Unconventional Undergraduate

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Unconventional Undergraduate

by jeffdn02 » Mon Dec 17, 2012 5:05 pm
Hello all-

I'm curious to get some advice! I'll throw some quick profile stuff below, and if anybody could give me an idea of what type of schools I should target that would be great!

Profile:
29 white male

3.21 undergraduate GPA (first attempt at college yielded a 2.61 with a handful of credits, I finished several years later - I think it's a 3.1 if you add the two together). **bad news it was at the University of Phoenix. Company wouldn't cover online, no other on-ground campus worked with my full-time schedule + travel. Regionally accredited but with a fairly shady reputation.

700 GMAT 46 QUANT 41 VERBAL 6.0 writing

I went to college and started my career simultaneously so I have 2 years of post-graduate experience, but about 5 years of management experience and 7 years of full-time experience. 3.5 of those 5 years with 10 direct reports.

Work experience is decent... 10 direct reports, manage an inventory of about $50M, independent work (my boss is in TX I'm in IL), oversee the contractors (about 85 of them) and we do about $3M/month business with them I sign off on.

Extras: mostly church stuff, small group leader in the church, mission trip leader/translator to Mexico with a group of about 18 - lead almost all of the program/etc as nobody else spoke Spanish. Joined a new church plant and started a church with a group of about 20 - i've been on several teams with that from marketing to communications and an considered a leader in the church. I have started a few businesses; real estate business (bought/sold one house and have a rental) as well as a business selling firewood.

Anyway, that's basically it. I've been promoted 2 times, each with a change of state the company funded. In my 5 years of management I've had 2 "exceeds expectations" performance reviews (top 5%) as well as an achievement award for 100% on time delivery and a spotlight award for my employees increase in production due to changes driven by me. I'm obviously highlighting these things in my essays, but it's hard with so little room!

My "reach" schools are:
1. Chicago Booth
2. Kellogg
3. ESADE/IESE (not sure, maybe both)

My "I should get in... I think?" schools are:
1. Kelley
2. Maybe like Carlson in Minnesota
3. I like the University of Denver, but for 95k-100k + 60% job placement @ $65,000/yr (about 10k less than I make now) I just can't quite make that work. I do love Denver though, and I would like to live there!

Another general question - is it better to be in the bottom 25% at Booth or the top 25% at a school like Indiana? From everything I have read, everyone says "BEST SCHOOL YOU CAN GET INTO."

Thanks!
Jeff

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by Stacy Blackman » Wed Feb 06, 2013 12:57 pm
Hi jeffdn02,

Thanks for posting. For your last question, we do recommend you aim for the best program that you feel is the right fit you. It is important though to actually look at the program itself and not just its rankings, because some schools may be better for your specific goals post-graduation. Some companies only recruit at certain schools, so if there is a particular company you would like to work for post-graduation, we recommend you speak to an MBA program's career center.

For the programs you are interested in, nothing about your story makes me think there is any reason why you cannot be admitted, but nothing stands out telling me why you should be admitted. All of the reasons why a top program would admit you are in the details of your work experience, personal experiences, personality, values and overall story.

Here is some school specific advice for Chicago Booth and Kellogg:

https://www.stacyblackman.com/business-s ... cago-booth
https://www.stacyblackman.com/business-s ... n-kellogg/

We also provide free 30 minute phone consultations here:

https://www.stacyblackman.com/contact/

Cheers,

Conrad and the Stacy Blackman Team
Interested in a free 30 minute consultation with the Stacy Blackman Team? Sign up here: https://stacyblackman.com/contact
S T A C Y B L A C K M A N Consulting
Admissions Strategy
323.934.3936
www.StacyBlackman.com

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