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grh582
Joined: 14 Mar 2019
Last visit: 06 Jan 2020
Posts: 6
Own Kudos:
Given Kudos: 8
Location: United States
Schools: Yale '22 (S)
GPA: 3.26
14 Mar 2019, 22:13
Kudos
Bookmarks
Background
Work Experience:
-3 years at matriculation in a Finance Rotational Program well known F200/S&P100; one of the top performing analysts in the program during my 1st rotation and was offered an out of state rotation for my 2nd rotation (current rotation)
-During 2nd rotation, immediate supervisor left a few months into my rotation so I was asked to step up and take over duties as the Finance Manager. I will be acting Finance Manager until my rotation is finished as there are no plans to backfill my old supervisor's position.
-Led a margin analysis project with other finance managers from other business units on the team and successfully finished all finance manager duties. Supervisor (two levels up from when I started, but now immediate supervisor) has been very impressed with performance and will write a very good recommendation letter
-Job involves financial planning and forecasting; unlikely that any one else in the rotation program has been given the same level of responsibility or visibility
-Likely to end on Corp Dev or International rotation for 3rd one. Had a few other projects I led where I presented the analysis I did to executives that I started on my initiative
Undergrad school: Finance & Philosophy double major, public university with strong business program (think Michigan, Texas, UVA)
Extracurriculars:
1) 6 months volunteering to teach a GED class to adults (had to stop because I moved out of state for 2nd rotation)
2) 6 months volunteering to prepare taxes for people under the poverty line (VITA)
3) 2 years Professional Development/Fundraising chair for the New Employee organization at my company
4) 3 months of volunteering at an NGO in Europe working with impoverished communities after graduation and before starting my job
5) Started non-profit to teach workshops to lower income adults/students on topics ranging from Financial Literacy to conflict resolution; have hosted multiple workshops across homeless shelters to after school programs
Race: Asian-American
Stats
GMAT: 740 (49Q/42V), retaking for a 760+ (hopefully)
Undergrad GPA: 3.3, I do have an alternative transcript after graduation with 3 community college classes including 2 of the classes I did poorly on in college and 1 Business Calculus class as a refresher. Not that this is a good excuse, but most of my bad grades come from freshman year where I partied too much and joined too many student organizations
MBA Info
Post MBA: Asset Management, have finished level 1 of CFA and will hopefully finish level 2 before I start
I have also done campus visits for most of these schools and have gone to their events in my city for a few schools
Target: ED for Columbia; R1 for Booth, Kellogg, Sloan, Yale
Reach: Harvard
Are these realistic targets for me? I realize that I am from an over represented group, and my GPA is not very good. Also I think my ECs are scattered since I've had to move cities for my rotation program. But I do think I have done everything possible to make up for these shortcomings.
Any help and advise would be appreciated. I am looking for a consultant to help me with my application, but having a hard time choosing since there's so many ones with good reviews on here
Work Experience:
-3 years at matriculation in a Finance Rotational Program well known F200/S&P100; one of the top performing analysts in the program during my 1st rotation and was offered an out of state rotation for my 2nd rotation (current rotation)
-During 2nd rotation, immediate supervisor left a few months into my rotation so I was asked to step up and take over duties as the Finance Manager. I will be acting Finance Manager until my rotation is finished as there are no plans to backfill my old supervisor's position.
