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Apr 2909:00 AM PDT
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What’s in it for you- Live Profile Evaluation Chat Session with Jenifer Turtschanow, CEO, ARINGO. Come with your details prepared and ARINGO will share insights! Pre-MBA Role/Industry, YOE, Exam Score, C/GPA, ECs Post-MBA Role/ Industry & School List.
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Starting at $975 and offering up to $545 of savings, our new Amplify Hourly Packages offer structure and support in certain high-value areas (story development, resume, essays, interviewing) to help get your applications across the finish line.
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Get the inside scoop on what makes Emory’s Goizueta Business School great and how you can present a strong MBA application. Explore the difference between our One-Year MBA and Two-Year MBA programs, talk to our admissions team, and meet students.- May 01
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11 Apr 2010, 15:14
Kudos
Bookmarks
Thanks in advance to anyone willing to evaluate and respond.
Profile:
25 year old male, international background (grew up in US and Japan), US Citizen
GMAT: 730 (96th percentile) - V45 (98th percentile), Q45 (74th percentile)
GPA: 3.38 overall from a top 20 Liberal Arts College - Double major in East Asian Studies (Mandarin Chinese, 3.67 GPA) and Economics (3.0 GPA)
Work Experience: 2.5 years in Compliance at two top asset management firms
Target Schools:
-Chicago Booth
-Kellogg
-CBS
-Stern
-HBS
-UCLA
I am concerned about my chances because of two potential weaknesses. The first is my Economics GPA; although my overall GPA is seemingly average (or slightly below average) for top programs, my economics GPA is a bit low at 3.0, and my performance in the two quantitative courses I took (Statistics and Calculus) was not strong (I got a C+ in Statistics and took Calculus Pass/Fail). How much of a problem will this be? I have a strong GMAT score, but my quantitative percentile is not stellar. I am considering re-taking statistics and calculus at a local college to mitigate the damage.
My second concern is that I have very little in the way of ECs and no volunteer work/community involvement. The only EC I have is from my undergrad senior year, when I joined a program that essentially was a “mini business school experience”; I led a team that evaluated and presented a HBS case-study and performed an equity analysis, leading to a buy/hold/sell recommendation. I have no prior volunteer experience; although I realize it may come off as contrived, I have signed up for a few volunteer events over the next several months. I am hoping that having something is better than nothing.
In terms of WE, I graduated in May, 2007 and first moved to Chicago, where I was unable to find a job; I ended up moving to NYC in Feb, 2008 and began working in March of 2008 as a Compliance Specialist at a large Asset Management Firm (~$300 billion AUM). In my first position, I conducted forensic reviews on a wide range of topics, covering areas such as marketing materials, RFPs and trade allocation. I was also responsible for employee Compliance training (covering topics such as Personal Trading, disclosure of accounts, communication with media, etc). I was laid off in February, 2009 and began my current position in March in Compliance at another large Asset Management Firm (~$ 600+ billion AUM), this time focusing on personal trade surveillance/reconciliation and code of ethics administration (disclosure of outside business activity, political contributions, private investments, etc). I am also responsible for employee training at my current position. My current position is more focused than my previous job and is much more high-pressure, fast-paced and full of short-deadline projects.
I am interested in getting my MBA in order to transition from Compliance to Investment Banking; although I enjoy what I currently do, I would like the opportunity to work on the business side in deals and interact with clients. What I enjoy the most about my current job is meeting new employees through Compliance training as well as acting as a resource for employees throughout the firm by handling Compliance-related questions and requests. I am a strong communicator and I feel that I could be more valuable to an employer and more fulfilled on a personal level by working on deals and (eventually) winning over clients.
Any input on my chances at the schools I listed would be greatly appreciated.
Profile:
25 year old male, international background (grew up in US and Japan), US Citizen
GMAT: 730 (96th percentile) - V45 (98th percentile), Q45 (74th percentile)
GPA: 3.38 overall from a top 20 Liberal Arts College - Double major in East Asian Studies (Mandarin Chinese, 3.67 GPA) and Economics (3.0 GPA)
Work Experience: 2.5 years in Compliance at two top asset management firms
Target Schools:
-Chicago Booth
-Kellogg
-CBS
-Stern
-HBS
-UCLA
I am concerned about my chances because of two potential weaknesses. The first is my Economics GPA; although my overall GPA is seemingly average (or slightly below average) for top programs, my economics GPA is a bit low at 3.0, and my performance in the two quantitative courses I took (Statistics and Calculus) was not strong (I got a C+ in Statistics and took Calculus Pass/Fail). How much of a problem will this be? I have a strong GMAT score, but my quantitative percentile is not stellar. I am considering re-taking statistics and calculus at a local college to mitigate the damage.
My second concern is that I have very little in the way of ECs and no volunteer work/community involvement. The only EC I have is from my undergrad senior year, when I joined a program that essentially was a “mini business school experience”; I led a team that evaluated and presented a HBS case-study and performed an equity analysis, leading to a buy/hold/sell recommendation. I have no prior volunteer experience; although I realize it may come off as contrived, I have signed up for a few volunteer events over the next several months. I am hoping that having something is better than nothing.
