btsellers13 wrote:
27/M/African American with CPA
Currently a senior associate at a small regional accounting firm (~150 employees). I've received great reviews and have been given numerous leadership opportunities including on jobs and on campus recruiting. I stayed at a Big 4 firm for 1 year and absolutely hated it and left to join a smaller firm because I wanted more time to start my social entrepreneurship venture. This venture is a digital marketing agency that does probono digital marketing consulting for nonprofits and social entrepreneurs. I also have a full time social marketing service which is a paid service. I have multiple (2-3) employees that I manage. Our efforts have helped 30+ organizations increase their website traffic, engagement, and donations. Fund raising campaigns we've helped run have raised well over $100,000.
GMAT: 730
Northern Illinois University: 3.25/4.0 GPA with 3.95/4.0 in major (3.25 is a result of premed classes at different school while playing college football, A's in nearly all finance and accounting classes)
Any top 25 would be great but Yale, Haas, Ross, and Northwestern wold be tops for me because of their nonprofit/social entrepreneurship programs. Harvard would be a stretch I'm sure.
I want to use the MBA to refine my marketing skills and learn how to really create a great brand so that my agency can become a full marketing solutions for nonprofits. I believe a MBA and the connections that come along with that can help me immensely. I think landing a job in a nonprofit marketing/brand management department would be a great way for me to learn these skills.
My concern would be that I left Big 4 and now my job doesn't scream out "prestigious". My overall GPA also isn't amazing by any means. I think my strengths will be things I did outside of work with my digital marketing agency. What do you guys think?
You know what I like though? You sound like a man with a mission. You may have left Big 4, but there are so many plan Big 4 candidates out there. Instead you made a choice to do something that (at least how I see it) is both more exciting and more worthy. And I think the schools will have the same opinion.
I don't see any major weaknesses in your profile. Yeah, your GPA could have been better, but a 3.25 is not an application-killer (although it can make things a wee bit tough for Top 5 schools).
Your school list is a good one, and if you have extra time, why not add Harvard? I mean, yeah it's a long shot, but sometimes you gotta take those long-shots (although maybe not at the expense of applying to one of the other schools on your list).
If you haven't considered it, you might also want to check out about applying through the Consortium, especially given your dedication to social entrepreneurship.
I hope these thoughts help,
and if there's any other way I can help, just drop a line,
All the best,
JF