Profile Evaluation - NYU Stern P/T program

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Profile Evaluation - NYU Stern P/T program

by nowreen » Tue Jun 22, 2010 6:04 pm
Dear Accepted.com,

I have taken the GRE and scored a 620 on the verbal, 590 in quantitative, and a 5 on the AWA. I took the GRE twice already and this is probably my ceiling. I graduated in 2005 with a BS in Business Administration from Northeastern University with a 3.42 gpa. I work as a risk analyst at Nomura Securities. In the past I have worked as a consultant at BearingPoint Inc and Ernst & Young. All together, I have 5 years of work experience.

I was admitted into Fordham University's MA in Economics program. I really like the program but I have very demanding work hours and the location is just too far from my job. NYU is more flexible and MUCH closer to my job. I am also planning to apply to Rutgers. My GRE scores are on the lower side but I feel like I have strong work experience. Can you please advise on what my chances are?

I am looking for an Admissions counselor that can help me bring out my strengths to an admissions committee. I am kind of overwhelmed by the needs to make myself sound unique or tell a story. Can you please advise on what my chances would be with my BEST effort if I worked with someone on how to package myself as a candidate?

Nowreen
Source: — Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant |

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by Cindy Tokumitsu » Thu Jun 24, 2010 5:15 am
Hello,

First, to comment on the test scores -- they are a bit low for the NYU part-time MBA (I assume you refer to the part-time program because you mention proximity to your job). However, the most important is the percentage on the quantitative section of the GRE - if it was at or near 80%, it would help a lot. Also, it seems from your undergraduate record and possibly your Fordham program that you have quantitative coursework; if you have earned B+ or above in all or most of it, that too would be a significant plus.

Your work experience looks quite promising - whether it makes you competitive depends on the extent to which it shows actual growth/advancement - if this aspect is strong, it will benefit your profile significantly.

As to how you can present a coherent and compelling message ("story") for your MBA application, keep in mind that the goals are the backbone of the MBA application. Therefore, ideally you would delineate your goals in a way that is engaging and credible, and (to the extent the essays allow) present aspects of your experience that are relevant to your goals and that also highlight relevant or unique strengths, perspectives, etc. (I believe in making the essays do "double duty"!) Having worked with many successful NYU Langone applicants, I know it's a challenge given their short essays - but it's entirely possible. Of course, this basic strategy would work for Rutgers as well, adapted to their specific program and questions.

Best regards,
Cindy Tokumitsu
Senior Editor, Accepted.com