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mbaman11: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 9; Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2009 12:07 am

by mbaman11 » Wed Oct 17, 2012 5:56 am

Goal: Want to get into new media VC, and possibly start my own business.
My UG GPA/GMAT are not very good.
I want to try for the top schools (Col/Chi/Wharton/Stanford) Any chance, or am I dead in the water?

--- More "stats" below ---
AGE: 31,
Indian National.
UG: Cornell. Engineering; GPA: 3.0 last 2 yrs (Grades were low because i had major financial issues and in 1 sem had to take a single class because i couldn't afford it. Worked w/ my Dad.)
Non-degree: Took classes at Columbia U. @ 3.66GPA (3 quant engineering courses w/biz slant)
Certificate: Film, NYU, 4.0, Awards for films; Films gone to festivals.
Fordham: Media Mgmt, 4.0 GPA, Beta Gamma Sigma, Dean's scholar.
GMAT: 680 (Q44,V39)
WORK: Morgan Stanley (Equity Research, 2.5 years); JPM: a) Product Strategy (2 promos - appointed to lead product and strategy for a $10mm biz). b) Corporate Strategy, NY/overseas Vice President.
RECS will be good.

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BrianW@Aringo: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 40; Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2011 8:49 am; Thanked: 5 times

by BrianW@Aringo » Mon Oct 22, 2012 4:37 pm

Goal: Want to get into new media VC, and possibly start my own business.
My UG GPA/GMAT are not very good.
I want to try for the top schools (Col/Chi/Wharton/Stanford) Any chance, or am I dead in the water?

--- More "stats" below ---
AGE: 31,
Indian National.
UG: Cornell. Engineering; GPA: 3.0 last 2 yrs (Grades were low because i had major financial issues and in 1 sem had to take a single class because i couldn't afford it. Worked w/ my Dad.)
Non-degree: Took classes at Columbia U. @ 3.66GPA (3 quant engineering courses w/biz slant)
Certificate: Film, NYU, 4.0, Awards for films; Films gone to festivals.
Fordham: Media Mgmt, 4.0 GPA, Beta Gamma Sigma, Dean's scholar.
GMAT: 680 (Q44,V39)
WORK: Morgan Stanley (Equity Research, 2.5 years); JPM: a) Product Strategy (2 promos - appointed to lead product and strategy for a $10mm biz). b) Corporate Strategy, NY/overseas Vice President.
RECS will be good.

mbaman11,

Thank you for your profile submission. On the basis of the information as presented and under the assumption of strong essays and recommendations and a GMAT score of 680, our experience indicates you would be a stretch candidate at Stanford, Wharton, Booth, and Columbia. Based on your profile, I would encourage you to consider applying to schools outside of the top 5 - we would project that you would be between a stretch and competitive candidate at Darden and Anderson, and competitive at Tepper and Rotman.

Regarding your application approach, you do have a number of strong profile attributes that do help to offset your GMAT and undergraduate GPA - you have a masters degree and a certificate with strong grades, along with strong marks in several courses at Columbia. And, Cornell is an Ivy League school - so you will get some "strength of schedule" points there. I would just make sure that you frame your undergraduate situation a bit differently than you do at the moment. In our experience, we have seen applicants overcome a lower GPA by indicating that they worked significantly to put themselves through school. I sense this is what you are describing, but you say your grades were low because you had financial issues, which seem to have forced you to work. By indicating that your financial situation was challenged, you immediately frame the situation as a negative to the ad com.

Regarding your career objective to work in new media venture capital, certainly some of your academic experience in media management and film would provide credibility. And, your work experience at Morgan Stanley will also be helpful. That said, since VC is quite competitive, I would encourage you to include specifics about VCs that you have spoken to and advice that you have received about how you'll work to enter the industry. This is somewhat expected on the ad com side because of your prior work experience in finance (you're assumed to have built up a decent network by age 31).

