I'm currently a senior at a university in Canada. I come from a bit of a different background so I was wondering what my chances are for getting into my target school (Columbia).
education
Engineering Undergrad, Economics Minor (3.0 GPA, taken with 120% course load every term)
gmat
First Attempt: 690 (49 Quant (86%), 35 Verbal (73%), 6.0 AWA (91%))
Second Attempt: 710 (50 Quant (93%), 37 Verbal (80%), 6.0 AWA (91%))
One secondary question is if my verbal score raises any red flags? I was brought up in Canada and English is my first language. I've managed to get perfect on the AWA, so I'm not sure if the Verbal score will raise a red flag.
work experience
I'm still a college senior, so I don't have any post-grad work experience. However, I am part of a co-op program where it takes me 5 years to complete my undergraduate degree. Instead of getting summers off, I rotate between school and work every four months. I've made the progression from software development to finance in Canada, before getting an internship at a bulge bracket in the US this summer.
The rough progression was (4 months each):
Engineering - hardware qualification for an airport
Software development - software company
algo trading support - small trading firm
structured derivatives sales - large Canadian bank (8 months)
structured derivatives sales - bulge bracket in the US
I'm hoping to join the buy-side after graduation.
extra curriculars
- I've coached a martial art team, but it was fairly informal. There were no elected positions, and it was more a group of friends practicing together and teaching new members.
- I worked on a startup from high school to when I was a sophomore, when it was bought out by a large company
- I've just started work on another software startup this year
I'm hoping to join Columbia because of its prestige in finance-circles and for its value-investing program. Any feedback on how to best position myself for join Columbia?
education
Engineering Undergrad, Economics Minor (3.0 GPA, taken with 120% course load every term)
gmat
First Attempt: 690 (49 Quant (86%), 35 Verbal (73%), 6.0 AWA (91%))
Second Attempt: 710 (50 Quant (93%), 37 Verbal (80%), 6.0 AWA (91%))
One secondary question is if my verbal score raises any red flags? I was brought up in Canada and English is my first language. I've managed to get perfect on the AWA, so I'm not sure if the Verbal score will raise a red flag.
work experience
I'm still a college senior, so I don't have any post-grad work experience. However, I am part of a co-op program where it takes me 5 years to complete my undergraduate degree. Instead of getting summers off, I rotate between school and work every four months. I've made the progression from software development to finance in Canada, before getting an internship at a bulge bracket in the US this summer.
The rough progression was (4 months each):
Engineering - hardware qualification for an airport
Software development - software company
algo trading support - small trading firm
structured derivatives sales - large Canadian bank (8 months)
structured derivatives sales - bulge bracket in the US
I'm hoping to join the buy-side after graduation.
extra curriculars
- I've coached a martial art team, but it was fairly informal. There were no elected positions, and it was more a group of friends practicing together and teaching new members.
- I worked on a startup from high school to when I was a sophomore, when it was bought out by a large company
- I've just started work on another software startup this year
I'm hoping to join Columbia because of its prestige in finance-circles and for its value-investing program. Any feedback on how to best position myself for join Columbia?
