Hi
mholmes2101We are building back up our active presence on GMATClub and so we are getting back to profile reviews and being helpful on this site. Since you are targeting R1 this season I am sure you must be very busy and this advice will still be timely. I will answer from an admissions committee perspective as I have over 15 yrs of direct admissions committee experience to draw upon. My comments will be in blue below:
I'm applying in round 1 this year for full-time MBA programs enrolling fall 2017 and would love to get a profile evaluation as a gut check for my chances at top programs. Any evaluation or advice you could give me would be great!
White male, 24 years old
Education:
"Southern Ivy" (Duke, Emory, Vandy, etc.), graduated in 2014
You are in a bit of a hurry- no? But yes I see that big GMAT score lurking below so that might save you a year... but truly you'd present so much better if you applied not this fall but fall 2017 for start Fall 2018, Mathematics and Economics BA, GPA: 3.25
So there is going to be a story to manage on that transcript.... right? Some C's and maybe worse on the Chemistry class? But this can be managed - need to be careful not to blame here- just state the context.(started out pre-med which did not go well. Started to do better when I switched to math and econ, but suffered family tragedy fall of senior year which hurt my grades as well)
GMAT:
770 (50Q/46V/8IR/5AWA)
Work:
-1 year as a business analyst in the Operational Excellence department at a large media conglomerate located in Atlanta (working in the automotive division, where they are a global leader in wholesale and retail technology and facilitation). Acted as a liaison between business operations and IT development for the development of enterprise mobile applications, completed heavily statistical analysis to complete the business cases for these applications as well as justify a multi-million dollar acquisition, created operational tools for field use and trained several GMs on their use.
-1 year as a manager in the Financial Planning and Analysis department in the same company.
Promoted to manager 3 years ahead of schedule for being recognized as a top performer. That gives me something in AdCom to work with so helpful and even more helpful if recommender supportsManages 2 contractors and an intern. Currently in charge of budgets and forecasts for several smaller portfolio businesses and on the leadership team of these businesses to provide insights that drive strategic decision-making. Created a service offering that's being implemented at the location level and has proven to be profitable in test runs.
-Internships include summer internship at same company where I currently work and a summer as a finance intern at a wealth management fund.
Extracurriculars:
-Pro Bono consultant at an eCommerce retail store, creating the business plan, social media marketing strategy, and pricing methodology
Interesting- why did you choose to do this? That could be interesting as part of your story-Half marathon participant in the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Team In Training program. Raised $2000 for cancer research
Good but not terribly unique- sorry.-Event planning volunteer at the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society
A little better if you can give me some results-Finalist in my company's internal StartUp business plan event
Much more interesting-Liaison between my current company and a start-up non-profit whose goal it is to provide low-income teens with exposure to successful professionals.
And more of this.Post-MBA Goals:
I want to use my automotive and tech industry knowledge to move into MBB consulting with a focus on the technology industry.
Schools under consideration:
Harvard, Stanford, Wharton, Chicago, MIT, Kellogg, Haas, Duke, Michigan
So here's the thing- you are shooting high- Excellent. And these schools can pick the best in every category- you are best in class on GMAT right now and that's about it. Showing some good progress at work but you graduated 2 yrs ago and avg work experience at the schools you target is 5 yrs. So of this list your best shot now is probably Michigan from that list. And so ask yourself- is taking the short cut to Michigan or similar track what you want? Or are you trying for the MBB equivalents in MBA program- where I like to say MBB goes to schools like Harvard, Stanford and Wharton, Kellogg, Chicago etc with Back Hoes to scoop up all the consultants. Yes they also recruit at the 10-20 level programs too but they go there with dessert forks to cherry pick a few hires. Almost 20% of the class at Chicago for the most recent employment report went to work for McKinsey, Bain or BCG. You will not see those % at Michigan although they did have 22 McKinsey hires in most recent report. But my point is if you are looking for the superhighway to MBB then you need to target that highest tier. And that's where we can help you- we could do a profile review this year and help you identify a specific action plan to be top notch on every metric and then our experienced counselors- who know how to get themselves and their clients into that top level- can guide you to success to a very top B school program and put you in the best position to be successful on the MBB route.... You can reach out to StratusPrep at this link or link below on my signature. Best wishes to you and thanks for seeking us out!Thanks in advance for your help![/quote]