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31 Oct 2016, 21:47
Kudos
Bookmarks
I am a 26 years old American male from Texas. I'm applying R2 for '17 matriculation. I've spoken with multiple programs who have said that there is a possibility of acceptance with the condition of UG conferment.
GMAT:
750 Q46 V46 IR8
Work Experience:
7 years at Non-profit organization (Church)
Consistently regarded as one of the largest, fastest growing, and most influential churches in America. (10,000 attendance and 8-figure budget)
2 years as an executive assistant to senior pastor (president)
–Advisor to Executive staff and BOD in operation decisions
–Led negotiations, editing, and marketing for 3 non-fiction manuscripts. One becoming a WSJ best-seller
–Developed two fundraising campaigns generating +$200k in 3 months
–Increased top-donor contributions by 18% in one year through direct engagement despite poor economic conditions
–Led 12 member interdepartmental team directly responsible for weekend growth to a 30% increase in two years
3 years as creative director
–Recruited and trained 4 staff members, 3 interns, and +50 weekly volunteers
–Oversaw creative direction for 3-year, $13 million capital campaign
2 years as media associate
–Not much here
Extra-curricular:
The problem with working at a non-profit is everything, and nothing is extra-curricular. If I believe my organization is doing the most good, then why would I take time and volunteer/serve somewhere else? But at the same point, where is the line between working and volunteering? One week I may be serving in our shelter for women caught in human trafficking, and the next week serving food to children in an orphanage in Haiti that we support. It's not working, and it's not volunteering, it's just what I do. Not sure how to express that.
Education:
Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi
General Business Major
Dropped out after ~50hrs
Returned Fall '16 to graduate Summer '17
Previous UG GPA ~2.17
Currently taking 18hrs with 4.0 this semester and 9 additional hours via CLEP (27 total hours for Fall '16 semester while working full-time)
Other Factors:
Worked full-time throughout undergrad
First family member to graduate high school and to enter college. Will be first to graduate with undergrad
Born in a Las Vegas women's shelter to a single mother. Raised under the poverty line in HUD housing until I moved out after high school. (External factors that I'm unsure of introducing because I don't want to make my environment an excuse for my shortcomings)
Desired Programs:
Darden*
Ross
Haas
Kellogg
McCombs
Tuck
I fully intend on using the optional essay, but I believe by returning to school and excelling while working more than full-time, it makes it harder for me to justify my poor GPA. Even though by my calculations, I'll have a +3.0 by graduation. I'm confident in my essays, my recommendations, and any interviews that may arise. What I'm not confident in is how I look on paper. I know I can compete at an elite level, I just need to convince others of that.
To sum everything up...Are my school goals too lofty for someone who doesn't have the necessary qualifications on paper? Or is there any one specific area I can shore up?
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
cw
GMAT:
750 Q46 V46 IR8
Work Experience:
7 years at Non-profit organization (Church)
Consistently regarded as one of the largest, fastest growing, and most influential churches in America. (10,000 attendance and 8-figure budget)
2 years as an executive assistant to senior pastor (president)
–Advisor to Executive staff and BOD in operation decisions
–Led negotiations, editing, and marketing for 3 non-fiction manuscripts. One becoming a WSJ best-seller
–Developed two fundraising campaigns generating +$200k in 3 months
–Increased top-donor contributions by 18% in one year through direct engagement despite poor economic conditions
–Led 12 member interdepartmental team directly responsible for weekend growth to a 30% increase in two years
3 years as creative director
–Recruited and trained 4 staff members, 3 interns, and +50 weekly volunteers
–Oversaw creative direction for 3-year, $13 million capital campaign
2 years as media associate
–Not much here
Extra-curricular:
The problem with working at a non-profit is everything, and nothing is extra-curricular. If I believe my organization is doing the most good, then why would I take time and volunteer/serve somewhere else? But at the same point, where is the line between working and volunteering? One week I may be serving in our shelter for women caught in human trafficking, and the next week serving food to children in an orphanage in Haiti that we support. It's not working, and it's not volunteering, it's just what I do. Not sure how to express that.
