Profile Request for M7 / Looking for Admissions Consultant

Free advice from the world's top MBA consultants
This topic has expert replies
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 2
Joined: Fri Jan 20, 2017 1:03 pm
Hi all, I am looking for a profile review and for recommendations for a consultant.
Thank you!


Work Experience:
-3 years at matriculation in a Finance Rotational Program well known F200/S&P100; one of the top performing analysts in the program during my 1st rotation and was offered an out of state rotation for my 2nd rotation (current rotation)
-During 2nd rotation, immediate supervisor left a few months into my rotation so I was asked to step up and take over duties as the Finance Manager. I will be acting Finance Manager until my rotation is finished as there are no plans to backfill my old supervisor's position.
-Led a margin analysis project with other finance managers from other business units on the team and successfully finished all finance manager duties. Supervisor (two levels up from when I started, but now immediate supervisor) has been very impressed with performance and will write a very good recommendation letter
-Job involves financial planning and forecasting; unlikely that any one else in the rotation program has been given the same level of responsibility or visibility
-Likely to end on Corp Dev or International rotation for 3rd one. Had a few other projects I led where I presented the analysis I did to executives that I started on my initiative

Undergrad school: Finance & Philosophy double major, public university with strong business program (think Michigan, Texas, UVA)

Extracurriculars:
1) 6 months volunteering to teach a GED class to adults (had to stop because I moved out of state for 2nd rotation)
2) 6 months volunteering to prepare taxes for people under the poverty line (ongoing)
3) 2 years Professional Development/Fundraising chair for the New Employee organization at my company (ongoing)
4) 3 months of volunteering at an NGO in Europe working with impoverished communities after graduation and before starting my job
5) Started non-profit to teach workshops to lower income adults/students on topics ranging from Financial Literacy to conflict resolution; have hosted multiple workshops across homeless shelters to after school programs (ongoing)


Stats
GMAT: 740 (49Q/42V), retaking for a 760+ (hopefully)
Undergrad GPA: 3.3, I do have an alternative transcript after graduation with 3 community college classes including 2 of the classes I did poorly on in college and 1 Business Calculus class as a refresher (all A's). Not that this is a good excuse, but most of my bad grades come from freshman year where I partied too much and joined too many student organizations
Race: Asian-American


MBA Info
Post MBA: Asset Management, have finished level 1 of CFA and will hopefully finish level 2 before I start
Targets: Columbia ED; Booth, Sloan, Kellogg (R1)
I have also done campus visits for all of these schools as well as attended their other info sessions and webinars.


Are these schools realistic for me? I realize that I am from an over represented group, and my GPA is not very good. Also I think my ECs are scattered since I've had to move cities for my rotation program. But I do think I have done everything possible to make up for these shortcomings.

Any help and advise would be appreciated. I am looking for a consultant to help me with my application, but having a hard time choosing since there's so many ones with good reviews on here

User avatar
MBA Admissions Consultant
Posts: 173
Joined: Thu Nov 06, 2014 6:41 pm
Thanked: 14 times
Followed by:3 members

by Personal MBA Coach » Fri Mar 22, 2019 10:56 am
grh582 wrote:Hi all, I am looking for a profile review and for recommendations for a consultant.
Thank you!


Work Experience:
-3 years at matriculation in a Finance Rotational Program well known F200/S&P100; one of the top performing analysts in the program during my 1st rotation and was offered an out of state rotation for my 2nd rotation (current rotation)
-During 2nd rotation, immediate supervisor left a few months into my rotation so I was asked to step up and take over duties as the Finance Manager. I will be acting Finance Manager until my rotation is finished as there are no plans to backfill my old supervisor's position.
-Led a margin analysis project with other finance managers from other business units on the team and successfully finished all finance manager duties. Supervisor (two levels up from when I started, but now immediate supervisor) has been very impressed with performance and will write a very good recommendation letter
-Job involves financial planning and forecasting; unlikely that any one else in the rotation program has been given the same level of responsibility or visibility
-Likely to end on Corp Dev or International rotation for 3rd one. Had a few other projects I led where I presented the analysis I did to executives that I started on my initiative

