Hello. I’m about to start the process of applying to business schools, but I wanted to solicit some advice from this forum. I especially want to make sure that I have a realistic shot at my target schools.. I'm a 26 male, asian descent, born and raised in the South...=)
First a bit of background.. I’ve been working for the past 2.5 years as a project manager at a large regional bank here in the South. I came through a selective rotational management associate program, and immediately entered the operations and technology division. We are currently in the middle of large merger which will create a top 10 bank in the country. I’m one of two project managers selected to work on our divestiture (selling off of branches). I’ve feel like I showed considerable leadership potential throughout the merger thus far, and I believe my recommendation letters will attest to this. I've also played an active role in the management program. I've hosted lunches, spoken to prospectives, and conducted an information session on the application develoment area of the bank during the associates rotation through the operations division. This February, I will be actually interviewing candidates for the program. Prior to joining the bank, I spend a year as a marketing rep / business development associate for an in-store marketing company.
I have a double major in business administration and computer science from a small liberal arts school in the south, but unfortunately I have a 2.99 cumulative GPA. I did show improvement in my senior year though, where I had a 3.5 gpa. I also took some the hardest quant classes this year as well, while holding an internship, so I’m hoping I can convince ad-coms that this is my true potential.
As far as extra curricular activity, I’ve been involved in junior achievement where I teach underprivileged junior high school students economics (wonderful experience). In undergrad, I was also selected by the president of the school to serve on the president’s student advisory council. We basically acted as the liaisons between the president and the student body. I was also a peer counselor responsible for seminars on alcohol awareness, date rape, etc.
GMAT….I just scored a 600 on my GMAT. My quant score killed me. I scored a 38 on verbal, but only a 35 in quant.
I'm enrolling in a calculus course and a statistics course starting in Janary to mitigate the gpa and gmat.
At any rate, I know my gpa/gmat is not very competitive. So I’m hoping to target the near-elite frontier tier..
1) University of Illinois – Urbana
2) Notre Dame
2) Georgia Tech
3) Wake Forrest
I'm interested in moving into consulting within the financial servies industry, and ultimately moving into an internal strategy group. I'm also interested in moving into the consumer products industry, and ultimately moving into product management (hence notre dame). Two distinct fields I know, but I'll only articulate one in my essays.. thanks!!