MBA journey begins...looking for help/advice!
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04 Oct 2014, 16:35
This is my first post on GC, sorry if its a little lengthy, wanted it to be as detailed as possible. Looking for some advice/help.
My Exhilarating Profile:
Age: 23 (26/27 at matriculation)
GPA: 3.0 - 3.1 from a Top 10-15 Canadian University (one of the three largest). Majored in Law and Political Science. Had a 3.3 in my major and a 3.7 in my minor in my final year, upward trend. Took economics classes as electives: A in Calculus 2 and Macro (top 5% of class), B's in Calculus 1 and Micro (top 10-15% of class)
GMAT: 700-720 expected
White male
Low GPA: Worked 2 part-time jobs each year; in my final year I worked 40hrs/week at a marketing company while doing full-time school. I was also on Student Council for four years - added ~20-25hrs/week on top of my already full-time hours.
WE: I currently work at a Fortune 20 tech company. Started as a Tax Coordinator, and after one year was promoted to Junior Project Manager. I plan to be here for a total of 3-4 years (hopefully move into their consulting sector). Worked as a Leadership Development Assistant during my first year.
Extras/Community:
-Was on varsity soccer for two years (won Nationals in my first year)
-Invited to training camps/try-outs in England and Brazil (was invited back to stay and train in Brazil)
-Heavily involved in my University - was Student Council Promotions Director, VP twice, and President. We were given ~$200 000 each year to spend on our affiliated students (approx. 8000 students were affiliated with us).
-Sat on University Student Representative Roundtable (sat with all University Execs, i.e., President, VPs, Provost, Senators, student club Presidents, etc to discuss all University matters)
-Elected to the University Orientation Steering Committee (sat with all University Execs, i.e., President, VPs, Provost, Senators, etc to discuss all University matters revolving around student Orientation)
-Was given two leadership awards by the University; i) Outstanding Contribution and Dedication to the University, ii) Outstanding Contribution to Student Life
-Created and presented Leadership Workshops on my own time to student club/organization members
-Was a member of the Presidents Association (Met with other student club/organization presidents weekly)
-Was apart of an organization that helped raise money for low-income families in our community, helping cut costs so kids could come to camp (we taught them sports, tutored them, etc)
-Was apart of the Movember Fund - charity supporting male prostate cancer
-Was apart of an organization that sought to raise money for cancer research, help cancer patients and their families for two years
-a Muay Thai fighter
Goal: I want to leverage my project management experience in finance/IT to transition into management consulting in the financial services area; aiming for MBB.
Schools: Wharton, Columbia (ED?), Kellogg, Booth, MIT Sloan, NYU Stern, and Yale (would maybe like to cut another 1 or 2 of these)
My questions:
i) Would I be competitive at any of these? Which are stretches, and which, if any, am I competitive at? Should I add others?
ii) Should I look into doing an alternative transcript? If so, which classes?
iii) Since I have a couple years until I would apply, is there anything else I could do/build on to help my chance? Extras, community stuff, etc?
iv) Which schools seem like a better fit for me? I'm a very social individual.
Thanks for all the help, much appreciated.