Hi experts!
Applicant profile request:
Planning to apply R1
My background and demographic:
(Male/Southeast Asian) I was born and raised in Utah. Mom is a Cambodian refugee who fled the Killing Fields in the 1980s. Father is a white and from Utah. Neither parent has college degree.
Academics:
• BS Finance from BYU (private, religious school, US News ranks them around 80. Solid business undergrad and MBA, though). 3.67 GPA.
• No real leadership experience while in school (kicking myself for this...should have done more
), but was involved in a service society and some Finance clubs.
Work Experience:
• First job post-undergrad was in risk consulting at KPMG. 18 months. Heavy client facing work which I really enjoyed, but decided to leverage that experience to break into the world of fintech.
• Current title is Program Manager (promo after 1.2 years as Program Analyst) at a fintech bank called Celtic. Not a household name, but I manage some really cool partnerships with some of Silicon Valley's brightest fintechs including Affirm, Square, and Stripe (most valuable fintech in the world -Forbes). I facilitate $billions in originations monthly through these partnerships. I oversee model risk governance, information security, vendor management, etc. for all of the Celtic's strategic partnerships. Heavy client facing role as well and tons of exposure to C-level individuals internally and externally.
• One career highlight: assisted in building bank's Paycheck Protection Program with Square that distributed over $800MM in COVID relief funds to 76k small businesses.
GMAT:
• July 2021
• 740 (97th %ile)
• Q47 (59th %ile... sad)
• V47 (99th %ile)
• IR 8
• AWA 4 (idk what happened here... I think my essays weren't long enough)
Recommenders:
• Decently strong, I would say. One is former supervisor (from 4 months ago) with whom I have a strong relationship. Advocated for me to be promoted to Manager. Other is colleague with whom I have worked extensively in my current role.
Short Term Goal Post-MBA:
• Product or Program Manager for big name tech such as Google. I'd like to switch over to a role more involved in building and growing programs rather than oversight/risk. MBA would not only open the door to a big name, but also help testify to my overall mgmt skills.
Long Term Goal:
• Director of large teams in tech, ownership and expansion of products that create revenue
ECs:
• Competitive Pickleball
• Podcasts on astrophysics, space travel
• Musical performance- 10 years of Violin training including travelling performance in CA, NY, HI. Guitar/vocals for weddings.
Service:
• Two-year voluntary church mission in Phnom Penh, Cambodia after high school. Selected to lead entire mission of 130 volunteers for 6 months (role given to >10% of missionaries). Learned Cambodian language fluently (including reading, writing). Taught English, principles of faith, and financial wellness. Other impromptu service such as harvesting rice, building homes, etc.
• Grocery Rescue Volunteer
Planning to apply to Yale SOM, Anderson, Marshall, McCombs, Foster, McDonough
Any tips or questions would be very much appreciated, but I have a few specific questions into which I would love some insight as well:
• My overall GMAT score is fantastic and I was happy to score so high (740). However, I'm a bit worried that my quant (47) is not super competitive. Retaking it is out of the question as I don't know that I could recreate my 740.
o Does my IR (8) help with my 59%ile quant?
o Does the Q/V breakdown even matter that much?
o Any top schools I should be considering that really values a high verbal score (47, 99%ile)?
• The six schools I mentioned seem to have a good name recognition, have GMAT avgs below my score, and look like they can help me get where I want to go in my career.
o Any thoughts on whether my target schools are reasonable based on my profile?
o Should I expect any scholarship $ in this range of schools? I know there are many other factors to consider (essays, interview), but I'm not sure I understand how many scholarships schools typically give and whether GMAT is a large factor, etc.
Thanks for your time.