Ask Personal MBA Coach

Age: 24
Major: Economics
GPA: 3.1, Handful of fails first few couple of years (Had no career direction), last 2 years averaged 3.85
GMAT: 720
WE: 4 years
Past:
-Interned with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory doing Business Development.
2 years, worked as a Project Engineer my Junior and Senior year of my undergraduate degree where I focused on cost reduction and managing improvement projects (Saved over $150,000)
-Was in charge of two departments and improved productivity and throughput by over 20%.
-Worked on developing new parts, reduced defect/rework rates in old parts, performed internal audits, lead continuous improvement projects with teams of 3-5 people.
1 year, moved to a sister company and worked as an Assistant Controller.
Current: Financial Analyst at Raytheon
Volunteer:
-American Red Cross 3+years
-Los Angeles Latino Chamber of Commerce 2 years
-Chicano Youth Leadership Program 2 years
Extracurriculars:
-Surfing, Rock Climbing
-Volunteer worker at Special Olympics
Extra:
-Six Sigma Black Belt Certification
-Passed CFA Level 1

Career goals: Either stay in corporate finance or transition into operations management. Once I feel I've had enough satisfaction with my career/financially stable, I would like to work with a philanthropic organization that gives back to underrepresented communities/minorities.

Schools Applied:
Top Choice - UCLA FEMBA
USC Part Time
UCI Merage

mexica2 wrote:Age: 24
Major: Economics
GPA: 3.1, Handful of fails first few couple of years (Had no career direction), last 2 years averaged 3.85
GMAT: 720
WE: 4 years
Past:
-Interned with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory doing Business Development.
2 years, worked as a Project Engineer my Junior and Senior year of my undergraduate degree where I focused on cost reduction and managing improvement projects (Saved over $150,000)
-Was in charge of two departments and improved productivity and throughput by over 20%.
-Worked on developing new parts, reduced defect/rework rates in old parts, performed internal audits, lead continuous improvement projects with teams of 3-5 people.
1 year, moved to a sister company and worked as an Assistant Controller.
Current: Financial Analyst at Raytheon
Volunteer:
-American Red Cross 3+years
-Los Angeles Latino Chamber of Commerce 2 years
-Chicano Youth Leadership Program 2 years
Extracurriculars:
-Surfing, Rock Climbing
-Volunteer worker at Special Olympics
Extra:
-Six Sigma Black Belt Certification
-Passed CFA Level 1

Career goals: Either stay in corporate finance or transition into operations management. Once I feel I've had enough satisfaction with my career/financially stable, I would like to work with a philanthropic organization that gives back to underrepresented communities/minorities.

Schools Applied:
Top Choice - UCLA FEMBA
USC Part Time
UCI Merage

Apologies for the delay as we didn't get a notification of the post. Are you still looking for advice and guidance or did you already apply? Best of luck!!

Best,
Scott

Hi Scott,

No I have not applied yet, so any further guidance would be very much appreciated.

Thank you!

Regards,
Isaac

mexica2 wrote:Hi Scott,

No I have not applied yet, so any further guidance would be very much appreciated.

Thank you!

Regards,
Isaac

Isaac,

Thank you for the note and I hope you are enjoying the weekend. From what I see, you have the pieces that can make a really strong application. Putting them together to tell the story would be most important. I like the range of schools for you and have others you could think about as well.

Please reach out if you want to explore further. Also what was your quant score? www.personalmbacoach.com/services

Hi Scott,

I scored 48 or 76 percentile for the quant section of the GMAT. Do you think I still have a shot at UCLA FEMBA considering I failed some courses during my undergrad. I called the school and they said I wouldn't be a problem, but I'd like to hear from a consultant's perspective.

Also, what other schools do you think I would have a shot at?

Thank you,
Isaac

mexica2 wrote:Hi Scott,

I scored 48 or 76 percentile for the quant section of the GMAT. Do you think I still have a shot at UCLA FEMBA considering I failed some courses during my undergrad. I called the school and they said I wouldn't be a problem, but I'd like to hear from a consultant's perspective.

Also, what other schools do you think I would have a shot at?

Thank you,
Isaac

Isaac,

Assuming there is a story around the grades (or there aren't that many) you should be ok! 48 is pretty good for the FEMBA program.

Best,
Scott