Best of luck,

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bingo: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 20; Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2012 10:44 pm; Thanked: 1 times

by bingo » Wed Oct 31, 2012 11:30 am

Hello Brian,
What is the negative effect on my acceptance chances if I apply in the second round instead of the first round? does it matter if the school has 3 or 4 rounds?
Thanks in advance!

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rohitm: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 22; Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2012 5:08 am

by rohitm » Thu Nov 01, 2012 5:15 am

Hi

Took Gmat today. Was hoping for a better score, but alas, turned out to be much lower than expected.
My score is 680 (quant 90 percentile and verbal 67 percentile). I was planning to apply to the following b schools and now i am wary of applying as i think my score is less than the average accepted. Needed your help by looking at the profile, should i apply with the current score or take GMAT again

Schools : INSEAD, Booth, Stanford, Wharton, Columbia, LBS, Tuck

Profile:

Undergraduation - among top 3 students
Graduation - Top 20 college in india ; 1st rank in the college
Post-grad MBA from a top 10 b school in india - Allrounder award
Work experience -
1. Big credit rating agency in india (2 yrs)
2. Associate at a domestic PE firm (1.5 yrs)
3. Software consulting at a global IT major (1 yrs)

Other activities - decent activities at school and college level
Currently teach CFA at a leading firm (part-time)
Some charity work in the past though not very active presently

Planning to remain in the same industry but want to target international PE firms which surely need better exposure and a good international b school education in india

Will appreciate any help in deciding between applying with 680 score or target a better score

Rgds
Rohit

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fuquahopeful: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 17; Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2012 7:23 pm

by fuquahopeful » Sat Nov 03, 2012 4:08 pm

Last edited by fuquahopeful on Mon Nov 05, 2012 5:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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sunman: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 165; Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2011 5:05 amFollowed by: 9 members; Location: San Diego, CA; Thanked: 14 times; GMAT Score:750

by sunman » Sat Nov 03, 2012 8:23 pm

Tuck lets you combine scores?

I highly, highly doubt that.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has" - Margaret Mead

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fuquahopeful: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 17; Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2012 7:23 pm

by fuquahopeful » Sat Nov 03, 2012 9:29 pm

This is straight from it's website and I highly, highly doubt that they will lie on it's website.

I have taken the GMAT and/or GRE several times. Which score does the admissions committee consider?

The admissions committee takes into consideration your highest test score. The Tuck application allows students to report up to two GMAT and/or GRE test scores. If you have scored better on one test in the verbal section and better on the other in the quantitative section, we will consider your highest quantitative and highest verbal scores. We will not, however, combine scores from different test to create a new total score. Please refer to Instructions for applicants for more information.

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sunman: Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts; Posts: 165; Joined: Thu Feb 17, 2011 5:05 amFollowed by: 9 members; Location: San Diego, CA; Thanked: 14 times; GMAT Score:750

by sunman » Sat Nov 03, 2012 9:46 pm

Interesting. My bad.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has" - Margaret Mead

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BrianW@Aringo: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 40; Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2011 8:49 am; Thanked: 5 times

by BrianW@Aringo » Sun Nov 04, 2012 3:38 pm

Hello Brian,
What is the negative effect on my acceptance chances if I apply in the second round instead of the first round? does it matter if the school has 3 or 4 rounds?
Thanks in advance!

bingo,

Thank you for the question. Based on our experience, applying in the 1st round is usually preferable. There are years when it's the other way around, and there are programs where it's the other way around. The bottom line: Our impression is that on average, the positive effect of applying in the first round is small to medium. The extent of this advantage depends on the quality and number of candidates who apply in each round as well as on the policy of the specific admissions committee at a certain school in a certain year. Over the years, the effect comes and goes "in waves" - the more international students apply in the first round, the less advantageous it is to apply in the 1st round (and the other way around), and then we see fewer applicants in the 1st round the following year, and so on and so forth.

