Profile Evaluation

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Profile Evaluation

by awoldmoe » Fri Aug 12, 2016 6:43 pm
Hello,

First and foremost, I would like to thank BEATtheGMAT for this awesome social network. I was constantly on this site throughout my GMAT studies, reading motivational debriefs and going through problems/explanations.

Anyways, I would love some honest feedback on my "profile". I recently just completed my second GMAT attempt after a grueling 18-months of studying (on and off) in which I improved my first CAT exam score by 210 points. I am planning to apply to business school in two years; therefore, I would be in the class graduating in 2021.

Stats:
- Age: 23 (keep in mind, I will be 26 my first year at school)
- Gender: Male
- Ethnicity: Caucasian
- Undergrad: B.S. in Finance at a top 50 university (private school)
- GPA: 3.8
- GMAT First Attempt: July 18th, 2015 (Quant 47 Verbal 35 - Total Score 680, IR5 AWA5.5)
- GMAT Second Attempt: August 10th, 2016 (Quant 49 Verbal 36 - Total Score 710, IR3 AWA5.5)


Experience:
- By the time I apply for business school, I will have had 4 years of work experience in Big Pharma (think J&J). Additionally, I will have worked in the Midwest and the Northeast for different roles, and potentially a short-term assignment overseas, all positions as a financial analyst/sr. financial analyst. My company has a corporate sponsorship program in which they sponsor (pay for) analysts to go back to top MBA programs full-time.

Noteworthy College Extracurricular Experience:
- I played Division 1 tennis and was the captain for three years (this was about 20 hours a week)
- I had two internships during college (corporate finance and consulting) my junior and senior year

Noteworthy Post-College Extracurricular Experience:
- I am a volunteer assistant coach at a Division 1 college program out in the northeast
- I am a motivational speaker to various middle schools and high schools (speak to congregations of hundreds of students)

Target Schools:
- HBS
- Stanford
- Kellogg
- Yale
- Columbia

Post-MBA:
I would like to stay with the company I work for and climb the corporate ladder. Additionally, I would be interested in owning my own business. Someday, I would like to lead thousands of people in the workplace and make a major impact in the community and on the lives of those I lead.

Recommendation Comments:
HBS: My first boss was an HBS grad who I have an amazing relationship with who will be writing a recommendation letter for me in the future. Additionally, I worked very closely with other HBS grads who would be more than happy to write recommendations for me.
Kellogg: I have worked very closely (on the same team) with two Kellogg grads that would write recommendations for me.
Stanford and Yale: As of right now, I don't have any immediate connections at work/outside of work for recommendations. We have plenty of Stanford grads, but I haven't worked with any so far.
Columbia: My second boss was a Columbia grad who I had a great connection with and she would be more than happy to write a recommendation for me.

Concerns:
- The biggest concern that I have is my score, IR3, on my latest GMAT score. I was so happy with my composite score, as I have had to climb all the way from a 500 on my first CAT to a 710. I am burnt out and do not want to take the GMAT again; however, I do not want that Integrated Reasoning score to ding me so much that I can't get into a top 5-10 program. My goal with the GMAT was to be able to have my application be placed in the "further review" pile of applications, rather than the trashcan. Could the IR3 ruin my chances? Are there other parts of my application that could help offset? On all of my practice exams, and even my first GMAT attempt, I scored anywhere from a 5-7 on IR. For whatever reason, I found the wording extremely difficult and hard to understand on my last GMAT attempt. Nonetheless, I bombed it and it has given me major anxiety the last two days. I am assuming my second GMAT attempt still looks better on paper than my first GMAT attempt, despite the poor IR score.

Sorry for all the information, I am just trying to ease my anxiety stemming from the low IR score and wanted to provide you a brief perspective of my profile to get an honest evaluation.

Best,
Future MBA Prospect

GMAT/MBA Expert

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by Jon@Admissionado » Tue Aug 16, 2016 4:53 am
Okay dude,
So a few things:
- Your profile is great!
- Your industry is great!
- Don't worry about IR. Nobody cares. If you feel like you could do better on the main GMAT score then you can consider a retake, otherwise it's not necessary.

Rather you should focus on:
- Kicking ass at work and moving up as quick as you can
- Keeping up great volunteer positions (preferably with leadership) throughout the duration
- cultivating your network and visiting your target schools at some point
- Try to get your employer to agree to sponsor your MBA


All this will be a good investment of your time.

I hope this helps!
Best of luck,
Jon
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by awoldmoe » Tue Aug 16, 2016 4:56 pm
Jon,
Thanks a lot for the feedback, I feel reassured with you telling me not to sweat over the IR3. I will definitely focus on the list that you provided. From your perspective, how should I go about visiting my target schools? Should I call their admissions programs and tell them I am visiting? Or should I just check them out on my own? When should I do this? As I mentioned, I am planning to apply to the schools that I listed in my first post in two years.

Best,
Future MBA Prospect

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by Jon@Admissionado » Thu Aug 18, 2016 9:55 pm
All the schools have visitor centers and also arrange tours and so on, so yeah call them up. Do your research before and see if you want to target-meet any students or professors. And prepare yourself to find out what you REALLY want to find out so you can ask the right questions when you are there about how things REALLY work. And just have a good time. It's more fun than work.

Other than that, do it any time you can when school is in session.

Best,
JF
"Hands down the best MBA admissions consulting firm of all-time, and boy, what an incredible founder!" -- Raj Patil, Founder of Admissionado

Something for everyone:
https://admissionado.lpages.co/admissio ... nter-2018/
https://admissionado.lpages.co/50-essay ... ked-vol-4/
https://admissionado.lpages.co/case-studies-lp/
https://admissionado.com/mba/reviews/
https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Admis ... 700945.htm

Reach out, and let's gab. Our only requirement is that you don't prefer warm milk over cold milk. Everyone else, 100% welcome.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 866-409-4753
Hit us up on WhatsApp.
Ping our satellite: 0884#&@-2#101101
Contact us via web form you lazy git: https://admissionado.com/contact/
Mostly, email Claudia.