Pro Evaluation Please

Question

Thanks in advance Paul.

26 yr old White American Male (Jewish)
GPA- 3.3 from Indiana Univ
GMAT - Test in March, scoring in mid 600s on practice exams
Sports Marketing & Business Dual Degree
Dean's List last 4 semesters (one 4.0)
Partial academic schollie to IU

Work experience:
- 3 yrs at a top Wall Street firm in private wealth management
- Promoted w/in 6 months of tenure to leadership position (12 subordinates now)
- Received two client service and sales awards and serve on an additional voluntary leadership team focusing on client retention and service in collaboration with management
-Also marketing internship post-college before wall street as well as internships in college on Capitol Hill and Mayor's office working on economic data.

Extracurriculars:
-Ongoing eBay business (began in college) selling vintage t-shirts for high margins in free time
-Various cancer related walks and runs

Short term goals:
-Leverage sales, marketing, service and entrepreneurial-based wealth management experience along with marketing and business degree into a brand management role (i.e.; with P&G).

Long term goals:
-Open brand management/marketing consulting firm helping start-up business ventures in the LA area

Applying to UCLA (R4), USC (R4) & Pepperdine (rolling) for Fall 2008. I hope to score 650+ on my GMAT. Do you think it’s wise to apply late or wait for Fall 2009 admission? If you feel 2009 would be wiser, consider that I would plan on switching jobs this spring/summer and possibly moving to LA to do so. My essays are strong and I feel quite confident in my recommendations and the networking/contacts I’ve made at each school (current students, alumni and admin)

Look forward to your feedback!

Accepted.com · Answer

kilograms,

You have a strong profile, especially the leadership at work. Your community/extracurricular seems a bit weak and a 650 is on the low side for UCLA but not for USC or Pepperdine. So you could apply to the latter two in the fourth round but I would wait until the fall for UCLA, so you can raise the GMAT and get a leadership/impact experience in the community. As for changing jobs, I hope the new job will have as much managerial responsibility as your current job because I would hate to see you weaken one of the strongest parts of your profile.

Hope this helps.

kilograms · Answer

Thank You for the feedback Paul, its encouraging. Since UCLA is my top choice, I do think Im going to wait until next fall to apply to all my schools. In the meantime, I will seek avenues to boost my extracurriculars and community involvement. Hopefully I score well on my GMAT in a month and get that out of the way.

As for a job change, I will attempt to take on a new role that affords me leadership opportunities. Im confident I can find the right role to do so.

Thanks again!

As for a job change, I will attempt to take on a new role that affords me leadership opportunities. Im confident I can find the right role to do so.

Thanks again!

Accepted.com · Answer

You're very welcome.

kilograms · Answer

Paul,

A few more quick questions if you dont mind:

1. How do you think I should address a gap on my resume where, after undergrad, I took time to travel and work for my family business. I traveled for 6 weeks and then worked for 8 months afterwards. I just didnt want to make my resume too long, should I take out some internship experiences to keep it to one page?

2. Im trying not to run my resume to 2 pages but want to include the above mentioned gap, as well as some various extracurriculars Ive added (i.e.; adult sports leagues, captaining a new team to raise funds for a wall street walk for the american heart association, etc.). What are your thoughts on 2-page resumes for MBA apps?

Thanks again Paul!

Accepted.com · Answer

kilograms,

I would avoid the two-page resume. The 6-week travel is something you could leave off the resume and mention in the application's data section. If schools require you to account for it on the resume you could mention it on one line in your education section as a post-college experience to countries X, Y, and Z or in an "Interests" section under "Travel" (with dates). It's definitely not a negative if you're worried.

Your leadership at work BTW is a real asset for you (one that will be diminished however if you leave that job for a position that has much less leadership). If you can just bring that GMAT up and maybe deepen the community involvement a bit you should be a strong applicant.

Good luck.

kilograms · Answer

Thanks again Paul. I am just concerned about leaving off the time (8 months) that I worked for my family business after school. I have that gap on my resume and an alumni of one of my potential programs brought it up when scanning my resume. I did manage quite a few projects for the family business. I figured maybe Id remove an internship at a hedge fund that I had during the summer of my rising junior year where I didnt have an extravagant role...what do you think?

I appreciate your feedback on my candidacy and work experience. If I happen to make a change in regard to work, Ill be sure to assess my management role/leadership opportunities in any potential position. Additionally, the upcoming Heart Association walk that Im fund-raising for should add to my community involvement. Im excited for that.

Accepted.com · Answer

You shouldn't have to omit either experience from your resume. A skilled resume editor can make all the important stuff fit on one page.

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