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sonybologna541
Joined: 20 Jun 2020
Last visit: 26 May 2022
Posts: 6
Location: United States
Concentration: Sustainability, Finance
Schools: Fuqua '24 (WL)
GMAT 1: 700 Q47 V39
GMAT 2: 710 Q47 V41
GPA: 2.7
WE:Analyst (Energy)
27 Nov 2020, 10:44
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi everyone! I'm at the beginning of pursuing my MBA journey, and am hoping to get some second opinions on what schools I have a shot at. I'm currently 24 with a little over two years of experience, hoping to apply next Fall for Fall of 2022 matriculation. Here's a bit about my background:
Demographics: White, male, American, 26 years old at matriculation.
Undergrad Education: Top 30 Liberal Arts school majoring in Environmental Studies. 2.7 GPA.
Post-Grad Additional Education: NABCEP PV Associate (certification relevent in the solar industry, requires a passing score via examination), Energy Innovation and Emergining Technologies Certificate via Stanford online, Tableau Certification, and a few DataCamp courses on R. Not sure if the last two are relevant for MBA apps.
GMAT: 700: 47Q/39V/8IR.
Work Experience: Fours years (at matriculation) working at a fintech solar company. Within my first year, I was named employee of the month and given a promotion (currently working as a business analyst) and have developed some reputable experience since then working with our senior executives. Some of my bigger achievements include designing a new loan amortization model projected to save my company up to 1.5 mil in yearly revenue, and pioneering the usage of regression analyses at my company via an analysis of past loan performance. I also think I should be able to achieve another promotion by the time I apply next fall. I have a very solid reputation within this company, and I know for a fact that I'd be able to get a glowing letter of rec from my manager.
Extra Curriculars: In undergrad I was captain of the rowing team for 2 years, and achieved a few personal accolades my senior year (all conference, team MVP). In my workplace, I was a founding member of our committee on diversity and inclusion. I also currently volunteer with an organization that helps encourage likely environmentalists to register to vote.
Post-MBA goals: I'm interested working in energy finance specifically for renewables. I think I'd prefer to work for an energy developer or power company, but I'd also be interested in working for a private investor of renewable energy. Hoping that my quant based work experience lends well to these career paths. What's most important for me with my career is that I feel like I'm helping further the goal of reaching a decarbonized economy.
Schools of Interest: Reach: Duke MBA/MEM, UNC MBA/MEM (not totally sold on the MBA/MEM but I think I'll likely just apply to both programs and see what happens), Cornell Johnson, Carnegie Mellon Tepper. Target: BU Questrom, Georgetown. Realistically, I don't think I'll apply to all of these schools, but they're all on my list as of now. Would love to hear opinions on whether or not some of these schools are worth my time, or if there are any schools that would be worth adding to my list given my interests! Haven't looked much at Europe, but I would consider it if the fit was right.
So I realize that the big downer of my profile is my GPA, and that it will certainly hold me back in the admissions process. I think I plan to address this in an optional essay, and talk about how I wasn't able to balance my extra curriculars (rowing and a few part time internships/jobs) with my schoolwork, but that I feel like I got a lot out of my extra curriculars. Happy to hear thoughts on whether that sounds like a worthwhile path and any other advice on combating a below average GPA in the admissions process. But overall, I'm hoping that my GMAT score, post grad coursework, and achievements via my work experience help to speak to my growth after undergrad.
Anyway, thanks so much for reading all of this and looking forward to responses!
Demographics: White, male, American, 26 years old at matriculation.
Undergrad Education: Top 30 Liberal Arts school majoring in Environmental Studies. 2.7 GPA.
Post-Grad Additional Education: NABCEP PV Associate (certification relevent in the solar industry, requires a passing score via examination), Energy Innovation and Emergining Technologies Certificate via Stanford online, Tableau Certification, and a few DataCamp courses on R. Not sure if the last two are relevant for MBA apps.
GMAT: 700: 47Q/39V/8IR.
