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May 2008:00 AM PDT
-08:30 AM PDT
What’s in it for you- Live Profile Evaluation Chat Session with Jenifer Turtschanow, CEO, ARINGO. Come with your details prepared and ARINGO will share insights! Pre-MBA Role/Industry, YOE, Exam Score, C/GPA, ECs Post-MBA Role/ Industry & School List.
May 2110:00 AM EDT
-10:30 AM EDT
Most candidates submit a resume built for a recruiter. Admissions committees are reading for something else entirely. This session covers what adcoms actually evaluate, where strong candidates lose ground before a single essay is written, and why...
May 2208:30 AM PDT
-09:00 AM PDT
Get the inside scoop on what makes Emory’s Goizueta Business School great and how you can present a strong MBA application. Explore the difference between our One-Year MBA and Two-Year MBA programs, talk to our admissions team, and meet students.
May 2203:00 PM EDT
-04:00 PM EDT
The old MBA recruiting playbook is dead. Here’s how top admits are getting ahead this summer.
May 2308:00 PM PDT
-09:00 PM PDT
Inquire for a free profile evaluation and guarantee statement for possible admits and scholarships!
May 2707:30 PM EDT
-08:30 PM EDT
Learn how to choose the right recommenders and strengthen your MBA candidacy in this live AMA with Stratus experts.
May 2910:00 AM PDT
-11:00 AM PDT
Download the MBA Launchpad App, for FREE access to the largest MBA database - Data backed read on your profile - Identify gaps before you apply - Build a balanced school list - Track your deadlines - Mock interviews - Extensive content library
Jun 1006:00 AM PDT
-06:15 PM PDT
Register for the GMAT Club Virtual MBA Spotlight Fair – the world’s premier event for serious MBA candidates. This is your chance to hear directly from Admissions Directors at nearly every Top 30 MBA program..
jp0812
Joined: 10 May 2011
Last visit: 31 Jul 2013
Posts: 23
Own Kudos:
Location: United States (GA)
Concentration: International Business, Operations
Schools: Thunderbird (M)
GMAT 1: 570 Q41 V27
GPA: 2.62
WE:Operations (Transportation)
10 May 2011, 21:46
Kudos
Bookmarks
Could you please evaluate my profile and answer my odd questions as well? I am looking to apply to full-time MBA programs in Fall 2012.
25 (27 or almost 27 upon matriculation), male, married (don't know if that means anything)
Initial Undergrad:
Attended smaller state liberal arts university for 3 years majoring in international business. They cancelled my major twice (within the business school) in a matter of a year and I left out of frustration, a general lack of motivation, and to marry my girlfriend of 4-5 years. I think when I left I had a 2.5 GPA.
Work Experience:
After moving back home from college I got a job in supply chain/logistics/operations at one of the largest supply chain/freight forwarding companies working 25-30 hours a week. I was promoted to a full-time position within 6 months and given more responsibility. I was promoted again 1.5 years later and given additional responsibility throughout my employment there. I handled the largest and most profitable accounts within my department over colleagues who had 2-5 times more experience than I.
I was fired after working full-time for 2 full years, but not performance based. I have multiple references from the company that are willing to be my references and write the letters of recommendation.
Since losing my job 8 months ago I have worked 2 part-time contract jobs while also going to school.
Final Undergrad:
Less than a year after moving home from college I began to take classes online. I finished a month ago with a BA in Business Administration with a 2.62 GPA. 2.1 GPA while working full-time and 3.2 while working part-time.
Finance: C
Statistics: C
Accounting: C
Microeconomics: B
GMAT: 570 (39Q, 29V) with minimal studying though my 2 GMAT PREP CAT tests were 650 and 640. I will be retaking sometime in the next 2-3 months and hope to do much better.
Career Goals: Brand Management or other related marketing management (not sales or advertising related) for a big company like Coca-Cola, Chick-fil-a, Georgia-Pacific etc (I live in Atlanta and plan to stay in the area)
Questions:
1) I understand that most schools prefer 2 years of post-graduate full-time work experience but is just over 1 year of post-graduate plus 2 years while in school that bad either? My 2 years in the supply chain industry was true full-time work experience. I worked alongside and trained college graduates.
