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brat_ritz wrote:

Aringo.com wrote:

brat_ritz wrote:Hi Aringo,

Kindly evaluate my profile and provide your valuable inputs on B-schools i should be aiming for.

Indian Female working in F&S domain in Accenture
Location: Bloomington,IL,USA
Age: 25

GMAT:
GMAT - 690 - Q46, V39 ,IR-7

Education Qualification: Bachelor of Engineering - Electronics and Communication 71.01% First Division:2008
 10th Standard: CBSE: 88.8% school topper :2002
 12th Standard : CBSE: 78.2% 2004

Summer trainings and Internship:

DRDO: Defense research and Development organisation
Research assistant for Solid state physics LASER. Was actively involved in:
"¢ Creation/Assembly of Solid state laser
"¢ Analysis on the research papers presented on Solid state results

ERTL: Electronics regional testing lab
"¢ Study of State-of-the-art Anaechoic Chamber
"¢ Study of the process of CE certification of digital instruments(Surge and Burst test)

WORK EXPERIENCE:
Currently working as a Test lead for a leading auto insurance client in USA.
The responsibilities include:
"¢ Test plan,Test strategy and other tesing deliverables
"¢ Testing coordination
"¢ Requirements Analysis
"¢ Creating detailed design
"¢ Creation and Execution of System test cases
"¢ Defect Tracking in TRAC "¢
Involved in Peer Review
"¢ System Testing


Extra curricular actvities
Accenture
*GCP (Global career program)onboarding team:
Aimed at:
1)Helping new joiners at onsite during their initial stay.
2)Assisting them in documentation and paperwork

*GCP Scheduling team:
Interviewing Subcontarctors for accenture and aligning them as per job openings.

*GCP LKM team:
Planning and coordinating:
1)Rewards &recognition programs
2)Mentoring Lunches
3)Know your leads initiative
4)Cultural diversity programs

*GCP Corporate citizenship:
Helping homeless and needy(Food,clothing and monetary help)

*Akshaya Patra Initiative (For providing food to the needy)
* Technical paper presentation on : Impact of driver less cars in Auto insurance
* Participated in Bloomington -Normal Half Marathon.


College Level:"¢ Founding member of Orator's club
"¢ Founding Member's of spiritual Club.
"¢ Active member of Electronics group :The digitals
"¢ Organised Technical fest for ECE dept.
"¢ Was active contributor for College Fest

School level:
"¢ Got many awards and accolades for debates ,declamation ,group song and Poem recitation.
"¢ Won Poem reciation competition for regional level for Kendriya Vidyalaya
"¢ Won drawing competition organised by Bal Bhawan
"¢ Was House captain and participated and won many prizes in Kendriya Vidyalaya

Hobbies/Interests:
"¢ Jogging/Long Distance Running
"¢ Hiking/Canoeing
"¢ Cooking (Indian/International cuisine) Desserts &Baking in particular
"¢ Music
"¢ Watching Historical movies &Documentaries

I plan to apply in R2.
Also, kindly suggest whether aiming for ISB with this core is justified or not.

Thanks
Ritz

Hello Ritz,
You have quite an impressive profile. Please note that I cannot provide feedback regarding your chances at ISB.
If you are interested in other MBA programs, I would tell you that with a strong application (essays, recommendations) you would be a competitive candidate for Top 20 schools - perhaps not those at the very top, but probably those ranked 11-20. The specific schools depend on your interests, as each school has it's focus and specialty.
Good luck,
David
Aringo.com

Hi Aringo,

I started out pretty late last year(gave my Gmat on 16 nov ).I applied for ISB till now and have been interviewed too.Waiting for the results now.Now, i am thinking of applying to other US b schools too this year.
I am currently working in technical domain and i want to move to the business domain.I want to be a business analyst.Kindly suggest the B schools i should aim for.Do i need to improve my GMAT score too.

