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01 Apr 2010, 21:21
Kudos
Bookmarks
I am at a crossroads in my current situation.
First, some background about myself academically and stats.
Graduated in 07 from a Top 5 undergrad business school (at least according to businessweek). It was an accountancy degree, cum laude (3.6).
I started my own business as a junior, this is now my 4th year of running it full-time. It has nothing to do with accounting (although I manage my own books, taxes, etc.). I have basically turned $2000 in savings into gross sales of $500,000 annually (not all profit of course). I have also shown significant year over year growth (although I think I may have finally peaked) despite the recession. All of this is done by myself. However, I feel as though my window in the industry is closing and I only have 1 or 2 more good years left, so I am looking at applying to schools either this fall or next fall. The work is similar to that of futures contracts, but not tied to stocks or the like. It is very high-pressured and high-risk and I would like my future job to have those same attributes. When I decided to continue this work instead of seek full-time employment, I knew that it was something that I likely would not be able to do forever, but the money was too good to pass up (100k to a lower-middle class kid is VERY tempting as opposed to a more secure 50k job at a Big 4). I have always been a risk-taker and at the time I figured that I'd have no problem getting a different job if I did not have success (this was pre-recession).
My GMAT is 720. I have a few volunteer opportunities on my resume, such as participating in the VITA tax program and some work with criminal rehabilitation but nothing ground-breaking.
Due to the nature of my work being solo, letters of recommendation are somewhat an issue. My plan was to have a former classmate working in finance and who knows me and my business pretty well to write me a rec and then have a former professor write me one as well. I could also have someone who made a small investment in my company write me a recommendation instead of the professor. I do not know how strong either of these would be, but I do not know how much better I could do considering my circumstances.
Again, I will HAVE to switch jobs within the next year or two, doing what I do now will no longer be an option. I basically see two options for myself, either get my masters in accountancy or get an MBA.
I would prefer to get an MBA, however I am only willing to go to schools in the top 10 (preferably GSB or Stern) since I wish to pursue a career in finance and I think only those schools would provide me with a good chance of acquiring a job in this field. As I mentioned before, my work has been very similar to futures contracts, so I would like to get involved in sales and trading or asset management. Since I only have an accounting degree, I feel like I HAVE to have the MBA in order to go down this path. Back when I graduated, I know students with Accountancy degrees got finance jobs, but clearly the job market has changed. I do not see how I can break into the field without additional education.
The MSA is also an option, but its basically my last resort. I do not really want to become an accountant. I am only considering it since I know with my stats that I could get into a top program like U of I, ND, or UT and be able to find a job without too much trouble.
What do you think of my chances at Columbia or NYU? I think my story is pretty unique since whenever people hear about my work they always ask me TONS of questions about it since it is pretty interesting. I am concerned about my non-traditional work experience and mainly my recommendation letters. I know I can rock the interviews and write compelling essays though.
First, some background about myself academically and stats.
Graduated in 07 from a Top 5 undergrad business school (at least according to businessweek). It was an accountancy degree, cum laude (3.6).
I started my own business as a junior, this is now my 4th year of running it full-time. It has nothing to do with accounting (although I manage my own books, taxes, etc.). I have basically turned $2000 in savings into gross sales of $500,000 annually (not all profit of course). I have also shown significant year over year growth (although I think I may have finally peaked) despite the recession. All of this is done by myself. However, I feel as though my window in the industry is closing and I only have 1 or 2 more good years left, so I am looking at applying to schools either this fall or next fall. The work is similar to that of futures contracts, but not tied to stocks or the like. It is very high-pressured and high-risk and I would like my future job to have those same attributes. When I decided to continue this work instead of seek full-time employment, I knew that it was something that I likely would not be able to do forever, but the money was too good to pass up (100k to a lower-middle class kid is VERY tempting as opposed to a more secure 50k job at a Big 4). I have always been a risk-taker and at the time I figured that I'd have no problem getting a different job if I did not have success (this was pre-recession).
My GMAT is 720. I have a few volunteer opportunities on my resume, such as participating in the VITA tax program and some work with criminal rehabilitation but nothing ground-breaking.
Due to the nature of my work being solo, letters of recommendation are somewhat an issue. My plan was to have a former classmate working in finance and who knows me and my business pretty well to write me a rec and then have a former professor write me one as well. I could also have someone who made a small investment in my company write me a recommendation instead of the professor. I do not know how strong either of these would be, but I do not know how much better I could do considering my circumstances.
Again, I will HAVE to switch jobs within the next year or two, doing what I do now will no longer be an option. I basically see two options for myself, either get my masters in accountancy or get an MBA.
I would prefer to get an MBA, however I am only willing to go to schools in the top 10 (preferably GSB or Stern) since I wish to pursue a career in finance and I think only those schools would provide me with a good chance of acquiring a job in this field. As I mentioned before, my work has been very similar to futures contracts, so I would like to get involved in sales and trading or asset management. Since I only have an accounting degree, I feel like I HAVE to have the MBA in order to go down this path. Back when I graduated, I know students with Accountancy degrees got finance jobs, but clearly the job market has changed. I do not see how I can break into the field without additional education.
The MSA is also an option, but its basically my last resort. I do not really want to become an accountant. I am only considering it since I know with my stats that I could get into a top program like U of I, ND, or UT and be able to find a job without too much trouble.
What do you think of my chances at Columbia or NYU? I think my story is pretty unique since whenever people hear about my work they always ask me TONS of questions about it since it is pretty interesting. I am concerned about my non-traditional work experience and mainly my recommendation letters. I know I can rock the interviews and write compelling essays though.
02 Apr 2010, 14:00
Kudos
Bookmarks
wagonfan
Regarding the rec, I recommend the investor.
As to your overall situation, I see your business more as an educational challenge than an admissions challenge for two reasons:
1) The adcoms may not know much about what you do so you need to educate them. The educational challenge doesn't exist for someone coming from IB. Those applicants have other challenges. You need to show that your work is MBA-competitive. You should be able to do it.
2) B-schools want to see evidence of people skill and leadership ability. If you have been working solo for the last 3 years, that will be a challenge. You will need to make the most of any leadership and communications experiences that you have had. Again, it can be done; it just may be bit of a challenge.
I suggest you consider NYU, Chicago, Columbia, Wharton, Duke, Kellogg, and Yale. If you do have impressive leadership experiences, you may also want to add HBSto the mix as a stretch school.
Best,
Linda