2) I am currently looking for full-time work to do before starting the MBA in fall 2012. Should I continue in the supply chain field although I do not enjoy it? The positives would be more money and it can show more career progression as I believe I can get a job with supervisory responsibilities. The other option would be to get an entry-level marketing position. The reason I am considering this is that it would show a clear message to adcoms that I am sure I want to do brand management/marketing post-MBA and that I have already been working towards that goal. Which looks better to adcoms? Would my initial 2 years of full-time experience seem more legit if it helped me get a lower management job now that I finished undergraduate studies?
3) If I were to begin work in the marketing field, would it be as beneficial to do a 1-year MBA if I already know what I am going to do after graduation? I would be losing the internship and the intense career services but if I already had previous experience then maybe I could pursue brand management
4) Which of the bad grades (Accounting, Finance, Statistics) should I retake or all of them? I never took Calculus so would that be more beneficial to take?
5) Which programs would you suggest within the southeast?
Can somebody please help?
Thank you in advance,
JP
25 (27 or almost 27 upon matriculation), male, married (don't know if that means anything)
Initial Undergrad:
Attended smaller state liberal arts university for 3 years majoring in international business. They cancelled my major twice (within the business school) in a matter of a year and I left out of frustration, a general lack of motivation, and to marry my girlfriend of 4-5 years. I think when I left I had a 2.5 GPA.
Work Experience:
After moving back home from college I got a job in supply chain/logistics/operations at one of the largest supply chain/freight forwarding companies working 25-30 hours a week. I was promoted to a full-time position within 6 months and given more responsibility. I was promoted again 1.5 years later and given additional responsibility throughout my employment there. I handled the largest and most profitable accounts within my department over colleagues who had 2-5 times more experience than I.
I was fired after working full-time for 2 full years, but not performance based. I have multiple references from the company that are willing to be my references and write the letters of recommendation.
Since losing my job 8 months ago I have worked 2 part-time contract jobs while also going to school.
Final Undergrad:
Less than a year after moving home from college I began to take classes online. I finished a month ago with a BA in Business Administration with a 2.62 GPA. 2.1 GPA while working full-time and 3.2 while working part-time.
Finance: C
Statistics: C
Accounting: C
Microeconomics: B
GMAT: 570 (39Q, 29V) with minimal studying though my 2 GMAT PREP CAT tests were 650 and 640. I will be retaking sometime in the next 2-3 months and hope to do much better.
Career Goals: Brand Management or other related marketing management (not sales or advertising related) for a big company like Coca-Cola, Chick-fil-a, Georgia-Pacific etc (I live in Atlanta and plan to stay in the area)
Questions:
1) I understand that most schools prefer 2 years of post-graduate full-time work experience but is just over 1 year of post-graduate plus 2 years while in school that bad either? My 2 years in the supply chain industry was true full-time work experience. I worked alongside and trained college graduates.
2) I am currently looking for full-time work to do before starting the MBA in fall 2012. Should I continue in the supply chain field although I do not enjoy it? The positives would be more money and it can show more career progression as I believe I can get a job with supervisory responsibilities. The other option would be to get an entry-level marketing position. The reason I am considering this is that it would show a clear message to adcoms that I am sure I want to do brand management/marketing post-MBA and that I have already been working towards that goal. Which looks better to adcoms? Would my initial 2 years of full-time experience seem more legit if it helped me get a lower management job now that I finished undergraduate studies?
3) If I were to begin work in the marketing field, would it be as beneficial to do a 1-year MBA if I already know what I am going to do after graduation? I would be losing the internship and the intense career services but if I already had previous experience then maybe I could pursue brand management
4) Which of the bad grades (Accounting, Finance, Statistics) should I retake or all of them? I never took Calculus so would that be more beneficial to take?
5) Which programs would you suggest within the southeast?
Can somebody please help?
Thank you in advance,
JP
10 May 2011, 22:31
Kudos
Bookmarks
The bigger issue here is that it seems like you're treating the MBA as some sort of panacea -- like once you go to school, it will change everything that you're dealing with right now.