Hi Ritz,
You should be applying for schools that are at the bottom part of Top-20 (ex. Johnson, Tepper, Goizueta), and a safety school below that.
Your GMAT score is pretty good. I would suggest re-taking it only if it doesn't cause you to miss another deadline and if you believe you can improve your score by at least 20 points.
Good luck,
David
Aringo.com

psal wrote:Would love to get thoughts on my chances at the top 3 programs. I understand that my verbal score is light, but I'm hoping that my high GPA, work experience, and other accomplishments can overcome that and make me a competitive candidate. Also, any suggestions on what I can do to be more competitive outside of the GMAT would be appreciated!

Profile Evaluation:

Target: Top 3 (Stanford, Harvard, Wharton)

Application Plan: First round, October 2014

Background: Middle eastern male, 25 (born in US)

Education:
- GPA: 3.95 (Highest Honors)
- Major: BS, UC Berkeley, Haas School of Business, 2010
- Additional Achievements: Engineering Entrepreneurship Sequence Certificate, 2010 Haas Undergraduate Achievement Award, Dean's List, Received A+ in a number of courses including Intro to Business (highly competitive class), Statistics, Finance, Game Theory, two other electives. Lowest letter grade was B+.

GMAT: 680 (Q49, V34, IR 7, AWA 6)

Experience:
- 2 years investment banking analyst at boutique investment bank (2010-2012). Worked on 14 transactions in very lean deal teams. Solely published 48 editions of Internet newsletter that was distributed to over 3,000 industry and VC professionals. Initiated firm's on campus recruiting efforts that did not previously exist (recruiting was done via referrals only). Offered promotion to associate role after second year (offered to select analysts after third year). Turned offer down to join top-tier late-stage venture capital firm.
- 1.5 years venture capital associate at top-tier late stage firm (2012-Present). Have worked on 6 different transactions during my time at the firm. Five months into the role, sourced investment in mobile gaming company. Investment was the 2nd largest in the firm's 34 year history. Five months after investment, majority of company was acquired at valuation 4x higher than our investment (one of the top returns for the firm). Received additional bonus for performance after second year and was assured third year promotion early. Will have 2.5 years of experience in this role when I apply.

Extracurriculars / Leadership:
- 1 year on board of non-profit that provides soccer and literacy after-school programs to under-resourced public school communities. Currently co-chair of a large fundraiser (corporate soccer tournament). Help with new team recruitment and manage team of 8 staff / board members. Looking to raise over $200K through this event.
- Held a number of leadership positions at UC Berkeley. VP and Alumni chair of fraternity. Senior Research Assistant for MBA professor (promoted after just one year). 2 years as mentor for youth entrepreneurs from local high schools.

Recommendations
- Planning to receive recommendations from two Partners at my current firm. I expect them to be strong given the feedback I received recently as part of my annual reviews.

Other:
- Hearing loss in left ear that has been getting worse each year since I was born. While my hearing impairment has made life difficult at times, I haven't let it get in the way of my career goals.

Hi Psal,

Your profile is very impressive, and I believe you would be a competitive candidate at all three schools. While your GMAT score is a bit lower than the mean, you fall within the 80% range. Coupled with your strong work experience and outstanding GPA - this shouldn't be a problem.

No specific recommendations for the next several months until you apply - just keep up the good work.
One suggestion that I would make regarding the application itself is to consider asking only one of the partners at your current firm for a recommendation, and getting the other recommendation from a partner (or your supervisor) at the investment bank, if possible.

Good luck,
David
Senior Consultant
Aringo.com

David, forgot to say thank you for your reply... thanks!

Hey Aringo!
Do you know if b-schools accept academic recommendations? Are academic or professional recommendations better?

bingo wrote:Hey Aringo!
Do you know if b-schools accept academic recommendations? Are academic or professional recommendations better?

Hi Bingo!

In general, professional recommendations (with emphasis on recommenders who supervised your work) are better than recommendations by lecturers (whose relationship with you was only in an academic context). On the other hand, if the lecturer in question also supervised your work - for example, if you worked as their teaching assistant - then the lecturer's recommendation may be better (as this is a professional recommendation). It depends on the specific circumstances/alternatives.

Good luck,
David
Senior Consultant
Aringo.com

Thanks David, appreciate your feedback!

Hi ,

I am new to BEAT the GMAT and this is my first post here, I am planning to apply for 2017 intake.

