yooner12 wrote:
Korean Male
Age: 27
Language: Fluent in both English and Korean
Education
- BS(Finance & Marketing) in Kelley School of Business
- GPA: 3.5/4.0
Test Scores
- GMAT: Verbal(38/85%), Quantitative(49/90%), Total(710/94%), AWA(4.5/55%)
- TOEFL: 115/120(IBT)
Work Experience
- Junior Manager at an LG affiliate company; Finance Team; 4 years
- Main role as treasurer, company disclosure, capital operation(short term investments), short-term capital planning
- Took part in 3 corporate bond offerings(100M USD each)
- Secondary roles in capital raising, IR
Extra-Curricular Activities
- Interpretor at 2002 FIFA Korea-Japan World Cup: interpreted in pre-match meetings b/w FIFA & national teams
- CFA Level 3 candidate
- Active Stock Trader
- Active basketball player
- Praise Team Leader at church
Target Schools
- Kellogg, Wharton, Sloan, NYU, Stanford, maybe Harvard
Questions
1. I only have 1 work experience to write about since I've been with the same company after I graduated from college. Will that hurt my chances in the application process?
2. I took the GMAT once and got a 710. Considering my target schools, would 710 be adequate or should I consider re-taking the GMAT to obtain a higher score?
3. Am I aiming to high with my target schools? Should I try to upgrade my background or should I lower my target schools to top 20?
4. Could being a praise team leader be a legitimate leadership position in the application or should I not mention it in the application?
Thank you in advance for evaluating my profile.
Your feedback would be greatly appreciated.
yooner12,
To answer your questions:
1. No, one work experience is fine. The question will be, is there enough leadership and impact in that one experience. Ask yourself how your career progress has been fast-track or atypical.
2. 710 would certainly be adequate, but to maximize your chances at these ultra elites you should raise it if you can. Another 10 points won't make any difference though.
3. You are aiming a bit high, especially with Stanford and HBS. I recommend adding some other schools from the top 15 to your list to spread your risk. Of course, upgrading your background is always desirable: promotions, more leadership/impact in work or extracurriculars. You still have a couple of months here to strengthen your profile.
4. I'm not quite sure I know what a praise team leader is, but if it involves motivating or coordinating the activities of others it is definitely leadership and should definitely be listed in the application. Whether you talk about it in your essays depends on the depth of involvement and whether any good stories suggest themselves.
Good luck,
close
22 Jun 2007, 21:57
