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MU2011CPA
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Profile - Please evaluate, Thanks! 26 Jun 2011, 13:46
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- Male
- 24 years old (would be 25 at time of acceptance)
- Treasurer of my Beta Alpha Psi fraternity for 2 years in college
- Volunteered for United Way w/ free tax preparation for 2 years in college
- Had auditing internship at a regional CPA firm while in college
- Graduated Dec 2009 from Marshall University (run of the mill state school) with Bachelor in Accounting, 3.7GPA
- I'm currently preparing for the GMAT. Judging by my practice exam scores as well as the fact that I plan to study quite diligently for the next 5 months, I presume my score will be mid-600's up to a possible 700ish.
- Currently work at regional CPA firm, will have approx 2.5 years of experience mainly in auditing, but also have done corporate tax as well as business valuation
- I'm a Certified Public Accountant

Although I chose not to work at a Big 4 firm, at my current firm I audit large clients ($700mm in revenue) in the coal industry as well as clients with international manufacturing operations in China, Australia and South America. My firm is very non-traditional, so I have been able to take upon more responsibility than you would normally find at the senior auditor level in larger CPA firms. I have managed entire audits by myself, dealt with Controllers/CEO's/CFO's of our clients on a daily basis, etc...

Schools I'm aiming for include UNC, Duke, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Rice, Emory. Are these within reason of schools that I should be considering? I'm of the belief that an MBA, at least for a CPA such as myself, is practically of no value unless it's from at least a solid 2nd tier program.

I realize that UNC and Duke are my longer shots. Also, how badly will the fact that my firm is a relative unknown outside of my local area hurt my application? I know many applicants have worked for Fortune 500's, or have PeaceCorps/Military experiences. Other than passing the CPA exam, I don't have much in the way of any "nationally" recognized experiences/achievements.

Any advice?
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bakfed
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Joined: 28 Jul 2009
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Status:Darden Class of 2013
Schools:University of Virginia
GMAT 1: 660 Q44 V37
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Profile - Please evaluate, Thanks! 27 Jun 2011, 10:20
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MU2011CPA
- Male
- 24 years old (would be 25 at time of acceptance)
- Treasurer of my Beta Alpha Psi fraternity for 2 years in college
- Volunteered for United Way w/ free tax preparation for 2 years in college
- Had auditing internship at a regional CPA firm while in college
- Graduated Dec 2009 from Marshall University (run of the mill state school) with Bachelor in Accounting, 3.7GPA
- I'm currently preparing for the GMAT. Judging by my practice exam scores as well as the fact that I plan to study quite diligently for the next 5 months, I presume my score will be mid-600's up to a possible 700ish.
- Currently work at regional CPA firm, will have approx 2.5 years of experience mainly in auditing, but also have done corporate tax as well as business valuation
- I'm a Certified Public Accountant

Although I chose not to work at a Big 4 firm, at my current firm I audit large clients ($700mm in revenue) in the coal industry as well as clients with international manufacturing operations in China, Australia and South America. My firm is very non-traditional, so I have been able to take upon more responsibility than you would normally find at the senior auditor level in larger CPA firms. I have managed entire audits by myself, dealt with Controllers/CEO's/CFO's of our clients on a daily basis, etc...

Schools I'm aiming for include UNC, Duke, Vanderbilt, Wake Forest, Rice, Emory. Are these within reason of schools that I should be considering? I'm of the belief that an MBA, at least for a CPA such as myself, is practically of no value unless it's from at least a solid 2nd tier program.

I realize that UNC and Duke are my longer shots. Also, how badly will the fact that my firm is a relative unknown outside of my local area hurt my application? I know many applicants have worked for Fortune 500's, or have PeaceCorps/Military experiences. Other than passing the CPA exam, I don't have much in the way of any "nationally" recognized experiences/achievements.

Any advice?
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The "unknown" name isn't a killer, but it's about how you portray yourself in the application. You're fairly young and the number of years of experience is on the short side. If you were to get 680 or above, I think you have a pretty good chance at the schools you listed, including Fuqua and Kenan-Flagler. In fact, I think that if you were to work for another year or two, get a 700+ GMAT, you can target top 15 b-schools.
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MU2011CPA
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Profile - Please evaluate, Thanks! 27 Jun 2011, 10:40
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I really appreciate the response, especially since it is encouraging, haha. It looks as though I'm actually too late at this point to begin preparation to apply for a Fall 2012 spot, so I may even be pushing this back as far as Fall 2013. That would put me at 3+ years of experience in public accounting. So long as I don't totally stagnate in my responsibilities at work, you see this as being a good thing?

Also, thanks for the GMAT heads up. I will spend the lion's share of my "free" time over the next year preparing mightily for the GMAT.
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bakfed
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Status:Darden Class of 2013
Schools:University of Virginia
GMAT 1: 660 Q44 V37
Posts: 1,768
Kudos: 1,245
Profile - Please evaluate, Thanks! 27 Jun 2011, 13:13
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MU2011CPA
I really appreciate the response, especially since it is encouraging, haha. It looks as though I'm actually too late at this point to begin preparation to apply for a Fall 2012 spot, so I may even be pushing this back as far as Fall 2013. That would put me at 3+ years of experience in public accounting. So long as I don't totally stagnate in my responsibilities at work, you see this as being a good thing?

Also, thanks for the GMAT heads up. I will spend the lion's share of my "free" time over the next year preparing mightily for the GMAT.
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i do see the extra year of work as a good thing for you. In that timeframe, try to gain additional experiences, initiate stuff, do leadership stuff and buff up your extracurricular activities.