wondee wrote:
Hi Paul,
Can you please read my profile and evaluate? I am thinking about applying this Fall. Thanks.
Nationality, Age, Sex: Korean American, 23, M
Education: Temple University, Accounting Major, 3.5 overall, 3.8 major; I don't know if you are familiar with this school, but Temple U. is not the greatest undergrad school in the world. Would this hurt me in anyway?
GMAT: 710 (M-95%, V-83%)
Current Employer: Deloitte & Touche (Big Four Accounting Firm)
Professional Designation: CPA; Passed all four parts of the CPA exam on my first attempt averaging a score of 90.
Awards & Activity: Beta Alpha Psi (Honors Accounting Fraternity) Member, Community Service Award Recipient from Beta Alpha Psi, Deloitte Minority Accounting Scholarship Recipient, Recognition Award Recipient from Deloitte & Touche, AICPA & PICPA Member, Outstanding Performance Award Recipient from PICPA
Work Experience: I will have three years of work experience by the time I start graduate school. I was a Tax Consultant, reaching the level of Consultant II. As a Tax Consultant, I worked on one of the biggest tax clients of the office I am in. I applied and got accepted to an audit rotation, which is always very competitive. During the audit rotation, I was lucky enough to work on the biggest SEC Spin-off ever. After the audit rotation, I transferred from tax to audit permanently. I transferred to audit as a "Second Year" auditor even though I only had limited amount of auditing experience. Even though I will only have 3 years of experience, I was promoted twice (hopefully more) in two different functions. I believe that having a background in both tax & audit gives me a strong foundation in business. What do you think? Also, I obtained a real estate license and made a few deals during the real estate boom.
MBA Schools I will apply to (Concentration in Finance):
- Wharton
- Columbia
- NYU
- Carnegie Mellon
My concerns:
- Am I too young?
- Do I have enough work experience?
What do you think my chances are of getting into those schools mentioned above?
Thanks for your time and help.
Wondee,
Going to Temple does not hurt you, don't worry about it. Taking the GMAT three times is fine, but four or more would not look good. Your upward progression in the GMAT is great, so no negative there. You are young, but you are clearly a strong applicant with quality work experience and therefore a chance for admission at these schools. Big question marks are leadership and community. You are perhaps too young to get much leadership opportunity at work, so I recommend finding a serious, intensive leadership role in a community organization--i.e., leading groups of people or shaping the organization's future in some major way. Doing this will take care of both the leadership and community involvement gaps I see in your profile. I see CMU and NYU as more likely than Columbia and Wharton. You might also consider MIT, Duke, and Michigan. The worst thing that can happen is you'll get dinged, but from that you'll get some feedback on your app and a slightly better shot the next time you apply.
See
Accepted.com's
advice for younger applicants.
close
05 Feb 2007, 20:05
