Intl; 23; 770 Q51 V42; 2+ yrs exp. Need advice on schools

Question

Hi, Linda! Another thank you for helping us out here on gmatclub.com! Age: 23 (another one of those younger applicants) Nationality: Bulgarian; living and working in Bulgaria GMAT: 770 (Q51, V 42); donâ€™t know my AWA score yet; Bachelor in business administration with a GPA of 3.73 / 4.00 from the oldest / most reputable state school in Bulgaria. Work experience: Sep 2004 â€“ present: associate / experienced associate at a Big 4 accounting firm. I have been appointed as a field in-charge on 5 engagements for the coming audit season. This means: communication with clients, audit planning, coaching other associates and reviewing their work. Already doing some of that stuff. I am the youngest newly-hired full-time associate in the 13-year history of the Bulgarian firm. Sep 2003 â€“ Aug 2004: accountant at a very reputable (unfortunately unknown in the USA) outsourcing firm. Worked there full-time during my last year in university. Quit, because the managing director kept lying to everyone that the salaries are going to go up. Jun 2002 â€“ Oct 2002: Work and Travel USA (a cultural exchange program). I worked as general help at a small family resort in NY. Promotion was out of the question, because the manager hires only two people each year. I have been supplying him with new recruits for the last couple of years â€“ this is the only impact Iâ€™ve had on the place (apart from helping fix the roof of one of the houses

) Professional designations: ACCA student. This is something like a CPA to be. Completed 5 out of 14 exams. I havenâ€™t really done any community service / voluntary work. Attended intensive courses in German in my junior year. I have also studied Russian for 12 years. Other: I play basketball / soccer (such a terribly inappropriate word for football) every weekend. Once in a while I organize paintball events for coworkers / friends. Reason for doing an MBA: my work experience in the last 2 years has really unleashed my appetite for tech knowledge. I want to do an MBA with a tech concentration, as I intend to move to business solutions consulting after I graduate. 6-8 years down the road? I must have returned to my home country and obtained corporate big shot status by then. I had a school list figured out, but I decided to revise it after my crazy GMAT score. I am looking to apply to 4 schools only and the current optimistic list is: MIT (very long shot?), Michigan or Carnegie Mellon (long shot?), Maryland, GATech. I am also considering UCLA and Boston College. None of the two schools has a reputation for tech, but UCLA is a name and they proclaim â€œa cooperative and congenial student cultureâ€

Accepted.com · Answer

Hi, Linda! Another thank you for helping us out here on gmatclub.com! Age: 23 (another one of those younger applicants) Nationality: Bulgarian; living and working in Bulgaria GMAT: 770 (Q51, V 42); donâ€™t know my AWA score yet; Bachelor in business administration with a GPA of 3.73 / 4.00 from the oldest / most reputable state school in Bulgaria. Work experience: Sep 2004 â€“ present: associate / experienced associate at a Big 4 accounting firm. I have been appointed as a field in-charge on 5 engagements for the coming audit season. This means: communication with clients, audit planning, coaching other associates and reviewing their work. Already doing some of that stuff. I am the youngest newly-hired full-time associate in the 13-year history of the Bulgarian firm. Sep 2003 â€“ Aug 2004: accountant at a very reputable (unfortunately unknown in the USA) outsourcing firm. Worked there full-time during my last year in university. Quit, because the managing director kept lying to everyone that the salaries are going to go up. Jun 2002 â€“ Oct 2002: Work and Travel USA (a cultural exchange program). I worked as general help at a small family resort in NY. Promotion was out of the question, because the manager hires only two people each year. I have been supplying him with new recruits for the last couple of years â€“ this is the only impact Iâ€™ve had on the place (apart from helping fix the roof of one of the houses

) Professional designations: ACCA student. This is something like a CPA to be. Completed 5 out of 14 exams. I havenâ€™t really done any community service / voluntary work. Attended intensive courses in German in my junior year. I have also studied Russian for 12 years. Other: I play basketball / soccer (such a terribly inappropriate word for football) every weekend. Once in a while I organize paintball events for coworkers / friends. Reason for doing an MBA: my work experience in the last 2 years has really unleashed my appetite for tech knowledge. I want to do an MBA with a tech concentration, as I intend to move to business solutions consulting after I graduate. 6-8 years down the road? I must have returned to my home country and obtained corporate big shot status by then. I had a school list figured out, but I decided to revise it after my crazy GMAT score. I am looking to apply to 4 schools only and the current optimistic list is: MIT (very long shot?), Michigan or Carnegie Mellon (long shot?), Maryland, GATech. I am also considering UCLA and Boston College. None of the two schools has a reputation for tech, but UCLA is a name and they proclaim â€œa cooperative and congenial student cultureâ€

CWithK · Answer

My top suggestions to you would be:

MIT -- Good tech backing; Nice B-school for tech-driven MBA;
Wharton -- Too many electives; Can specialize in tech subjects
Stanford -- Another "techie" kind of school; Highly flexible courses;


Best of luck!

vasild · Answer

Thanks to both of you! Your comments are certainly encouraging!