Profile: Indian- Male; Engineer/24

GMAT: Right now attaining 690-710 in Kaplan practice tests and I am aiming to take the test after 6 months with an aim of 740+.

Education:

Undergraduate : Chemical Engineering from Anna University (One among the top 10 in India)
GPA: 7.6/10 (Top 15% in my class)

Masters in Engineering: Dual Masters in Chemical & Environmental Engineering from University of Toronto
GPA: 3.79/4

Work Experience:

1)Completed 2 four month summer Internships related to Chemical Engineering while doing my Undergrad out of which one was for India's highest ranked fortune 500 Petroleum company.

2) Completed a 6 month internship (after completing my masters) in a Oil and Gas firm in UAE.

3) Now working in Canada as a Junior Chemical Engineer for a mid-sized company.

Hoping to have 3 years of full-time work experience by the time of applying to B-Schools

Extra Curricular Achievements:

Undergrad:

Won 1st place out of 600+ teams which participated an International Engineering Event for designing a Solar Water Purifier.
Won Prizes in many notable national level Engineering competition.

Head of Organizing committee of Rotaract club:
Two notable achievements are

i)Initiated and organized two blood donation camps in association with the Cancer Institute of Madras which had 340+ blood donors

ii)Organized a Reclaim our Beaches campaign in to create awareness about the endangered Olive Ridley turtles were nearly 220+ people participated from all over the city

Worked with different NGO's to educate children in rural areas, Cleaned beaches on International Coastal Clean-up Day, renovated water tanks in schools and temples to provide clean drinking water and many more activities...

Masters:

i) Treasurer of Leaders of Tomorrow(a student club):
Organized monthly fund raising events generating profits from the first month which fetched nearly 900$ on the very first event

Prepared budgets, monitored expenses and income, and organized all documents for internal audit

ii) Executive member in Chemical Engineering Student Association- Lead a team of 15 members to organize a Chemical Engineering Networking Dinner Event

Post MBA:

Short Term: Work as a management consultant for the Top 4 consultancy firms

Long Term : After Gaining significant experience as a management consultant, I might start my own consultancy or aim to work in an Executive position for a FT-500 company.

I know much depends on our Essays and recommendations and I am hoping to work hard on my Essays & get positive reco's from my higher officials.

My Questions:

i) My aim is to apply for Top 20 b-schools. Will that be too ambitious?? Is Top five out of reach??

ii) My Undergrad GPA is bit on the lower side and also a non-IIT student(even though Anna University is on the Feeder Universities list according HARVARD website), whereas my Masters GPA is above average and from a reputable University(Ranked no 1 for Chemical Eng in Canada). Will my Masters GPA mask my UG's GPA or will my UG's GPA be weighed more??

iii)I still have three years to improve my profile, Is there anything specific I have to work on?

Hope you will kindly go through my profile and give your opinion about it.

I will be happy to give some more information based on my profile, if required.

Thanks

jegadhish90 wrote:Hi ,

I am new to BEAT the GMAT and this is my first post here, I am planning to apply for 2017 intake.

Profile: Indian- Male; Engineer/24

GMAT: Right now attaining 690-710 in Kaplan practice tests and I am aiming to take the test after 6 months with an aim of 740+.

Education:

Undergraduate : Chemical Engineering from Anna University (One among the top 10 in India)
GPA: 7.6/10 (Top 15% in my class)

Masters in Engineering: Dual Masters in Chemical & Environmental Engineering from University of Toronto
GPA: 3.79/4

Work Experience:

1)Completed 2 four month summer Internships related to Chemical Engineering while doing my Undergrad out of which one was for India's highest ranked fortune 500 Petroleum company.

2) Completed a 6 month internship (after completing my masters) in a Oil and Gas firm in UAE.

3) Now working in Canada as a Junior Chemical Engineer for a mid-sized company.

Hoping to have 3 years of full-time work experience by the time of applying to B-Schools

Extra Curricular Achievements:

Undergrad:

Won 1st place out of 600+ teams which participated an International Engineering Event for designing a Solar Water Purifier.
Won Prizes in many notable national level Engineering competition.

