alanjensen wrote:
Hi Jon,
Could you please evaluate my profile?
Demographics: 29 year old White Male
GMAT: Attempt 2: 710 (Q49 V38 IR7) Attempt 1: 690 (Q48 V47 IR8)
Education:
Undergrad- 2.7 GPA from a state school, I had 3 semesters in which I had family health issues that I handled poorly and didnt go to classes resulting in 3 administrative failures. This is my huge weakness (duh) besides being a white male.
Graduate- 3.85 GPA from Boston College MSF program; I wanted to be able demonstrate to adcoms that the 2.7 state school gpa was not an accurate reflection of the person I am today and hopefully quell the obvious concerns over my undergrad. I understand this doesn't replace my undergrad but its the next best thing I could do.
Work Experience:
5 Years at a large asset manager (Like Fidelity, Wellington, Putnam). I had to start in a customer service role given my undergrad profile, I received 3 promotions, most recently to equity research analyst. I currently have 1.5 as an equity research analyst, will have 3 years as an analyst by the time of matriculation. I was able to successfully make the back office to front office transition. It is common for people in my company & role to get in to top 5 schools & we recruit MBAs almost exclusively from Harvard, Wharton, Booth, Columbia, and Sloan.
Professional Certifications: CFA
Goals Post MBA: Sr. Equity Analyst with a track to Portfolio Manager ideally at a large mutual fund, maybe work for a hedge fund.
EC: Involved with a charity founded after my friend passed away with leukemia, the foundation raises money for blood cancer research. Year 1 we raised a total $4000, now in year 5 we have cumulatively raised close to $500k, recently granted $250k to fund a phase 1 clinical trial researching NK cells.
I should have good recommendations; I can get alumni from each school to write my recommendations except for Sloan.
Plan to Apply Round 1 in Fall 2015 to These 6:
Focusing on: Booth, Columbia, Sloan, and Tuck
Reaches: Harvard and Wharton
Will apply to Stern and Johnson Round 2 if I have no luck round 1.
What do you think my chances are?
Should I retake the GMAT? Both attempts I have choked on RC, my practice exams before my first attempt were 740 & 750, practices before the 2nd attempt were 760 & 750. I feel I can definitely score better than a 710, but is it worth it to retake if I only get a 720 or 730? Will 10 or 20 points make a difference? I believe if I can get a 740-760 that puts Wharton in to play for me. Is 710 good enough for me to get in to one of my four?
Please let me know your thoughts on my profile.
Thanks!
Hey there dude,
Allrighty, first question: To retake or not? Always a tough one, when you have a 710. I mean, it's basically really a good enough score for any school, but of course a 740 is better (and puts you over the average, making it much easier for them to want to accept you). Can you get it? Might as well try if you believe you can. I should say that mock tests are not always very good representatives for a final score... but nonetheless if you think you CAN do better, I think you can give it a shot - worst case scenario you do a bit less than a 710, and you're not much worse off than before.
Your job seems like a good one to have and if they are taking post-MBAs from Top 5 schools into positions where you are working at now, then it looks to me like you should be fine there. Plus three promotions in a relatively short time - looks good.
Allright, you have a pretty terrible GPA, and this is the big weak point, but you have a good job, good GMAT and good Masters grades? Is it enough? For a school like HBS/Wharton it could be tough. They have their pick of the litter, and they can likely find someone with a similar profile with the 3.5+ from an Ivy League. Should you apply anyways? Sure, why not?
And if you already know NOW that you want to apply to Cornell/NYU, and that you are preparing already now, you might as well just apply to all schools in Round 1 (time-permitting of course). I mean usually your R2 applications will be well along the way before you maybe hear back from your R1 applications.
Best,
Jon