Unfortunately, when I say that money is a decisive factor for me, I mean that it is very likely a prohibitive factor. I cannot put in more than $15K per year toward my MBA. If I take a loan, I would need at least 10-15 years to repay it, unless I work in the US for a few years. I am definitely applying to Maryland and GATech, because I may get an assistantship at these schools.

I am going to apply to 2 of the elite schools you suggested after I study their financial aid options more carefully.

Thanks for your help,

Vasil

richardj · Answer

> I play ... soccer (such a terribly inappropriate word for football) every weekend. 

Why not come to London ?
We play proper football here.
Not just association football (soccer) but rugby football too (like American football but without the padding, cheerleaders and commercial breaks).

vasild · Answer

London would definitely help me up my game!! I participated in a corporate tournament in Cyprus a couple of months ago - one of the Polish teams had a British captain. That guy was so passionate! "Attack the ball, guys! Attack the ball!" Anyway, the good British (and other European) schools are very clear about work experience: if you don't have 3 yrs of work exp under your belt, you have much better options for spending the app fee money. Plus, it's not like they are giving away cash to financially challenged Eastern Europeans. The US schools seem more generous... The European schools are also better known for finance and international management rather than tech-oriented programs.

richardj · Answer

Believe me, if you attended a footie match in London you would hear English words that are not in the textbooks you were taught from. Most native Londoners do not speak grammatically correct English !

A number of the staff who were administering the GMAT test in London seemed to come from central and eastern europe. With the expansion of the European Union, the work and study visa system has changed. I don't know how much impact this has had on the admissions of the London Business School, or the other British schools. Most British MBAs are only 1 year long, which makes them cheaper than US ones, though London is an expensive city to live in.

Paul · Answer

If I'm not mistaken, LBS is one of the most expensive MBA in the world, if not the most, to undertake when one takes the costs of living into consideration. On top of having less scholarship opportunities than the US does, it also requires applicants to have more work experience. MOST European MBAs are indeed only 1 year long while that of LBS is 2 years long

Furthermore, you are right that when it comes to tech, you would most likely be best to pick a US school. With your kind of background, indeed MIT and Stanford would not be out of reach! Good luck.

Hjort · Answer

Don't forget that that are some other 2 year MBAs in Europe such as IESE and Manchester.

Paul · Answer

Thanks for your correction Hjort. I corrected my claim

Martin Anastasov · Answer

Hi Vasko, Stupenduously high score on the GMAT :-D

Congratulations on that! I read that you are currently an ACCA student and are working for one of the Big 4 auditing firms in Sofia. I'm 20 and currently I'm an International Finance and Trade student at the International University - Sofia. I'm currently contemplating on preparing for some of the professional qualification certificates (namely ACCA/CFA) and I'm interested where can I provide myself with the core textbooks from? I mean, where can I get them here in Sofia? I'm just still only trying to glean some general information on the subject but I will be glad if you can give me some recommendations and guidelines as to how you went about these issues, since you're more experienced than me? By the way, where do you prepare for the ACCA exams? Do you visit courses or do you rely on self-study? Concerning the recommendations about the best business schools, I don't reckon a Master's degree such as an MBA will be so important. You'd better invest in some professional qualification (as you're doing). Why am I saying this? You can be a graduate of the most prestigious and venerated university in the world and still you won't be allowed to sign external audit certifications until you become an ACCA with a three-year experience. That's the facts. Besides, even LSE's Msc in Accounting and Finance deals with some of the ACCA modules. But its by far better to cover the whole thing, rather than just some of the modules. Otherwise, I would recommend you to research London School of Economics (LSE) and London Business Schools (LBS) - the two BEST business schools in the world in my opinion. I would be appreciative if you could help me out. Thanks for the time. Martin

Intl; 23; 770 Q51 V42; 2+ yrs exp. Need advice on schools

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