-
jeffreydamian
- Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Sat Feb 20, 2010 6:40 pm
- Thanked: 1 times
hi there,
i've been reading the forum for quite some time now and i have to say it has proven to be quite insightful and helpful. i've been studying for the gmat for over a month now and i plan to take it in early june. this should give me enough time to work on my essays and letters of recommendation for the 2011 in-take (and possibly another shot at the gmat in case i crash and burn in my first attempt).
i'm planning to apply to US business schools later in the year in time for first round applications. i've always wanted an mba - though i've been postponing it until i get solid work experience and somehow offset a less than stellar performance in college. i'm hoping people in this forum could advise me on a good strategy for applying to b-schools given my profile below:
nationality: filipino
age: 29 this year (30 by fall next year)
undergrad: management and information systems from a top 3 university in the philippines
college GPA: 2.8 / 4 (gradually improving as i really messed up in my first two years) - weak in quantitative subjects but got pretty high marks for non-quant and core subjects / electives (i.e. management and marketing)
note: i wasn't really too sure what i wanted to do after college so i sort of just went with the flow. in hindsight, a little less partying would have helped - plus putting my subjects in proper perspective and relating how these would help in pursuing my interests after graduation (instead of something abstract / i just needed to pass). lesson learned - moving on.
work experience: 6 years
- started out in events marketing (still wasn't sure what i wanted to do, strange considering most of my peers went into IT as expected given our degree but events seemed fun at that time) for the philippines' largest telco. stayed for a year and then finally realized i wanted to pursue a career in marketing and communications. started to excel after this. left the company to join a global advertising agency and strengthen my knowledge in managing brands (took a superior's advice).
- worked for two years in one of the world's largest advertising firms - focusing on experiential marketing / brand activations. handled a great mix of global brands - from consumer goods / electronics, retail and hospitality. started out as a contractual, advanced to a full-time account executive, and then in a little over a year promoted to an account manager (got glowing commendations from both colleagues and clients). learned a lot about brand management and communications but wanted to learn more about the business side of things so moved back to telco as a product manager.
- worked in the philippines' second largest telco (top 10 company) for a little over 3 years (B2B division of the company). got what i expected as i learned more about the business side of things (not just advertising and promotions). excelled at what i did and my role was eventually expanded. i worked on the budget, managed subsidies, created plans and packages, did promotions, even dabbled in inventory and logistics. i was employee of the year in 2008 and was promoted to senior product manager after about a year and a half (a whole band higher so i was extremely happy considering it normally took 3-5 years to move up a band). last project i took on was helping revamp the mobile business - completed this and actually launched the new offer late last year (it's doing great last i checked with a former colleague).
after working for 6 years, and now knowing what i want in a career, i decided that i wanted to go back to school and gain better perspective. i'm currently taking a marketing and business certificate course in australia (training college) while studying for the gmat. the course includes basic accounting (a subject i didn't do too well back in university) as well as units for business and marketing (i only did 3 units of marketing in university). i believe this is a good idea considering i've been out of school for quite some time now - plus living and studying in another country is always an enriching experience. so far, i've been excelling in all my subjects. my only concern is australia's TAFE programs do not issue numerical grades - only pass / fail marks. could i still use this in my application?
i've been studying really hard for the gmat as i'll be needing it to offset my 2.8 GPA. i enrolled in kaplan's online course as standardized tests are not really my forte. i honestly believe i'm so much better with quant (given my work experience / learning how to solve more strategically with kaplan) but being a timed test - i still need to sharpen my skills in solving problems more efficiently (i keep running out of time so i end up rushing in the latter part of the quant portion).
my verbal results are also improving but again i need more practice. my first diagnostic CAT was a dismal 550, followed by a 620, another 620 and then a 650 (50th percentile for quant / 99th percentile for verbal according to kaplan). i still have 2 months to go before my scheduled gmat so i'm still hoping for that 50 point increase to reach 700.
here goes my hypothetical - given my background (work experience hopefully balances the 2.8 GPA), good essays, solid letters of recommendation, and a gmat score of 650, will my application be competitive enough for tier 2 schools? i have relatives in san diego - so i'm looking at UCSD and university of san diego (read their programs, and though they are distinct, both offer a curriculum that interests me). do i also have a shot in getting into USC's IBEAR program given these details? the admissions criteria seem to favor solid work experience.
i know that kellogg and wharton offer some of the best marketing courses in mba programs, but i'm thinking i will need at least a 700 gmat score to have any shot at getting accepted, right? or will i have to aim (gasp) higher? in your opinion, does my background (somehow) make a compelling application? i wish i had more activities outside of work, but unfortunately, work has kept me quite busy for the past 6 years.
assuming a 650 scenario (even after a re-test) - would it be a good strategy to focus on tier 2 applications and maybe throw in a couple of tier 1s and see how that goes? if you know of other programs i could look into (given my background), suggestions would be most welcome.
will a 700 (given the details above) be competitive enough to get into wharton or kellogg's programs? of course i don't intend to limit my gmat score but i suppose the hypothetical would be somewhat of a gauge to see how far off i am from getting into the best programs.
i appreciate very much the time and effort put in to read and answer my queries. this site has been a great source of information. more importantly, it brings to life a community that supports each member in fulfilling his or her dream.
