Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant

Hi,
It would really be helpful and appreciated if you could evaluate my profile.

Nationality: Argentina
Age: 32
Gender: Male
GMAT score (1st attempt): 680 (Q49, V34, IR5, AWA expecting a 5+)

Background: I am an Accountant with a Master in Finance (National University, still working in my final thesis, average score 8.5, 10 scale ). Several courses in Finance (eg: Chinese finance in the Jiaotong University in Beijing, China)
Year of Graduation: 2005
Work Experience till date: 8 years

2005 to 2009: Ernst & Young. Semi-senior. Consulting and Audit on Banks and Insurances Companies.

2009: Swift trade (6 months): trader. Scalping strategies on NYSE stocks.

2010: Real state project (Trust, urbanization project): pricing and credit strategies .

2011 to 2013: Commodities broker (first by volume in Argentina, trading soybeans, corn and wheat). Senior analyst. Developing hedging strategies for clients with positions at the Chicago Futures Exchange (CBOT) and Buenos Aires Futures Exchange. Daily Market reports (Chicago and Buenos Aires markets).

2013: founder of a Start up in Montevideo (Uruguay), Uomotors.com (the business concept was to connect buyers and sellers of cars in an online and then in an real space in the Montevideo shopping). The project won the prize to the Best Technological project in Uruguay. We closed the start-up in 2014 (we could not monetize to the break even point).

2014: Consulting. Corporate Finance and Capital markets. Current clients: a real state project, a big clothing retail company and local investors in the US financial markets.

twitter: @maximilianoi

Extracurricular activities:
Yachting. Member of the crew who participated in the 2014 Rolex Atlantic Sur Cup (race from Buenos Aires to Punta del Este Uruguay). We obtain the second position in our category. Currently competing in the V22 category in Rosario.

NGOs activities:
Rotaract (a Rotary program for people below 30 years old):
2004: Director of the Finance Committee (organization of events in order to fund the communnity Committee projects)
2003: Director of the Community Committee in Rotaract .
2002: Treasurer of Rotaract Club.

Running: marathon competitions. 10, 21 and 42 kms.

I would to apply to the following schools (all R2):
1) Columbia
2) UCLA
3) New York Stern
4) Berkeley Haas
5) Chicago Booth

thank you!

Maximiliano

You have enough of a shot that these top schools are worth applying to, and you've done a good job of choosing a mix of top 8 schools (Columbia, Booth) and top 16 schools (Stern, UCLA, Haas). To further lessen the "randomness" of the admission results, you may want to apply to 1-2 more schools, as it's a numbers game as well.

If you're open to returning to South America or working in Europe post-MBA, take a look at INSEAD and LBS. Alternatively if you're dead set on working in the US immediately after b-school, then just focus on the top 16 schools -- maybe add Yale and Cornell to the list if you're looking for more finance-oriented jobs post-MBA.

Beyond that, you seem to have a good handle of where you stand given the range of schools you've targeted.

Alex Chu,
thank you! Therefore, I will add 1 more school, may be one that is in the 10-20 range.
However, I am still considering re-taking the GMAT (in 2 months), aiming to score 700+.

Absolutely, if you are reasonably confident you can score above 700, it's worth a retake. Your current GMAT is a concern, but not fatal given your nationality (schools say they want a diverse class, and while a lot of schools have a large international student population, it is heavily skewed towards nationals from Asia, particularly India and China).

Thank you alex! Then, I will re-take it.

Maximiliano

I agree with Alex that an improved GMAT score would help, but is not necessary for you to be competitive at your target schools. You will be compared to other applicants from Argentina (and to a lesser extent the rest of South America). Admissions committees realize applicants from South American countries generally score lower on standardized tests because standardized test taking is not as part of the culture.

What are your career goals post-MBA? This will help us in recommending some other schools for you to target.

Have a great weekend!!!