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jmikery
Joined: 09 Nov 2014
Last visit: 13 May 2020
Posts: 50
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Concentration: Finance
Schools: Anderson '19 (A$) Wharton '19 (D) Kellogg '19 (A) HBS '19 (D) Booth '19 (D) CBS '19 (D) Duke '19 (WL)
GMAT 1: 760 Q51 V41
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Schools: Anderson '19 (A$) Wharton '19 (D) Kellogg '19 (A) HBS '19 (D) Booth '19 (D) CBS '19 (D) Duke '19 (WL)
GMAT 1: 760 Q51 V41
Posts: 50
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09 Nov 2014, 05:14
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Hi,
I'm currently thinking of getting my MBA and taking the GMAT sometime next year. However, I will need to either get a scholarship or take out a student loan to get in so I'd like to go for the best program that's realistic. As of now, my profile looks like this:
Age: Currently 24, plan is to apply after passing the 3rd CFA exam. Earliest possible would be late 2015 but I'd rather apply in 2016
School: Top 3 school in the Philippines (Ateneo de Manila), BS in Business Management, minor in Finance
Leadership: Course representative for my course, which has the largest population among all the courses in my school
GPA: 3.06, this is one of my concerns as well because the grading system in the Philippines is a bit different compared to the US. People very rarely graduate with grades above 3.75. For reference, my 3.06 GPA was good enough to finish in the top 20% of my class.
Work Experience: 2.5 years in a mid sized local bank, first as a management trainee and then as a Corporate Banking Account Officer. Finished top of my management trainee class and was promoted after my first full year of service in a Corporate Banking position. In January 2014, I moved to a boutique M&A advisory firm as an Associate.
Other: I've passed level 1 and 2 of the CFA exams and am enrolled in Level 3 for the June 2015 test. I plan on applying after I've passed all 3 exams.
Recommendation: I work with UPenn undergrads and a UCLA MBA grad as senior executives. I also work with some senior executives of counterparties who have gone to Wharton and Columbia. Would getting recommendations form those guys be a good idea?
Would my current profile be competitive with a low 700s GMAT in Harvard/Wharton (my top 2) or Columbia/UCLA? Factoring in potential scholarships, what schools should I target? Conversely, what GMAT score should I target for Harvard/Wharton and Columbia/UCLA?
I'm currently thinking of getting my MBA and taking the GMAT sometime next year. However, I will need to either get a scholarship or take out a student loan to get in so I'd like to go for the best program that's realistic. As of now, my profile looks like this:
Age: Currently 24, plan is to apply after passing the 3rd CFA exam. Earliest possible would be late 2015 but I'd rather apply in 2016
School: Top 3 school in the Philippines (Ateneo de Manila), BS in Business Management, minor in Finance
Leadership: Course representative for my course, which has the largest population among all the courses in my school
GPA: 3.06, this is one of my concerns as well because the grading system in the Philippines is a bit different compared to the US. People very rarely graduate with grades above 3.75. For reference, my 3.06 GPA was good enough to finish in the top 20% of my class.
Work Experience: 2.5 years in a mid sized local bank, first as a management trainee and then as a Corporate Banking Account Officer. Finished top of my management trainee class and was promoted after my first full year of service in a Corporate Banking position. In January 2014, I moved to a boutique M&A advisory firm as an Associate.
Other: I've passed level 1 and 2 of the CFA exams and am enrolled in Level 3 for the June 2015 test. I plan on applying after I've passed all 3 exams.
Recommendation: I work with UPenn undergrads and a UCLA MBA grad as senior executives. I also work with some senior executives of counterparties who have gone to Wharton and Columbia. Would getting recommendations form those guys be a good idea?
Would my current profile be competitive with a low 700s GMAT in Harvard/Wharton (my top 2) or Columbia/UCLA? Factoring in potential scholarships, what schools should I target? Conversely, what GMAT score should I target for Harvard/Wharton and Columbia/UCLA?
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Expert reply
09 Nov 2014, 22:27
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For the recommendations, you should ask whoever will give you the strongest recommendation. All things being equal, an alum always helps so you may as well foster those relationships now since you have time. Just keep in mind that if an option is to get a perfect recommendation from someone who worked with you for a long period of time, don't worry that they were not an alum, especially if one of your recs comes from an alum already. Also in order for it to really matter it should be the actual school, so a Penn undergrad won't really do as much because they can't speak to the MBA experience as well.
You will want to do well on your GMAT to offset the GPA, so target mid 700s if you can. If you get low 700s that could still do the trick.
What else do you do outside of work? Assuming you have or will have great extra-curric's with leadership, you will be competitive with UCLA and Columbia and could go for HBS/Wharton as well, but will be a bit of a challenge since you are coming from a lesser known firm. Reach out if you have any other questions along the way, its great to start planning now as there are certain things you could do ahead of time to make your profile much more attractive once you are ready to apply!
You will want to do well on your GMAT to offset the GPA, so target mid 700s if you can. If you get low 700s that could still do the trick.
What else do you do outside of work? Assuming you have or will have great extra-curric's with leadership, you will be competitive with UCLA and Columbia and could go for HBS/Wharton as well, but will be a bit of a challenge since you are coming from a lesser known firm. Reach out if you have any other questions along the way, its great to start planning now as there are certain things you could do ahead of time to make your profile much more attractive once you are ready to apply!
10 Nov 2014, 16:51
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jmikery,
Your Philippines background will be a big diversity asset for you, and the 3rd level of the CFA together with a 700+ GMAT score would eliminate any concerns regarding your GPA (you should explain your class ranking somewhere in your app). Assuming that GMAT score, you should be competitive at top 10 schools but will need to be able to point to significant leadership/impact experiences at and/or outside of work to bring HBS, Wharton and CBS into play. Getting reco letters from alums is a nice-to-have, not a need-to-have. The key thing is that they be direct supervisors, know you well over time, and be able to recommend you enthusiastically. I'd be glad to give your CV a closer look: [email protected].
--Paul Bodine, Great Applications for Business School, www.paulsbodine.com/outcomes
Your Philippines background will be a big diversity asset for you, and the 3rd level of the CFA together with a 700+ GMAT score would eliminate any concerns regarding your GPA (you should explain your class ranking somewhere in your app). Assuming that GMAT score, you should be competitive at top 10 schools but will need to be able to point to significant leadership/impact experiences at and/or outside of work to bring HBS, Wharton and CBS into play. Getting reco letters from alums is a nice-to-have, not a need-to-have. The key thing is that they be direct supervisors, know you well over time, and be able to recommend you enthusiastically. I'd be glad to give your CV a closer look: [email protected].
--Paul Bodine, Great Applications for Business School, www.paulsbodine.com/outcomes
jmikery
