profile evaluation

Question

Dear Paul,

first of all thank you very much for devoting you time to read the topic.
Brief summary is as follows:
Age: 22 (23 at Matriculation)
Gender: А
Work exp: 2 years (FT in Global Markets Department, Kazakhstani Branch of an International Bank), 0.5 (PT)
Citizenship: Kazakhstan
GPA: 4.17 out of 4.33 (Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research, BA in Business Adm and Accounting with major in Finance)
GMAT: not taken yet
Extracurricular activities: fotography, charity orgs, debate club, fitness
Exchange student experience (Germany, 1 Semester)
Studied 1 semester at Medical University, then left for Finance.
Career goal: Investment Managemenet (not decided yet)
Pls kindly evaluate my chances of getting into top BS. Which of them (top 10) welcome candidates with less than 3 years of w/e. I do understand all the pros and cons. However my ambition to study MBA is well-thought.
Thank you vm!

jallenmorris · Answer

Is your degree a 4-year Bachelor's degree?
Have you taken any practice GMAT exams yet? If so, what did you score and who is the exam written by?
Can you add any other information to your profile? Describe your leadership positions / responsibilities at your job, or in your community. These will all help Paul evaluate your profile in a meaningful way.

Accepted.com · Answer

caleoptera,

Apologies for the delayed reply. Your profile is interesting, and the fact that you are female and (especially) from Kazakhstan will help you. You didn't mention much about leadership, and you will have to have some leadership stories to aim high. Among the top ten programs that are strong in finance, MIT Sloan, HBS, NYU Stern, and Stanford are known to accept a decent percentage of folks with relatively low work experience. An excellent finance school that is very friendly to low-experience applicants is Rochester.

Hope this helps,

caleoptera · Answer

Thank you vm for your reply!
Now I have my GMAT results. They will help me to narrow down my school search.
With GMAT 600 (Q38, V 34) and a/m profile what are the schools I should target?
I've decided to concentrate on General Management rather than Finance and preferably 1 year program. Currently I am applying to ESCP-EAP Master in European Business. Really need your advice!
Many thanks,
Diana

Accepted.com · Answer

Diana,

You should have a decent chance at the following one-year programs: Pittsburgh (Katz), Pepperdine, U. of Florida, U. of Miami, and
U. of San Francisco, among others.

Hope this helps,

caleoptera · Answer

Hi Linda,

thank you very much for your feedback. 
After weighting all the pros and cons of MBA (at this point of time), I decided to apply to Master in Management Program. I was recently rejected by HEC Paris MBA saying that I'm too youn to apply to this degree. I now plan to apply to LBS Master in Management designated for students with 1 year of w/e or less. How do you think what are my chances with GMAT of 600 and a bit more than 1 year of FT experience? What level of competition should I expect? 
What other Master in Management programs would you recommend both in US and Europe.

Many thanks,
Di

PaulBodine · Answer

caleoptera,

For the M.M. programs one year of work experience should be fine. With a 600 GMAT score, however, I think  LBS  is aiming too high. Consider schools like ESCP-EAP European School of Management, Essec Business School, RSM Erasmus University, or, for UK schools, City University Cass. All these M.M. programs are highly ranked by Financial Times.

Good luck,

Accepted.com · Answer

I think your 600 GMAT would be a problem at the LBS program. It's a new program so I can't point to stats from previous classes, but that's my gut feeling.

Best,
Linda

caleoptera · Answer

Thank you, guys. However, I gave it a try and was invited for the interview :shock:

Adcom asked me to resit my gmat and I will follow this advice. :-D

I found lots of interesting info on your site! My interviewer is an adcom officer not alumni. Do you have any idea of what it will look like?

Accepted.com · Answer

Great news! The MS program is a new program so there is not much specific to base my response on, but why don't you look at the feedback for London Business School's MBA program at the MBA Interview Feedback Database . Also I would anticipate questions about why you want an MBA now and what you want to do with the degree after you complete it.

Best,
Linda

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