Ask mbaMission

I am a Pakistani national currently residing in England. I did my undergraduate studies from the number one business school in Pakistan, the Lahore University of Management Sciences. My graduation GPA was 2.72 in Accounting and Finance. The aforementioned program is the most competitive program at the University and the admission is only given to a select few based on the performance in A-Levels exams. There were 72 people in my batch who started in this program and only 38 graduated. The rest either dropped out of university or changed their majors. My low GPA was mainly because I was working over 40 hours a week to pay for my tuition and was also helping out my family as they were going through financial difficulties at that time. My university is one of the most expensive universities in Pakistan.

Upon completion of my undergradaute degree I came to UK to do a masters degree in International Economics and Finance from Cardiff University. My graduating grade was 2.1 which equates to US GPA between 3.0 and 3.6 on a scale of 4.0 (most websites equate the grade to 3.3 US GPA). Once again my grades were not outstanding because I was putting in around 40 hours a week to pay for my tuition by working beyond what is usually allowed to an international student.

Currently I am working for Ernst and Young in their assurance practice in England. I have recently completed my chartered accountancy exams (CPA in USA, but a lot harder to qualify) and my grades in the chartered accountancy exams are outstanding. I am ranked amongst the top performers at firm and work on some of the most important clients such as Hewlett Packard, Oracle, Siemens, etc. Before joining Ernst and Young in England, I worked for Standard Chartered Bank in Pakistan as associate in their Corporate Banking division and worked with clients in the commodities sectors which includes some of the largest clients in the energy, textiles, metals and mining sector. Therefore, my work experience to date is 3 and would be 4 years when I begin MBA in fall of 2011. I have progressed well within my career and my performance has regularly exceeded my peers' and surpassed expectations of my employers. Before joining Ernst and Young, I had offers to join investment banks such as Dresdner Kleinwort and BNP Paribas, but I felt joining Ernst and Young was the right choice given the global economic downturn and the opportunity to do Chartered Accountancy would actually give me the ideal opportunity to build an alternative transcript. Furthermore, Chartered Accountants upon completion of their training with Big 4 firms, leave to join investment banks and thus kept the option open for making a move into investment banking.

I have substantial extra curricular activities as well. I was captain of the football team during my undergraduate studies. I was elected president of the student council. I currently work as volunteer with one of the non-governmental organizations in Pakistan which aim to educate children working in sweat shops or begging on the streets. My main duties are to organize activities to raise funds in UK. I also am part of the team which organizes the Entrepreneur of the Year awards at Ernst and Young, which is one of the most prestigious business awards in UK. My work mainly revolves around identifying CEO's to be nominated for this award from multiple sectors and helping Partners at the firm in general management of this event.

My short-medium term goal post MBA is to become a successful investment banker in either New York or London and my medium-long term goal is to return to Pakistan to start my own investment bank. But my life long dream is to be involved in the development of the financial sector in Pakistan to ensure that I can play an important role in the economic development of the country which has long suffered from inadequate economic policies and lack of educated bureaucracy. At present I have a couple of offers from some of the most reputed investment banks in London but I want to do an MBA before embarking upon a career in investment banking as it would play a pivotal role in enhancing my entrepreneurial zeal which will be needed when I start my own investment bank.

My GMAT score is 710 and I was wondering about my chances of getting into one of the top MBA programs in US. I know that my low GPA would be a hindrance in my acceptance at one of the top MBA programs but it is purely because of the fact that I was working nearly full time during undergraduate studies to pay for my education. Otherwise I have always been exceptional in my academics. I had one of the best results for my batch in A-Levels Cambridge Board (Equivalent to US High School system). Furthermore, in the Chartered Accountancy exams I have scored extremely high marks (averaging more than 75% overall) and this qualification is way tougher than my undergraduate courses, thus proving that my poor grades are not due to lack of intellectual capability but because of my financial circumstances during my undergraduate and postgraduate years.

First Choice:
HBS
Wharton
Stanford

Second Choice:
Booth
NYU Stern
Haas
Kellog
MIT

Third Choice:
Anderson
Ross
Tuck
Fuqua
Johnson

Thanks for the detailed profile. However I am not really sure what your question is because it is not clear in your post. I will however comment on your school choices. I think that your grades are somewhat weak, but you have built a strong "alternative transcript" which should help show the admissions committee that you can do the work in an MBA program. I also think your extra-curricular activities are strong as well. Regarding your school choices, I think you will be more competitive at the 2nd and 3rd choice programs based on the academic history. However, you should certainly strive for a strong GMAT score to try to balance out the weaker performance in university.

Best of luck with the application process!