Profile Evaluation Please

raabenb · Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 8:15 am Post subject: Profile Evaluation Please

For Fall 2009 entry...

Personal:

Age: 25 now (27 at matriculation)
Gender: Male
Nationality: USA
Waist: 30 inches and growing Razz

Academics:

Undergraduate Institution: Temple University
Major: Marketing
Undergraduate GPA: 3.55
Major GPA: 3.93
Final 2 year GPA: >3.9, including many quant heavy and upper level courses
Honors: Magna Cum Laude, Dean's List during final 4 semesters
Study Abroad: American University of Rome, Italy
GMAT: 700 (47Q, 40V, 5AWA).....brought it up 80 points from my first try (original 620) since I am aiming for top programs

Work Experience:

First Company: Company sold project management software, also did consulting and implementation
My role: Marketing Director....I was the only marketing person at the company. I qualified prospects, generated leads for the sales team, spearheaded all marketing campaigns (print and email).
Length of employment: 13 months
Reason for leaving: During my time there, the company was brought to salable condition and was sold to a company based in Indiana. I would like to think that my actions helped in this, and I had received a 30% raise during my time there. The old owner also arranged for an extremely generous severance package.

My Current Company: Small Publishing Company
My role: Assistant Director of Global Sales and Marketing.....I assist in all facets of sales and marketing. I lead negotiations in some regional (international) distribution deals and rights deals. I travel and work trade shows (including internationally). I also take part in team projects within the company.
Length of employment to date: 16 months

Extra Curriculars and Hobbies:

EC: Before college, I volunteered at an understaffed hospital in Taipei, Taiwan.

In college I was a member of American Marketing Association, Golden Key International Honour Society, and volunteered at the Israeli Consulate in Philadelphia.

After college there was a break in my EC because of my new job. After I left my first job, I spent about 4 months helping take care of my grandmother who recently moved back North from Florida after her health began declining. Then I started a new job, got engaged, planned, a wedding, got married, and studied to retake my GMAT.

Recently, I cofounded a Pug/Beagle mix breed dog meetup group. I am a member of a local park where I go once a month to pick up litter. I visit sick people at hospitals once a week through a local Jewish group and was recently put in charge of local recruiting. Hopefully, time permitting, I will also be volunteering for the Barack Obama campaign!

Hobbies:

I am obsessed with politics and global current events. I read alot, play ping pong, and do photography.

International travel is my passion (different cultures really excite me). Taking personal, volunteer, living, study, and work travel into account....I have been to 45 different countries on 6 continents.

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I will have strong recommendations, essays, and crystal clear reasoning for getting an MBA (including why I want a career switch to management consulting). I will also visit the programs I will apply to and I already began speaking with current students and the leaders of the clubs I would be interested in joining.

I realize I may not be the most amazing candidate coming from the small business world (i.e. not Goldman Sachs middle management by age 25), but I think I can put together a strong application.

Please, give me your honest opinion on my chances. My schools in order of preference are Yale SOM, Cornell Johnson, Duke Fuqua, MIT Sloan, Michigan Ross, and Emory.

Thanks!

VP_MBA_Guru · Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 9:59 am Post subject:

Hi Raab,

Thanks for your post! You have a great background and are a good candidate for all the schools mentioned. Sounds like you have good management experience at an early age. Don't worry about not working at Goldman Sachs, the IB applicant pool is actually one of the most competitive, so you are actually in better shape than many other candidates.

MIT might be a bit of a stretch, as they are much more quant oriented and tend to favor the banker/finance types. I would actually consider Kellogg, which I believe is a better fit.

You have the right profile - good GMAT/GPA, solid WE, good ECs. Now just focus on your applications and crafting your story, particularly why you want to transition into a management consulting role, and how the MBA will help you achieve this goal.

Something you already know - make sure you apply in the first round. This year is going to be ultra competitive, so getting your applications in early might give you a slight advantage.

Good luck,

NP

raabenb · Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 1:06 pm Post subject:

Thanks Nikhil,

I want to apply to all 6 schools since Fall 2009 is a must for me. I was planning on trying to get 4 applications out in Round 1 (without compromising quality) and 2 apps in Round 2. You werent implying that getting out 6 apps in the first round is possible, were you? I always though 4-5 is considered extremely difficult to do in a single round.

Kellogg is much too large of a program...I am not sure I would feel comfortable there. I have been toying with the idea of swapping Sloan and Ross for Tuck and Darden. My concern with Tuck is whether or not a 700 GMAT will cut it. Would Tuck be less of a longshot than Sloan? How would my chances at Darden compare to my chances at Ross? Fit is more important to me than the rankings (to a degree of course)......

Also, I know because of the economy there will be many more applicants for Fall 2009. Wont most of them be from Finance backgrounds? Will I be competing directly with them or will it not effect me much (since I am not in the IB/Finance/Consulting pool)?

Thanks again,

Raabenb

VP_MBA_Guru · Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 8:40 am Post subject:

Hi R,
To your questions:

1. Yes, you should try to apply to all of your top picks in R1, provided you don't compromise on quality. Don't rush to get your apps in if you don't feel 110% comfortable with the end product. But stay focused! Many previous clients were aiming for R1, but then got busy with other things and missed their deadlines. Since this year is going to be so competitive, you want every advantage you can get.

2. You are likely competitive for all schools mentioned below. I could go through the pros/cons of each, but you are better off doing your own research and try to understand how each program is different and which would make more sense for you. I would recommend an MBA Admissions book (Montauk or Bouknight), which provide a great summary of the top 25 programs and the MBA admissions process.

3. It feels like everyone is applying to b-school this year Wink

So every applicant pool is going to be ultra competitive!

Regards,

NP

raabenb · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 6:02 am Post subject:

Last question.....

I brought my GMAT up from 620 the first time to 700 because of the schools I plan on targeting. Is 700 a score to worry about....or with my profile & gpa and Quant - Verbal split, is 700 ok? I am confident (judging from my practices) that I can bring it up to say 720-730 but I am not sure if the effort and time would be justified given my targets/profile....I just had an off day on test day. Should I squash my doubts?

VP_MBA_Guru · Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2008 8:58 am Post subject:

Raab,
700 is a great score. I would not worry about taking it over again for a few extra points (not to mention you might go down). Focus on the applications instead.

Good luck!

NP