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Profile Evaluation for Top 10 program: White Male, 720 GMAT

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Profile Evaluation for Top 10 program: White Male, 720 GMAT

by eric1 » Mon Dec 02, 2013 12:56 pm
Hi guys,

I would really appreciate hearing your thoughts and advice on my chances for acceptance into a top 10 b-school (I'm targeting Booth, Kellogg, Wharton, and Haas).

I recently took the GMAT for the first time and received a 720 (Q44, V45). While I am really happy with my overall score, I know that my quant score is on the low side. Both of these scores represent my highest during practice tests, so I don't think I would have enough time to retake the test and do substantially better and still make the Round 2 deadlines.

I have approximately 3.5 years work experience: 2 years in the Peace Corps as a small enterprise development adviser, 8 months as a staff assistant at the International Monetary Fund, and 8 months as a lead analyst at a non-profit research institution in DC (focusing on the region where I was with Peace Corps).

I went to a top 25 school for undergrad and received a bachelor of arts, with a 3.64 GPA.

Cognizant of the fact that my quant background may look weak on an application, I also took an intermediate statistics course through the local community college last spring.

Any thoughts on my chances? Thanks!
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by CriticalSquareMBA » Tue Dec 03, 2013 8:11 am
Hey there,

Thanks for posting! Let's see if we can't help you out here. Firstly, congrats on a great GMAT score! I know you're worried about your raw quant score, but don't be. A 44 isn't "low". It's not a 49 or anything equally brilliant but it's a solid score and schools will not view you as quantitatively deficient.

Academically, you're also set. Great school, strong GPA. Professionally, you have a diverse set of work experiences and I like them. It's a more unique than average profile and that will work in your favor.

When it comes to schools, here's what I think:

Top 5 - this is going to be a pretty significant stretch. You have Kellogg and Wharton here. Pick one.

Top 10 - this is a more realistic stretch bracket. You have Booth and Haas here. Again, pick one.

Top 15 - I would recommend adding a school from this tier as well to make sure you've rounded out the risk.

I'm not exactly sure what you're looking to do post MBA so if you can shed some light on that maybe we can further narrow the list?

I know this was a fairly brief response but I wanted to get the conversation going so that we can talk through things and get to a solid R2 strategy for you!

Bhavik
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by eric1 » Tue Dec 03, 2013 9:38 am
Hi Bhavik,

I really appreciate the response and encouragement.

You have a good point about applying to a school within the 11-15 range to round out the risk. I didn't mention it but I'm also looking seriously at Duke. Primarily because I know that it has a strong partnership with Peace Corps and I've heard that the school really values Peace Corps experience among applicants. I identified the target schools listed above because they seem to have good concentrations in international management and global business.

In regards to post-MBA plans, I would like to continue to pursue economic development in low-income countries but from a private sector approach. My goal would be to consult and advise multinationals on market entry strategies in emerging markets (ideally with a focus on West and Northwest Africa--the regions I am most familiar with). I think I will be able to weave fairly compelling and coherent essays regarding my job progression and how it fits into my long-term goals. Currently, I just lack some of the necessary business acumen.

My largest concern is demonstrating in my application that I have the required quantitative analytical skills to keep up at these programs.

Thanks again for the response and advice.

Eric
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by CriticalSquareMBA » Tue Dec 03, 2013 10:23 am
Hey Eric,

You're quite welcome! Duke's a great program and you're right, they do have a strong relationship with the Peace Corp. I also think your future goals make a lot of sense and good on you! That'll make an impact in the world in a big way.

As for analytically quantitative, it'll help to build your case if you keep your perspective open on what this constitutes. The easiest, obviously, would be if you built complex financial models. Check that box and move on. However, given your roles in development advising and a non-profit research institution, there is the potential for a lot of opportunities that can hit on this theme. More important than the complexity and scale of numbers you use is the approach you take. Do you follow a structured, logical, and quantitative when appropriate approach to finding the answer or solving a problem? Keep in mind, not all problems need a quantitative solution but they can always benefit from analytical perspective and rigor.

If you ever have any other questions, don't hesitate to reach out!

Bhavik
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by eric1 » Tue Dec 03, 2013 2:33 pm
Will do. Thanks, Bhavik.
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by MBAPrepAdvantage » Thu Dec 05, 2013 4:12 pm
A 44 is low-60's percentage and unfortunately low for the schools to which you are targeting. But there are other compelling aspects to your candidacy including your overall GMAT score and the fact that you served in the Peace Corps.

Try your best to substantiate any quantitative experience in your background along with the statistics class. Is there anything you did in your 8 years-experience as a staff assistant to the International Monetary Fund, like ideally building some sort of financial model(s)? Or in your role as an analyst where presumably you did analytic work?

I agree with Bhavik in that you should apply to some schools outside of the Top 7 (Duke is a good one).

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by eric1 » Wed Mar 26, 2014 1:09 pm
Hi Bhavik and Michael,

Thank you both for your responses and insight. I always found it a little annoying how no one ever updates these things with the final results, so I wanted to drop back in to share the news with you and any future lurker who comes across the post in case it may help him/her.

Here's the final tally:

Booth: Dinged
Kellogg: Accepted (and probably matriculating)
Wharton: Dinged
Haas: Waitlisted
Fuqua: Accepted

If I were to do it all over again, I would probably only apply to the schools that waived the application fee for former Teach for America/Americorps/Peace Corps folks (which both Kellogg and Fuqua do) b/c (1) it demonstrates from the very beginning that they value that kind of experience among candidates and (2) I would have saved a bunch of money!

Regards,
Eric
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by CriticalSquareMBA » Wed Mar 26, 2014 3:46 pm
Eric,

It's great to hear from you and CONGRATULATIONS on the admits to Kellogg and Fuqua!! That is absolutely wonderful news. Thank you so much for sharing and good luck on the path ahead - it'll be a blast and you're going to love it.

Congrats again!

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by MBAPrepAdvantage » Thu Mar 27, 2014 7:02 pm
Awesome news!!!! Congratulations!!!! Are you going to attend the respective Admit Days?
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by eric1 » Wed Apr 02, 2014 10:26 am
MBAPrepAdvantage wrote:Awesome news!!!! Congratulations!!!! Are you going to attend the respective Admit Days?
Hi Michael,

Sorry for the delay, I'm just seeing your response now. I'm not able to make either admit weekend, but plan on visiting Evanston on a different weekend in May in order to get a feel for the town and campus. Having spoken to a couple former Peace Corps volunteers and people from my undergrad that are at Kellogg now, I feel really good about it.

Thanks for the congratulations, as well as your advice on the forum, Bhavik and Michael.
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by CriticalSquareMBA » Wed Apr 02, 2014 11:46 am
You're most welcome - and you're going to love Kellogg & Chicago!!

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by MBAPrepAdvantage » Wed Apr 02, 2014 4:44 pm
Bhavik and I are in agreement. FYI - I graduated from Northwestern University for my undergraduate degree. So, enjoy dangling your keys rooting on the Wildcats (you will know what I mean when you get there).

Congrats again!!1!
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by MBA.Master » Fri Apr 11, 2014 12:37 am
Definitely go to Kellogg.
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