Profile Evaluation - 680 GMAT

[killips]

Hi,

I have the following application profile and was wondering if the schools below are reasonable.

Highest GMAT
Total: 680 (85%)
Quant: 46 (75%)
Verbal: 36 (78%)

Second Highest
Total: 660 (82%)
Quant: 42 (62%)
Verbal: 39 (87%)

Work Experience: 3 years when I enroll
Current Job: Municipal Analyst for mid-market firm with $60 billion AUM. Here are my responsibilities:

- Co-manage $3 billion in municipal assets spread across 180 institutional and individual accounts
- Analyze municipal market, trends, yield curve, and credit spreads to identify strategic opportunities
- Assist in management and strategy of two tax-exempt municipal bond mutual funds
- Manage account positions and duration based on client guidelines, risk tolerance, and goals
- Perform bond credit analysis to determine strength of debt service cash flow and legal covenants
- Analyze and create portfolio structures ranging from money market to long term strategies according to client requirements
- Write weekly municipal market update for clients and company website

Undergrad University: Washington University in St. Louis
Undergrad GPA: 3.59/4.00
Undergrad Major: Economics

I also have a family business that's been around for over 112 years and over $70 million in annual revenue that I'll eventually go back to run and is a big reason I'm pursuing my MBA. I'm hoping this combined with well thought out and researched short / long term goals I'll be able to make my application a lot stronger.

Schools I'm planning to apply to:
UCLA
USC
NYU
Berkeley
Columbia
Northwestern
Harvard (as a long shot)

If there's any additional information you need please let me know, thanks!

[mbamission]

Hi killips,

Thanks for writing in. The main piece that is missing is if you have any significant community involvement, but I'm guessing you would've listed that if indeed it was part of your profile. Your story of returning to the family business should be a central theme to your applications as it helps differentiate you and clarify your goals. As for your list, I think you can be competitive at USC, UCLA and NYU, Berkeley and Columbia as near-reach, and HBS/Kellogg as far reach.

Best of luck,

Daniel Richards
http://www.mbamission.com

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