Education:
Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi
General Business Major
Dropped out after ~50hrs
Returned Fall '16 to graduate Summer '17
Previous UG GPA ~2.17
Currently taking 18hrs with 4.0 this semester and 9 additional hours via CLEP (27 total hours for Fall '16 semester while working full-time)
Other Factors:
Worked full-time throughout undergrad
First family member to graduate high school and to enter college. Will be first to graduate with undergrad
Born in a Las Vegas women's shelter to a single mother. Raised under the poverty line in HUD housing until I moved out after high school. (External factors that I'm unsure of introducing because I don't want to make my environment an excuse for my shortcomings)
Desired Programs:
Darden*
Ross
Haas
Kellogg
McCombs
Tuck
I fully intend on using the optional essay, but I believe by returning to school and excelling while working more than full-time, it makes it harder for me to justify my poor GPA. Even though by my calculations, I'll have a +3.0 by graduation. I'm confident in my essays, my recommendations, and any interviews that may arise. What I'm not confident in is how I look on paper. I know I can compete at an elite level, I just need to convince others of that.
To sum everything up...Are my school goals too lofty for someone who doesn't have the necessary qualifications on paper? Or is there any one specific area I can shore up?
Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
cw
01 Nov 2016, 19:43
Kudos
Bookmarks
Hi there,
Thanks for your post. So your profile sounds like it has quite a mixture of strengths and weaknesses, to be honest, as it sounds like you know. On one hand you could make the case that your work is interesting/less common and you could potentially build some interesting stories there, and it looks like you have been able to develop some leadership and management skills, not to mention demonstrate commitment and passion. The 750 GMAT is great. And you feel confident about things such as essays, recommendations, interview potentially. On the challenges side, certainly the undergrad situation is the largest looming issue, and at least you are showing determination in working towards that, and will explain in the optional essay as best as is possible. There's also a bit of a potential challenge in that executive assistant is not always thought of as a role that allows a lot of leadership and initiative opportunities.... from what you described in your career you have had some of that, so would certainly want to play that up, but it's another challenge.
I have occasionally seen some schools show some interest in people with a similar undergrad situation, though often they apply a bit later after completing the degree, and if successful, are rockstars professionally in terms of what they've accomplished. Even with the awesome GMAT, I'd feel like your best chances will be outside the top 25/30 or so, and you can look at things like acceptance rates to see what schools are higher and lower and apply to a range of choices potentially. Haas, from your list, has a VERY low acceptance rate and is probably going to be close to impossible, partly due to their smaller class size and larger # of apps. The others are also all quite tough; maybe pick 1? 2 max? Again confirming with them about the degree.... but look at others further down the rankings (as a rough rule of thumb), or give it a few more years and THEN apply.
Side note, you have not mentioned your post-MBA goals, keep in mind those can play into admission chances too, as you make a case for why you need this degree etc.
Best of luck to you on your decisions and congrats on working towards that degree!
Thanks for your post. So your profile sounds like it has quite a mixture of strengths and weaknesses, to be honest, as it sounds like you know. On one hand you could make the case that your work is interesting/less common and you could potentially build some interesting stories there, and it looks like you have been able to develop some leadership and management skills, not to mention demonstrate commitment and passion. The 750 GMAT is great. And you feel confident about things such as essays, recommendations, interview potentially. On the challenges side, certainly the undergrad situation is the largest looming issue, and at least you are showing determination in working towards that, and will explain in the optional essay as best as is possible. There's also a bit of a potential challenge in that executive assistant is not always thought of as a role that allows a lot of leadership and initiative opportunities.... from what you described in your career you have had some of that, so would certainly want to play that up, but it's another challenge.
I have occasionally seen some schools show some interest in people with a similar undergrad situation, though often they apply a bit later after completing the degree, and if successful, are rockstars professionally in terms of what they've accomplished. Even with the awesome GMAT, I'd feel like your best chances will be outside the top 25/30 or so, and you can look at things like acceptance rates to see what schools are higher and lower and apply to a range of choices potentially. Haas, from your list, has a VERY low acceptance rate and is probably going to be close to impossible, partly due to their smaller class size and larger # of apps. The others are also all quite tough; maybe pick 1? 2 max? Again confirming with them about the degree.... but look at others further down the rankings (as a rough rule of thumb), or give it a few more years and THEN apply.
Side note, you have not mentioned your post-MBA goals, keep in mind those can play into admission chances too, as you make a case for why you need this degree etc.
Best of luck to you on your decisions and congrats on working towards that degree!
