Profile Evaluation:

[zcdh30]

I am a 23 year old white male.
Graduated from 2nd tier public university with BBA in Management with minors in Finance and Marketing in May 2012. GPA 3.71

Taking the GMAT in 2 weeks and have been consistantly scoring 620-680 on MGMAT and mba.com practice tests.

I have nearly 1 year of full time work experience in sales/operations for a leading building materials corp in which I handled all operations of a relatively small sales office (inventory management, sales, purchasing, etc)
5 years of part time work in radio promotions.

Extracurriculars include volunteering at an outdoor adventure camp for people with disabilities, career fair ambassador at my university's college of business and technology, and participating in intramural basketball, football, and golf.

After obtaining an MBA I hope to do investment banking/financial services.

My target programs are:
Virginia Tech
UT-Knoxville
Clemson
UNC-Charlotte

Reach programs include:
Wake Forest
Ga Tech

What do you think my chances are at this point of getting into my target schools?
I'm afraid that my work experience will hold me back, not only because of the short duration, but also because it is a non-management position. However, I live in a relatively rural area with very high unemployment. If you look at job listings for this area there are very few, and of those few 95% are telemarketing, manual labor, administrative, or retail sales. If I do not get into one of these programs this fall then I plan to move to somewhere with better job opportunities, but I feel that now is the best time for me to go back as I do not mind leaving my current job or location of residence.
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Thank you for the help!

[mili]

Hi,

Thanks for sharing your profile. Academically, your undergrad record is strong but it looks like your GMAT might be slightly low (for a top program). Professionally, your sales experience is no problem, but your lack of experience is a handicap. The average MBA student has 3-5 years of work experience at the time of matriculation. I'd advise you to wait a few years - continue in your sales role, rise within the company, then apply. In the meantime, continue with your volunteer and extracurricular activities - try to turn these into leadership activities, and you should be in a very solid place. Don't worry about the fact that you're not in a management position - very few MBA candidates are!

If you're in a rush though, (sounds like you are), I think your target and reach programs look reasonable, but the lack of work experience may be an issue.

Good luck!
Mili

Mili Mittal
Senior Consultant
http://www.mbamission.com
 
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