Hi there...
I was hoping someone could evaluate my profile.
About me: I’m a 31 year-old Australian male.
GMAT: 720, Q46 V44. Tested early 2015.
Target schools:
Given I’m a bit older, I’m particularly interested in 1-year programs (IMD, Oxford, Kellogg, or Columbia’s January entry).
University undergrad:4-year Bachelor of Business (Marketing) from an Australian university. My GPA however isn’t great (2.2 - weighed down by a few ‘DNS’ zero scores where I was enrolled only but did not complete) - I’m one of the stereotypes who took a while to find what they wanted to do and spent too much time having fun. I also competed a significant part of this degree part-time while I worked to support myself. However, in my final year as I started studying more (interesting) strategy-based subjects, I moved toward the top of my class, with a GPA of 3.8 in my final year.
Work experience:
From there I went to work for a boutique consulting firm (started by ex-McKinsey guys) that had a range of blue-chip clients. Which was funny, because being a clueless kid from the country I didn’t know what consulting WAS until I was in my final semester and encountered the field/subject/concept - at which point I decided that is exactly what I wanted to do (leaving my run a bit late…). I worked there for a bit over 3 years, being promoted twice in that time to an engagement lead.
I was then head-hunted by a large insurer into the strategy team. From there I was promoted to manage the strategy team for the major division ($6B revenue) after 6 months - a role I’ve been in for 2.5 years. And in this role my reports are essentially MBA-graduate level roles based on salary and candidate mix.
Post-MBA goals:
I love strategy work - the practice, the theory, the ambiguity - and my spare time is spent reading and studying it. And an MBA is significantly about this passion I have for learning - a chance to take some time to to consolidate, formalise and expand on what I do today anyway. I have a belief about business’ ability to be better in the world, and I’ve tried that problem on the in-house strategy side and the consulting side. I’ve considered the post-MBA paths from here - academia (contributing to the topic), entrepreneur (living it), or back to consulting - and while it’s somewhat cliched for MBAs, I think I’m going back to consulting.
Questions:
I’m wondering if I have a shot at one of the top schools, given a) my age and b) the holes in my resume (e.g. poor GPA)? i.e. does my GMAT score and work experience offset these?
My friend made a (half) joke that I’m quitting my job to do an MBA to get the job that reports to me now. While it makes sense to me, do you think I have some explaining to do to recruiters?
Thanks in advance.