Profile Evaluation

[goirish]

Hi,

I just took the GMAT and was looking for some advice on what kinds of programs I could get potentially into.

GMAT:
Quant - 44
Verbal - 40
Overall -700

Educational background:
Undergrad - Dual degrees in International Business and Economics (3.9 and 3.5 GPA, respectively) from the University of Maryland - College Park
Graduate Masters of Science in Accountancy - University of Notre Dame (3.5 GPA)
CPA in Virginia (since Spring 2008) - Member of AICPA and Virginia State Society of CPAs

Work:
3.5 years as an auditor for a Big 4 accounting firm, specializing in Government contracting clients in the Washington, DC area. I lead international teams in the audits of public and private companies, directly supervising staff on multiple engagements at once.
May 1, 2011 - present: Currently working at the same Big 4 firm, but now I'm in Transaction Advisory Services, performing financial due diligence for buy and sell-side companies.

I initially got into accounting due to the high demand for accountants, but am now thinking that I want to get into more of the private equity side of things. I know that my quant score isn't the highest, but I'm hoping to be able to use my work experience as an indication that I can handle complex transactions and numbers.

On the volunteering side of things, I'm actively involved in my church and worked in several homeless shelters serving meals to the patrons.

Please let me know if you'd like any additional information, and thank you very much in advance for your help!

[mbamission]

Hi goirish,

Thanks for writing in and sharing those details. You seem to have a well-balanced profile and a fairly clear sense of your goals -- though keep in mind that PE is a very competitive field to get into and so the schools will want to see that you've thought through how you plan to position yourself for success in this field.

From what I see here I think you can be competitive at a top-15 school, and selectively choose 1-2 schools in the top-8 range as reach schools. If you're thinking top-5, it's not out of reach, but your GMATs will be a bigger detractor there.

Best of luck,

Daniel Richards
http://www.mbamission.com

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[goirish]

Daniel,

Thank you very much for your advice, it's greatly appreciated.