Hi, and thanks for writing! You have a fascinating career path to date, with your experience of fintech startup and VC work. Regarding your GPA: you can explain it in the application's optional essay in a way that shows responsibility and ownership (as you've done here). I think that the CFA charter will go a long way towards offsetting the GPA, but you might also consider retaking GMAT to get above the program's averages, especially for Ross and Stern which tend to see rather high scores. Aside from that, if you fully communicate the impact that you've made within/outside work in your resume and application, explain the motivations behind your short and long-term goals and the transferrable skills you'll bring to them. and make a strong case for why each program is a fit for you, then I think you'll be a contender for these programs (and of these list, I'd say Marshall and Rotman are fairly safe choices, so you've got a good mix of programs here). Hope that helps - feel free to reach out for a free consultation if you'd like to discuss further.
Best,
Nisha
zzzzzssss wrote:
Nationality: Middle eastern
Sex: Male
Age: 27
Languages: Arabic (Native), English (Fluent)
Education: Bachelors in Finance from a well respected (Top 50) private school in the US.
GPA: 2.8/4.0
I initially majored in civil engineering. Absolutely hated it. I barely studied and I did not attend most of my classes. I was immature and irresponsible and that hurt my GPA a lot. I got high grades only on classes that I liked and bothered studying for. I thankfully decided to do something that I like. I switched my major to finance. I think I was still a bit irresponsible, but I started studying and attending my classes. I went from a 2.0 in one semester to a 4.0 in the next and that helped me secure a scholarship and I never went below a 3.4 after that.
GMAT : 710
Working experience:
14 months finance & operations analyst at a fintech startup, 7 months as a senior analyst working on a blockchain-based project, 25 months as a principal at a venture capital firm.
Will have about 5 years of experience by matriculation.
International exposure:
Rotating between 3-4 countries in the Middle East and North Africa but most of the time is spent in 2 countries.
Extra- Curricular & Volunteering:
Boxing, Chess, hiking
Orphans care program, probono startup mentoring, and finance tutoring (mainly CFA related)
Achievements:
CFA charter holder
Post-MBA goals:
Work in the United States.
Management consulting is the first option and the second would be corporate development.
Something that I truly love about my current job is that I get my hands wet helping our portfolio companies with operations, strategy, and fund raising, so a lot of parallels can be drawn between management consulting and the work that I'm currently doing. I also love the investment/financial analysis part which is something that is heavily utilized in corporate development.
Schools that I'm applying for:
NYU Stern, Michigan Ross, UVA Darden, Cornell Johnson, Duke Fuqua, USC Marshall, Toronto Rotman.