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Would really appreciate a profile evaluation!

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Would really appreciate a profile evaluation!

by pharmaB20 » Sat May 08, 2010 8:07 am
I'd really appreciate advice regarding my application profile...
Application: Fall 2010 to matriculate Fall 2011
Demographic: Male, Asian, originally from west coast, 27 at time of matriculation
Undergraduate GPA: 2.9, Major: biology (ouch....After two miserable years, my best grades were earned in the final portion of my undergraduate career, coincidentally after I'd decided that regularly going to class was a good idea)
Institution: Top 6 liberal arts college
During college: Varsity soccer, 4 years. Red Cross volunteer

Recently taken Macroeconomics, Microeconomics, Financial Accounting at UConn, earned all A's (was this worth the time?)

WE: Slightly over 5 years experience at time of matriculation
Sales representative at a major pharmaceutical company, responsible for many facets of what is essentially a small business (currently in New England)...
Manage a $5 million territory, good sales results (not sure this really matters all that much)
Multiple awards for performance and leadership
Leadership positions over four years leading team in different capacities (product and business analysis), helping direct sales strategy, etc.
Heavy analytical roles, have actually developed a reputation as a numbers guy while with the company
GMAT: to be taken this summer. I would actually love any advice regarding a score that would make me statistically competitive at my target schools (list to follow). I expect to score in the 95th perc or higher for Verbal...Math we'll see. My recs will focus heavily on my quantitative abilities to address perceived weakness in that area. so...need over 700 obviously.
---ExtraC: VP of a multi-team soccer association, team captain 4 years. Community service organizer in a company capacity one year. Board of Directors for a medical charity starting in a couple weeks
Targets: Stretch: Dartmouth (because I can drive up for the interview before they shut me down. Communication is a strength). Hopeful: UW foster, USC, UC Irvine, Babson, BU, Georgetown, George Washington. Safe (with the understanding that nothing is a given): Colorado Boulder
My recs should be very strong, although I have only had one direct supervisor for my entire career. Is a high ranking co-worker a decent 2nd option?
---Will strength of UG institution and major help me at all? How about those 3 extra classes?

Thanks so much in advance for any advice you can give. I appreciate your time.
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by Betsy Massar » Sat May 08, 2010 10:30 am
Hi there,
I'm going to offer a very quick reply because I am on the west coast, where it is sunny, but only for today, so I want to get out. Also, I hail from Connecticut, so appreciate UConn (how do you like those lady BB huskies?). I actually went to Storrs in my freshman year (which was my best year GPA wise, with things going downhill from there).

All of this is to say that the three courses with A grades is great news, it means you can sit in a class when you are focused and get results. I did the same, took 7 classes in similar courses from another state university, and got the same grade. (Later graduated from HBS) So it was not only worth the time, but also shows persistence and dedication. It also helps you understand what you like and what you don't like about the business curriculum; the more you understand your strengths and weaknesses, the better your application.

As for top liberal arts college, hooray for liberal arts -- they help you think critically, which is all positive. I'm a big fan -- I think graduates add breadth to a b-school class.

Re GMAT -- you do want to get over 80% on the quant -- many top schools require that. (BTW, did you take calculus in undergrad? did you get at least a B?). So study hard and good luck!

Your work sounds interesting - I like the multiple awards for performance and leadership.
Still, how you tell that story (why are you in pharma? what appeals? how do you want to use that as a springboard to the next phase of your life). It's a question of how you pull it all together so that you can talk coherently of how you got from point A to point B (and want to go to point C).

I don't think your set of schools is outrageous. You seem to be pretty driven, and I think you will treat this application process with the respect it deserves. Good luck!

Best regards,

Betsy Massar
Master Admissions
www.masteradmissions.com
Betsy Massar
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by pharmaB20 » Sun May 09, 2010 8:56 am
Thanks very much for the reply Betsy, I hope you enjoyed the sunny day.