Head of Organizing committee of Rotaract club:
Two notable achievements are

i)Initiated and organized two blood donation camps in association with the Cancer Institute of Madras which had 340+ blood donors

ii)Organized a Reclaim our Beaches campaign in to create awareness about the endangered Olive Ridley turtles were nearly 220+ people participated from all over the city

Worked with different NGO's to educate children in rural areas, Cleaned beaches on International Coastal Clean-up Day, renovated water tanks in schools and temples to provide clean drinking water and many more activities...

Masters:

i) Treasurer of Leaders of Tomorrow(a student club):
Organized monthly fund raising events generating profits from the first month which fetched nearly 900$ on the very first event

Prepared budgets, monitored expenses and income, and organized all documents for internal audit

ii) Executive member in Chemical Engineering Student Association- Lead a team of 15 members to organize a Chemical Engineering Networking Dinner Event

Post MBA:

Short Term: Work as a management consultant for the Top 4 consultancy firms

Long Term : After Gaining significant experience as a management consultant, I might start my own consultancy or aim to work in an Executive position for a FT-500 company.

I know much depends on our Essays and recommendations and I am hoping to work hard on my Essays & get positive reco's from my higher officials.

My Questions:

i) My aim is to apply for Top 20 b-schools. Will that be too ambitious?? Is Top five out of reach??

ii) My Undergrad GPA is bit on the lower side and also a non-IIT student(even though Anna University is on the Feeder Universities list according HARVARD website), whereas my Masters GPA is above average and from a reputable University(Ranked no 1 for Chemical Eng in Canada). Will my Masters GPA mask my UG's GPA or will my UG's GPA be weighed more??

iii)I still have three years to improve my profile, Is there anything specific I have to work on?

Hope you will kindly go through my profile and give your opinion about it.

I will be happy to give some more information based on my profile, if required.

Thanks

Hi jegadhish,

You have a very nice profile.

Aiming for top-20 is not too ambitious at all in your case - you should go for it. Regarding top 5: If you indeed achieve a high GMAT score (and especially if you meet your goal of 740), you should be a competitive candidate at top 5 programs as well.

Regarding your grades, you are correct in that M.A. grades can "make up" for low undergrad grades. However, being in the top 15% of your class is not considered having low grades, even when applying to many of the top-20 MBA programs.

Over the next couple of years, make sure you are getting some good leadership experience, preferably management if possible: leading a small team, or perhaps overseeing an intern. At the very least, it would be helpful if you receive a promotion and/or salary raise.

Best of luck,
David
Aringo.com

jegadhish90 wrote:Hi ,

I am new to BEAT the GMAT and this is my first post here, I am planning to apply for 2017 intake.

Profile: Indian- Male; Engineer/24

GMAT: Right now attaining 690-710 in Kaplan practice tests and I am aiming to take the test after 6 months with an aim of 740+.

Education:

Undergraduate : Chemical Engineering from Anna University (One among the top 10 in India)
GPA: 7.6/10 (Top 15% in my class)

Masters in Engineering: Dual Masters in Chemical & Environmental Engineering from University of Toronto
GPA: 3.79/4

Work Experience:

1)Completed 2 four month summer Internships related to Chemical Engineering while doing my Undergrad out of which one was for India's highest ranked fortune 500 Petroleum company.

2) Completed a 6 month internship (after completing my masters) in a Oil and Gas firm in UAE.

3) Now working in Canada as a Junior Chemical Engineer for a mid-sized company.

Hoping to have 3 years of full-time work experience by the time of applying to B-Schools

Extra Curricular Achievements:

Undergrad:

Won 1st place out of 600+ teams which participated an International Engineering Event for designing a Solar Water Purifier.
Won Prizes in many notable national level Engineering competition.

Head of Organizing committee of Rotaract club:
Two notable achievements are

i)Initiated and organized two blood donation camps in association with the Cancer Institute of Madras which had 340+ blood donors

ii)Organized a Reclaim our Beaches campaign in to create awareness about the endangered Olive Ridley turtles were nearly 220+ people participated from all over the city

Worked with different NGO's to educate children in rural areas, Cleaned beaches on International Coastal Clean-up Day, renovated water tanks in schools and temples to provide clean drinking water and many more activities...

