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Salesman...I want to get out and get an MBA

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Pre777
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Salesman...I want to get out and get an MBA [#permalink] New post   02 Jun 2009, 14:04
I have been looking to go to business school for several years now. I actually applied to several programs with 2 years work experience and the best I did was get waitlisted at McCombs.

I'm going to re-apply this year to enter programs with 4.5 years post grad work experience, however it will be in sales. I feel that I have advanced significantly in my career, going from a small startup to now working for Oracle. I just finished the year bringing in 165% of my yearly quota.

The question I have is how do b-schools look on applicants with sales backgrounds? What do I have to be prepared to defend in interviews and on my essays?

as a side note I scored 710 on the gmat and have a 2.95 GPA with a major in italian and a minor in business. I served a two year lds mission to italy. Your help is greatly appreciated.
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Pre777
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Re: Salesman...I want to get out and get an MBA [#permalink] New post   02 Jun 2009, 14:57
As a follow up, I'm interested in pursuing a career in management consulting so I will be making a career change.

Yes I am open to international opportunities too.
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PaulBodine
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Re: Salesman...I want to get out and get an MBA [#permalink] New post   05 Jun 2009, 10:21
Pre777,

B-schools will be fine with your sales background as long as you show (through GMAT scores, etc.) that you are quantitatively strong enough for B-school and as long as you have enough leadership experience. If you manage a sales team, you should be fine. If you don't, you have a negative that you need to compensate for. Normally this is done by showing current, ongoing leadership outside of work. Your LDS experience in Italy and degree in Italian will help set you apart and the LDS experience may provide some of the leadership experience you need. But you also need current leadership.

Hope this answers your question.
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Re: Salesman...I want to get out and get an MBA [#permalink] New post   08 Jun 2009, 07:06
Great advice, thank you.
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PaulBodine
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Re: Salesman...I want to get out and get an MBA [#permalink] New post   10 Jun 2009, 17:42
You're welcome.
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Re: Salesman...I want to get out and get an MBA [#permalink] New post   16 Jul 2009, 14:23
If I can show decent leadership inside and outside of work, what range of schools would you recommend for me? Top 30?

Thanks!
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Re: Salesman...I want to get out and get an MBA [#permalink] New post   20 Jul 2009, 18:38
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Oh, yes, definitely top 30. Keeping in mind that I know very little about your profile, the following "consulting feeder" schools would probably be in your wheelhouse: CMU, Emory, Georgetown. You might even (and probably would) be able to aim a bit higher depending on the details of your profile.
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Re: Salesman...I want to get out and get an MBA [#permalink]
20 Jul 2009, 18:38

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