In terms of WE, I graduated in May, 2007 and first moved to Chicago, where I was unable to find a job; I ended up moving to NYC in Feb, 2008 and began working in March of 2008 as a Compliance Specialist at a large Asset Management Firm (~$300 billion AUM). In my first position, I conducted forensic reviews on a wide range of topics, covering areas such as marketing materials, RFPs and trade allocation. I was also responsible for employee Compliance training (covering topics such as Personal Trading, disclosure of accounts, communication with media, etc). I was laid off in February, 2009 and began my current position in March in Compliance at another large Asset Management Firm (~$ 600+ billion AUM), this time focusing on personal trade surveillance/reconciliation and code of ethics administration (disclosure of outside business activity, political contributions, private investments, etc). I am also responsible for employee training at my current position. My current position is more focused than my previous job and is much more high-pressure, fast-paced and full of short-deadline projects.
I am interested in getting my MBA in order to transition from Compliance to Investment Banking; although I enjoy what I currently do, I would like the opportunity to work on the business side in deals and interact with clients. What I enjoy the most about my current job is meeting new employees through Compliance training as well as acting as a resource for employees throughout the firm by handling Compliance-related questions and requests. I am a strong communicator and I feel that I could be more valuable to an employer and more fulfilled on a personal level by working on deals and (eventually) winning over clients.
Any input on my chances at the schools I listed would be greatly appreciated.
12 Apr 2010, 11:38
Kudos
Bookmarks
Focus on Chicago, Columbia, Stern.
Swap out the other schools for Yale, Cornell and maybe keep UCLA or Kellogg (although Kellogg will probably give you more access to opportunities in IB than UCLA, unless you're focusing mostly on IB in SoCal, of which there are far fewer opportunities than in NYC).
It's not really about your GPA or extracurriculars - even if your GPA was strong and you had a few notable extracurriculars, your chances for the above schools would be more or less the same. Again, it's not that there's anything particularly glaring, but that you're pretty middle-of-the-road guy compared to the kinds of applicants who apply to these schools. Your biggest risk is getting lost in the shuffle, even with strong essays (because others will have strong essays too). Having said that, schools like Chicago/Columbia/Kellogg are reasonable enough stretches that it's worth at least applying, and then schools like Stern, Yale, Cornell and UCLA are schools where you have a reasonable shot of getting in so long as you put together strong applications and you don't run into really bad luck.
Swap out the other schools for Yale, Cornell and maybe keep UCLA or Kellogg (although Kellogg will probably give you more access to opportunities in IB than UCLA, unless you're focusing mostly on IB in SoCal, of which there are far fewer opportunities than in NYC).
It's not really about your GPA or extracurriculars - even if your GPA was strong and you had a few notable extracurriculars, your chances for the above schools would be more or less the same. Again, it's not that there's anything particularly glaring, but that you're pretty middle-of-the-road guy compared to the kinds of applicants who apply to these schools. Your biggest risk is getting lost in the shuffle, even with strong essays (because others will have strong essays too). Having said that, schools like Chicago/Columbia/Kellogg are reasonable enough stretches that it's worth at least applying, and then schools like Stern, Yale, Cornell and UCLA are schools where you have a reasonable shot of getting in so long as you put together strong applications and you don't run into really bad luck.
12 Apr 2010, 20:14
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi Alex,
Thanks for your response. Chicago Booth is actually my top choice in terms of the program itself and location. My concern with Booth however, is that the program seems to have a highly quantitative reputation; I would think that my relative weakness in quant (given GMAT distribution and undergrad grades) might be an issue..
In your view, what are the most important components of the application? Do the essays tend to carry more weight with adcoms?
Given that R1 is about 6 months away, is there anything worthwhile that I can do at this point to strengthen my application and improve my chances? Given my quant background, I was considering taking a pre-MBA statistics course offered at a local college. If I had more time, I would also consider retaking calculus.
You also mentioned that it would be worth applying to schools such as Chicago, Columbia and Stern; is there any downside in applying this year, given that I could wait one additional year and try to strengthen my app? Would applying this year and getting rejected hurt my chances next year?
Thanks again.
Thanks for your response. Chicago Booth is actually my top choice in terms of the program itself and location. My concern with Booth however, is that the program seems to have a highly quantitative reputation; I would think that my relative weakness in quant (given GMAT distribution and undergrad grades) might be an issue..
In your view, what are the most important components of the application? Do the essays tend to carry more weight with adcoms?
Given that R1 is about 6 months away, is there anything worthwhile that I can do at this point to strengthen my application and improve my chances? Given my quant background, I was considering taking a pre-MBA statistics course offered at a local college. If I had more time, I would also consider retaking calculus.
You also mentioned that it would be worth applying to schools such as Chicago, Columbia and Stern; is there any downside in applying this year, given that I could wait one additional year and try to strengthen my app? Would applying this year and getting rejected hurt my chances next year?
Thanks again.
