Ask mbaMission

Hi! I would really appreciate it if you would help me by evaluating my profile. Altough its a bit long (sorry) :roll:

I'm mexican Im 30 years old (31 upon enrollment)

I have a 4.0 GPA at a competitive university in Mexico and I studied a Master in Corporate Finance with a 4.0 GPA again.

My GMAT score is 660 (Q: 41 V: 40)

I work in a bank as a regional credit manager. I have a team of analysts who review the loan applications for small and large businesses. I have been working in the bank for 6 years.

As some "highlights" of my career I could mention:

1) I have been awarded 3 promotions in six years. Context: I started my career in Banco del Bajio in 2003 as a credit analyst. By 2005 I was offered to be regional credit sub-manager. In November 2006 I became the banks Credit Analysis Manager (a sort of Operations coordinator for the bank's loan applications). Finally in 2007 I became one of the six Regional Credit Managers. (the youngest one ever)

2) I effectively rebuilt and turned around a team. Context: the Regional credit manager who preceded me had some trouble managing the people on his team and also had problems with the Regional Director because of some bad times of response on the loan applications. Because of this, the manager was removed from his post and I was offered the position. As soon as I arrived I let go some toxic elements on the team and interviewed and hired new 4 new analysts. In less than 100 days we were out of the slump and the team environment was great

--- Im weak on current extracurricular activities mostly because I work long hours. The strongest ones I could come up with are the following:
1) I was the president of an interschool organization which won the see and organized the national congress of the organization.Context: I campaigned and won the presidency of IMEF Universitario (Mexican Institute of Financial Executives for Undergraduates) for Leon's Chapters. During my administration we successfully organized and operated the yearly national congress of the organization. This happened 8 years ago...

2) Designed and taught Mathematical finance and Credit analysis course for banking executives. During the last year I've been teaching courses in the bank specially aimed at new executives. I devote around 12 hours per month to this courses.


Im applying to the following schools
HBS (visited)
Wharton (visited)
Chicago (visited)
Colombia (visited)
Tuck (not visited)
Notre Dame (not visited)

Thanks for your advice!!!

Thanks for your question.

Your academic performance and work experience are both pretty strong. The turnaround of the regional credit team, the promotions you earned, and your management experience should give you som egreat stories to detail in your essays.

Your GMAT score however, is significantly below average (for most of the schools you've listed). What is the percentile for the Quantitative score? Do you think you can show evidence of your quantitative abilities through your work experience or undergraduate courses? Have you considered retaking the exam. Dop you think you can achieve a higher score?

Yes, the extra-curriculars are very light, which will be a weakness for your application. I do think the current role teaching the classes to banking execs can be included in your application however for a current "activity".

You are a bit on the older end of the spectrum for some of these programs (particularly HBS)....but overall, I think that HBS and Wharton will be a reach for you given the lack of "wow" factor. Is there anything interesting about your "personal" story?

You should be competitive at Chicago, Columbia, Tuck and Notre Dame should be a safe choice.

I hope this helps!