Hey projectmba,
Thanks for reaching out to me. I particularly appreciate your interest in Anderson, as it is where I graduated from. Let me see if I can do you justice here given my exposure to the schools admissions committee.
In my experience, Anderson has been a little more forgiving on the GPA front, but much less forgiving on the GMAT aspect of your application. Your undergraduate performance is rock solid, but a 640 is not going to cut it in round 3. With Anderson's surge in application numbers, they have started really using round 3 to round out the class, whereas before they have used around 3 to complete a larger percentage of the incoming class.
To be absolutely sure, I would reach out to a member of the admissions committee and ask them a very frank question – should I apply with the 640 or should I wait in round 1 and after improving my GMAT score? If the conversation is one-on-one – let us say, over the phone – they will be pretty honest with you. I believe that they are going to tell you should wait and retake the GMAT.
Sorry if this is bad news, but I do not want to set you up for a possible failure.
Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti
projectmba
Hi - I know I'm a little late in the game, but would appreciate if anyone could kindly review my profile and advise if I should still apply for UCLA Anderson R3 (for class of 2016) or wait till R1 in the coming fall for class of 2017.
GMAT - 1st attempt in Feb 2014 - 610 (Q36/V38); 2nd attempt in Mar 2014 - 640 (Q44/V34)
Undergrads and GPA - Top 25 US college with GPA 3.5; double majored in Business Administration (emphasis in Finance) and Accounting
Credentials - CPA in the US and completed level II of CFA exam
Extra-currculars - an active member at workplace who always organizes social events for colleagues; occassionally participate in different kind of volunteering events but not regularly for any specific organization
Work Experience in detail - Worked as auditor in a regional CPA firm in the US then moved to a Big 4 in HK; later moved to top investment banks and work as product compliance for institutional securities divisions (total work exp 6 yrs - 3 yrs in audit; 3 yrs in compliance)
Short term and long term goals - short term goal is for a career switch into marketing, with focus on brand management in consumer products industry
Preference of area to settle - west coast
I grew up in Asia (lived in two different countries in Asia) and later moved to the US (lived in three different US cities) for college and work. I started off my career as an auditor in the US and moved back to Asia and joined a Big 4. After 3 years of public accounting, I have decided to move into a Product Compliance role in a BB investment bank (HK office) where I could learn something different and be challenged professionally. My work progression has been good and recently been promoted to Vice President. My background is heavily focused in finance/accounting but I've always longed to work in a more creative environment and in an industry that is more relevant to people's day-to-day lives. While my work performance is highly regarded by supervisors and management but I do not see myself doing this forever. Hence the decision to go to a B-school for a career change.
I understand my GMAT score is below the 80th-range published on UCLA website but I'm still hoping I would stand a chance. I suppose what I could offer to the school are my international background and also experience in working at IBs.
I would appreciate any advice/suggestions. Thank you very much in advance.