Profile Evaluation - Aiming for Top 10

[ryguy904]

Hello,

I was wondering how competitive I am for the programs below and what I need to work on, application wise? Thanks!!!

Applying to; Chicago, Wharton, Kellogg, Harvard, NYU, Columbia, UCLA
White male, 26 yrs old, born in sunny So Cal
GMAT - 680 (88%), Q 49 (89%), V 32 (65%), AWA 5.0 (61%)
I'm considering retaking one more time.....undecided, though


Undergrad - State school in California, bachelors degree in business/finance. Minor in economics. Graduated magna cum laude

GPA - Overall 3.79 - rather consistent all four years. My GPA in my major was 3.82, I believe

Work - Will have 5 years if starting Fall 2008. Current title is Assistant VP, although I do not manage any employees. I work at well known financial services institution. My background is in corporate finance and credit risk management. I have done a bit of model building and extensive financial analysis of various companies

Designations - CFA Charterholder


Extracurricular - post collegial, I have done mentoring for about 2 years, and for the past 1 1/2 yeas I have been in a leadership role for this mentoring program

Goals - Short term, I want to go back to finance or strategy role within a tech, retail, or consumer products company. I feel an MBA will help in pursuing a role involved in strategy and finance areas like capital budgeting and treasury, not just budgeting and reporting (more accounting). Long term focus on entrepreneurship.

[MBA Mission]

Thanks for your inquiry.

You seem to have done everything well in your life and yet you seem to be somewhat average compared to a typical field of MBA candidates. You GMAT is about 90th percentile and yet it is below average for your schools of choice. Meanwhile, your GPA is a bit higher than average and your CFA should contribute to the sense that you can handle the rigors of the program. I would need to know more about your professional background to truly evaluate your case, but you make your work seem generic, which is ok for this venue, but something that you will need to really consider when marketing yourself to an AdCom. You will need to really work at your professional story and seize your community service to standout. If you can accomplish this, then you should be competitive at Chicago, Kellogg, NYU and UCLA. HBS and Wharton will be reaches, because there is no natural standout story. Meanwhile, Columbia has a blind fealty for the GMAT, so if you can take it again and score thirty or forty points better, you could suddenly become competitive. As is, with a 680, Columbia has its pick of bankers with higher GMAT scores and that is really what is more important to them -- more so than story.

Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
MBA Mission

www.mbamission.com
646-485-8844
Skype: MBAMission

Hello,

I was wondering how competitive I am for the programs below and what I need to work on, application wise? Thanks!!!

Applying to; Chicago, Wharton, Kellogg, Harvard, NYU, Columbia, UCLA
White male, 26 yrs old, born in sunny So Cal
GMAT - 680 (88%), Q 49 (89%), V 32 (65%), AWA 5.0 (61%)
I'm considering retaking one more time.....undecided, though


Undergrad - State school in California, bachelors degree in business/finance. Minor in economics. Graduated magna cum laude

GPA - Overall 3.79 - rather consistent all four years. My GPA in my major was 3.82, I believe

Work - Will have 5 years if starting Fall 2008. Current title is Assistant VP, although I do not manage any employees. I work at well known financial services institution. My background is in corporate finance and credit risk management. I have done a bit of model building and extensive financial analysis of various companies

Designations - CFA Charterholder


Extracurricular - post collegial, I have done mentoring for about 2 years, and for the past 1 1/2 yeas I have been in a leadership role for this mentoring program

Goals - Short term, I want to go back to finance or strategy role within a tech, retail, or consumer products company. I feel an MBA will help in pursuing a role involved in strategy and finance areas like capital budgeting and treasury, not just budgeting and reporting (more accounting). Long term focus on entrepreneurship.

[ryguy904]

Hi Jeremy,

Very insightful comments. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.


Best,
RG

[MBA Mission]

Thank you for your feedback.

Please keep me posted on your new GMAT score...

Sincerely,
Jeremy Shinewald
MBA Mission

www.mbamission.com
646-485-8844
Skype: MBAMission

Hi Jeremy,

Very insightful comments. Your feedback is greatly appreciated.


Best,
RG