JonAdmissionado wrote:
From where I stand things look pretty good. I didn't really get your UG GPA though, other than the fact that "things fluctuated wildly" (does this mean a low GPA?).
It's a little bit hard for me to say in regards to your specific school list what exactly your chances are, because I would need a bit more info, especially about your workplace, achievements, number of people led, number of promotions etc. etc.
My first impression though is that you may be building yourself a school list which is a bit challenging for you. Yes, you have a good solid career, and an amazing GMAT, but so does everyone else who applies to these programs. (HBS, Tuck, Wharton, Booth)... And from what I see here I have a) a question mark about your GPA b) a non-pedigree undergraduate institute c) a "less than famous" employer (am I wrong here? or is your firm a feeder into HBS.. anyhow it's certainly not as good as a big consulting firm or IB or PE firm). Anyhow, this is not to get you down, because you DO have the numbers, and you DO have a shot, but that you should realize that the competition is tough, and that when you build your strategy you might want to add/change a few schools on your list to ensure that you get an admit. I would say you don't have to go out of the Top 20, and that you should consider adding two-three more schools that are out of the Top 7 to give your strategy a bit more breadth.
Any thoughts?
Thanks for your reply Jon. I'm not too sure about the GPA conversion but at a guess it would be around 3.3? Regarding the fluctuations, I had a couple of courses in my first year that were particularly low (e.g. Stats 29/100) but this is offset by much better performance in my 2nd and 3rd year with strong scores in some rigorous courses (e.g. Derivatives and Financial Risk Management and Linear Algebra). I am not quite sure where that leaves me frankly.
As for the my UG institution, I realise this is probably going to be a struggle because while it is recognised as a top University in the UK, it seems like schools other than Oxbridge are not really recognised outside the UK. I have noticed though that HBS did admit someone from my UG for the Class 2014.
With regards to my employer, it is definitely not a feeder into b-school but that is more a function of my industry. In the London (and the insurance industry as whole), very few people head to b-school. I only know of one person who applied and was admitted to Insead. I am hoping that my background could be a plus in that I can add my experiences from a non-feeder industry to the class.
As for my list of school, I totally agree and recognise that it is a highly competitive list. However I focused on schools that have solid networks in London as that would be my short term destination. I am also looking at Fuqua, do you think that would be more in my range?
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26 Jun 2013, 09:15
