Profile evaluation

[aong1]

Hi,

I was wondering if you can evaluate my profile. I am thinking of applying for the Fall 2012 intake.

GMAT: 590 (I know... it's terrible. I am not a good test taker. Never was. Not planning to retake the test since I will most likely get the same score. When I was in high school, I took the SAT twice and got exactly the same score.)

GRE: Verbal: 570-670, Math: 690-790 (I just took the GRE in August and the exact score isn't available until November '11)

GPA: 3.4 (in accounting from a ranked top 20 university that is rated #1 for their accounting undergraduate program. Took lots of Arabic coursework for fun as well. Worked 35+ hours a week during my 4 years. Was a student manager overseeing 150+ students workers in the student center)

Work: After graduation, I worked for 1 year at one of the Big 4 public accounting firms as a tax associate and 1.5 years at one of the best medical schools in the US as an contracts and grants accountant II. Expected promotion to accountant III before reaching my 2 year mark at the university.

Work accomplishments: Got my CPA license 1 year after graduation. License is currently active. Received 3 work recognitions- one from the accounting firm and 2 from my current worklace.

Service: 1) Have been working with Habitat for Humanity during my free time. I lead teams to third world countries like Mongolia, Ghana to build houses. I was a team participant in India '07 and Romania '09. As a team leader, work includes submitting trip proposals, making budget/itinerary, interviewing potential team members, managing the team in-country, submitting expense reports and financial reports after the trip. 2) Elected onto my alma matter's alumni board as the Regional Director. I attend board meetings and plan fun get-together events for alums in my area. I also help recruit potential undergrads.

Random things: Plays volleyball competitively, ran a marathon in 2010, backpacked through 50 countries around the world in the past 4 years, speaks 7 different languages (none of them fluent but I like to learn languages for fun- English, Cantonese, French, Arabic, Russian, Thai and Spanish), done ceramics for 8 years, voted Miss Congeniality in a pageant, loves astronomy, currently training to climb Mt Kilimanjaro at the end of the year

References: My references are my direct boss and my boss' boss. They both know me very well and love my work product and are hoping that I get in to a top-tier school. One of my good friends from college who I also worked with is doing my peer evaluation.

Demographics: 25, Female, Asian, in Non-Profit/Gov't

I know that my GMAT score is really bad. However, I think that I have done so much cool and interesting stuff after graduation that counters my bad score. I was thinking of applying to the following schools: Stanford, Harvard, UVA, MIT, UPenn. What are my chances of getting in with a bad GMAT score? Should I not even bother applying because of this bad score? Should I wait for Round 2 to apply with my GRE score?

[mbamission]

Hi Aong1,

Thanks for writing in and sharing your very interesting background and profile. I agree that you've accomplished a lot and admissions staff should take notice of this. You clearly have the academic credentials due to your GPA and CPA credentials, but unfortunately I can't rate any of these schools as better than a "reach" simply on the GMAT score. That doesn't mean you shouldn't apply, just recognize your essays are going to need to be top-notch in order to be given a chance. UVA and MIT are probably more "near-reach." I would pick maybe 1 from the Stanford/Harvard/Penn bucket, and both UVA/MIT to diversify your chances. Of the former, Wharton may be less willing to look past your GMAT score.

Best of luck,

Daniel Richards
http://www.mbamission.com

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