Profile Evaluation

Question

Hi Everyone,

Nationality:   Korean, 31
 Gender:  Male
 Undergraduate degree:  Top Korean School, Statistics / Financial Enginnering (Minor)
 GPA:  3.4/4.0 (Upward trend in final two years)
 GMAT  score: 700 (Q50 V35 IR8)

Work experience  
- 2 years of military experience (translator, did some translation of military books and some leadership roles)
- 5 years, Strategy and Sales for the biggest Semiconductor company in Korea. Right now, my role is mostly sales, production control and management.

Extracurriculars: 
- Low handicap golfer, some extracurricular activities while in college (programming club), not much after I started working. I do need to improve in this area.

Future goals:
I want to specialize in the tech sector, but in a different type of role. 
- BB analyst in the Tech Sector / Strategy consultant at MBB / Venture capital

Target schools
Stretch: Wharton
Target: Booth, Kellogg, Columbia, MIT, Haas, Fuqua

My biggest concern is that my GMAT score /GPA is not at the top of the range, and that I also finished taking all five GMAT exams. The next time I can take it on a 12month rolling basis is this December, which will be only applicable for R2 for this year's applications. Given my GPA & work experience, do you suggest retaking the exam if I target mostly M7s? 
I actually got 700 on my first exam, so I believe I could aim for a score of 700~730. (I wasted the next four exams without giving enough preparation. Work was crushing me at the beginning of the year, and I did not know that the limit was up to 5 exams)

Do you also have any suggestions regarding extracurricular activities?

Admissionado · Answer

ronnie9090 : Thank you for posting on our section for help. Responding to your two questions: Q: Given my GPA & work experience, do you suggest retaking the exam if I target mostly M7s? A: You probably should retake the exam. A 700 is a good score but given your lack of extracurricular activities since school (given your age especially), your competitive cohort, and a low GPA, you can't afford to have a merely "good" score if you want a serious shot at the M7 schools. Have you considered the GRE? That solves the issue of maxing out the number of GMAT attempts. I would also be careful about putting Booth and Kellogg at target schools. Those should probably be in your stretch/reach column. Q: Do you also have any suggestions regarding extracurricular activities? A: This is the type of thing we normally discuss with our clients because it's not easy to do just over an email or post. I would need to know your interests, your setup at work/home, and what's going on with Covid-19 locally for you to properly advise on a practical course of action. In general, you probably can only pull off two "ad hoc" events or programs since club or other such membership would look like you are padding your resume given that we are already in March 2021. I strongly urge you to reach out to us for a free consultation if you are interested in hiring one of our strategy consultants to help you with your application as well as building out your extracurricular activities between now and R1 or R2 of the 2021-2022 season. You have time, it's just a matter of executing on a realistic plan! https://admissionado.com/free-consultation/ Best, Admissionado

ronnie9090 · Answer

Thank you for posting on our section for help. Responding to your two questions:

Q: Given my GPA & work experience, do you suggest retaking the exam if I target mostly M7s?

A: You probably should retake the exam. A 700 is a good score but given your lack of extracurricular activities since school (given your age especially), your competitive cohort, and a low GPA, you can't afford to have a merely "good" score if you want a serious shot at the M7 schools. Have you considered the GRE? That solves the issue of maxing out the number of GMAT attempts. I would also be careful about putting Booth and Kellogg at target schools. Those should probably be in your stretch/reach column.

Q: Do you also have any suggestions regarding extracurricular activities?

A: This is the type of thing we normally discuss with our clients because it's not easy to do just over an email or post. I would need to know your interests, your setup at work/home, and what's going on with Covid-19 locally for you to properly advise on a practical course of action. In general, you probably can only pull off two "ad hoc" events or programs since club or other such membership would look like you are padding your resume given that we are already in March 2021.

I strongly urge you to reach out to us for a free consultation if you are interested in hiring one of our strategy consultants to help you with your application as well as building out your extracurricular activities between now and R1 or R2 of the 2021-2022 season. You have time, it's just a matter of executing on a realistic plan!

