Underrep. Minority Male Profile Eval. Request, thanks Hjort
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11 Aug 2007, 14:04
Hi Hjort, please evaluate my profile:
Demographic: I am a 25 year old African American male planning to enroll in the fall of 2009 (will be 27 upon matriculation)
Educational Background: I attended a "Public Ivy" for undergrad and double majored in Economics and Sociology with a 3.46 GPA overall and was in the honors college. I also studied abroad at the London School of Economics for a semester.
GMAT: I took this exam twice, the first time earning a 580 - 64th percentile (Q: 36 which is in the 49th percentile. V: 34 which is in the 71st percentile) and a 5.5 on my AWA. The second time I received a 700 - 92nd percentile (Q: 48, which is in the 85th percentile. V: 38, which is in the 84th percentile) and a 6 on the AWA.
Work Experience: I have held 2 jobs. The first was at Bloomberg for a year and a half where I worked in the client services capacity, where I worked with users to more effectively utilize the Bloomberg for their data analysis. (it was somewhat of a consultative roll) My second and current job (1.5 yrs tenure) is at a top tier investment management firm, where I work in the product development and management capacity. I also started my own painting company in college and managed 4 employees.
Extracurricular:
- co-founded a breakdancing club and served as the vice president (college)
- member of a marketing club, in which I held executive board positions for 2 years (college)
- volunteer high school math tutor to recent immigrants aged 18-21. I also am on an executive committee for the non-profit organization that sponsors the tutoring program (been doing this for 1 year and plan to continue)
Career Plans/Why get an MBA: While I do enjoy the asset management industry, I would like to switch to a career that is more research and financial analysis oriented, such as sell-side credit research or capital markets. While I have had significant exposure to teamwork and project management through my work experience and extracurriculars, I do not have as extensive experience in the harder skills (i.e. corporate finance, accounting, etc.) By obtaining an MBA from a financially oriented program I would be in the best position to break into either research or capital markets. I would like to work in NYC after graduation.
Schools that I plan to apply to:
Harvard
Wharton
Columbia
U of Chicago
Yale
Cornell
Stern
Duke
I have 4 questions:
1. With my given GMAT, GPA, experience and career goals is this list of schools appropriate to apply to?
2. According to my profile, could you group the aforementioned schools in the following categories: shooting for the moon, competitive, and high probability of acceptance.
3. I know that you don't believe in safety schools, but would you be able to recommend other schools that are historically strong in finance that I may have overlooked and have a high probability of getting into?
4. Do you have any recommendations on how I can beef my profile up to be more competitive?
Thank you for your time Hjort, I look forward to your response!