We have not seen a substantial difference between schools who have 3 or 4 total rounds - once you get to the "last" round for a school the chances are typically much lower. At this point, only truly exceptional candidates (if any) have a good shot at admission.

Best of luck,

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BrianW@Aringo: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 40; Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2011 8:49 am; Thanked: 5 times

by BrianW@Aringo » Sun Nov 04, 2012 4:17 pm

Hi

Took Gmat today. Was hoping for a better score, but alas, turned out to be much lower than expected.
My score is 680 (quant 90 percentile and verbal 67 percentile). I was planning to apply to the following b schools and now i am wary of applying as i think my score is less than the average accepted. Needed your help by looking at the profile, should i apply with the current score or take GMAT again

Schools : INSEAD, Booth, Stanford, Wharton, Columbia, LBS, Tuck

Profile:

Undergraduation - among top 3 students
Graduation - Top 20 college in india ; 1st rank in the college
Post-grad MBA from a top 10 b school in india - Allrounder award
Work experience -
1. Big credit rating agency in india (2 yrs)
2. Associate at a domestic PE firm (1.5 yrs)
3. Software consulting at a global IT major (1 yrs)

Other activities - decent activities at school and college level
Currently teach CFA at a leading firm (part-time)
Some charity work in the past though not very active presently

Planning to remain in the same industry but want to target international PE firms which surely need better exposure and a good international b school education in india

Will appreciate any help in deciding between applying with 680 score or target a better score

Rgds
Rohit

Rohit,

Thank you for your profile submission. Based on the information as presented and under the assumption of strong essays and recommendations and a GMAT score of 680, our experience indicates you would be a stretch candidate at INSEAD, Booth, Stanford, Wharton, and Columbia, between stretch and competitive (closer to stretch) at Tuck, and between stretch and competitive at LBS.

Regarding your question on the GMAT and whether to apply now or to retake the test, I will address that below. However, the most important issue in your profile is arguably the fact that you have a prior MBA. Some leading programs, such as Darden and Haas, do not allow applicants who have a prior MBA. Even for programs that do allow it, though, based on our experience the fact that you do have an MBA will make it more difficult for you to gain admission. You will have to provide a convincing explanation for why you need (another) MBA. I interpret your profile as indicating that you believe you need the degree from a top school in order to enable you to have a good chance at working at a large private equity firm. While this may be a legitimate reason, please keep in mind that the bar is a bit higher for your profile in order for you to gain admission, relative to all other candidates.

Other points for your profile:
- It will be important for you to elaborate on the reasons why you went from the credit ratings agency to PE and finally to software consulting. It's not entirely clear to me what the linkage is between these roles for you, and it's going to be important for you to explain (especially for the PE firm, since this is your future interest) that you left on good terms with these organizations and that you had solid ratings.
- When you give specifics about your academic profile, you indicate "top 3" and "1st rank". It's important for these to be provided in context, with an "out of XXX" attached to it.

Based on the above, and on how we project your chances, it may make sense to at least take the GMAT one more time to show the ad coms that you have tried to improve the score itself. However, as described, the most important thing will be your story on why the 2nd MBA and (very specifically) how you would fully utilize the experience.

Best of luck,
Brian

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BrianW@Aringo: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 40; Joined: Tue Jul 19, 2011 8:49 am; Thanked: 5 times

by BrianW@Aringo » Sun Nov 04, 2012 4:55 pm

Undergrad:

BBA Accounting & Finance (Top 50 public in east coast)
CCGPA: 3.3 Major GPA: 3.6 (Last 60 hours)

CPA (1st attempt)

GMAT: (Taken 5 times)
1) 570 V35 Q34
2) 610 V31 Q44
3) 580 V28 Q42
4) 620 V31 Q45
5) 560 V23 Q44

Please keep in mind, that I have always scored 660+ on practice gmat. I don't struggle with content, but have severe case of anxiety during the exam.
Work Experience:

5 years experience working with a Big4 firm. Solid promotions. My recommendations indicate my solid Quant skills at work as well as my strong leadership experiences

Extra Cirricular:
Significant.

