Profile Evaluation 690

[pmiklius]

Hello I am looking for a profile evaluation.

Background information:

Undergrad - Purdue University GPA: 3.75
Major : Hospitality and Tourism Management
Several Deans Lists and student organizations

GMAT : 690 (Q47 V37) (considering a retake, thoughts on that?)

Work Experience - (3 years upon graduation)
2010 - 2011 - Manager Four Star resort, first job out of college. Responsible for staff, training, interviews for staff, inventory. Moved around several different restaurant outlets, a lot of great experience in management.

2011 - Current - Foodservice consultant
Design of commercial kitchens and restaurants. A lot of design work and project coordination. Currently project coordinator but am training for promotion to manage my own projects and become a project manager

Extra Curricular -
Several Work and professional organizations where an active member always trying to network and improve standing

Volunteer work here and there. Volunteer mentoring students, humane society, habitat for humanity

Looking to improve my extra curriculars, it is a decent part of my application but looking to improve with more management positions within organizations and non profit organizations

Goals: I am aiming for a top 25 school that will work with me and allow me to continue my studies in the hospitality industry. I am looking to get an MBA to eventually lead to a job in a hospitality company that works on business and planning for hotels and restaurants. My eventual dream goal is to start my own hotel/resort chain

I feel an MBA would help me acheive these goals. I am not necessarily looking for a top 5 school but for a school that will work with my goals and allow me to continue this direction. Although a top 5 school would be great. I have identified a couple of schools that may be good fits, especially Cornell. What are your thoughts on my chances at a top ten school? Top twenty school?

Thanks in advance

[mili]

I really like your story - started in hospitality management, moved over to start your own consultancy in the same field, and ultimately want to combine these two to start your own resort. Makes total sense! Cornell was definitely the first school that came to mind for you, so I’m glad you found it to be a good fit, too.

As for your chances at a top 10 - you may have a shot, but I wouldn’t say this is where you should target. I would maybe select 1-2 top ten schools as reach schools, and then focus most of your energy on the next tier. Your experience is unique, so that will be helpful, but with only one year in a corporate setting, it might be difficult to really demonstrate that you have the leadership and teambuilding skills these schools look for. Presumably you’re working as an independent consultant now, which would mean some degree of entrepreneurial experience but not a whole lot of teamwork. Academically, your undergrad looks good overall, and your GMAT score is decent. For top 10, you generally want to aim to get a 700 or above, so whether or not you retake the GMAT depends on a) your level of risk tolerance and b) whether you think you can pull your score up. The fact that your quant is higher than your verbal is probably a good thing (less common, and quant is more heavily weighted). Your extracurricular and community work sound a bit ad-hoc, which I think will lower your chances at a top ten. You want to try to build the non-professional part of your life into a story - your community work should be consistent and should also demonstrate leadership and passion; your extracurriculars should do the same.

Hope this helps!
Mili


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