And that is giving way too much credit to the credential of an MBA, and not enough credit to yourself and your actual work experience.
An MBA isn't really going to transform or erase - it's a pit stop, something that helps enhance what you have, not some sort of answer that will solve everything.
Your questions seem to delve into deeper issues - don't make career choices for external validation from someone you don't know (adcoms) - because their judgment isn't going to change your life. Getting into b-school again isn't going to turn you into someone you're not, it's not some glass slipper to your Cinderella story.
If you don't like supply chain, don't do it. If you have some reason for staying in it beyond just b-school, consider staying. Whatever choices you make, it should be based on what is best for you and your family, and not what is best for what adcoms perceive it to be. You're giving adcoms way too much power and credit over what you should be doing with your career.
To be honest, I think you should focus on working for the time being. Not thinking about your next step (school - yet again) when you've barely gotten out of college. Your employability with minimal work experience isn't going to be much better with an MBA.
You're still relatively young. Focus on staying in the working world, find a good job, continue saving money when you can, and go from there.
And that is giving way too much credit to the credential of an MBA, and not enough credit to yourself and your actual work experience.
An MBA isn't really going to transform or erase - it's a pit stop, something that helps enhance what you have, not some sort of answer that will solve everything.
Your questions seem to delve into deeper issues - don't make career choices for external validation from someone you don't know (adcoms) - because their judgment isn't going to change your life. Getting into b-school again isn't going to turn you into someone you're not, it's not some glass slipper to your Cinderella story.
If you don't like supply chain, don't do it. If you have some reason for staying in it beyond just b-school, consider staying. Whatever choices you make, it should be based on what is best for you and your family, and not what is best for what adcoms perceive it to be. You're giving adcoms way too much power and credit over what you should be doing with your career.
To be honest, I think you should focus on working for the time being. Not thinking about your next step (school - yet again) when you've barely gotten out of college. Your employability with minimal work experience isn't going to be much better with an MBA.
You're still relatively young. Focus on staying in the working world, find a good job, continue saving money when you can, and go from there.
jp0812
Joined: 10 May 2011
Last visit: 31 Jul 2013
Posts: 23
Own Kudos:
Location: United States (GA)
Concentration: International Business, Operations
Schools: Thunderbird (M)
GMAT 1: 570 Q41 V27
GPA: 2.62
WE:Operations (Transportation)
11 May 2011, 00:23
Kudos
Bookmarks
Alex,
Thank you for this quick reply. I really do appreciate it. You told me what I needed to hear instead of what I asked.
I do agree that I often view the MBA as something it is not, and my initial post definitely reflected this. It is indeed a professional degree meant for those with significant work experience, and I am trying to squeeze in with the minimum.
I don't want to do supply chain anymore so I won't. That's why I didn't search for another job in supply chain when I was laid off previously. I should just stick to the plan I already made and stop doubting it.
I did enjoy part of what my I used to do dealing with P&L, problem-solving, and other analytical aspects of the job. I do value the work experience that I do have, and it is that experience that had made me want delve deeper. I made mistakes early on and did not take advantage of the opportunities I was given.
I believe the real question I should be asking myself is whether the work experience I currently have along with anything else I acquire in the near future is enough to get everything out of an MBA that I should. I guess when I can answer that, in the future, then I should start thinking about the application process.
Thank you for this quick reply. I really do appreciate it. You told me what I needed to hear instead of what I asked.
I do agree that I often view the MBA as something it is not, and my initial post definitely reflected this. It is indeed a professional degree meant for those with significant work experience, and I am trying to squeeze in with the minimum.
I don't want to do supply chain anymore so I won't. That's why I didn't search for another job in supply chain when I was laid off previously. I should just stick to the plan I already made and stop doubting it.
I did enjoy part of what my I used to do dealing with P&L, problem-solving, and other analytical aspects of the job. I do value the work experience that I do have, and it is that experience that had made me want delve deeper. I made mistakes early on and did not take advantage of the opportunities I was given.
I believe the real question I should be asking myself is whether the work experience I currently have along with anything else I acquire in the near future is enough to get everything out of an MBA that I should. I guess when I can answer that, in the future, then I should start thinking about the application process.
