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Demographics: White male, age 28

Target School: Primary target is Michigan (Ross); secondaries are Chicago, MIT, and potentially some others.

GMAT Target: 710

Undergrad: 3.1 GPA in Mechanical Engineering, University of Maine 1998-2002; Member of varsity track and field team (indoor and outdoor); Scholar Athlete Award (multiple); nearly completed a Business Minor and Math minor.

Work Experience: My current position is project manager for a global project for an automotive supplier. I have been in this role for 1 year. Prior to that my role was as an Account Manager responsible for various customer accounts within the same Tier 1 automotive supplier. I have been with this company since before my graduation from college (manufacturing internship).

Social Interests: Participated in MS fundraisers for 5 years. Volunteered several times at a local shelter providing food for less fortunate. In addition I actively enjoy golf, investing, and many sports.

Recommendations: My former boss is a Michigan MBA alum. I expect this to be a very strong recommendation. Second will likely be a business acquaintance who is a Wharton grad. The third will likely be my bosses boss (my current boss has only been here about 5 months).

I feel like I have very strong work experience and GMAT score, but weak undergrad GPA. I think the extracurriculars during college should offset that, but I'm not sure.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Brian

THanks much for the reply, Lisa. I see you've been quite busy and appreciate the thoughts in your reply.

Brian,

I was accepted into Wharton with a similar profile. Don't give up the hope of getting into a top program based on your sub-average GPA alone.

The best advice I have is to spend a lot of time on your essays. Make sure you have a very focussed explanation for why business school, and why now. (Of course, given how expensive b-school is, these are good things to force yourself to do anyway!)

You'll also want to be sure to give your readers a good grasp of who you are as a person. I know I got lost, a bit, in writing these essays - I got so caught up in the "pitch" that I left my personality out of my writing. It took me 'a lot' of drafts until i fixed this on my application. Tell your story, but tell it in your own voice. This allows your readers to not only see why you want to attend their school, but it also provides them with an idea of how you'll fit in with the environment.

Finally, when you discuss your strengths in extracurriculars, be sure to mention how you've impacted your peers and your organizations. Acknowledge both the strong things you've done, but also ways in which you know you can improve.

Best of luck!

Thanks Appmentor!!! I haven't even started thinking about the essays yet. I think I am subconsciously avoiding the essay portion. How much time did it take to complete your essays??? Maybe if I convince myself of the amount of time it takes, I'll stop procrastinating! On the other hand, my GMAT is in 2 weeks (although I'm pretty relaxed going in, and am confident in my strategy and studying until then). As soon as that is done, I hope to concentrate more on the essays and encompassing who exactly I am in writing.