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Hello,

I am considering applications to some full time programs in the NYC region.

Undergrad: University of Pittsburgh 3.1 overall, Economics/Geology Dual Degree
Work Experience 2.5 years by fall 2012
My current job is a budget analyst for a large urban public school district special education department. I manage 96 million dollars in funding. In my time here, I have engaged in complex problem solving and cost saving measures in a previous financial mess of a department.

I have negotiated multi million dollar health care contract rates down by 20%, replaced agency vocational contracts with in house employees, reducing the cost by 50%, and identified excessive spending in areas that could be curtailed. Since this deals with education, a large portion of what I do is obtaining qualitative feedback from the educational supervisors, while presenting them with quantitative data before we mutually reach best practice decisions.

Though my work experience may seem less extensive in years served, I feel the excess of 2 million dollars I have generated in savings and the burden of my position are a strength in my application.

GMAT: 620, 6.0 AWA (39Q,35V). I felt a little disappointed here, as my last few practice tests (manhattan and gmat prep) were between 640-670.

I am looking at Fordham fulltime, and Rutgers fulltime, with Rutgers being much more preferred to me.

My reasoning for pursuing an MBA has been shaped by my current experiences and future goals. Since I have dealt alot with contract negotiation, purchasing, and budgeting, I feel that Supply Chain management would be a good fit for my skill set and interests. I see the need to gain in depth education in this topic to bolster my opportunities in this field.

Feedback is much appreciated, thank you.
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by essaysnark » Wed Dec 07, 2011 2:13 pm
Hey rcampbell1161986 -- you seem to have been doing your research!

Your general self-assessment as implied in your post is correct: You're on the young side for most MBA programs, however it appears that you may have some significant stories to present to the adcom. The most important thing for any school is to see why now is the right time for you to get your MBA. As long as you can a) show them that you're ready for it and that you can hold your own in a classroom, even with much-older students; and b) benefit from the advanced training you'll get in a graduate business program and apply it to your career in a meaningful way -- well, you should have a real shot at admissions!

And, as you surely know, both Fordham and Rutgers are less competitive when it comes to admissions.

Now, your GMAT and your GPA are both on the low side -- this fact, combined with your lower amount of work experience, may make the adcoms skeptical. They might feel that you have plenty of time ahead of you, you're very young and so you should just use this opportunity to further build your career and definitely increase your GMAT score in order to be a compelling candidate. Of course, your score is within range of what these schools accept, and so if your essays are really strong and you meet those criteria that we roughly identified above, then you might be home free. It's a very big leap from education to supply chain so you'll need to emphasize your transferrable skills and perhaps explain what's motivating you to make this jump.

You seem to be the type who is very motivated to get somewhere, and so we're betting that you'll do just fine in this process!!

Hope this helps and let us know what you decide to do!
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