all the best to everyone.
jeff
i've been reading the forum for quite some time now and i have to say it has proven to be quite insightful and helpful. i've been studying for the gmat for over a month now and i plan to take it in early june. this should give me enough time to work on my essays and letters of recommendation for the 2011 in-take (and possibly another shot at the gmat in case i crash and burn in my first attempt).
i'm planning to apply to US business schools later in the year in time for first round applications. i've always wanted an mba - though i've been postponing it until i get solid work experience and somehow offset a less than stellar performance in college. i'm hoping people in this forum could advise me on a good strategy for applying to b-schools given my profile below:
nationality: filipino
age: 29 this year (30 by fall next year)
undergrad: management and information systems from a top 3 university in the philippines
college GPA: 2.8 / 4 (gradually improving as i really messed up in my first two years) - weak in quantitative subjects but got pretty high marks for non-quant and core subjects / electives (i.e. management and marketing)
note: i wasn't really too sure what i wanted to do after college so i sort of just went with the flow. in hindsight, a little less partying would have helped - plus putting my subjects in proper perspective and relating how these would help in pursuing my interests after graduation (instead of something abstract / i just needed to pass). lesson learned - moving on.
work experience: 6 years
- started out in events marketing (still wasn't sure what i wanted to do, strange considering most of my peers went into IT as expected given our degree but events seemed fun at that time) for the philippines' largest telco. stayed for a year and then finally realized i wanted to pursue a career in marketing and communications. started to excel after this. left the company to join a global advertising agency and strengthen my knowledge in managing brands (took a superior's advice).
- worked for two years in one of the world's largest advertising firms - focusing on experiential marketing / brand activations. handled a great mix of global brands - from consumer goods / electronics, retail and hospitality. started out as a contractual, advanced to a full-time account executive, and then in a little over a year promoted to an account manager (got glowing commendations from both colleagues and clients). learned a lot about brand management and communications but wanted to learn more about the business side of things so moved back to telco as a product manager.
- worked in the philippines' second largest telco (top 10 company) for a little over 3 years (B2B division of the company). got what i expected as i learned more about the business side of things (not just advertising and promotions). excelled at what i did and my role was eventually expanded. i worked on the budget, managed subsidies, created plans and packages, did promotions, even dabbled in inventory and logistics. i was employee of the year in 2008 and was promoted to senior product manager after about a year and a half (a whole band higher so i was extremely happy considering it normally took 3-5 years to move up a band). last project i took on was helping revamp the mobile business - completed this and actually launched the new offer late last year (it's doing great last i checked with a former colleague).
after working for 6 years, and now knowing what i want in a career, i decided that i wanted to go back to school and gain better perspective. i'm currently taking a marketing and business certificate course in australia (training college) while studying for the gmat. the course includes basic accounting (a subject i didn't do too well back in university) as well as units for business and marketing (i only did 3 units of marketing in university). i believe this is a good idea considering i've been out of school for quite some time now - plus living and studying in another country is always an enriching experience. so far, i've been excelling in all my subjects. my only concern is australia's TAFE programs do not issue numerical grades - only pass / fail marks. could i still use this in my application?
i've been studying really hard for the gmat as i'll be needing it to offset my 2.8 GPA. i enrolled in kaplan's online course as standardized tests are not really my forte. i honestly believe i'm so much better with quant (given my work experience / learning how to solve more strategically with kaplan) but being a timed test - i still need to sharpen my skills in solving problems more efficiently (i keep running out of time so i end up rushing in the latter part of the quant portion).
my verbal results are also improving but again i need more practice. my first diagnostic CAT was a dismal 550, followed by a 620, another 620 and then a 650 (50th percentile for quant / 99th percentile for verbal according to kaplan). i still have 2 months to go before my scheduled gmat so i'm still hoping for that 50 point increase to reach 700.
here goes my hypothetical - given my background (work experience hopefully balances the 2.8 GPA), good essays, solid letters of recommendation, and a gmat score of 650, will my application be competitive enough for tier 2 schools? i have relatives in san diego - so i'm looking at UCSD and university of san diego (read their programs, and though they are distinct, both offer a curriculum that interests me). do i also have a shot in getting into USC's IBEAR program given these details? the admissions criteria seem to favor solid work experience.
i know that kellogg and wharton offer some of the best marketing courses in mba programs, but i'm thinking i will need at least a 700 gmat score to have any shot at getting accepted, right? or will i have to aim (gasp) higher? in your opinion, does my background (somehow) make a compelling application? i wish i had more activities outside of work, but unfortunately, work has kept me quite busy for the past 6 years.
assuming a 650 scenario (even after a re-test) - would it be a good strategy to focus on tier 2 applications and maybe throw in a couple of tier 1s and see how that goes? if you know of other programs i could look into (given my background), suggestions would be most welcome.
will a 700 (given the details above) be competitive enough to get into wharton or kellogg's programs? of course i don't intend to limit my gmat score but i suppose the hypothetical would be somewhat of a gauge to see how far off i am from getting into the best programs.
i appreciate very much the time and effort put in to read and answer my queries. this site has been a great source of information. more importantly, it brings to life a community that supports each member in fulfilling his or her dream.
all the best to everyone.
jeff
