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11 Jun 2009, 21:23
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi Dan, thanks for your post. Please see my response below.
GMAT: 740, Q50, V40 AWA: 5.5
GPA: 3.45 (Good Progression... 3.8 in 3rd and 4th year), Mechanical Engineering (University of Toronto - Top Eng Program in Canada)
Work experience(WE): 2.5 FT (at matriculation) - Financial Services Consulting at Boutique Firm... I spent 3 months as an intern at the firm (not counted in WE), joined on as an Analyst after graduation, and just recently got a promotion to Associate at my 15 month review..
Nationality: Canadian
Age: 24.5 at Matriculation
Gender: Male
Extra-curriculars/community: U Toronto Engineering Hockey Team (2 years), Mech Eng Mentorship Program (1 year), Tutoring in Math and Science (5 years), Semi-Professional Snooker/Billiards Player on Canadian Circuit
Area of interest in MBA: Investment Banking/Sales & Trading
TOP CHOICE: I really want to go to Columbia (I'll apply ED)
2nd TIER CHOICES: Chicago Booth, Harvard, LBS, Darden
CANADIAN SAFTEY NET: Toronto (Rotman)
It looks like you have a competitive profile for all the schools you listed. Applying to Columbia ED is definitely a wise choice when CBS is your first choice. CBS is known to be yield-conscious, so they certainly favor ED applicants. Your high GMAT score will also ensure that your profile will get a close look, especially by Columbia (which, more than other top schools, favor high GMAT applicants).
The main challenge for you is to stand out among many applicants who share your general background of finance/consulting and career goals in i-banking. With a glut of finance-type applicants expected again this year (similar to last year), you should focus on being as specific as possible when describing what your achievements have been and what your career plans are, beyond just sales & trading in i-banking. You're on the younger side of the applicant pool, but with so many schools trending downward in age (led by HBS), this will not be a problem as long as you present yourself as a mature applicant who has accumulated enough quality work and life epxerience to contribute significantly in school.
Hope this helps. Feel free to contact us at [email protected] for a more detailed evaluation of your profile. Good luck!
Best,
Kevin
Kevin Chen
Clear Admit LLC
[email protected]
GMAT: 740, Q50, V40 AWA: 5.5
GPA: 3.45 (Good Progression... 3.8 in 3rd and 4th year), Mechanical Engineering (University of Toronto - Top Eng Program in Canada)
Work experience(WE): 2.5 FT (at matriculation) - Financial Services Consulting at Boutique Firm... I spent 3 months as an intern at the firm (not counted in WE), joined on as an Analyst after graduation, and just recently got a promotion to Associate at my 15 month review..
Nationality: Canadian
Age: 24.5 at Matriculation
Gender: Male
Extra-curriculars/community: U Toronto Engineering Hockey Team (2 years), Mech Eng Mentorship Program (1 year), Tutoring in Math and Science (5 years), Semi-Professional Snooker/Billiards Player on Canadian Circuit
Area of interest in MBA: Investment Banking/Sales & Trading
TOP CHOICE: I really want to go to Columbia (I'll apply ED)
2nd TIER CHOICES: Chicago Booth, Harvard, LBS, Darden
CANADIAN SAFTEY NET: Toronto (Rotman)
It looks like you have a competitive profile for all the schools you listed. Applying to Columbia ED is definitely a wise choice when CBS is your first choice. CBS is known to be yield-conscious, so they certainly favor ED applicants. Your high GMAT score will also ensure that your profile will get a close look, especially by Columbia (which, more than other top schools, favor high GMAT applicants).
The main challenge for you is to stand out among many applicants who share your general background of finance/consulting and career goals in i-banking. With a glut of finance-type applicants expected again this year (similar to last year), you should focus on being as specific as possible when describing what your achievements have been and what your career plans are, beyond just sales & trading in i-banking. You're on the younger side of the applicant pool, but with so many schools trending downward in age (led by HBS), this will not be a problem as long as you present yourself as a mature applicant who has accumulated enough quality work and life epxerience to contribute significantly in school.
Hope this helps. Feel free to contact us at [email protected] for a more detailed evaluation of your profile. Good luck!
Best,
Kevin
Kevin Chen
Clear Admit LLC
[email protected]
12 Jun 2009, 05:34
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi Kevin,
Thumbsup! You are doing a wonderful job here.
Would be thankful if you can please see my profile and let me know if I am targetting the right universities
GPA-3.53/4 (one of the National Institute of Technology,India)
Work-ex :2 years with Computer Sciences Corporation India .Total work-ex -3 at the time of joining a B-school
GMAT score :730. Balanced one
Extra-curriculars : Exceptional,if I can dare say that .Headboy of the School, Freestyle Rapper,Composer and guitarist.Have performed in public functions.Songs are available on youtube. Passionate writer-Constantly receive rave reviews for my satirical and paradoxical articles on my own website.Member of the winning team of the State Level Basketball team.Have won a gold medal in semi-cross country race.Have won several other medals in atheletics.Represented school at the State Level in Debate and Quizz comptetions.Member of the Literary and Debating Society in college (only 20 people outta 1000 get entry in this society)and member of a couple of other societies .Apart from all of the above,still have a lot of other things to mention
Professional Achievements :Certified in General Insurance Practices(Property & Casualty,Personal,Commercial Insurance) by AICPCU,America. Certified in Financial Markets,Derivates Markets,Securities Modules, Mutual Funds Module conducted by the National Stock Exchange,India .Have a couple of Technical Certifications,though I know there are not worth here. Have received a Certificate of Achievement for contribution to the team
Other activities : Working as an instructor and an educational counsellor with an NGO ,for the upliftment of slum children.
Target Universities :Darden,Indiana, UNC, Illionis(UC)and the likes.Basically universities with ranks between 20 to 40.
