Beat The GMAT a GMAT & MBA community

Hi there,

I was hoping one of you kind souls with expert knowledge might evaluate my profile as I’m considering applying for an MBA.

PREFACE
I have not taken the GMAT yet but am going to be buying some books soon (heard Manhattan is good) to give it a good 6 month stint before I take the test. I am currently trying to find out which schools to apply to and if there are any schools that I should automatically rule out.

BACKGROUND
I’m an American male who grew up in Europe - Born in Germany, educated in French and British schools. I have dual European citizenship. I will be 26 years old next month.

EDUCATION
4 x As at British A-level exams.
Graduated from a top public US university (top 25 school) with a History degree. My overall GPA was a 3.05, and my Major GPA was a 3.28. Twice made Dean’s list for Academic Distinction. Played sport through college at club level. Fraternity officer. Managed the financial services portfolio of the university student investment club.

WORK EXPERIENCE:
Before and after college I had work experience in Hotels, Hollywood, Journalism, Retail, Law, Finance.

Straight after college I moved to London to work at a top (Anglo-American) global advertising agency as an account executive - worked there for 2 years and was promoted after one. My two clients were the largest UK Energy company and the largest UK Health Insurer.

Current job is with the London office of another top (American) global advertising agency - my current client has the largest advertising spend of any brand in the UK. At the moment I run all of their TV campaigns. I have been promoted twice in the last year. I manage several junior execs.

I have extensive experience across almost all marketing channels - TV, Radio, Direct Marketing, Digital, Mobile, Experiential, etc. I am interested in doing an MBA in order to hone my marketing and management skills, and to provide a boost to my career as I would like to switch from agency to client-side. Ideally, I’d like to work for a company that listens to its marketing department and places importance in the brand, e.g. an FMCG or an Auto company. Long-term goal would be to be a CMO/CEO of a Global 1000.

I am confident I can obtain top recommendations from clients and senior managers alike.

LANGUAGES
I am bilingual in French, speak fairly fluent Spanish and can converse in Italian. I’m also currently teaching myself German.

EXTRA-CURRICULAR
I am on the board of my university’s London club.
I am on the Young Advisory Board of a well-known Central American university.
I raised thousands for a school in Uganda as part of my company’s charity - I then went to Uganda for 2 weeks to help build the school.
I worked pro-bono giving free advertising/marketing advice to local London start ups as part of a volunteer scheme at my last agency.

WEAKNESSES
Low-ish GPA
I am distinctly mediocre at math - the GMAT quant part terrifies me! Only scored a 590 in the Math SAT.
I have an “F” on my transcript from a gut Economics class - essentially I took a “be-all-end-all” final while I was horrendously sick and failed. Badly.

MBA SHORTLIST
My shortlist is Harvard (father went there - does the alumni effect work at all?), Columbia, London Business School, INSEAD. Possibly Wharton? Possibly HEC Paris? Given the steep cost of an MBA (not to mention opportunity cost), I am approaching this with a “go big or go home” mentality. As I plan to remain in Europe long-term, I am not interested in regional US programs - but rather ones that have global prestige. I'm hoping that my international background plus the fact that I'm coming from an industry with fewer applicants might help counter my average GPA. Plus also need to nail the GMAT itself.

I would be grateful of any help/advice you might be able to give no matter how specific or general.

Thank you kindly!