Undergrad school: Finance & Philosophy double major, public university with strong business program (think Michigan, Texas, UVA)

Extracurriculars:
1) 6 months volunteering to teach a GED class to adults (had to stop because I moved out of state for 2nd rotation)
2) 6 months volunteering to prepare taxes for people under the poverty line (ongoing)
3) 2 years Professional Development/Fundraising chair for the New Employee organization at my company (ongoing)
4) 3 months of volunteering at an NGO in Europe working with impoverished communities after graduation and before starting my job
5) Started non-profit to teach workshops to lower income adults/students on topics ranging from Financial Literacy to conflict resolution; have hosted multiple workshops across homeless shelters to after school programs (ongoing)


Stats
GMAT: 740 (49Q/42V), retaking for a 760+ (hopefully)
Undergrad GPA: 3.3, I do have an alternative transcript after graduation with 3 community college classes including 2 of the classes I did poorly on in college and 1 Business Calculus class as a refresher (all A's). Not that this is a good excuse, but most of my bad grades come from freshman year where I partied too much and joined too many student organizations
Race: Asian-American


MBA Info
Post MBA: Asset Management, have finished level 1 of CFA and will hopefully finish level 2 before I start
Targets: Columbia ED; Booth, Sloan, Kellogg (R1)
I have also done campus visits for all of these schools as well as attended their other info sessions and webinars.


Are these schools realistic for me? I realize that I am from an over represented group, and my GPA is not very good. Also I think my ECs are scattered since I've had to move cities for my rotation program. But I do think I have done everything possible to make up for these shortcomings.

Any help and advise would be appreciated. I am looking for a consultant to help me with my application, but having a hard time choosing since there's so many ones with good reviews on here
Thank you for your very detailed post. I appreciate it! Kudos on the strong job performance to date and the good extra-curriculars. While the GPA is low, I would look at the trend to see how the grades increased across the years. An increasing trend helps. Also extra classes help as well as you pointed out.

How many times did you take the GMAT? A 740 is a great score, but I agree with the plan to retake. When you do, focus only on quant. Verbal is good enough but getting a 51 instead of 49 will help you a lot. If you can do that, then you have a good set of schools that make sense for you. We do a lot of work with those schools and Columbia will be opening up soon! 4-6 weeks from now the app will be released and we are already working with applicants to start preparing goals statements today.

I would love to explore further. Please email me at [email protected] - you can see review on this site and in the forum. Happy to explain our unique process!

Best,
Scott

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 351
Joined: Fri May 01, 2015 9:10 am
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Thanked: 44 times
Followed by:9 members

by MargaretStrother » Mon Mar 25, 2019 3:12 pm
You've got some great stuff here! I wouldn't be too worried about being "over-represented" -- you clearly can hold your own in your demographic.
A few suggestions: if your GPA was significantly stronger after the first year, that's something to address in your optional essay. I like to see an upward trajectory; it won't erase a CGPA that is below the median for the schools you're applying to, but it will do a lot to obviate it.
GMAT: I don't think 740 is an issue for you; I doubt that a 49 instead of a 50 would be a deal-breaker, although that extra point or two would be nice-to-have. I find that most clients know if they under-performed on the GMAT, so if you are certain you ought to do better on the Quant, go for it.
Community service: I could be misreading, but it looks a bit scattered right now. My suggestion: don't spread yourself too thin. Leadership is the most important factor, so if one or another of your current involvements includes leading a team or managing, say, groups of volunteers, focus on building that role out. Be sure your work is having an impact. One-on-one community involvements, such as mentoring and tutoring, are a good addition, but not as strong as group leadership roles. Lots of little roles have less value strategically than one big one, IMO.
Professionally: nothing to discuss there, it looks awesome.
Missing: international exposure. Any study abroad? Second languages? Are you a first-generation Asian-American? Is there a story there?
To summarize: so far so good. Your big differentiators will be your community leadership and your personal story, which are areas that an admissions consultant could definitely help you with. The good news is that you're definitely on the dart board for top MBA programs!

Good luck,
Margaret Strother
Margaret Strother
Senior Consultant
Stacy Blackman Consulting

Learn more about me