What are my chances at the following schools:

1) Duke
2) Cornell
3) Tuck (GMAT: 660...since they let you combine scores0
4) UT Austin
5) Yale
6) Rice.

What are my chances the these schools? I am an immigrant, and moved to US after highschool.

This is straight from it's website and I highly, highly doubt that they will lie on it's website.

I have taken the GMAT and/or GRE several times. Which score does the admissions committee consider?

The admissions committee takes into consideration your highest test score. The Tuck application allows students to report up to two GMAT and/or GRE test scores. If you have scored better on one test in the verbal section and better on the other in the quantitative section, we will consider your highest quantitative and highest verbal scores. We will not, however, combine scores from different test to create a new total score. Please refer to Instructions for applicants for more information.

fuquahopeful,

Thank you for your profile submission. On the basis of the information as presented and under the assumption of strong essays and recommendations and a GMAT score of 620, our experience indicates you would be a stretch candidate at Tuck and Yale, between stretch and competitive (closer to stretch) at Fuqua and Johnson, between stretch and competitive (closer to competitive) at McCombs, and likely competitive at Rice (although we do not have as many data points on Rice as it's not a top 30 program globally).

Regarding your GMAT, clearly with a total of five tests you've tried (significantly) to improve your score. Although you mention that you had scored higher in practice exams, please keep in mind this is not going to win you (or anyone else in the process) any points in the admission process. You do not mention post-MBA career goals anywhere in your profile. I would caution you against putting something like management consulting or investment banking in your career goals in your essays, only because those firms do case-based / quantitative-based interviews that are essentially exams in front of an interviewer. I'm guessing you are applying in Round 2 this year, in which case you would likely not have time to take a class. However, if you have time, I might recommend you consider taking a business school-related prerequisite course (like calculus or economics or statistics) that has a heavy exam component to the total grade. This would provide some evidence that you are a good test-taker and could perform in the academic environment of a top MBA program.

You say that your major GPA was 3.6 and your total GPA was 3.3, which means that your GPA outside of your major is perhaps in the range of 2.7-3.0. You'll want to provide some (brief) reasoning for why this is in your application. It's better to have a higher GPA towards the end of your undergraduate experience, all things equal, though. The challenge is applying to top programs with a (for those programs) lower than average GPA and lower than average GMAT score.

Finally, and this is perhaps the most important point for your profile: Please make sure to be extra careful with spelling, grammar, and punctuation in your essays. With a verbal split on the GMAT as you currently have, the ad com will be keen to make sure that you will be able to successfully handle the communication component (verbal and written) of the MBA experience. In the couple of posts that you have, I see a number of English mistakes that (if taken in total) would possibly remove a candidate from consideration in the application process in the eyes of some ad coms.

Best of luck,
Brian

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TexasCPA: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 1; Joined: Sat Nov 03, 2012 5:59 pm

by TexasCPA » Sun Nov 04, 2012 9:17 pm

Is a CPA or a CFA helpful during the application process?

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rohitm: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 22; Joined: Thu Nov 01, 2012 5:08 am

by rohitm » Sun Nov 04, 2012 10:28 pm

BrianW@Aringo wrote:
Rohit,

Thank you for your profile submission. Based on the information as presented and under the assumption of strong essays and recommendations and a GMAT score of 680, our experience indicates you would be a stretch candidate at INSEAD, Booth, Stanford, Wharton, and Columbia, between stretch and competitive (closer to stretch) at Tuck, and between stretch and competitive at LBS.