Masters:

i) Treasurer of Leaders of Tomorrow(a student club):
Organized monthly fund raising events generating profits from the first month which fetched nearly 900$ on the very first event

Prepared budgets, monitored expenses and income, and organized all documents for internal audit

ii) Executive member in Chemical Engineering Student Association- Lead a team of 15 members to organize a Chemical Engineering Networking Dinner Event

Post MBA:

Short Term: Work as a management consultant for the Top 4 consultancy firms

Long Term : After Gaining significant experience as a management consultant, I might start my own consultancy or aim to work in an Executive position for a FT-500 company.

I know much depends on our Essays and recommendations and I am hoping to work hard on my Essays & get positive reco's from my higher officials.

My Questions:

i) My aim is to apply for Top 20 b-schools. Will that be too ambitious?? Is Top five out of reach??

ii) My Undergrad GPA is bit on the lower side and also a non-IIT student(even though Anna University is on the Feeder Universities list according HARVARD website), whereas my Masters GPA is above average and from a reputable University(Ranked no 1 for Chemical Eng in Canada). Will my Masters GPA mask my UG's GPA or will my UG's GPA be weighed more??

iii)I still have three years to improve my profile, Is there anything specific I have to work on?

Hope you will kindly go through my profile and give your opinion about it.

I will be happy to give some more information based on my profile, if required.

Thanks

Hi jegadhish,

You have a very nice profile.

Aiming for top-20 is not too ambitious at all in your case - you should go for it. Regarding top 5: If you indeed achieve a high GMAT score (and especially if you meet your goal of 740), you should be a competitive candidate at top 5 programs as well.

Regarding your grades, you are correct in that M.A. grades can "make up" for low undergrad grades. However, being in the top 15% of your class is not considered having low grades, even when applying to many of the top-20 MBA programs.

Over the next couple of years, make sure you are getting some good leadership experience, preferably management if possible: leading a small team, or perhaps overseeing an intern. At the very least, it would be helpful if you receive a promotion and/or salary raise.

Best of luck,
David
Aringo.com

jegadhish90 wrote:Hi ,

I am new to BEAT the GMAT and this is my first post here, I am planning to apply for 2017 intake.

Profile: Indian- Male; Engineer/24

GMAT: Right now attaining 690-710 in Kaplan practice tests and I am aiming to take the test after 6 months with an aim of 740+.

Education:

Undergraduate : Chemical Engineering from Anna University (One among the top 10 in India)
GPA: 7.6/10 (Top 15% in my class)

Masters in Engineering: Dual Masters in Chemical & Environmental Engineering from University of Toronto
GPA: 3.79/4

Work Experience:

1)Completed 2 four month summer Internships related to Chemical Engineering while doing my Undergrad out of which one was for India's highest ranked fortune 500 Petroleum company.

2) Completed a 6 month internship (after completing my masters) in a Oil and Gas firm in UAE.

3) Now working in Canada as a Junior Chemical Engineer for a mid-sized company.

Hoping to have 3 years of full-time work experience by the time of applying to B-Schools

Extra Curricular Achievements:

Undergrad:

Won 1st place out of 600+ teams which participated an International Engineering Event for designing a Solar Water Purifier.
Won Prizes in many notable national level Engineering competition.

Head of Organizing committee of Rotaract club:
Two notable achievements are

i)Initiated and organized two blood donation camps in association with the Cancer Institute of Madras which had 340+ blood donors

ii)Organized a Reclaim our Beaches campaign in to create awareness about the endangered Olive Ridley turtles were nearly 220+ people participated from all over the city

Worked with different NGO's to educate children in rural areas, Cleaned beaches on International Coastal Clean-up Day, renovated water tanks in schools and temples to provide clean drinking water and many more activities...

