I must say that your profile is progressive. I also appreciate your past efforts and current MBA goal to improve your career and change the industry. It is common for high-performing individuals to change their career line with the help of an MBA at a good college. I request you to stick with me throughout this text as I evaluate your profile step by step.
The average GMAT of the typical class stands at 722. Though the range of accepted GMAT also includes 690 that depends a great deal on work-experience and ECs. Given the fact that you don’t have any exposure in Finance and core Consulting which most top b-schools demand, your proposition will fall weak if you keep it that way. So, while you may try to increase your GMAT, you need to work harder on showcasing your profile as that of a Marketing oriented with a long-term orientation towards Consultation.
Being said about score, I personally believe your ECs are fabulous and you should not underestimate them. Your Japanese certification is of unique importance along with the fact that you have made social contributions as well, especially the one when you took a year gap and tutored kids in Nepal. It’s very unconventional. Your international exposure marks another qualitative characteristic of your profile.
Also, your work-ex does bring many good elements including leadership and business strategy. You should talk about the experiences that may have helped you cultivating and enhancing these skills at work. All this together will come forward to support your GMAT score for your dream college.
If you'd like, we are happy to hop on a call some time this week to discuss your chances in further detail and help you understand your target schools better. Feel free to
as per your convenience.
Hi there! Appreciate if I could get feedback on (1) my profile and (2) thoughts on my chances at Wharton if I get around 690 GMAT Score or if I should retake.
Thanks in advance
DemographicsAge: 28
Gender: F
Citizen: Singaporean
EducationBBA NUS
GPA: 4.2
GMAT: Yet to take, thinking lowest I'll get is 690
Work Experience: 3 years +(1) 1 year - SEA Marketing analyst at Ecom fashion platform that was relatively startup (<5 years running)
- Picked up basic coding as I was in charged of conversion rate optimisation
- Part of the team that started to monetize ad spaces on our site, I handled the operational onboarding process including finance/legal requirements across the region
Doing CRO made me realise I was just looking at a small portion of the company's books (revenue) and I wanted a broader exposure
(2) 2.5 years - APAC Finance controller at luxury cosmetics company (parent company is a large french company)
- Worked for SEA team 1 year
--> Did mainly top line reporting / gap analysis also helped to upskill / streamline the reporting that the markets were doing
--> On the side marketing related things (team that launched hugely successful inaugural event) / planned+emcee an SEA competition for influencers - got to meet + PR with celebrities was pretty cool).
- Promoted to APAC team doing more in-depth into FPA worked across 13 markets
--> In-charged of pricing our products (FX fluctuations / competition across the region / pricing guidelines)
--> Responsibly for training and rolling out 2 platforms for the region (financial reporting tools)
--> Budget & P&L reviews (regular exposure to Directors / VP / GMs)
--> COGS / Margin review
--> Financial modelling to negotiate deals with our counterparties / new market openings
--> Review organisation structure / distribution model
Undergrad:- Exchange for 6 months in Europe
- Gap year post grad 6-7 months in Nepal: was tutoring kids at an orphanage / teaching English to the high school seniors preparing for their uni entrance exams / gave 1-2 entrepreneurship classes/sermons in the community / did outreach caroling and post earthquake relief
Extracurricular ActivitiesPost-Grad: Not much tbh have been really busy since work started my side hobby has been learning Japanese for 4 years now and I have an N3 certification.
Undergrad
- Student camp leader for 2 separate camps / Planning committee in 1 camp
- Won 1 case competitions / 2nd place in another; one with a local publishing company and another with Global MNC (was a non-profit type thing to address social problems)
- Outside of school I was volunteering with a church, planning & execution of lessons for children in the community
Post-MBA goals- ST: consulting - why? Learn across different functions and fast. Working at a Global/ cross-market level and apply that perspective to APAC / PEs in the region
- LT: PE - why? Shape the competitive landscape
Wharton is my dream school so appreciate the time and effort taken to review my profile
From my perspective, strength & weakness of my profile as below; let me know if I'm off target here and where I can improve on:
Strength
(1) Global perspective - living abroad Nepal and Europe / speaking 3 languages / work wise have always been in regional position / grew up in mix-culture household (parents are from different SEA countries)
(2) Mentor/leadership - at work I own 3 platforms for the region (2 of them I self-learned then trained and rolled out) / held excel class for my colleagues to upskill / mentor for youth in Nepal & During Uni days
Weakness
(1) Potential 690 GMAT Score
(2) Run of the mill consulting goal
13 Dec 2020, 19:43
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