Special Note : A good Scholarship is a must .Even if I have to compromise on the universities .
Queries: 1.I am quite skeptical about my work-ex as it is on the lower side. What's your take on this, as most of the universities have people with around 5 years of work-ex ?
2. Though I have done the above mentioned professional certifications but I am working just as a software Engineer and don't have a leadership role. Your comment on this.
3.Do you think ,with my kind of profile and the pre-requisite condition that I need a scholarship,I am targetting the right universities ?
Would be really thankful if you could answer my queires and also throw some other insights,if any .Thanks a lot again
Thumbsup! You are doing a wonderful job here.
Would be thankful if you can please see my profile and let me know if I am targetting the right universities
GPA-3.53/4 (one of the National Institute of Technology,India)
Work-ex :2 years with Computer Sciences Corporation India .Total work-ex -3 at the time of joining a B-school
GMAT score :730. Balanced one
Extra-curriculars : Exceptional,if I can dare say that .Headboy of the School, Freestyle Rapper,Composer and guitarist.Have performed in public functions.Songs are available on youtube. Passionate writer-Constantly receive rave reviews for my satirical and paradoxical articles on my own website.Member of the winning team of the State Level Basketball team.Have won a gold medal in semi-cross country race.Have won several other medals in atheletics.Represented school at the State Level in Debate and Quizz comptetions.Member of the Literary and Debating Society in college (only 20 people outta 1000 get entry in this society)and member of a couple of other societies .Apart from all of the above,still have a lot of other things to mention
Professional Achievements :Certified in General Insurance Practices(Property & Casualty,Personal,Commercial Insurance) by AICPCU,America. Certified in Financial Markets,Derivates Markets,Securities Modules, Mutual Funds Module conducted by the National Stock Exchange,India .Have a couple of Technical Certifications,though I know there are not worth here. Have received a Certificate of Achievement for contribution to the team
Other activities : Working as an instructor and an educational counsellor with an NGO ,for the upliftment of slum children.
Target Universities :Darden,Indiana, UNC, Illionis(UC)and the likes.Basically universities with ranks between 20 to 40.
Special Note : A good Scholarship is a must .Even if I have to compromise on the universities .
Queries: 1.I am quite skeptical about my work-ex as it is on the lower side. What's your take on this, as most of the universities have people with around 5 years of work-ex ?
2. Though I have done the above mentioned professional certifications but I am working just as a software Engineer and don't have a leadership role. Your comment on this.
3.Do you think ,with my kind of profile and the pre-requisite condition that I need a scholarship,I am targetting the right universities ?
Would be really thankful if you could answer my queires and also throw some other insights,if any .Thanks a lot again
12 Jun 2009, 19:46
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi Target2010, thanks for your post.
You certainly have a very interesting profile! The key will be to present your diverse activities in a way that's relevant for business schools. For example, while the fact that you have performed as a musician may be impressive in its own right, from the standpoint of an MBA adcom, it would be more important for you to focus on the team/leadership aspect of your musical interest - were you part of a band and if so, can you write about your success in organizing the band as leader of the band? Do you plan to pursue any of your current activities while in business school? The adcoms are always looking for applicants who can enrich the school community by initiating activities and clubs.
Your short work experience is not a problem in and of itself, as you're well within the acceptable range for most schools. In fact, many schools are now looking for younger applicants, including seniors in college. However, you're correct that your lack of professional leadership experience would be a negative if you cannot demonstrate how you have impacted a team beyond just your solo work as a software engineer. For this reason, it would be especially important for you to show the adcom that even though you do not have any formal leadership title, you have had experience and success working as part of a team, even if it's on an informal basis. The key is to demonstrate that you have not been working in complete isolation, that you understand how to function in a team environment.
As long as you can accentuate your extracurricular and community service strengths and mitigate the potential weakness of lacking professional leadership experience, you should be competitive at applying to the schools you have listed. Unfortunately, scholarships are a bit of a crapshoot at this point due to the uncertain economy, especially scholarships for international students, so you simply have to apply and take your chances.
Hope this helps! Good luck and feel free to contact us at [email protected] for a more detailed discussion of your profile.
Best,
Kevin
Kevin Chen
Clear Admit LLC
[email protected]
You certainly have a very interesting profile! The key will be to present your diverse activities in a way that's relevant for business schools. For example, while the fact that you have performed as a musician may be impressive in its own right, from the standpoint of an MBA adcom, it would be more important for you to focus on the team/leadership aspect of your musical interest - were you part of a band and if so, can you write about your success in organizing the band as leader of the band? Do you plan to pursue any of your current activities while in business school? The adcoms are always looking for applicants who can enrich the school community by initiating activities and clubs.
Your short work experience is not a problem in and of itself, as you're well within the acceptable range for most schools. In fact, many schools are now looking for younger applicants, including seniors in college. However, you're correct that your lack of professional leadership experience would be a negative if you cannot demonstrate how you have impacted a team beyond just your solo work as a software engineer. For this reason, it would be especially important for you to show the adcom that even though you do not have any formal leadership title, you have had experience and success working as part of a team, even if it's on an informal basis. The key is to demonstrate that you have not been working in complete isolation, that you understand how to function in a team environment.
As long as you can accentuate your extracurricular and community service strengths and mitigate the potential weakness of lacking professional leadership experience, you should be competitive at applying to the schools you have listed. Unfortunately, scholarships are a bit of a crapshoot at this point due to the uncertain economy, especially scholarships for international students, so you simply have to apply and take your chances.
Hope this helps! Good luck and feel free to contact us at [email protected] for a more detailed discussion of your profile.
Best,
Kevin
Kevin Chen
Clear Admit LLC
[email protected]
