Profile Evaluation Request

Question

Hi,

Thank you in advance for your time and effort to evaluate my profile.

Ethnicity: European, Caucasian 
GMAT: 740
Age: 26
Undergr. GPA (weakpoint): 63%/2:1 from Warwick University (BSc Management), i guess this would be a 3.3 or so? 
I scored low in my second year, for which I have a letter from my personal tutor explaining mitigating circumstances (illness) and then did well in my final year (1st/4.0). However, I am considering obtaining an alternative transcript if need be.
Work Experience: 4 years in solid European venture capital firm, around $1bn AUM (in terms of brand name think Wllington partners, DN Capital or Holtzbrink). Summer internships at large hedge fund (think Soros, Bluecrest) and a German first league football club (in ticketing and marketing, because I really like football)
Extra-curricular: Set up own VC in Africa, through crowdfunding in Switzerland and also founded a business recruiting football talents in Argentina and placing them in the German first league (giving them an opportunity at becoming escaping poverty)

Aiming for:
Columbia
MIT
Chicago 
LBS
Oxford

Extra Info: German/English native (went to UK military school from age of 6) and fluent Swedish and Spanish
Ran the 4 deserts racing series (if thats of any interest)

I wanted the gist of my application to be that I like identifying and facilitating opportunity

Thank you for your effort

mbaMissionJenK · Answer

Hi there,

Thanks for posting; it sounds like you have quite a few strengths to your profile, and minimal weaknesses.... your grades could have been higher certainly but you have some comments you can make in the optional essay and the final trend was high which is good. Plus your GMAT is quite strong so if it were me I wouldn't likely worry about the alternate transcript, but up to you. Your school list is competitive, but you should hopefully have a shot or be considered if you put together stellar applications. Keep in mind that top schools turn away well qualified applicants all the time, due to space constraints, and that it is a holistic and sometimes subjective process, so there are no guarantees, and presenting your story in a strong light can make a difference. The 'VC in Africa' story sounds quite intriguing, though one wonders what has come of it now, along with the football recruiting, so you could include stories about those types of things in your apps if you feel proud of them and depending upon what came out of it and what you learned etc. Good luck with the process and let us know what other q's you have!

jim1234 · Answer

Thank your very much for taking the time to answer. Both the football business as well as the one in Africa are still ongoing.

I was just wondering whether you think that working at a VC firm is a good background. Many applicants seem to be from IBD or consulting and VC firms don't have quite the same recognisability value as "goldman" or "Mckinsey".

Therefore my question is really whether it would be worth adding a stint at an MBB firm now, in order to strengthen the application?

My goal after the MBA is to go into PE.

mbaMissionJenK · Answer

I think VC experience is valuable, especially if it makes sense and helps you (based on your own explanations even) with your post-MBA goals and career path. Many would love to get into VC in some way and have a tough time breaking in! Overall you'll often be most compared with those most like you, so just continue to show who YOU truly are and all that you bring to the table. Good luck!

Profile Evaluation Request

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