Ask an MBA Admissions Consultant

25 Male Hispanic

Work Experience - Management Assisstant at Enterprise Rent A Car - 3 years experience (4 by matriculation)

Responsiblities include - Managing and training trainees, Inventory Management, Loss Control, Managing Accounts Recievables from customers and business accounts, Marketing for new business, Maintaining great customer service, and Sales.

Accolades - I've worked at 4 different offices. All 4 increased in customer service scores, net income and amount of business (Fleet size). Top 10% in sales. Trained 8 employees on to promotion. My current office has increased in business by 38% in a matter of one year.

GMAT - 670 Q45 V37 W5 - (retaking this month)

Undergraduate - University of Florida - Bachelor of Science in Business Administration: Management Major - 3.16 GPA total with a 3.8 GPA in the final two years.

Extracurricular Activities - Founded the Sigma Nu Fraternity Chapter at UF, had two jobs during undergrad, Intramurals Chairman, also held board positions on the Finance, Bylaw, Philanthropy, and Social Committees, Competative Rock Climbing

Post Grad extracurricular - Started my own running group, also ran in many charity runs including those for Breast Cancer, Leukemia, and the Corporate IOA 5k.

This past year I interviewed (invited not open) at Duke, Virginia, and Emory. I did not get into any. I plan to reapply to all three. I am still deciding on others to add.

My goal is to change careers into Management Consulting and possibly in the long term start my own business, a health and fitness center.

I fear my age and the fact that Enterprise isn't the most prestigious job are weaknesses.

Thank You

Hello,

The fact that you were invited for interviews at those schools and made the first cut indicates that you're fundamentally qualified. Enterprise may not be a "prestigious" employer, but I don't think it would be a significant drawback because your track record was stellar, and you shouldered a lot of responsibility. Your age could have been a factor. Also how you presented your goals and tied them to your experience may not have been effective. Not least, think about your interviews and whether you "aced" them. There are two core bases for denial - lack of fundamental qualification and less than effective/stellar presentation, and if you were interviewed at competitive programs, most likely the problem lies in the latter area.

I do think it makes sense to reapply to these schools. You have more experience now - but keep in mind that for reapplicants, programs will want to see growth from the previous year and a fresh application.

You may find helpful Accepted.com's multiple resources for reapplicants. Good luck!

Best regards,
Cindy Tokumitsu
Senior Editor, www.Accepted.com

Just recently received good news and bad news. I just received a promotion at work to manage a large branch,
However, I did not score higher on my 2nd GMAT attempt, my q score improved slightly, but my verbal dropped slightly as well. With my current profile, plus my promotion, would it be worth my time and investment to reapply to duke, Virginia, and Emory, or should I put more of my energy into applying to schools where I will be more competitive?

I applied to reaches my first time around and got interviews, but I would hate to go through another year of dings, so I do plan to apply to some safety schools this year on top of my reapplying attempts. I am ready to get my MBA and take my career to the next level. Based on my profile, are there some schools you would recommend I look into?

Have you been fully leveraging resources available to Hispanic applicants? Consider applying to through The Consortium (https://www.cgsm.org/default.asp) which would allow you to apply to a broader range of schools with a uniform application (although some schools still require you to complete their application). Both Darden and Goizueta are members. I would suggest you consider the other member universities (https://www.cgsm.org/universities/index.asp) that would enable you to accomplish your management consulting goals like Haas, Anderson, Johnson, Tuck, Ross, Stern, and Yale SOM. Also, visit the National Society of Hispanic MBAs (https://www.nshmba.org/) as well as research the specific diversity initiatives of each school.

Good luck,