Regarding your question on the GMAT and whether to apply now or to retake the test, I will address that below. However, the most important issue in your profile is arguably the fact that you have a prior MBA. Some leading programs, such as Darden and Haas, do not allow applicants who have a prior MBA. Even for programs that do allow it, though, based on our experience the fact that you do have an MBA will make it more difficult for you to gain admission. You will have to provide a convincing explanation for why you need (another) MBA. I interpret your profile as indicating that you believe you need the degree from a top school in order to enable you to have a good chance at working at a large private equity firm. While this may be a legitimate reason, please keep in mind that the bar is a bit higher for your profile in order for you to gain admission, relative to all other candidates.

Other points for your profile:
- It will be important for you to elaborate on the reasons why you went from the credit ratings agency to PE and finally to software consulting. It's not entirely clear to me what the linkage is between these roles for you, and it's going to be important for you to explain (especially for the PE firm, since this is your future interest) that you left on good terms with these organizations and that you had solid ratings.
- When you give specifics about your academic profile, you indicate "top 3" and "1st rank". It's important for these to be provided in context, with an "out of XXX" attached to it.

Based on the above, and on how we project your chances, it may make sense to at least take the GMAT one more time to show the ad coms that you have tried to improve the score itself. However, as described, the most important thing will be your story on why the 2nd MBA and (very specifically) how you would fully utilize the experience.

Best of luck,
Brian
Brian

Thanks for the insightful response. Sorry to have wrongly mentioned the career progression. Just to highlight, Post Engineering i did IT consulting for about an year , then joined indian MBA, post that worked with credit rating agency for 2 yrs and then joined PE firm and now part of the setup for about 1.5 yrs here and now i wish to continue in this industry and hence a second global MBA. Hope the career progression likes this makes sense. I am also a CFA to bolster my skill set for the PE industry

Rgds
Rohit

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fuquahopeful: Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts; Posts: 17; Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2012 7:23 pm

by fuquahopeful » Mon Nov 05, 2012 10:29 am

Thanks Brian for your candid feedback. Just couple of follow questions.

1) What is the minimum GMAT score, which will make me competitive at Cornell, Duke, Yale, Tuck & CBS? (Provided that I have strong essays, recs and career goals). I am taking GMAT again before the Rd2 deadline. Is 670 sufficient? I am from an underrepresented applicant pool (all above schools have no current student from my country).

2) You mentioned that I should take extra class, but I have taken about 30 (Accounting/Finance/Stats) classes during my last 2 years of college and got either As or Bs. Should I still take another class or two?

3) What will Adcom think of my multiple GMAT attempts? 5+?

Thanks a lot.

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dsfi2013: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 3; Joined: Wed Nov 07, 2012 9:15 am

by dsfi2013 » Wed Nov 07, 2012 10:27 am

Hi Brian/ Aringo,
I took the GMAT last week and got a 670( Q:50,90 %ile, V31,59%ile).
I want to do an MBA from the US and would like to know my chances in the following colleges:
1)Booth
2)Tuck
3)Columbia
4)Fuqua
5)Ross
6)North Carolina
7)Tepper
Profile:
* Indian, Age: 28yrs(male)
* Class topper in my tenth grade.
*B.tech in Mechanical and Automation engineering with an overall 74.4% (among the top 10% of the class )
* Worked as a Quality Analyst for 9 months in an IT MNC.
* Working as a Jr. Manager for the past 4 years in Steel Industry in a company which is the largest producer of steel in India. Was among the top 50 mechanical engineers who were recruited after a nationwide examination for which more than 1,00,000 candidates appeared.
* Currently in charge of a mechanical section, leading a team of 30 individuals and entirely responsible for the planning of inventory, management of spares and execution of all maintenance activity on the shop floor.
* Highly appreciated for my leadership, high technical knowledge, strong determination and self initiative & courage (supported with a couple of appreciation letters received from the top management)
* Leading a program in the department aimed at identifying the potential of individuals and enhancing their technical and leadership skills and preparing them to handle positions of greater responsibilities.
*Informally associated with many charity events aimed at improving the health and education of the people living in the nearby slums and active member of the local community centre.

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