Start-up and Consulting Exp - Profile Evaluation for Top 10

[iamabi_1230]

Would appreciate any comments!

- Asian female, 25
- Econ major from top 10 US liberal arts college, GPA 3.6, full scholarship
- First try GMAT 670 with no preparation, will take again soon.
- Took multiple leadership roles in college
- Founded an online network to help international high-school kids apply to US schools
- After college I moved out to the Silicon Valley to start a Web 2.0 business with some friends, but it didn't work out because we were just trying to do too many things at the same time (which could actually make a great story for app essays) and I moved back to my hometown in Asia after 1 year when my visa ran out.
- Joined a major management consulting firm 1 year ago, got fast-tracked promoted recently. Have been extremely lucky to have received leadership roles pretty much immediately after I joined. Great relationship with boss (partner).
- Not sure if this is relevant at all... I also have a moonlighting hobby of currency futures trading and have a profitable track record
- Will have 3.5 years of exp by the time of matriculation

That's pretty much my background in a nutshell... I'm hoping to break into M&A and get some exp before moving onto the funding side of the startup world (PE/VC) - I just became more interested in that side of start-up businesses after trying relentlessly to pitch to angel investors and VCs when I was in the valley.

I'm particularly interested in Stanford (obviously), Sloan, HBS, Berkeley, Chicago, Columbia etc. Pretty much the same schools everyone is looking at. Any comments?

[mbamission]

Hi Iamabi,

Thanks for writing in. I agree the story of how you tried to start your own web company and stumbled due to lack of focus could be a good story.

As far as ticking off the requisite boxes, your profile seems to be competitive at these top schools, with the exception of your GMAT. A 670 is not a dealbreaker, but is going to draw scrutiny at top-10 schools. Instead you want the schools to see your GMAT score, check the box, and move on to the more intriguing part of your story. Given the caliber of schools you are seeking, I think you would want to show a balanced 720+ in order to be more confident in your score.

Hope this helps and best of luck!

Daniel Richards
http://www.mbamission.com

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