Work Experience: Fours years (at matriculation) working at a fintech solar company. Within my first year, I was named employee of the month and given a promotion (currently working as a business analyst) and have developed some reputable experience since then working with our senior executives. Some of my bigger achievements include designing a new loan amortization model projected to save my company up to 1.5 mil in yearly revenue, and pioneering the usage of regression analyses at my company via an analysis of past loan performance. I also think I should be able to achieve another promotion by the time I apply next fall. I have a very solid reputation within this company, and I know for a fact that I'd be able to get a glowing letter of rec from my manager.
Extra Curriculars: In undergrad I was captain of the rowing team for 2 years, and achieved a few personal accolades my senior year (all conference, team MVP). In my workplace, I was a founding member of our committee on diversity and inclusion. I also currently volunteer with an organization that helps encourage likely environmentalists to register to vote.
Post-MBA goals: I'm interested working in energy finance specifically for renewables. I think I'd prefer to work for an energy developer or power company, but I'd also be interested in working for a private investor of renewable energy. Hoping that my quant based work experience lends well to these career paths. What's most important for me with my career is that I feel like I'm helping further the goal of reaching a decarbonized economy.
Schools of Interest: Reach: Duke MBA/MEM, UNC MBA/MEM (not totally sold on the MBA/MEM but I think I'll likely just apply to both programs and see what happens), Cornell Johnson, Carnegie Mellon Tepper. Target: BU Questrom, Georgetown. Realistically, I don't think I'll apply to all of these schools, but they're all on my list as of now. Would love to hear opinions on whether or not some of these schools are worth my time, or if there are any schools that would be worth adding to my list given my interests! Haven't looked much at Europe, but I would consider it if the fit was right.
So I realize that the big downer of my profile is my GPA, and that it will certainly hold me back in the admissions process. I think I plan to address this in an optional essay, and talk about how I wasn't able to balance my extra curriculars (rowing and a few part time internships/jobs) with my schoolwork, but that I feel like I got a lot out of my extra curriculars. Happy to hear thoughts on whether that sounds like a worthwhile path and any other advice on combating a below average GPA in the admissions process. But overall, I'm hoping that my GMAT score, post grad coursework, and achievements via my work experience help to speak to my growth after undergrad.
Anyway, thanks so much for reading all of this and looking forward to responses!
27 Nov 2020, 23:04
Kudos
Bookmarks
sonybologna541:
Thank you for reaching out to Admissionado. To be frank, at a high level, you did a fairly good self-assessment!
Strengths: Your career progression and aspirations in energy make for an attractive and slightly unusual background. Energy isn't exactly a sector that is heavily represented in the top programs. It also appears you offer a healthy batch of interesting hobbies and interests outside of work. You have also shown some extracurricular leadership, though I would want to dig more to better understand the degree of your accomplishments.
Weaknesses: Yes, the GPA is a tough pill to swallow, though it is by no means insurmountable. You are going to have to have a robust explanation, but your instincts are right. Your GMAT is good, but not stellar. It is right at that threshold for showing you are capable of handling the academic rigor of an MBA program, but it won't be enough to mitigate entirely your low GPA. Since you are not looking to apply quite yet, I would recommend you consider taking it another time. If you can get 20-40 points higher, that would really help your overall application. Additionally, while your extracurricular activities appear to be a strength, if you have not done much with them other than hold titles, that may end up being a hole in your application.
All that being said, the schools you have targeted and how you have categorized them into tiers, seems fairly appropriate. Have you considered schools in Texas such as McCombs? The energy and finance angle would play well there.
If you are interested in a much more thorough background analysis as well as a school formulation discussion, please reach out to us at Admissionado for a free consultation. We also offer long term mentoring (called "Advanced Planning"), which may be a service that could really help moderate your weaknesses and round out your profile prior to beginning our work on application preparation.
https://admissionado.com/free-consultation/
Good luck,
Seth
Thank you for reaching out to Admissionado. To be frank, at a high level, you did a fairly good self-assessment!