Best,
Admissionado

Hi Admissionado,

Thank you so much for your prompt response. I'll definitely take a look at GRE, and also reach out to you regarding consultation. 
Meanwhile, I have a few quick questions that I'd appreciate if you can comment.

-  I know it is meaningless to assume, but without a higher GMAT score, are my chances slim to almost impossible?
The two strategies that I am thinking are
  1.  Applying to some of the schools listed above for Rd1(Early), retaking the GMAT in Dec. and applying to some schools in Rd2. 
 I'd be focusing the next few months on essays, recommendations and ECs. 
  2.  If I have no chance at getting accepted with a 700 and reapplying gives me even a slight disadvantage in the future, I'd spend this year focusing on ECs & improving GMAT to 720+ and applying next year, 2022.

-  Will a high TOEFL score make up for my verbal?

Thanks again,

Tish2695 · Answer

Hi,

I'm looking to understand where my application lacks depth.
GMAT: 710 (Q50-V34) (I'll be giving it again, aiming for 750)
BACKGROUND: 25 years, Female

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND:
CGPA: 7.81 (BITS Pilani: Top Tier engineering university in India) Major: Electrical with Minor: Finance
XII - 93.8%
X - 10 CGPA

WORK EXPERIENCE: 2 YEARS
UBS: Business Analyst
Have been working as a lead BA on multiple projects, started an educational series for the India UBS office a year ago, Learning Ambassador for my department.

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Volunteered for 2 yrs during college under a non-profit organization aimed at improving the education of nearby village children.
Volunteered under UBS community initiatives.

EXTRACURRICULARS:
District Level Badminton player, Corporate Cricket team, Crafting

POST MBA GOALS: Investment Banking

I would be highly grateful if you could help me out here.

Admissionado · Answer

Hi  Tish2695 ,

Here are the areas where you lack depth and can improve, and questions for you to consider:

(1) GMAT score, particularly the Verbal section. Because you have a high Quant score, every extra point on the Verbal will have a disproportionately effect on your overall score.

(2) I need more clarity on your extracurricular activities? Your community involvement in college is terrific. What are "UBS community initiatives?" Do they take up a lot of time or were they once-a-year corporate sponsored events? Also, what is crafting? Is this something that you do recreationally? Is it an involved extracurricular activity?

(3) What are "multiple projects" at UBS? Your work accomplishments are very important and you kind of just glossed over them here. I am not saying you lack depth, but you need key work achievements if you are going to applying with only two years of experience.

(4) When are you applying and where do you want to go? While you obviously want to improve your profile overall, there are separate thresholds for different tiers of schools.

Thanks for sharing! Feel free to reply back with more information so we can further help you.

Best,
Admissionado

Tish2695 · Answer

Thank you Admissionado!!
1. For GMAT, definitely. I'm working on improving my verbal score.
2. UBS community activities- so they are corporate-sponsored events. 3-4 times a year. I'm also currently volunteering for my college alumni assoc under fund-raising and mental health group. Crafting- is my go-to hobby, I would say. I love creating something different from everyday things like newspapers, or icecream sticks.
3. Projects range from fully technical to business functional. As a Business analyst, I do a lot of analysis for them, stakeholders meetings, and front-to-back delivery completeness. I'm an SME for the current project I'm working on. I also started a virtual education series for my department which benefits 500+ people. 
4.I would apply for 2022. My target schools are - Columbia, Booth, NYU, Haas, Tepper, UCLA, and LBS.

Thank you for helping out.

Admissionado · Answer

Tish2695 : This is great to hear! That's a good range of schools from reaches to targets. You might want to add a couple of safety schools as you are on the younger side for the average applicant age. Good luck in the fall. Please reach out to us if you need help with any part of your application. https://admissionado.com/free-consultation/ Kind regards, Admissionado

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