Masters:

i) Treasurer of Leaders of Tomorrow(a student club):
Organized monthly fund raising events generating profits from the first month which fetched nearly 900$ on the very first event

Prepared budgets, monitored expenses and income, and organized all documents for internal audit

ii) Executive member in Chemical Engineering Student Association- Lead a team of 15 members to organize a Chemical Engineering Networking Dinner Event

Post MBA:

Short Term: Work as a management consultant for the Top 4 consultancy firms

Long Term : After Gaining significant experience as a management consultant, I might start my own consultancy or aim to work in an Executive position for a FT-500 company.

I know much depends on our Essays and recommendations and I am hoping to work hard on my Essays & get positive reco's from my higher officials.

My Questions:

i) My aim is to apply for Top 20 b-schools. Will that be too ambitious?? Is Top five out of reach??

ii) My Undergrad GPA is bit on the lower side and also a non-IIT student(even though Anna University is on the Feeder Universities list according HARVARD website), whereas my Masters GPA is above average and from a reputable University(Ranked no 1 for Chemical Eng in Canada). Will my Masters GPA mask my UG's GPA or will my UG's GPA be weighed more??

iii)I still have three years to improve my profile, Is there anything specific I have to work on?

Hope you will kindly go through my profile and give your opinion about it.

I will be happy to give some more information based on my profile, if required.

Thanks

Hi jegadhish,

You have a very nice profile.

Aiming for top-20 is not too ambitious at all in your case - you should go for it. Regarding top 5: If you indeed achieve a high GMAT score (and especially if you meet your goal of 740), you should be a competitive candidate at top 5 programs as well.

Regarding your grades, you are correct in that M.A. grades can "make up" for low undergrad grades. However, being in the top 15% of your class is not considered having low grades, even when applying to many of the top-20 MBA programs.

Over the next couple of years, make sure you are getting some good leadership experience, preferably management if possible: leading a small team, or perhaps overseeing an intern. At the very least, it would be helpful if you receive a promotion and/or salary raise.

Best of luck,
David
Aringo.com

Hi David,

Thanks a lot for the detailed reply.

Sure I will try to achieve the desired GMAT score as well get some management and leadership related experience over the next three years.

Just one last question to you, for the past few weeks I have been going through you're website and I would really like to work with Aringo in future. Can you please say what would be the ideal time to contact you regarding the full school package? Should I have my GMAT score before taking ARINGO's services?

Thanks in advance for you're reply

Hi the team at Aringo,

Would you please give me some insight here?

Age: 28
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Chinese American (born and raised in Hong Kong, immigrated to the US 15 years ago)
Undergrad Major - Double majored in Economics & communication
Undergrad GPA - 3.41 overall from Rutgers (My econ GPA was rather low, though, around 2.9x, high honor in Communication)
GMAT: 700 (Q48/V38) (This is the score I got after taking the GMAT for the second time)
Work experience: 4.5 years, will be almost 5 by the time I submit my applications.
Industry - Manufacturing
Extra-Curricular Activities - Practically none, other than recreational sports that I have been playing for two years, in which I am very passionate about. I am now looking for some volunteering opportunities, but would it be too late? Worst of all, would the adcom see that I am just trying to fill my resume and hence, leave a negative impression?

Here is another problem:

From the first day I started at this company, I have always been wearing different hats. Initially, I was hired as a department assistant for my company's relatively new division. I was doing lots of admin work. After about half a year, I started picking up a bit more in the sourcing area and took trips to Asia to attend trade shows and to participate in the negotiation process with our vendors. My duties in this area remained minimal. Then, in efforts to take on additional duties, I volunteered to share the workload of a different department and self-taught myself AutoCAD, in order to assist them. I also saw room for improvement in that team's daily operation, so I again, volunteered to develop a new project management platform using SharePoint. This new protocol was very helpful and acted as a perfect solution at the time, and was able to save the team's time and workload. I did all this while still maintaining my regular duties. Eventually, after another 1.5 years, I stepped down and reduced my workload within this department to focus more back on the division I actually belong to. I have since then been involved more on the supply chain management and operation side of the business.

My biggest dilemma is that, my job title has remained the same (department assistant) and I feel that it doesn't reflect what I really do. Would this affect my chances of getting into schools like Stern, Columbia, Wharton?

I would like to pursue an MBA to gain more business knowledge and to eventually go into the field of consulting, particularly in international business/operations area.

