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jmikery
Joined: 09 Nov 2014
Last visit: 13 May 2020
Posts: 50
Concentration: Finance
Schools: Anderson '19 (A$) Wharton '19 (D) Kellogg '19 (A) HBS '19 (D) Booth '19 (D) CBS '19 (D) Duke '19 (WL)
GMAT 1: 760 Q51 V41
Products:
Schools: Anderson '19 (A$) 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
09 Nov 2014, 05:21
Kudos
Bookmarks
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?
21 Nov 2014, 15:53
Kudos
Bookmarks
Kumusta jmikery!
I actually think that with a low 700 score you would have a competitive chance at Harvard, Wharton, Columbia, and of course UCLA. With respect to Harvard versus Wharton and Columbia. Harvard is a completely different animal when it comes to your chances. Of course Harvard is a more competitive school, but what I mean specifically is that while Wharton and Columbia are very fixated on your ability to get a job in the short term, Harvard is very much less so. With Harvard (and in the interest of increasing your chances) you want to focus your goals on change in the world." I know this may sound ambitious, but Harvard is really not interested in what you will do on day one after graduation – that is, your short-term goals. They want a vision, and by establishing the appropriate vision you increase your chances at Harvard. Right now, without really knowing anything about you, I would say that your Long-term goal for Harvard Should be centered on one day returning to the Philippines and creating a better environment for small and medium-size businesses. This also means creating a better environment for entrepreneurs. Tactically, this means providing them the advice and financing they need. So eventually long-term you could return to the Philippines and start a fund that seeks to invest in these businesses, as well as to provide them advice. Now, I do not want to put words in your mouth, but this is the type of goal that you should be considering when applying to Harvard and when speaking to somebody on the admissions committee (like during the interview.)
With respect to Colombian Wharton, the schools (and of course are admissions committees) are going to be much more interested in your short-term goals. Of course they want you to have a somewhat aspirational long-term goal, but you really want to spend less time explaining your long-term goal for these two schools. I believe that the former head of the career center at Wharton is now the head of the admissions committee please fact check me on that. But I know at Columbia a member of the career center is also on the admissions committee. This should tell you that the schools are very focused on your career orientation. The goals essay is pretty much the only essay at Wharton anymore – and it is the Long-standing first essay at Columbia. That should also tell you something. Anyway, spend a lot of time describing what your short-term goals are, relative to your long-term goals at Colombian Wharton. I would even advise that you put in an alternative – "backup" – goal in the short term. So for example maybe you want to be a management consultant upon graduation. You would also state that as an alternative backup plan you would also pursue an internal consulting position at "Fortune 500 company ABC".
With respect to your undergraduate GPA, the aaadmissions committee is going to understand the nature of your curriculum. If your school is considered among the top programs in the Philippines, they will be familiar with it. On the the application form, in the sexual you fill out your undergraduate GPA, they will most likely asked you your approximate rank or percentile in the class. Of course, you could also explain the grading system and your rank in the optional essay. The first thing you should do when starting a new application for any specific school is to review the complete application. Pay attention to the section that asked for grades see what they require you to do. Some schools actually prefer to have the rank stated on the actual transcript. I know a lot of schools do not do this. So this is just to give you the heads up. Read through the application before you even start thinking about the essays. Do not get caught with your pants down at the eleventh hour.
With respect to recommenders, it always helps to have an alumni of the MBA program recommends you. Undergraduate program recommenders may not help. That is in your case, they went to Wharton undergrad, you do not really get too many bonus points for that. But overall, bonus points only matter if the underlying recommendation is solid. The number one rule of recommendations is that it has to be from somebody who is your direct supervisor or somebody that worked closely enough and managed your efforts as an indirect supervisor. The fact that somebody may be a graduate of UCLA's MBA program or Wharton's MBA program is nowhere near as important than your recommender actually being in a position to evaluate your efforts. Do not be penny wise and pound foolish.
With respect to scholarships, the Only program that might give you one is UCLA – but only if you can get a score that is North of 730.
If you would like to speak to me or any of our consultants in person about your candidacy, please email us at [email protected].
Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti
I actually think that with a low 700 score you would have a competitive chance at Harvard, Wharton, Columbia, and of course UCLA. With respect to Harvard versus Wharton and Columbia. Harvard is a completely different animal when it comes to your chances. Of course Harvard is a more competitive school, but what I mean specifically is that while Wharton and Columbia are very fixated on your ability to get a job in the short term, Harvard is very much less so. With Harvard (and in the interest of increasing your chances) you want to focus your goals on change in the world." I know this may sound ambitious, but Harvard is really not interested in what you will do on day one after graduation – that is, your short-term goals. They want a vision, and by establishing the appropriate vision you increase your chances at Harvard. Right now, without really knowing anything about you, I would say that your Long-term goal for Harvard Should be centered on one day returning to the Philippines and creating a better environment for small and medium-size businesses. This also means creating a better environment for entrepreneurs. Tactically, this means providing them the advice and financing they need. So eventually long-term you could return to the Philippines and start a fund that seeks to invest in these businesses, as well as to provide them advice. Now, I do not want to put words in your mouth, but this is the type of goal that you should be considering when applying to Harvard and when speaking to somebody on the admissions committee (like during the interview.)
With respect to Colombian Wharton, the schools (and of course are admissions committees) are going to be much more interested in your short-term goals. Of course they want you to have a somewhat aspirational long-term goal, but you really want to spend less time explaining your long-term goal for these two schools. I believe that the former head of the career center at Wharton is now the head of the admissions committee please fact check me on that. But I know at Columbia a member of the career center is also on the admissions committee. This should tell you that the schools are very focused on your career orientation. The goals essay is pretty much the only essay at Wharton anymore – and it is the Long-standing first essay at Columbia. That should also tell you something. Anyway, spend a lot of time describing what your short-term goals are, relative to your long-term goals at Colombian Wharton. I would even advise that you put in an alternative – "backup" – goal in the short term. So for example maybe you want to be a management consultant upon graduation. You would also state that as an alternative backup plan you would also pursue an internal consulting position at "Fortune 500 company ABC".
With respect to your undergraduate GPA, the aaadmissions committee is going to understand the nature of your curriculum. If your school is considered among the top programs in the Philippines, they will be familiar with it. On the the application form, in the sexual you fill out your undergraduate GPA, they will most likely asked you your approximate rank or percentile in the class. Of course, you could also explain the grading system and your rank in the optional essay. The first thing you should do when starting a new application for any specific school is to review the complete application. Pay attention to the section that asked for grades see what they require you to do. Some schools actually prefer to have the rank stated on the actual transcript. I know a lot of schools do not do this. So this is just to give you the heads up. Read through the application before you even start thinking about the essays. Do not get caught with your pants down at the eleventh hour.
With respect to recommenders, it always helps to have an alumni of the MBA program recommends you. Undergraduate program recommenders may not help. That is in your case, they went to Wharton undergrad, you do not really get too many bonus points for that. But overall, bonus points only matter if the underlying recommendation is solid. The number one rule of recommendations is that it has to be from somebody who is your direct supervisor or somebody that worked closely enough and managed your efforts as an indirect supervisor. The fact that somebody may be a graduate of UCLA's MBA program or Wharton's MBA program is nowhere near as important than your recommender actually being in a position to evaluate your efforts. Do not be penny wise and pound foolish.
With respect to scholarships, the Only program that might give you one is UCLA – but only if you can get a score that is North of 730.
If you would like to speak to me or any of our consultants in person about your candidacy, please email us at [email protected].
Respectfully,
Paul Lanzillotti
jmikery
