Please Help Evaluate My Candidacy

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Please Help Evaluate My Candidacy

by ramirezyunque » Wed Jun 09, 2010 9:28 am
I am currently in the middle of planning for a future MBA and wanted to know what my current odds at my target schools and what could I do to improve my standing.

Educational Background:

I went to a middle tier Undergrad my first year was horrible I ended up with a 2.5 average for that year (which included introductory stat courses), I regained momentum and be raised my GPA to a 3.2 overall and Finance Major GPA 3.8, I also passed the first level of the CFA during my first semester senior year. I also recently sat down for the Level 2 CFA exam, and think I did fairly well (we'll see in august), I am only 22.

Experience:

My work experience is not what you call ordinary, when I graduated from undergrad I decided to go back home to Puerto Rico, and began working as an unpaid intern in August at the islands pension system which manages around 8B in gross assets, I quickly excelled among my peers and was offered what they call a "political position" as executive assistant to the Pension fund Administrator (comparable to the CEO) and to the Chief Investment Officer.

The pension system I am working in is currently the worst funded pension system in the united states, 9.8% funding, and it has an estimated life of five more years and a total obligation between all the funds of about 30 Billion, It is been called the Islands Achilles heel. The administration I am currently working with was brought in to try to salvage and restructure the system; we are dealing with a very demanding, dynamic, and challenging situation.

I know that I will be able to get excellent recommendations from both the Administrator and the plans CIO.

GMAT:

I am currently planning to take the GMAT in October, now that I have time to study since a just took the CFA level 2 exam which was pretty grueling and gave me no time for anything else.

Targets:

I would like to enter a MBA program at a top tier school I am currently looking at
Harvard, Columbia, Wharton

The Question:

Assuming I am able to achieve a GMAT score around 700 and I pass the Level II I recently sat for and the Level III CFA Exam.

What are my prospects for getting into one of these schools and more importantly what other recommendations do you have for improving my candidacy?

Thank you for your help,

D.R.
Source: — Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant |

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by Tani » Fri Jul 02, 2010 12:31 pm
It is difficult to evaluate your chances given that you do not yet have a GMAT score and are still unsure about your certifications. Certainly if you reach your goals you will be well on the way to being a strong candidate. Your work experience is interesting and your exposure to the challenging situation you describe should give you excellent material with which to craft persuasive essays.

You do, however, say you are 22. I assume that means you have no more than a year's work experience. That will limit your chances at a top school severely. Schools today recognize that a significant portion of the learning that goes on in the classroom and out comes from the diverse skills and experiences of the class. They are reluctant to include people with one to two years' work experience both because the level of contribution to discussion is likely to be less and because there has been little chance to clearly demonstrate potential on the job. You will be a much stronger candidate with 3-4 years under your belt than you are today. You will also gain dramatically more from your studies given a couple of extra years' exposure to business principles.

That is not to say you wouldn't get in next year - you would certainly be able to get into some lower-ranked schools, but your chances at your dream schools will increase substantially with more experience.
Tani Wolff