Candidate with high GMAT, varied work experience and ECs but lower GPA assesses chances for an MBA in Financegreytmba wrote:
Hi AdmitWorld,
Thanks for providing and compiling these profile reviews. I got crushed with my apps this past year, essentially going 0 for 5 (still on waitlist at one school, but not holding my breath). This time around I want to start the process much earlier and set myself more realistic targets.
Target Schools for Fall 2011:
Dartmouth
Duke
Emory
UNC - Chapel Hill
Vanderbilt
MBA Concentration: Finance / Investment Management
Demographic: American, 28 (at Fall '11 matriculation), white male
Location: NYC, looking to stay in eastern US during and after MBA
GMAT = 750 (48 quant, 45 verbal), 6.0 AWA - only took exam once
UGPA = 3.15, bachelors in industrial engineering, minor in music performance
UGrad school = tier-3 state school in southeastern US, attended on a full scholarship and chose school for the ability to pursue both engineering and music interests
Work experience:
2.5 years - IT systems integration consultant for major consulting firm
2.5 years (at fall '11 matriculation) - project manager, sales and marketing systems integration and support for a major publisher
ECs:
during UGrad - started a new chapter of a national fraternity (served as first president), lots of volunteering with an animal rescue group, extensive involvement with university and local professional music ensembles
after UGrad - continued moderate volunteering with animal rescue group
Career goal:
Private wealth management - I really enjoy finding great stocks and a great price and sharing those findings with others. Over the last year I have been using a custom stock screener that I coded from scratch to manage a small, personal portfolio. I couldn't find a stock screener that had all of the figures I wanted, so I taught myself how to code so that I could develop this screener. I built the screener 2 years ago and have been making investments based on its output for 1 year. Long term career goal is to manage an endowment fund for non-profit animal rescue groups.
Other:
I think the definite weak spot in my profile is my UG school/GPA. I have tried to combat that with my GMAT score. I am currently studying for FINRA series 63 and 65 licensing as well as starting studying for CFA level 1 later this summer to help improve my preparation and attractiveness for job recruiting. I should have series 63 and 65 officially completed and able to use in applications. I am looking at taking CFA level 1 in June 2011, so that won't be done in time for apps, but will be done in time for Fall '11 internship recruiting.
Please let me know if any of my target schools are out of my league or if there are any other schools I should add to the list.
Thanks for your advice.
Hi Grey,
Thanks for reaching out to us. It's always encouraging for me to see an applicant who is ready to attack the application process with everything he has! It's a long process, and the attitude makes a bigger difference than anything else.
Since you have been reading the thread, you already know that we evaluate profiles from three perspectives of academic, professional and personal.
Academically, you hit the GMAT out of the ball park. However, being a relatively younger candidate when you last applied (with about 3 years of work experience if I am understanding this correctly), a lower GPA, especially that is not fully explained, can weigh down your application. In the words of an admissions officer at Chicago Booth, "if a candidate doesn't explain it upfront, we have no choice but to assume the worst." For this reason, we always include a Transcript Evaluation, where applicable, when we start an Admissions Consulting package. This would apply in your case too. Knowing what we have to mitigate upfront helps us develop a strategy both for appropriately positioning your undergrad performance across the various components of an application package, as well as identify any remedial steps such as community college classes or relevant work projects that you could be taking to demonstrate that your grad performance will be different. The undergrad GPA is not insurmountable, and the more senior you get at work with the associated accomplishments, the less importance will be attached to it. However, explaining it as I described above will always remain important to make sure there are no unanswered questions surrounding your application.
From a professional perspective, I have relatively few details to go on but I do like that you have experience across multiple functions with the common thread of systems integration running through them. The commonality will help to make your experience meatier while the work across different functions and two relatively different employers will add to your diversity. As above, the pivotal point for the success of your application will be which experiences/accomplishments you identify, how you tailor them for each school and the positioning you adopt (which can differ even for the same example) across different essay questions. For example, we would identify a particular accomplishment that both of us agree would make a great story for one of your essays for Program X. It is perfectly possible to use the same story for an essay for Program Y. However, what will make the difference is how you tailor it to the program and the attributes you choose to focus on for X vs. Y. The same story can show for example, leadership or innovation, but it needs to be appropriately to show these equally well to match two potentially different essays. That's one of the places where we add value.
Your extracurricular activities sound fine, but I would love to know more to make a more adequate judgment. What I do like is that you have continued your involvement after undergrad. Length of involvement is one of the important factors to judge the quality of your extracurricular activities, as are quantifiable metrics, your personal impact, etc. From the brief description above, It sounds like you would be able to provide both metrics that supplement your involvement as well as stories that demonstrate desirable personal attributes from your experiences.
Your post-MBA career goals receive a huge boost of credibility from both your self-built program as well as your prior involvement with animal rescue groups. Career switchers are very common at business schools, but it's important to pick relevant experiences and transferable skills that help demonstrate the potential for success in a new career. The screener and prior non-profit involvement will help substantiate your long- and short-term goals, as will the extra certifications you plan to pick up before business school.
In summary, you have a good profile but would be well-served by proactively addressing your weaknesses, and showing how you would mitigate them to be a non-issue in the future. Further, researching the programs through multiple avenues and tailoring your stories to match the program's expectations would further help in your success.
Let us know if you would like to talk further in our Free Initial Consultation. Two of our services that may be helpful to you at this point is our Ding Analysis (offered in two versions at $225 and $125) and our Candidate Profiling and School Selection report (currently offered at a discount for $75) which simulates a mini-application process to develop a detailed profile and offers 100+ schools with your chances of being accepted at each of them.
New prices coming soon! In the meantime, check us out at
My MBA Admit.