Profile Evaluation Request

[aly.lalani]

GMAT: 740 (46 Q, 47 V)

Undergrad: B.Com (Finance/Accounting double concentration) 2.5 from McGill University (I suffered a personal setback in towards the end of my third year that pulled my GPA down from 3.1. My grades for my upper-level finance and accounting classes are As and A-s prior to that, so it demonstrates that I was able to handle the academic rigor)

Served as grader/TA for a 300 level finance course

Work experience -

1.5 years in a boutique investment bank - New York, NY - arranging and structuring aircraft finance transactions. Was promoted from Analyst to Associate to VP within a year

Another 1.5 years in an Associate position in another larger boutique investment bank - also in New York, NY

1 year experience in the family businesses Karachi, Pakistan - Mainly worked on professional services for high-net worth clients. Managed a division's operations, performed due diligence on new products, managed marketing/advertising, product defense in the marketplace, managed relationships with banks, added new referral channels, managed relationships with clients of net worth ranging from $1 million to $1 billion

Extra-curricular

Member, Association for the Development of Pakistan (evaluate development projects)

In Undergrad - VP Finance and President of an ethnic student club with over 100 members

[mbamission]

Hi Aly,

Thanks for writing in. You certainly have a strong GMAT and I like the varied nature of your work experience. Your undergraduate extracurriculars are unlikely to hold much weight at this point, but I imagine your work with Pakistani development could be interesting essay material.

The one glaring weakness if your GPA. I think you could have top-10 school potential, but you will want to explain this weakness in a short optional essay. You can mention that you were trending toward a 3.1 before this issue arose, and that you were strong in Finance and Accounting to help combat this.

You may want to look top-20 as well, as there is no guarantee that an optional essay will offset this weakness.

Good luck!
Daniel Richards
http://www.mbamission.com

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