Profile Evaluation

[e.chris.gamaitoni]

Please let me know your thoughts on my profile and individual situation.

GMAT - Have not taken it yet. I have only taken the diagnostic CAT exam and score a 670. I am confident that with studying I will be able to score low-to-mid 700s.

GPA - Here is my weak point. I have a cumulative 3.0 in Quantitative Finance from James Madison University. Most of my poor grades are in 300-400 level math classes and is honestly due to me mismanaging time. At the same time I was also the president of two large school organizations and was the Fraternity Man of the Year. My senior year was very weak in my math subjects, but fine in Finance.

Career - Here is my strong point.

1 Year with a GSE - I worked in structured cash flow accounting and modeling. Within 6 months I was promoted to an experienced level and was one of two out of over 700 people in my group that received the top rating. I have a very strong recommendation from a Director there.

1.5 Years with a top 15 investment bank - I worked in equity research covering Financial Insitutions specifically credit card lenders, auto lenders, business development companies, corporate lenders, and Southeastern regional banks. During that time period, even though I was the youngest and least experienced associate, I was ranked as the #1 associate out of 47 in the yearly rankings by Sales and Clients.

I had no plan to leave the investment bank and had infact turned down opportunities at hedge funds and other larger ibanks, but was approached by a former CEO of company that has about 700 million market cap right now. He was starting an independent equity research company concentrating on Washington Policy. I joined after deliberation as I thought it was worth the risk to be a founding member of a growing company with a strong product. Unfortunately, the mid level management that has been placed to run the day to day operations is very weak and I believe that the company will not be successful. I was the 2nd employee and we were able to generate 2.7 million of revenue on an annualized basis in my first 7 months.

I am attending business school because I have a passion for finance, but do not want to manage money at a hedgefund or mutual fund. While my work at the ibank was incredibly interesting, I did not like simply pointing out problems in capital structures or credit profiles. I would like be able to take that accume and help build an organization (which is what I enjoyed at the GSE). Ultimately I would like to be the CFO of a regional bank.

I have been accepted into a top 20 program for an MA in Economics. I would rather go directly to b-school, but am considering this due to my poor GPA. Please let me know your thoughts.

[mbamission]

Thank you for your question. While your GPA makes your application process a bit more of an uphill battle, given the rest of your profile I still think you have a reasonable chance at getting accepted to a solid business school. Your varied and strong work history and excellent references are definite strengths for you. The major challenge will come with convincing the schools that you can handle a rigorous academic program. A good GMAT score will help, so I encourage you to keep studying and try to do as well as you can, of course.

When you write your optional essay (and in your situation, you should definitely use the optional essay to address your GPA), don't use your college activities to make excuses or justifications for the low grades. Simply acknowledge that you struggled with time management in college, and then focus on how you've improved at that area, by excelling in a demanding job while balancing activities and other aspects of your life. A good GMAT score and your current analytical work will go a long way towards making the schools more comfortable with your low GPA. You want to be sure that they know that your GPA was not an academic issue but simply a matter of maturity.

One caveat: you did not mention any current community activities, and schools generally want to see that applicants are well-rounded. It sounds like you'll have some very interesting work-related stories, but your college activities are a few years ago so unless you can make them relevant to today, they may not be particularly compelling.

Best of luck.

Sincerely,
Jessica Shklar
MBA Mission

646-485-8844

Website: www.mbamission.com
Blog: www.mbamission.com/blog
MBA Mission Insider’s Guides: www.mbamission.com/store.php
Free Consultation: www.mbamission.com/consult.php

[scotthankey]

What if the GPA falls within the school's range, but below the average? Is it then necessary to adress it? I suppose the same would apply to GMAT, right?

[mbamission]

What if the GPA falls within the school's range, but below the average? Is it then necessary to adress it? I suppose the same would apply to GMAT, right?

Unfortunately there's no formula I can give you. If they're in the range, it probably is not be necessary to write about it, but if both are below, or if there were real extenuating circumstances to explain the low GPA/score, maybe you would. The best rule of thumb is probably "will it raise a question in the admissions committee's mind?". If so, write about it. If not, don't call attention to it. In any case, don't make excuses in the optional essay, just be direct about the weakness and focus on providing evidence on how you've overcome it.

Sincerely,
Jessica Shklar
MBA Mission

646-485-8844

Website: www.mbamission.com
Blog: www.mbamission.com/blog
MBA Mission Insider’s Guides: www.mbamission.com/store.php
Free Consultation: www.mbamission.com/consult.php