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Hi,

I appreciate your time in advance.

White Male, age 28

3.3 GPA (top three undergraduate program, b minus curve) and 680 gmat (41/41).

Schools:

U of Chicago
Columbia
Harvard
Wharton

I started my career with a top hedge fund (equity trader) and have run a small health care distribution company over the past 2+ years. After 2 years of declining sales (prior to my tenure), I have increased sales/profit (y/y) each year that I have been with the company. Additionally, I tutor and also volunteer with a charity (hold treasurer position). Thanks again.

Dear Jo77,

Thanks for your post!

Let's look at your profile across a few key areas:

1) Academics. Your GPA of 3.3 from a top school is certainly competitive, albeit below average for the schools on your list (accepted students are typically at around 3.5 - 3.6). Of course, since you went to a good school, there may be some leeway - especially if you pursued a challenging major and have a number of analytically/quantitatively rigorous courses on your transcript. As to the GMAT, I see two issues with your result. The first is that your overall score of 680 is at least 30 points below the average at your target schools. The second, and perhaps more crucial, issue is that your raw score of 41 on the quant. section likely places you at around the 64th percentile - which is well below the preferred mark of the 80th percentile for top schools.

2. Work Exp. This area of your candidacy sounds promising, although I'd be curious to know how long you stayed with the hedge fund before joining the healthcare distribution company. I'm also curious to understand your role at the healthcare distribution company - are you the CEO? Is this your own firm? How and why did you make the transition from the hedge fund to this more recent role? How many employees are you managing? Assuming the answers to these questions are all positive and logical, etc, this aspect of your background could help you stand out. Of course, I'd like to know more about your future goals as well, since the adcoms will be scrutinizing your plans too.

3. XCs. It sounds like you've got some promising outside pursuits, although you've provided relatively little detail here. The key is to help the adcom understand that you've been consistently involved with these outisde pursuits - and that you've thought about how you will bring them/continue with them in the b-school community.

Overall, you have some promising aspects to your background when it comes to being a competitive applicant for the schools on your list. Having said that, I fear that there is a bit of a 'red flag' with regards to your quantitative skills. Of course, if you were a math major at Swarthmore or Princeton, this concern may be alleviated. But if you studied philosphy (or something more qualitative by nature), I'd have some reservations as an admissions officer...

Feel free to email your resume to Clear Admit if you'd like to have a free thirty minute phone session with one of our counselors, since some of my assessment here would be better informed with more information/via dialogue.

Best of luck,

Graham