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beckee529
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Joined: 11 Jun 2007
Last visit: 23 Feb 2012
Posts: 393
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Please evaluate my profile 05 Aug 2007, 00:03
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Hi Paul,

Here is my profile:

Age/Gender: 27/female
Nationality: Chinese American
Languages: English / fluent in Chinese (Cantonese)
Undergrad: Univ of CA Riverside; B.S., Business Administration with finance/MIS emphasis - completed in Winter 2003
GPA: 3.3 overall/ Major GPA: 3.7
GMAT: in the process of re-taking exam (exam scheduled in Sept)

Work Experience: mid-level, post college full-time: over four years
Industry: Media/ Entertainment, Area: Finance/ Accounting
I have been with Paramount Pictures for almost past five years. I started in Fall 2002 as an intern and upon completion of college I became a financial analyst. After nearly two years, I left for another dept and became a senior analyst. Recently in December, I was promoted to Manager of Finance in the same department. So overall, I was able to progressive work my way up but have stayed with the same company. Another thing to note is that I work with many different international countries affiliated with the company which I believe is unique and wonderful aspect about my job giving me exposure to great diversity.

Extra Curriculars: Was part of many organizations in college where I held cabinet positions and took on different roles in leadership. After college, I have done some community service for my city, events at work, and runs to raise money for different causes. But overall, I have not devoted myself to any as consistently as in college and high school.

Post-MBA goal: to continue building on my experience in the finance/ accounting area although I am curious about consulting.

Based on the above, could you please comment on my chances at the following schools for Fall 2008? I know that a lot of this is riding on how well I do on my GMATs come September.

Stanford, Haas UCB, UCLA, USC, UCSF,

Could you give me some suggestions on what I can do to increase my odds of admission at the schools that I mentioned and some recommendation on other schools that I should also look into?

Other questions...
- How will my lack of depth of extra curricular activities (post college) hurt my chances in the application process?
- What should my target GMAT score be given my work experience?
- How will re-taking the GMAT hurt my chances?
- How important is the AWA score?
- Any additional advice?

Thanks in advance for your response.
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PaulBodine
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Please evaluate my profile 07 Aug 2007, 13:17
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beckee529
Hi Paul,

Here is my profile:

Age/Gender: 27/female
Nationality: Chinese American
Languages: English / fluent in Chinese (Cantonese)
Undergrad: Univ of CA Riverside; B.S., Business Administration with finance/MIS emphasis - completed in Winter 2003
GPA: 3.3 overall/ Major GPA: 3.7
GMAT: in the process of re-taking exam (exam scheduled in Sept)

Work Experience: mid-level, post college full-time: over four years
Industry: Media/ Entertainment, Area: Finance/ Accounting
I have been with Paramount Pictures for almost past five years. I started in Fall 2002 as an intern and upon completion of college I became a financial analyst. After nearly two years, I left for another dept and became a senior analyst. Recently in December, I was promoted to Manager of Finance in the same department. So overall, I was able to progressive work my way up but have stayed with the same company. Another thing to note is that I work with many different international countries affiliated with the company which I believe is unique and wonderful aspect about my job giving me exposure to great diversity.

Extra Curriculars: Was part of many organizations in college where I held cabinet positions and took on different roles in leadership. After college, I have done some community service for my city, events at work, and runs to raise money for different causes. But overall, I have not devoted myself to any as consistently as in college and high school.

Post-MBA goal: to continue building on my experience in the finance/ accounting area although I am curious about consulting.

Based on the above, could you please comment on my chances at the following schools for Fall 2008? I know that a lot of this is riding on how well I do on my GMATs come September.

Stanford, Haas UCB, UCLA, USC, UCSF,

Could you give me some suggestions on what I can do to increase my odds of admission at the schools that I mentioned and some recommendation on other schools that I should also look into?

Other questions...
- How will my lack of depth of extra curricular activities (post college) hurt my chances in the application process?
- What should my target GMAT score be given my work experience?
- How will re-taking the GMAT hurt my chances?
- How important is the AWA score?
- Any additional advice?

Thanks in advance for your response.
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beckee529,

Even with a 700+ score I don't think your chances at Stanford are very good. Though your professional profile looks strong, you don't have much community leadership and so will be at a big disadvantage relative to other Stanford applicants. I think you can get into the other schools, with USC and UCSF being the less difficult of course. Any GMAT of 700 or higher would put you in the running for Haas and UCLA but given that your undergrad school was not a powerhouse and your UG GPA was not stunning a higher GMAT score would be helpful. E.g., 740-750 would probably really catch their eye. Even high 600s should be sufficient at USC and UCSF given your professional profile. Retaking the GMAT will only hurt your chances if you've already taken it 3 times or if preparing for it takes too much time away from your preparation of your apps. The AWA score is not important. If you start tomorrow in a community leadership role (e.g., ideally *leading people*) and you apply in the second round you would have a long enough track record to improve your community profile. Other advice would be to use the fact that you are local to your schools to aggressively build a network (students, alums) at your target schools.

Good luck,