Profile Review

Question

Ok, I'm a little nervous to put it out there but here it is.

Sex: Female
Age: 26
Race: White
GPA: 3.6 from a small mid-tier private university degree in international business/Spanish. 
Work Experience: Working in commercial banking as an analyst for past 4 year. Currently a senior analyst 
GMAT: 650 with much higher in Verbal than Math. Will retake and hoping for 700+

Extracirriculars: Founding board member of a young professionals group (founded Jan. 2009)that has >50 members and has raised over $8,000 for a homeless shelter for teenagers, member of Junior League, Weekly volunteer at a homeless shelter (different that the one supported by the young professionals group), and a researcher for a grant committee that gives out $150,000 annually to school teachers.

The schools currently on my list are: Duke, Carnegie Mellon, Michigan, Chicago, UNC, and Emory (more of a safety school although I think I need a more safe safety school).

Thoughts on my application and choice of schools would be great. Another thing to consider, my husband and I will be applying together and I'm a little concerned that it may be hard for us BOTH to get into the same school. Any insight as to how schools view spouses applying together?

Thanks in advance!

Class2012 · Answer

You should be able to get into the schools mentioned if you can get 700+ on GMAT.

Good luck.

Skye10 · Answer

I agree with Class2012, your academic aptitude stats - gmat score and gpa - aren't overly impressive, but then again they're just two numbers in a post at this point in time; perhaps a little background information will add some more color. This is the first post I've responded to, but am interested in your background as I'm also coming from Commercial Banking. I'm curious as to why you remained in an analyst role (albeit senior) for 4 years, in my experiences one to one-and-a-half years is the norm, and then the analyst moves on to an underwriter or relationship officer role. The amount of time that you have spent could be viewed as a negative...

alymarie · Answer

Let me add a little bit more information that might explain why I am still in an analyst role. I worked for a small De Novo bank in Michigan straight out of school. It was not a formal credit training program, but I got a lot of training through the RMA. I only worked there for 9 months before I moved to Texas, so advancement wasn't really a possibility. Plus, there were only two lenders and it was a small shop. The opportunties just weren't there. When I moved to Texas I also worked at a small bank, although quite a bit larger than the one in Michigan. The credit department at the high was 4 analyst and a credit manager, but is currently only two analyst (with me being the senior) and a credit manager. We only have four commerical lenders/relationship managers. I could have become a loan officer if I wanted to, but at my bank most of the job would be cold calling new clients, which was not something I wanted to do.

After my MBA, I would like to work for a large commercial bank or possibly a insurance company, but I'm not sure specifically what job I want to have. I'm still in the process of researching this so I can clearly explain it on the career goals essays.

I know my job experience isn't the best, but I have had a promotion and steady increase in salary. I think I've had about a 30% increase in salary since I started 3 years ago which I think is good in this environment.

I know my profile is not the most impressive and that's what is making my decision where to apply so difficult. I think I have a lot of positive things going for me, but I think the applicant pool is going to be very competitive. But on the other hand, not everyone is a super star.

Skye10: What is/has been your role in commerical banking? What is your story/schools you are applying to?

Skye10 · Answer

I transitioned to Commercial Banking almost a year-and-a-half ago. After spending about 8 months as an analyst and completing a 12-week formal credit training program I was "cherry-picked" to join the credit administrators in a risk analysis role covering the entire commercial portfolio. I've worked on several projects involving stress tests and risk analyses, the results of which were presented to executive management and the b.o.d.

Schools I'm applying to at this point are: Tuck, Kellogg, Johnson, and Tepper.

The good news is that your gpa is above the average for all the schools that you've targeted (although it is unclear how the lack of a marquis undergrad name will affect this), the bad news is that your gmat score is below average (which will only exacerbate the question marks surrounding the "quality" of your gpa). I think that additional difficulty may arise in providing "quality" stories and examples of leadership. If the career progression and leadership potential aspects of your app fail to catch the attention of the adcomm member you'll be in trouble. Do you have memorable and significant leadership examples to bolster your case for admission?

alymarie · Answer

Skye10, thank for your all your imput. I appreciate the time you've taken to respond to my profile review.

I think that I actually have some good leadership experience. As I mentioned previuosly, I am on the founding board of a young professionals group that has achieved over 50+ members in just 4 short months. We are affiliated with another non-profit that is pretty small, so to get 50+ people to get excited about supporting a non-profit they knew nothing about previously (and pay dues) is an example of successful leadership. We have also gotten those same people to put in hundreds of hours of volunteering, and we are putting together a fundraiser of our own that is set to raise over $8000. That money will be used to by food for a year for the non-profit we support. I'm very involved with other non-profits as well, which I think helps my application quite a bit.

Right now, the only thing I can improve is my GMAT. I just hope I can get 700+. I think that will go a long way in helping my application, especially with the not super great undergrad school.

Anyway, good luck on your applications and I really appreciate your comments!

Skye10 · Answer

Sorry, forgot about your non-profit involvement. Those experiences definitely qualify, and they carry the added plus of demonstrating a genuine desire to improve the community you live in which will help separate you from the crowd. Getting a 700+ will not only enhance the legitimacy of your g.p.a but it'll also give you two above-average academic stats (which is always a good thing). One word of caution though: be careful how much time and energy you devote to the re-take as most round 1 deadlines are in October (which you're probs already aware of). Best of luck to you as well!

Profile Review

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards