Profile Evaluation (Thanks very much!)
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21 Jan 2010, 13:25
Sorry if this is too long!!!!
Profile:
25 (time of application)/female/Asian
Undergrad GPA: 3.5/4.0 (Ivy League – Operations Research/Econ), major (though not officially calculated) ~3.7/4.0
GMAT: 690 (Q46, V39, AWA 5) – first time
Work Experience: Total 3.5 years, 4 years at time of application
-1 year as analyst at small financial services consulting firm. Worked with 1 other analyst on a client across different decision areas that supported ¼ of our consulting revenue. Self-taught VBA and created a comprehensive model that allowed our client to analyze their entire customer base across various P&L dimensions.
-promoted to sr analyst 1.5 years into my tenure and became the sole analyst working on a small private label credit card company that already had a big worldwide presence in auto industry. I worked directly with their president and helped revamp their entire portfolio through marketing and profit enhancement strategies (all of our recommendations were implemented and projected to increase their project by over 10%). The bank’s president personally called me to thank me for my work (he was in Utah, and we didn’t go onsite due to budgeting constraints)
-left consulting firm to take on a project manager role at top credit card company working in a new team within risk management. I oversaw 4-5 key decision areas (whereas my peers took on maybe 1-2). I helped implement key decision models that generated over $XX in profit during the first year of my tenure. I’m also a key player in ensuring our company’s practices are compliant with regulatory constraints which required me to multi-task and lead in a cross-functional environment.
-I’m also a co-lead in a team that helps our group (~30 people) gain competitor insight
-I have a great relationship with my boss, he seems to trust me with more responsibilities compared to my teammates and I’m the go-to person for all kinds of questions/projects
Outside Work/Extra-curriculars:
-I was an English tutor for 4 years in college (this was part of an organization that focused on Asian community)
-Was a key member in promoting the presence of a new local chapter of AIESEC (huge international organization) at my undergrad. Aside from helping to gain recognization and funding, my specific role in our local chapter was to consult and review undergrad applicants interested in interning abroad
-I currently have 2 mentoring roles in large non-profit organizations in NYC (BBBS, Streetwise partners) particularly because I have a passion for community development. Both since Sep 2009 and are weekly to bi-monthly commitments
-I’ve also been volunteering on small projects with NY Cares (soup kitchens, community development, etc)
-I’m self-teaching intermediate Korean and French.
My reasons for MBA:
I want to focus on entrepreneurship and management because I have a passion for non-profit and want to start my own non-profit organization some day, preferably in a more global setting
My dream schools:
Basically the key entrepreneurship/management schools:
HBS
Stanford
Maybe Columbia (because I was an undergrad there and have a special place for the school)
LBS
Insead
Any others?
My biggest concern is my GMAT score. I would like to improve it. But I’m a pretty bad standardized test taker. I almost threw up at the test site, and would love it if I didn’t have to take it again so I can focus on the possible essay topics. I’m visiting HBS and auditing some classes (thanks to my friend at HBS) this month.
Aside from my low GMAT, do I have a chance at any of these schools?