-Led a margin analysis project with other finance managers from other business units on the team and successfully finished all finance manager duties. Supervisor (two levels up from when I started, but now immediate supervisor) has been very impressed with performance and will write a very good recommendation letter
-Job involves financial planning and forecasting; unlikely that any one else in the rotation program has been given the same level of responsibility or visibility
-Likely to end on Corp Dev or International rotation for 3rd one. Had a few other projects I led where I presented the analysis I did to executives that I started on my initiative
Undergrad school: Finance & Philosophy double major, public university with strong business program (think Michigan, Texas, UVA)
Extracurriculars:
1) 6 months volunteering to teach a GED class to adults (had to stop because I moved out of state for 2nd rotation)
2) 6 months volunteering to prepare taxes for people under the poverty line (VITA)
3) 2 years Professional Development/Fundraising chair for the New Employee organization at my company
4) 3 months of volunteering at an NGO in Europe working with impoverished communities after graduation and before starting my job
5) Started non-profit to teach workshops to lower income adults/students on topics ranging from Financial Literacy to conflict resolution; have hosted multiple workshops across homeless shelters to after school programs
Race: Asian-American
Stats
GMAT: 740 (49Q/42V), retaking for a 760+ (hopefully)
Undergrad GPA: 3.3, I do have an alternative transcript after graduation with 3 community college classes including 2 of the classes I did poorly on in college and 1 Business Calculus class as a refresher. Not that this is a good excuse, but most of my bad grades come from freshman year where I partied too much and joined too many student organizations
MBA Info
Post MBA: Asset Management, have finished level 1 of CFA and will hopefully finish level 2 before I start
I have also done campus visits for most of these schools and have gone to their events in my city for a few schools
Target: ED for Columbia; R1 for Booth, Kellogg, Sloan, Yale
Reach: Harvard
Are these realistic targets for me? I realize that I am from an over represented group, and my GPA is not very good. Also I think my ECs are scattered since I've had to move cities for my rotation program. But I do think I have done everything possible to make up for these shortcomings.
Any help and advise would be appreciated. I am looking for a consultant to help me with my application, but having a hard time choosing since there's so many ones with good reviews on here
14 Mar 2019, 23:49
Kudos
Bookmarks
A few thoughts on your profile and plans grh582:
Overall, I'd say you are doing/have done all the right things. A few critical decisions and you should be pretty sorted.
Hope this helps some.
Cheers,
- There's a lot to like. The undergrad pedigree and GMAT score help. CFA will add further to the MBA candidature and partly overcome the GPA bit. The alternate transcript - does that come up high on grades? Higher score always helps, again given the GPA bit.
- The work experience sounds good and you've been able to articulate the differentiation well. It would be good to understand the industry you are in though. Also, your experience will be on the lower side of the average at most of your target schools. If that third rotation takes you global, there might be merit in being very selective this year instead of going full hog.
- The ECs are scattered but the important thing is you've kept it at despite whatever. The European gig and starting a non-profit sound quite good and should bring you enough brownie points. Here again, will be good to understand how recent has been the non-profit and the scale achieved/plans for continuity.
- The post-MBA plan while understandable, will require fair amount of justification. FP&A isn't exactly asset management so what gives will be the question in adcom's as well as future recruiters' minds. CFA shows your intent sure, but do bear in mind that those roles are few and far between. This is one aspect that's worth dwelling upon more.
Overall, I'd say you are doing/have done all the right things. A few critical decisions and you should be pretty sorted.
Hope this helps some.
Cheers,
PersonalMBACoach
Expert
Personal MBA Coach Founder
Expert reply
15 Mar 2019, 02:21
Kudos
Bookmarks
grh582
Hey grh,
Thanks for posting! You've got a lot of great things going on here that I think could make for a really solid application. A couple of points:
While the GPA is on the low side, it's not so low as to raise any red flags with an admissions committee. Typically 3.1 or worse tends to garner some attention, and while the CC courses can't change your undergrad GPA, they show a commitment to doing well academically.
As it stands, I'm not 100% sure you need to re-take the GMAT, but if you've got the time and capacity to do it again it can't hurt. What I wouldn't recommend is taking it multiple times to chase a 760 when your score is already at the 97th percentile. In your particular case, a 750 or 760 versus a 740 isn't going to move the needle a ton (and not the same as going from a 720 to a 740).
Asset management is a fickle post-MBA industry, with a lot of firms looking for prior experience and skills in fundamental analysis, financial modeling, and firm valuation. I have had clients in the past write their applications with an AM slant only to recruit for investment banking once at school after learning of the difficulties of recruiting for it. That's not to say you shouldn't write about AM in your apps, but you will need to show a deep understanding of the industry and lay out clear and concise post-MBA goals (including roles and expected progression).
I think you've got the tools and background to be a great candidate and competitive, at least on paper, at the schools you are interested in. At this point, it's going to be all about delivering the best application you can! Feel free to reach out at [email protected] to talk about your candidacy in more depth and see if I can't be of more assistance.
Regards,
