Profile evaluation

[jjsd509]

Thanks in advance... I'm just getting going with my GMAT studying and want to know what threshold I need to target (680, 700, 710+) to be competitive to one of my targeted programs.

Summary profile is as follows: (sorry for the book!)

Personal - 24 (plan on applying for fall’09 - so will be 26 going to school), caucasian, male.

Academic - dual concentration: Financial Management, Accounting; minor: Psychology. Major GPA: 3.5; overall GPA: 3.2 (my weak point). Weak grades on the transcript relate to 1st/2nd year and non-quant courses.

Extracurricular (while in school, to help mitigate low gpa) - Worked 3 jobs to put myself through college (debt free) including a position as a Resident Assistant ("RA"), multiple clubs, volunteer work, intramural sports, ran an eBay business, etc. Post Grad - Habitat for Humanity projects and a volunteer income tax assistance ("VITA") program sponsored through KPMG.

Professional - Past: Spent 1 year working in corporate finance with a large public utility in the Controller’s Organization (6months SEC reporting group, 6months budget/forecasting group). Current position: cash-flow underwriting in a leveraged finance group that caters exclusively to middle market private equity (full credit underwritings - company/industry write-ups, extensive financial (LBO) modeling, ~60-70hrs/week). I’ve been at my current role for 1 year now and am up for a promotion to Associate in January (about 2 year ahead of all my Analyst peers). Considering transferring to our London office to get international experience, but that’s not guaranteed.

Recs - Bosses love me. No issue with getting solid recs from co-workers/bosses that have top tier academic/professional backgrounds.

Essays - Although it’s hard to tell from the above, I feel very confident with my creative writing abilities and don’t have too big of concerns with the essays.

My biggest concern is that I am setting my goal a bit too high. I’d only like to attend a top 15 program (specifically - Stern, Fugua, Kellogg, or Darden), but don’t want the embarrassment of my bosses writing me recs to then get dinged by everyone. In your professional opinion, what are my odds and with what GMAT will I be competitive?

[MBAApply]

In short, you should be competitive for the schools you listed so long as your GMAT score is in range. Ideally, get above 700; the only time your GMAT will be a real concern is if it's below 660. Anything above 700 is fine - whether it's 700, 740 or whatever really won't make a big difference.

Good luck

Alex
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com

[jjsd509]

Thanks, Alex. You really think I have a shot at Kellogg? I was thinking that was probably the biggest "stretch school" for me. What in my profile did you view as my strong points? weak points?

I'm curious if you have suggestions on how to make my application stand out. I'm sure you see quite a few profiles, so should have a good idea as to what stands out in the mass of generic responses. I have about two years to add to my experience (professional and personal) before heading off to b-school and am willing to do pretty much anything, work schedule permitting, to help my odds. I just found out my company will pay for a GMAT prep course, so I am signing up for the Manhattan class starting later this month.

Thanks again for your opinion!

[MBAApply]

Here's the thing with schools like Kellogg. If you can convey to the adcom that you're a well rounded guy (and your numbers are more or less in range, your profile is okay - doesn't have to be spectacular, but you have a solid all around resume), then you should be competitive.

In your case, it was just a hunch based on what little I read from your post - that you may have the ability to convey the fact that you're not a numbers geek (although your job and background are analytical), but that you are well rounded (i.e. you are a numbers guy with a bit of color and personality). Again, I could be totally wrong!

Alex
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com

[Anon]

Alex,

Just a follow up on your answer above (I'm not the original poster) - would you say your statement about Kellogg is true of Tuck as well? I.e. that one who communicates that they're not a numbers geek will be competitive if their profile is more or less in their range? Just asking b/c you said "here's the thing with schools like Kellogg" and I wasn't quite sure what you meant there.

Thanks!

[MBAApply]

Yep. Same for Tuck. If you come from an analytical profession (finance, consulting, engineering, etc.) for top schools really it's about your interpersonal skills more than anything else - assuming your numbers are in range.

Alex
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com

[Guest]

Hey Alex,

I am the original poster... I ended up getting a 690 on the GMAT. I'm pretty disappointed, considering I was score between 720-770 on my practice tests. Anyways, 690 is sort of an iffy score to me. After a lot of thought I was considering applying to Chicago, Northwestern, NYU, and Columbia, but want to know if I need to retake the GMAT to be more competitive. I recognize that all of those schools are extremely competitive, so 690 may be a killer (combined with my 3.2 gpa).

Note: all professional/extracurricular/etc originally started are the same and I did get the promotion I was expecting.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks.

[MBAApply]

The score isn't going to kill you, but it's skirting the minimum given your GPA and your target schools. You can still get into your choice schools with that score, but your margin of error so to speak will be slimmer.

If you have time to prep for a re-take, by all means do it (there's nothing you can do with the actual written application/essays/rec letters until the new ones come out in July anyhow). So if you have time between now and July to prep for a re-take, you might as well and hope you do better (and if you don't, the schools will take your highest score anyhow) -- it's not necessary to re-take it nor is it necessary that you score higher, but it's safer.

Alex Chu
alex@mbaapply.com
www.mbaapply.com
http://mbaapply.blogspot.com