it took me 3 long years to realize the importance of that gpa and by then i could only pull it upto a 2.4. it does sound like an excuse, i know, but it did play a part.

reason for mba: i have a certain affinity for the company that i work for and as i already mentioned the state of the company and my efforts to help change the situation i.e the presentation i gave to the MD. i tried submitted such proposals before but met with significant resistance due to the radical nature of the said ideas and also due to the lack of strength in the leadership. i was not in a position to initiate change myself nor did i possess the bussiness acumen required to access the business model of the company and suggest/implement appropriate changes. An MBA would go miles in addressing that issue besides

goals

I dont wanna go into i-banking or MC for that matter. General management appealed to me bacause it would more or less cover all the topics that i need to know to get a better understanding of how a bussiness works in a more holistic sense. Also I would like to be associated with a top 10 energy company(oil and gas if you wanna be more specific), because thats where my core competence lies, i understand the workings so i would contribute in a more focused sense. Also the oil and gas industry is set for a transition from the current sources of energy to alliterative energies. My long term goal would be to lead such a company, influence policy and overall help the company adapt to our ever increasing energy demands in an environment friendly and sustainable manner. Form the company into a beacon of light that the rest of the industry can follow. (lofty ambitions yes, but you have to dream big to achieve big)

Side note:
I joind the company im currently working for right outta school when it was obscenely profitible and have seen it decline ever since due to some very bad management decisions. if 10 years down the line i can look back and see that i contributed to the turn around then ill proudly say that i achieved something of note. That is a project i would definitely like to be associated with once i have some experience under my belt.
Also some help with refining my goals(if they sound too vague) would be greatly appreciated.

The kinda schools im looking at:
If there is one thing that i'v learned in the last 4 years is that the brand matters. it opens doors which normally would be locked. So yes im looking at top tier schools and my question is what kinda schools would i have a realistic chance of getting accepted into? I have no concrete preference country wise, the school/program has to be good. And i would be comfortable working in any country, i have no preferences their either.
again thanks for the reply,i appreciate it.
Also what kinda chance would i have at LBS? they have a strong Asian bent with regards to their programs.

Finally: Thank You for putting up with this horrendously long post. but i have been lost for the past couple of weeks with regard to the kind of colleges i should apply to. thank you again for the feed back.

P.S: apologies for the spelling mistakes, one of my perrinial weaknesses.

I am planning to take an MBA (top 10 Biz Schools; in particular Wharton, Harvard, London Business School, Columbia, INSEAD, MIT) in the next 1-2 years.
Age: 26
Nationality: Italian
Languages: Fluent in Italian, English, German. Good command of French, Spanish.
GMAT: N/A

Studies:
Bachelor in Business Administration (Bocconi University), GPA: 28/30, Final Grade 110/110
Thesis on Information Systems: The implementation of an ERP Solution
Fudan University (Shanghai) - 1 month course
MSc in Economics of Innovation and Technology (Bocconi University), GPA 29,5/30, Final Grande: 110/110 cum laude
Thesis in corporate Finance: Using real options to evaluate industrial investments in FMCG industry
Msc in Business Admn. (CBS) (Double Degree Program)

Post Graduate work exp:
Luxembourg (1,5 years): FMCG multinational company (7Bn € Turnover), Strategy and Business Planning, working in the worldwide CEO dep., administrator of the group financial simulator tool.
Germany (1 year): same company, Shopper MKTG Manager (depicted by Bain Germany as the best practice in this country), working together with the sales team responsible for 50% local company`s turnover (approx. 800M €). Developed innovative quantitative projects that enhanced retailers' turnover.

Activities:
Talent Management Workshop (CBS) for a 3bn€ industrial manufacturing company operating worldwide: been selected as a talent ambassador together with other 4 Scandinavian students in order to develop a Strategy plan focused on how to find, evaluate and retain best people. Direct involvment with general managers/directors from all over the world.
Category Manager certification: coming soon
Partecipated for 1 year in a social housing project
Active member of the Rotaract Club
At the age of 17 I developed and managed an Information System for the local authorities regarding economic development.

Reason for doing an MBA:
I would like to further my own business. I am going to launch two innovative companies and I believe a MBA program will give me the chance to climb my learning curve quickly.

GMAT: I hope to hit a score around 700, but you never know...

What is your advise? Timing? Schools? What I need to strenghten in my profile?

Thanks!

Hey

Please evaluate my profile as per below, would appreciate your honest feedbacks. I am planning to apply for fall 2012.

23/M/India, based in Mumbai

Work experience (total 40 months as of Sep 2012):
1.) Top 5 Investment Bank - (Feb 2010 - present)
Analyst, Middle East Advisory
# Started this team in my division
# Single member team in India with other team members in Dubai, Riyadh, Paris and London
# Have worked on 5 deals as of now (including M&A, IPO and Advisory), with two >US$500 million. Worked with several high profile clients in telecom, fashion, Private Equity and construction industry.
# International exposure - visited my team's headquarters in Dubai for 3.5 months (youngest ever in my division to get this opportunity, within 3 months)
# Continuous promotions with exceptional rating, can get great recos from international guys.
# Mentored and led interns and junior Analysts in India and London

2.) Top 5 Investment Bank (May 2009-Jan 2010)
Analyst, Oil & Gas team
Worked on one IPO. Shifted owing to a Management buy out of my division.

3.) Self start-up, Event and Artist management company (June 2010 - present)
Founder Partner
My own start up (work parallel to JPM), have managed and organised 2 events until now, and 3 in pipeline. Major ones being:
# Metal festival with 7 indian and 2 international bands (from UK and France), total attendance of over 500, sponsorship and corporate tieups, and celebrity presence.
# Fund raising for a micro finance NGO - a play and concert, total attendance around 400, high celeb presence
# Pipeline includes movie festival and music events for the cultural festival for a top 3 Indian B-school
# Part time because of lack of confidence and resources (network, capital) to pursue it full time.

Education
# Mechanical Engineer, Top 5 engineering institute in India
# GPA 3.0
# Excellent leadership and extra currics - started the debating society and initiated several international tie-ups. high level of international and national level event management, right from initiation to management. Have headed technical, cultural, debating and theater societies

Extra-curriculars
# 1 Patent pending approval
# Scripted and directed a play for fund raising, casting poor children for their sponsorship
# Tutored the workers at my internship company in Physics, Chemistry and Maths for their distance learning education
# Published poet and writer for my alumni magazine
# Presented Paper on 'Distorted Mirrors'
# Member, Indian Mathematics Society and Toastmasters

Scores:
# GMAT - 710 (50,35)
# TOEFL - 113

Languages known - English, Hindi, French and Spanish

Post MBA plans:
# Strategy

Target schools:
Strong diversity focus - INSEAD, LBS, Tuck, Kellogg and HEC. Would appreciate any suggestions on my list.

Queries:
# Profile evaluation for above schools and college suggestions
# Should I retake my GMAT, given I am a young applicant ?
# Would the extreme diversity - Mechanical Engineering + I-banking + Event management be viewed negatively ? If yes, can it be offset ?

Many thanks for your help!

Hey Gil and Brian,

I have a question regarding work experience and its effect on admission chances -
Does the fact that I switched from a managerial position to a development position hurt my chances?
Would appreciate your advice.