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gogrannygo
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Joined: 16 Dec 2010
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null Updated on: 23 Sep 2014, 02:24
Originally posted by gogrannygo on 11 Sep 2014, 09:44.
Last edited by gogrannygo on 23 Sep 2014, 02:24, edited 1 time in total.
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null 12 Sep 2014, 02:22
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gogrannygo
Hi, guys,

I really appreciate your efforts, and have learned a lot from browsing others' posts. I hoped that I could also glean some insights:

I am a 31 year old Korean male. My story and age may not be as interesting as some other non-trad applicants, but given the age on the older side and career experience, I thought I could hope for your thoughts on my chances against younger, traditional candidates.

Currently, I am an attorney at one of the larger law firms back home. I have been here for about 3 years.
Prior to this, I was a consultant at the Seoul office of an M/B/B.
Prior to that, I attended a top 10 law school in the US (went to MBB straight out of law school, for a variety of reasons)
Due to law school and army in Korea, only 4 years of WE despite age.

I had had b-school on my mind for quite some time--but really only kicked it off about a month ago.
I took the GMAT and scored a 750 (higher in Q than V, which is the opposite of what my preptests had been), AWA 6 and IR 6. Considered a retake (relatively bombed verbal), but many have advised against it.

Graduated in 2005 from a top 10 "National University" in USNWR ranking. 3.2GPA on a 4.0 scale, with a double major in two humanities fields, both of which were decided (we were admitted without majors) near the end of my sophomore year. (i wandered a bit. i wander still)
Graduated in 2011 from a top 10 USNWR ranked law school. 3.3 GPA on a 4.3 scale.
In either case, no real extenuating circumstances, however.

In addition, I have had marginal volunteer activities in college and some minor fraternity leadership, but otherwise, nothing significant.

As for career goals:
Long term, I would like to go into impact investing. This is a genuine desire. However, lack of "community servicey" aspect in my profile may not be convincing enough to adcoms.
However, as I have no finance background, my short-term goal would be to enter investment banking. However, my age and lack of prior finance experience may convince adcoms that this is not a realistic scenario.
In that view, I also wonder if it is wise to tell MBAs that this is my true goal.

So, my weaknesses are many, my strength is only that I had a half-decent GMAT--and the strength is not strong enough to overcome weaknesses.

In that regard, I was wondering what schools I should be looking at.
That said, excluding HSW, I think I would really like to attend Booth or Columbia, particularly due to desire to go into finance. Also Tuck and Yale for its reasonable alignment with long term career goal


Thanks so much in advance for your time!
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Hey there,
So first of all, let me say that your profile is excellent and I think you should have a shot at Top 10 programs!

Now that we got that good news out of the way, let's move on to the other stuff.

1. Your friends are right. Do not even THINK about retaking the GMAT!
2. You are probably right that you should not write in the IB goal. You are likely to old to enter IB in the traditional manner. Actually though, all you need to do is be more inventive. Actually you have a lot more interesting and a lot cooler profile than your average guy going for IB. So USE IT! What I mean is that you have studied and worked as a lawyer. Great! It's very very useful! Don't throw that away! Like for example,w hat about having as a goal: Becoming General Counsel for a huge finance firm? Why not? It makes sense with your experience. It fits with your desire. And it's pretty unique. It's not the only alternative. You have tons of other options. But it's a good one.

Finally, I think your school list is not only good, it makes sense.

Right now the only thing you need to do is hurry up! Round 1 is closing and Round 2 will soon be upon us!

If there's any other way I can help, or if you have any other questions, just drop a line.

Best,
Jon