Ask Stacy Blackman

I am looking to apply to: Harvard, Stanford, Kellogg, Wharton, Chicago, Columbia, and possibly Berkeley.

Undergraduate studies: UCLA, Business Economics Major, Accounting Minor. Cumulative GPA 3.35

GMAT: 720 46Q, 44V (taken 1/6/2009)

Resume highlights: I have been doing consulting work in the executive compensation field since graduating in June of 2004. I first worked at a national consulting firm for about a year and a half and then moved on to a smaller boutique consulting firm. I liked the fact that the smaller firm was more of a strategic partner to its clients, rather than a firm simply offering data and/or information on practices. Client engagements are typically entrenched in how the client's business operates and how an executive compensation program can effect the successful execution of strategic imperatives. In today’s world of outcry against executive compensation, fallout from rich severance arrangement, and a general heightening of interest in how executives are paid, I believe I have an interesting perspective to offer the student body of any business school.

We are a firm of about 35 consultants, working with clients ranging from small struggling firms to household names such as Goldman Sachs, Ford, Sallie Mae, Fannie Mae, Nordstroms, Target, Microsoft, etc. (although it should be noted that some/many of these companies are struggling or have been decimated.)

My current title is an Associate Consultant, although I do manage projects, but have not garnered the title of consultant yet.

In addition to work, my true passion has always been the financial markets. When I started my first job, my parents did not own a house, they were renting a master bedroom of a house at the time, so to save money, I lived in their closet for about a year and a half. By the August of 2005, I was able to save up about $35,000 and began trading futures contracts on foreign exchange and US equity indices. By the end of the year, I had turned that $35,000 into about $400,000. So, I was leading a dual life. In any case, a couple months later, when the market hit a big bump in May of 2006, I ended up losing all the money I had made. There is a lot more to my trading aspiration story, some of which may be even more insane than what I just described. I am unsure of how or if I should describe these events. I am afraid that it shows lack of commitment?

In any case, the moral of it all is that I have been chasing that dream unsuccessfully, but I never gave up. The failures have inflicted deep wounds in me, but I have a much better understanding of Wall Street, and feel prepared to take it head on-although in a different capacity. I would like to attend business school because I love the financial markets, I am deeply passionate about asset prices, and I believe that by having been exposed to numerous industries, having had exposure to C-level executives while working on executive compensation projects, I am well suited to work in either M&A environment or in private equity.

Letters of Recommendations:

I believe that 2 or 3 of the MDs at my current place of work would provide a strong letter of recommendation. Although I think one of them might elicit the feeling that "Thirst has always shown immense potential, but for some reason, he wasn't always 100% committed" I probably will refrain from asking this letter after conferring with him if that would be the message, given that I was distracted at times because of trading.

I can obtain a unequivocally strong letter from one of the principals and one of the MDs with whom I have worked closely lately.

A professor at Haas, with whom I worked a couple of years ago, has offered to provide a strong letter of recommendation, perhaps speaking directly to Berkeley's adcom on my behalf.

Below, I will describe some of my extracurricular activities, one of which is with a college friend of mine who started a green energy enterprise. He can offer some insights to what I have brought to the table in the free time that I have spent working with him in a letter of recommendation, although I am not sure if this is a strong choice to provide a letter.

Other interests of note:

1. I have been an avid reef aquarium fanatic since I was 16. Over the years I have gained the skills necessary to propagate corals and have been growing them and sending them around the country so that people who desire the particular specimen of coral I have can obtain it from me instead of buying it from wholesalers who collect them from the ocean.

2. I have recently spent my free time to work with a friend in green energy business. His company works with the public utilities to distribute energy efficient lighting to commercial, multi-family housing, and residential users of lighting equipment. Many times, we can provide energy efficient lights at a heavily discounted or free of cost to these end users.

3. I am a relatively competitive golfer. Although I have never won any golf tournament, I do play with my local club. As a teenager, I played with Anthony Kim in the junior golfing circuit. I am toying with the idea of trying to qualify for US Golf Association amateur tournaments sometime this year.

4. I grew up in Taiwan. Immigrated to to the US when I was 10 years old. Have a very strong interest in eventually pursuing work that has a global presence.



My question to those that might be able to help me is....

1. Do I have a competitive profile? Are there any areas that are particularly lacking that I need to address? My extracurricular involvement is relatively thin. I don't feel like I haven't done anything extraordinary with regards to leadership qualities. Sure I have managed projects and inspired junior associates at the office, but I am unsure how much this counts.

2. Should I try to obtain a higher GMAT score? I feel that I can certainly improve on the quant section of my score. I should be able to score 50 or 51 on the quant side, achieving a 750-770 score.

Any other comments welcome.

I plan to apply for matriculation in 2010, as I believe round 3 would cut it too short and I would be better off giving myself more time to prepare my application.

Does your firm have direct experience with the schools I am most interested in?

Thank you very much. I will continue to formulate a plan of action as I progress towards my application. I am seriously considering using a admissions consultant given how extreme the competition will be this year and the existing difficulty in gaining admissions to my targeted schools.

Can you highlight a couple of items that might prove to make the difference by electing to work with a admissions consultant?

Thank you very much for your time.