[highlight]From Dr. Shel Watts,
MBA Admit.com,
https://www.mbaadmit.comSpecial Pricing through June 2, 2011: 50% Off Regular PricingMBA Admit.com: Proudly, one of the most affordable top-quality MBA admissions consulting companies[/highlight]
Hi Jack,
There are many attractive things about your candidacy. Your schooling in Australia is very nice. The fact that your GPA is much higher in the final two years is something that will be useful for you to draw attention to. It seems as though your job has given you some great experience also. It is possible that you could get into Cornell, and therefore you can always consider putting in an application this year. Indeed, if I knew which investment bank you are in, I might be able to say you are
very likely to gain admission to Cornell, so feel free to email me that info at my website if you like and I can give you that more specific feedback. The name of your company may have a big impact here.
While your candidacy is attractive, there are ways to make it even stronger. With another year of work experience, you potentially could have broader responsibilities and therefore you would be more attractive to business schools, as you would have more knowledge to draw on in the classroom (again, this point may not be as germane depending upon your company - if you are at a top-3 firm, for example, I would actually say the # years work experience you have is fine and your chances may not improve much by just adding another year). You could invest time in a good GMAT prep program (if you have not already taken one), to try to get your score at least around 700 or 710, which could make a difference even though it is only 20 points better than your current 680. You could also strengthen your profile by improving notably your extracurricular record. Your extracurricular record seems to consist of a lot of activities, but not much leadership in the community. The more you are able to project yourself as a leader, even through extracurricular activities, the better you will fare in the admissions process.
If you decide to sit it out to strengthen your chances, make sure to get solid feedback on what you should be doing to really maximize the use of your time over the year, so that you emerge even more attractive to MBA programs. Enroll with a consultant in a one-hour strategy session now if that is what you need. Sometimes, a talk with a consultant can be very useful because you can gain clarity about what you should be doing to improve your chances, and you can also get more of a sense of what your competition looks like (a good consultant can give you examples of what successful candidates to the various programs look like). Whether you enroll with a consultant or not, you should move forward with a solid action plan if you are going to sit a year out.
If you decide to apply now, try to get started with a consultant asap (if only for a one-time strategy session), so they can guide you about how to strengthen your extracurriculars. There are ways to do that with four months to go before deadlines. If you decide to apply now, the good news is that if you don't get into Cornell, the school will be very open to reconsidering your application the very next year and you can potentially get a good outcome if you address any perceived weaknesses in your candidacy.
Best wishes,
Shelly Watts
[highlight]
MBA Admit.com
https://www.mbaadmit.comEmail:
mbaadmit@aol.com[/highlight]
[highlight]Visit our website for details about our Round 1 "Early Bird" Specials - save up to 50% off regular pricing.[/highlight]Website:
https://www.mbaadmit.com Email:
mbaadmit@aol.com.
[highlight]Dr. Shel Watts is a graduate of Harvard and Oxford who has Harvard admissions experience. At MBAAdmit.com[/highlight], "Dr. Shel" provides--at nearly 50% lower pricing than many comparable competitors--excellent MBA essay editing services and comprehensive admissions consulting, including one-to-one strategizing, essay development, school selection, GMAT advice, interview preparation, and recommendation advice.
https://www.mbaadmit.comjackchu wrote:
Hi All,
I sincerely hope to get some opinions and suggestions from here.
I thank you for all the advices you could offer.
Nationality: Chinese
Age: turning 25
Education:
Best University in Australia (top 50 worldwide), Bachelor of Finance.
GAP is 3.1 on average but 3.6 for the last two years.
Finished CFA Level one and one UK Invt certificate level 2 (required by my bank)
WE:
2 years as of now in Global top iter IB in HK, Singapore and UK Rotation program, roles in trading middle office, treasury and project mgt.
I had some fairly good stories in my workplace, eg i was involved in global project and was responsible for the development of workflow process, initiated analysis on costs and saved my bank potentially a large amount of money, identified real business problem and led team to propose solutions and etc.
ECA:
mentoring intern, representative in campus recruitment sessions, organizing committee member for fundraising events, charity volunteer and etc.
the weakest spot is my GMAT, i scored only 680 after two attempts!!!! (Maths is 50 for both attempts, problem with my verbal (very disappointed as i dont know what went wrong)) I was very disappointed about this score because I consistently scored above 720+ in my prep tests. I feel my dream for top 10 schools is vanishing. Given i already had two attempts, I am afraid it would hurt my application in a very bad way if i failed my 3rd attempt.
I am now thinking about Cornell because i specifically like its immersion program given my perspective career goal.
Or I am also thinking to drop this year's plan and allow myself more time for next year, get a higher GMAT and target top 10.
Of coz for myself, I'd hope to get a good admission this year. One more year of waiting for career switcher isnt good I believe.
Can u please offer me some advice? what is my chance at cornell johnson? what other schools I may consider?
Thanks,
Jack