Profile Evaluation

[Alise]

Hello,
I am hoping you can evaluate me for entrance in to in international mba program...I am looking at Thunderbird, INSEAD, maybe Yale.

Age: 26
Female

GPA- 3.6
GMAT- am shooting for 650-700

Experience: Worked in operational management for a company that operates in US and Mexico. Managed employees in both countries. Currently I am working at a private school doing fundraising/ program development and management. I ultimately would like to work for an international non-profit in management. I am especially interested in microfinance NGOs and therefore would like to get my MBA so I can be more solid on the finance side of things.

I am wondering if even though my experience lacks analytical work I could still succeed in getting admitted to a B school? After reading a lot of the posts on here it seems like mostly investment banker types...In addition based on the influx of applicants this year would you recommend applying this year or waiting until next year.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks so much,
Alise

[MBAApply]

Absolutely they are looking for non-math types. In fact, they welcome folks like you (they get tons of numbers-oriented engineers, bankers, etc. -- they want diversity).

Having said that, if you don't have a quant background, they will look at your GMAT score (particularly your quant score) a lot more closely than others. In other words, you need to do well on the quant section of the GMAT -- above 80% ideally.

You should really highlight your non-analytical work anyways - it's what will make you stand out.

As for timing, if you're ready to go this year, apply this year - and if you don't get in, you can always reapply next year. Don't wait for the sake of waiting - no one really knows what it will be like next year (don't over-plan these things based on nebulous predictions of what might or might not happen in the future).

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