Latino MBA Prospect

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Latino MBA Prospect

by jbalance21 » Fri Jun 12, 2009 9:57 am
I just posted this in the wrong section....so I am now posting it here where it should be. My apologies to the administrators.


Hello. I'm new to this forum and I would appreciate some advice on my chances of getting into a good MBA program. Here are the basics:

GMAT Score: 650
I am finishing up my last semester in college, but so far this has been my GPA Overall G.P.A.: 3.5 (Last 60 credits: 3.9)
I will be graduated with an B.S. in Sociology from a well respected private university.

I would like to note that my transcripts show progression. I went for one year to a community college (GPA 3.0) and then transferred to a four year state university (GPA 3.5) and then transferred to a better school where my GPA is 3.9

Extracurricular Activity:
Served a 2 year full time voluntary mission for my church in which there was no pay. I spent time sharing my beliefs with individuals and families. For the second half of my mission I had leadership experience where I supervised a geographical zone of 30 missionaries in which responsibilities included motivating them and training them on how to be more effective in their teaching and finding efforts. I also had to collect statistical reports once a week.

Other EC activities include other church service post mission which includes:
*Member of church basketball team
*Coach of church youth basketball team
*Youth Leader for Church (responsibilities include planning youth activities, integrating Boy Scouts of America program, counseling and mentoring youth)
*Bishop's 1st Counselor (reponsibilities include overseeing the music program in church activities, planning church activities such as picnics etc., planning Church Sunday program including planning topics and assigning speakers, overseeing the spiritual welfare of youth and single adults, overseeing Church Sunday School such as making sure we have enough classes and teachers for our congregation.)

As you can see a lot of my extra time has been involved in church service. I am also bilingual and very proficient in speaking, reading, writing, and translating from english to spanish and vice-versca. Other EC activities include creating graphic design material for non profit organizations.

Work Experience:
This is where I have a bit of a concern. I got married and became a happy father while still in college. That being said, I have had to work full time (40 hours) and go to school part time (2 classes per semester) in order to support my family (my wife is finishing up her degree in Chemistry). However, my work experience has been very good. For obvious reasons (I haven't graduated yet) it hasn't been with any Fortune 500 companies, but the quality of work experience has been excellent. Here it is:

Assistant Marketing Manager
*Supervised training, scheduling, hiring, and firing of canvassers and telemarketers. Coordinated efforts with marketing manager on ways to increase quality and quantity of leads which lead our office to go from $60,000 sales/month to $100,000 sales/month. This led to opening another office which I helped supervise. I also worked closely with sales reps in assigning their apointments.

*Left on my mission for 2 years (see extracurricular activities)*

Assistant Marketing Manager
*Prepared, designed, proofread, and edited marketing material including sales and marketing tools. Highly involved in phone prospecting new business including generating sales leads from small businesses, institutions, and corporations. After about a year became the Marketing Manager and became more involved with coordinating marketing campaigns, strategies, as well as the branding of new products. I also became involved in presenting sales presentation to potential clients

Marketing Manager
*For better pay, I went to a different company and worked closely with the marketing director on developing branding and image of a new line of products. We also worked on new marketing campaigns and strategies. I also worked closely with the sales manager on developing new sales tools and promotional material. I supervised the reconstruction of the corporate website.


I just wanted some insight on how I look on paper. I also wanted to address my concern about my work experience being during college because of what I mentioned. I suppose I should also state that I'm young (25 years old). I want to know if its possible for me to get into an MBA program fresh off graduating with my undergrad degree.

Any input would be deeply appreciated.

Thanks.
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by Paxton Helms - Kaplan » Fri Jun 12, 2009 12:32 pm
Hi and thanks for your note. You have an interesting backgroud and, yes, I see what you're saying about the challenge of graduating a bit later, working while in college, etc.

A few thoughts:

- Some folks go into MBA programs directly after undergraduate...but they usually have sterling academic credentials and often have a business undergrad. You don't quite fit into this group and, unfortunately, I don't think that schools are going to be real open to slotting you into one of those positions.

- My sense is that you have had a lot going on the last six or seven years between children, finishing school, helping your wife finish school, etc., etc. I wonder if this is the ideal platform to launch your business school career. It may make sense to work for a year, apply, and then plan on marticulating after two years of post-college work experience.

- I am guessing (from the fact that you went on mission for two years, that you're bilingual, and that you are graduating from college at 25) that you may be LDS. In that case, there are probably lots of other folks in a situation that is very similar to yours. Also, a place like BYU would probably be pretty understanding about your situation.

I hope this helps. I think you have options but my overall impression is that an MBA feels premature by a year or two.

Stay in touch and let me know your thoughts--

Paxton
Keep me in the loop about your thinking and let me know if you have any more questions.

Paxton



Paxton Helms is an MBA admissions consultant for Kaplan Admissions Consulting. He earned his MBA from UCLA and specializes in helping clients that are applying to top twenty and "reach" programs. He can be reached directly at [email protected].

To begin working with Paxton immediately, follow this link and request him specifically: https://www.kaptest.com/GMAT/Admissions- ... lting.html

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by jbalance21 » Fri Jun 12, 2009 1:04 pm
I appreciate the input. You hit it right on the money with the LDS assumption, and yes the last few years have been full of different activities and life events.

I've been seriously considering waiting a couple of years to get post graduate work experience and then applying, but I also wanted to get some third party advice.

I will keep you posted on what happens.

Thanks