I feel that I currently stand no chance of being accepted and wondered if I should retake the GMAT to increase my chances?

jegadhish90 wrote:Hi David,

Thanks a lot for the detailed reply.

Sure I will try to achieve the desired GMAT score as well get some management and leadership related experience over the next three years.

Just one last question to you, for the past few weeks I have been going through you're website and I would really like to work with Aringo in future. Can you please say what would be the ideal time to contact you regarding the full school package? Should I have my GMAT score before taking ARINGO's services?

Thanks in advance for you're reply

Hi again,
I suggest starting in early 2016 to have plenty of time to make your applications top-notch. We'll be glad to help.
David
Aringo.com

Yvette726 wrote:Hi the team at Aringo,

Would you please give me some insight here?

Age: 28
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: Chinese American (born and raised in Hong Kong, immigrated to the US 15 years ago)
Undergrad Major - Double majored in Economics & communication
Undergrad GPA - 3.41 overall from Rutgers (My econ GPA was rather low, though, around 2.9x, high honor in Communication)
GMAT: 700 (Q48/V38) (This is the score I got after taking the GMAT for the second time)
Work experience: 4.5 years, will be almost 5 by the time I submit my applications.
Industry - Manufacturing
Extra-Curricular Activities - Practically none, other than recreational sports that I have been playing for two years, in which I am very passionate about. I am now looking for some volunteering opportunities, but would it be too late? Worst of all, would the adcom see that I am just trying to fill my resume and hence, leave a negative impression?

Here is another problem:

From the first day I started at this company, I have always been wearing different hats. Initially, I was hired as a department assistant for my company's relatively new division. I was doing lots of admin work. After about half a year, I started picking up a bit more in the sourcing area and took trips to Asia to attend trade shows and to participate in the negotiation process with our vendors. My duties in this area remained minimal. Then, in efforts to take on additional duties, I volunteered to share the workload of a different department and self-taught myself AutoCAD, in order to assist them. I also saw room for improvement in that team's daily operation, so I again, volunteered to develop a new project management platform using SharePoint. This new protocol was very helpful and acted as a perfect solution at the time, and was able to save the team's time and workload. I did all this while still maintaining my regular duties. Eventually, after another 1.5 years, I stepped down and reduced my workload within this department to focus more back on the division I actually belong to. I have since then been involved more on the supply chain management and operation side of the business.

My biggest dilemma is that, my job title has remained the same (department assistant) and I feel that it doesn't reflect what I really do. Would this affect my chances of getting into schools like Stern, Columbia, Wharton?

I would like to pursue an MBA to gain more business knowledge and to eventually go into the field of consulting, particularly in international business/operations area.

I feel that I currently stand no chance of being accepted and wondered if I should retake the GMAT to increase my chances?

Hi Yvette!

First of all, it sounds like you have an interesting personal story (moving to the States as a teenager) that can lead to many insightful essay responses .Just make sure that they are well written.

Your work experience actually sounds pretty fantastic. You took initiative and moved around the company, learning various aspects of its operations. Moreover, you were obviously trusted/appreciated and given the opportunity to move around - that speaks volumes. Switching jobs between different employers can be problematic... but within the same company, it's not usually a problem. And don't worry too much about your job title. There are plenty of opportunities in the application (essays, recommendations) to downplay it. But if you are still concerned, perhaps ask your supervisor or HR if it would be OK to change it to one that better reflects your contributions to the company.

Re volunteering - you are right that it might not impress them much if you start only this year, but as I tell many applicants: "better late than never". Don't worry about this too much, though: if a school likes you as an applicant in other ways, they won't ultimately reject you because you don't volunteer enough.

Should you re-take the GMAT? The short answer is this: If you are fairly confident that you can increase your score by at least another 20 points, then yes. And certainly if you want a top-5 school - you will need those extra points. But if you are willing to "settle" for a program that's further down the top-20 list, you will be a competitive candidate with your 700.

Good luck!
David
Aringo.com

Hey Aringo,
My question is would work experience with a well-known international organization contribute to my candidacy? in what way?
Thank you.