I had hearch about the 80% quant, do you think some of the schools on my hopeful list (UW, Georgetown, etc) will require that as well, or is that more of a top 10-15 school point of reference? Unfortunately I did not take calc in college, I think biostatistics fulfilled that requirement. How much do you think that'll hurt me?
What are your thoughts regarding recs...I've only ever had one direct supervisor, and the nomadic nature (no office) of my job means that she is the only one to have regularly seen me work over the last four years. Others could provide little bits of insight here and there, but it'd be a stretch for them to write a complete rec without heavy guidance on my part. I have higher ranking co-workers who can comment in great detail about my professional capabilities.
As for goals, I do intend to stay in pharma/biotech in a more strategic role, although healthcare consulting is certainly on my radar. I hope staying within industry will be seen as realistic (and hopefully different from the myriad of consulting and banking applicants).
Lastly, I've always been curious to the weighting applied to different schools and majors. It sounds a little presumptuous, but the career advisors at college always said you could count on adcoms mentally adding .3 to GPA for law applicants and .2 for med based on strength of UG institution. Is this at all true? (not really expecting it is as it sounds a little arrogant, just curious...)
THANKS AGAIN
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by pharmaB20 » Sun May 09, 2010 9:13 am
And I may have just posted near identical responses twice because they were captured by the spam filter... sorry...
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by pharmaB20 » Sun May 09, 2010 9:16 am
Hopefully they come through but in case they don't: Thanks very much for your reply Betsy I really appreciate it. Follow-up questions forthcoming...maybe...
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by beatthegmat » Sun May 09, 2010 3:01 pm
Sorry about that pharmaB20--just let your post through!
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by Betsy Massar » Mon May 10, 2010 1:28 pm
Hi, just saw the second post.

As for the GMAT -- since you haven't taken it yet, no need to worry so much! You just need to "get it over the net" for some of these schools, and by that I mean get it within the normal distribution range of candidates. That means a mid-650 to low-700 type score for Georgetown https://msb.georgetown.edu/classprofile/myprofile/ and UW Foster. https://www.foster.washington.edu/academ ... ofile.aspx I agree that those schools may be more flexible in your demonstration of your quantitative abilities, such as your work experience, or courses like biostatistics (did you get a decent grade?). Still, if you are very worried about how you will score, that is likely to hinder your performance (I wrote a paper on that topic recently that may have shown up on this site...Eric told me he did want to post it. You can email me and I'll send it along.). Best to stay focused on doing the best you can.

As for recommendations, can any of your clients help you out there? Schools are not big on co-workers unless they specifically ask for them. The really like the idea of someone who has supervised your work. A client may not have supervised, but in a way, IS your boss, so that's always possible. Anyone else that you "reported to" in your non-work activities?

As for weighing different schools and majors, yes, a hard major at a top college is viewed in better light than an easy major at a college that isn't known for academic rigor. But it's just one thing! You mentioned your GPA before as an average, but was the trajectory positive? Again, you've done what you can do to make up for it, and I think you should be comfortable with that. If you did poorly on your stats course in undergrad, however, you might want to consider a do-over.

And yes, I think the way you are approaching your career seems sound. I think you seem to have thought through what you've done and where you are going. You don't have to have a specific company or title you want when you graduate, but you want to have a rough idea of what you think makes sense for you. From what I can tell, you are on the right track.

Glad to help where I can.

Regards to you from a day of rain and hail,
Betsy
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by pharmaB20 » Wed May 12, 2010 6:00 pm
Thanks Betsy,

I do hope to score close to the high side of the 80% distribution for my target schools. I think I earned a B in biostatistics, so certainly not stellar but I hope not the end of the world. I would be very interested in reading your article if possible!
The trajectory of my GPA is postitive, so that's better than nothing, right? My worst grades came in the first couple years, the better grades came in the last four semesters.
As for the recommendations... I do have clients who would probably be happy to try and write on my behalf. I'd probably have to help them out a bit though. As busy physicians, I'm not sure it'd be fair to saddle them with hours and hours of work without an extensive outline. I guess the other reservation I have about them is that they have rather one-sided impression of me. Would they be able to speak to how I perform as a member of a team? Describe three weaknesses? Is it unreasonable of me to worry that their interactions with me would be too limited in scope? While I have worked on projects with a few other managers, I just think its been too rare to expect them to be able to provide a complete picture of my professional capabilities. As I start work on the board of this medical charity, I wonder if the exec. director could become an option in the next 4-5 months....
I guess it really comes down to the GMAT for me. All I want is to make it to an interview, and from there I think I can be pretty persuasive.
Thanks again!
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