Strengths: Your career progression and aspirations in energy make for an attractive and slightly unusual background. Energy isn't exactly a sector that is heavily represented in the top programs. It also appears you offer a healthy batch of interesting hobbies and interests outside of work. You have also shown some extracurricular leadership, though I would want to dig more to better understand the degree of your accomplishments.
Weaknesses: Yes, the GPA is a tough pill to swallow, though it is by no means insurmountable. You are going to have to have a robust explanation, but your instincts are right. Your GMAT is good, but not stellar. It is right at that threshold for showing you are capable of handling the academic rigor of an MBA program, but it won't be enough to mitigate entirely your low GPA. Since you are not looking to apply quite yet, I would recommend you consider taking it another time. If you can get 20-40 points higher, that would really help your overall application. Additionally, while your extracurricular activities appear to be a strength, if you have not done much with them other than hold titles, that may end up being a hole in your application.
All that being said, the schools you have targeted and how you have categorized them into tiers, seems fairly appropriate. Have you considered schools in Texas such as McCombs? The energy and finance angle would play well there.
If you are interested in a much more thorough background analysis as well as a school formulation discussion, please reach out to us at Admissionado for a free consultation. We also offer long term mentoring (called "Advanced Planning"), which may be a service that could really help moderate your weaknesses and round out your profile prior to beginning our work on application preparation.
https://admissionado.com/free-consultation/
Good luck,
Seth
sonybologna541
Joined: 20 Jun 2020
Last visit: 26 May 2022
Posts: 6
Location: United States
Concentration: Sustainability, Finance
Schools: Fuqua '24 (WL)
GMAT 1: 700 Q47 V39
GMAT 2: 710 Q47 V41
GPA: 2.7
WE:Analyst (Energy)
28 Nov 2020, 08:10
Kudos
Bookmarks
Thanks for the detailed reply, Seth! Especially appreciate the detailed breakdown in the strengths/weaknesses of my profile.
I have considered retaking the GMAT a bit as of recent, considering as you mention I do have a bit of time before I end up applying. The thing that is holding me back currently is that my score was on the top threshold of my scores in my practice tests (in the 6 I did in my 4.5 months of studying I went 520/610/660/680/630/700) so I'm not confident I have it in me to boost my score. But that's something I'll have to weight the costs/benefits of on my own. Totally agreed that any boost in my GMAT will help mitigate my gpa!
McCombs is a school that I've heard has a great energy/finance focus that I think would fit well for me, but I'd like to stay in the Northeast/Eastern shore board for school as that's where my friends and family are, and where I see myself staying long term.
Glad to hear you think the rest of the schools I have listed are appropriately categorized! I definitely spend too much time picking apart myself and looking at class profiles so it can be hard to judge sometimes. Fuqua is the only one that I wasn't sure would be worth my time, considering I'm slightly below their gmat average (seems to hover around the mid 700s) and well below their gpa average (although this is the case for most of the schools I'm looking at). If I did end up applying I think I'd go early action to give myself the best chance. Rejection is all part of the process anyhow!
But again, thanks for the reply!
I have considered retaking the GMAT a bit as of recent, considering as you mention I do have a bit of time before I end up applying. The thing that is holding me back currently is that my score was on the top threshold of my scores in my practice tests (in the 6 I did in my 4.5 months of studying I went 520/610/660/680/630/700) so I'm not confident I have it in me to boost my score. But that's something I'll have to weight the costs/benefits of on my own. Totally agreed that any boost in my GMAT will help mitigate my gpa!
McCombs is a school that I've heard has a great energy/finance focus that I think would fit well for me, but I'd like to stay in the Northeast/Eastern shore board for school as that's where my friends and family are, and where I see myself staying long term.
Glad to hear you think the rest of the schools I have listed are appropriately categorized! I definitely spend too much time picking apart myself and looking at class profiles so it can be hard to judge sometimes. Fuqua is the only one that I wasn't sure would be worth my time, considering I'm slightly below their gmat average (seems to hover around the mid 700s) and well below their gpa average (although this is the case for most of the schools I'm looking at). If I did end up applying I think I'd go early action to give myself the best chance. Rejection is all part of the process anyhow!
But again, thanks for the reply!
