The Application Process

I'm 22. I graduated from The University of Melbourne just under a year ago. I have dreams of applying to a top MBA school within the next ten years (preferably London Business School after doing a lot of research) but I'm wondering if it's just a pipe dream.

I did a Bachelor of Commerce (majors: Accounting & Finance) and have a GPA of 5.15 on a 7 point scale. I say "about" because I just calculated it myself and have no clue if what I have done is correct - my University results are all in percentages for each subject and we are not given a GPA or WAM. I think I can take that to be about 2.95 on a 4 point scale (using ratios) but, again, I have no idea.

So my grades weren't the best. I worked through Uni, was part of way too many extra-curricular activities and had a lot of issues at home which I know aren't really excuses, but there you go.

I currently work in internal audit at a mid-tier accounting firm in Australia. It does have a global brand but, let's face it, it does not have the Big 4 brand. I am currently studying the Chartered Accountants program and I hope to be qualified at the end of 2015.

I have REALLY picked my socks up after Uni. I am doing really well in the CA program and I know that if I try and work at it, I can do really well on the GMAT. And I'm not just saying that. I really believe I can do it.

I have the drive and the motivation to do whatever it takes. I feel that I am so young and I want to know what I should be doing in the next few years to increase my chances of getting into an MBA at a place like LBS. I am currently looking at getting back into extra-curricular activities like volunteering and I have an idea of starting up a company of my own. Getting the time to do it will be another matter but I really am passionate about this stuff - MBA dream or no MBA dream, I would still be doing this because I want to.

Any advice would be much appreciated about what I can do in the next few years to up my chances of getting into the MBA.



TL;DR - I'm 22. I messed up Uni (2.95ish GPA). Will be a Chartered Accountant in 2015. What should I do over the next few years to increase my chances of getting into the MBA (at say LBS)?

Hey blueirony - LOL on your tldr.

We did in fact read (most of) your post and you are NOT being idealistic. In fact, we see people with similar backgrounds get into schools like LBS All. The. Time.

First point: A 10-year time horizon is a little long. LBS prefers students with about 5 years of work experience; 10 years wouldn't be too much for them, but it's much much easier to get accepted to a top MBA program in your 20s. So it's great that you're thinking about this now, and you're doing the right things in terms of being impactful on the job and taking your career seriously - and you would probably want to pull in your time horizon a bit.

It takes most people ~1.5 years to go through the entire MBA app process, what with the GMAT and school selection and the whole admissions cycle. This year might be too soon, but maybe not - you could start to get your feet wet with the GMAT, at least. (Sometimes that part takes much longer than people would like!!! due to retesting and whatever.)

In terms of your grades, our wholly inexact conversion tool would estimate your 5.15 / 7 as right about that 2.9 level on a 4.0 scale ... which does put you in trouble territory. We talk about this extensively on the EssaySnark blahg - here's a good post to start with: https://essaysnark.com/2010/05/omg-2-pos ... a-low-gpa/ (and another, just for kicks: https://essaysnark.com/2012/06/tackling- ... ue-1-of-2/ )

The bschool adcoms will be interested in knowing anything that was going on during college, so it may be completely relevant to discuss the mitigating factors ("issues at home" do matter in this regard). That should be incorporated as part of your whole essay strategy, when the time comes.

For now, keep doing what you're doing - the brand name of your employer actually does not matter, it's what you do to make a contribution there that does.

Hopefully this helps to give you a sense of the landscape you're looking at. Mostly we want to say GO FOR IT!! There's lots of factors that determine who makes it into a school like LBS and we're not seeing anything with your background yet that is a showstopper that would turn you away.

If we can help, let us know!
EssaySnark

For what it's worth, i think you should go for it, there are many ways to compensate for low GPA.

Thank you for explaining your profile. Ten years is plenty of time to prepare and I wish you all the best.

Your area of baccalaureate study is fine, and the fact that your GPA is a bit low, is something you can't change now.

My advice is to focus on the aspects of the application you can control today instead of fretting about the past. First, I would earn your chartered accountants designation. Second, I would focus on obtaining a high quality of work experience with multiple promotions/rapid progression over the next few years. The size of the firm is much less important than the quality of your experience and your progression/level of responsibility. The quality of your work experience is also a lot more important than extracurricular activities, but I would pick a few activities where you can be deeply involved with a leadership role, rather than a plethora of activities where you attend a few meetings here and there.

Most importantly, I would focus on obtaining a highly competitive GMAT score, a bit closer to the time you want to apply to business school. Do remember, that the test is good for 5 years. I would recommend hiring a good private tutor and working with him/her extensively. I have a wonderful recommendation for a tutor in Australia if you need it. Also remember, that you can take the GMAT multiple times and admissions committees only take the highest score. I hope this helps!

I don't know if I can fully explain what it means to read your replies. But you have all given me so much more hope and fight. Thank you. Thank you so much! Man, reading those replies was so uplifting!

I'm very busy until my first CA exam but after that, I am going to devote as much time as I can to this. No doubt I will most likely be posting here again!

blueirony wrote:I don't know if I can fully explain what it means to read your replies. But you have all given me so much more hope and fight. Thank you. Thank you so much! Man, reading those replies was so uplifting!

I'm very busy until my first CA exam but after that, I am going to devote as much time as I can to this. No doubt I will most likely be posting here again!

Sounds great blueirony! We'll look forward to hearing from you again!
EssaySnark

PS: Good luck on that CA exam! If you're in test-prep mode already then it'll be easy to roll over into studying for the GMAT after that! (After a good long break, of course!)

I do have one question.

I currently work in internal audit. I am considering moving to the external audit division in my firm because I'm fed up with the lack of training and a good auditing methodology in internal audit. It's really frustrating.

At my firm, the lowest level is a graduate consultant. After that, you become an intermediate consultant and then a senior consultant. Intermediates begin to take control of entire jobs and seniors basically run an entire review and are responsible for everything except for management review and sign-off, and high level client management. Seniors then become managers if they show really good promise but this can happen after several years.

I am most likely going to be promoted from a graduate consultant to an intermediate consultant in internal audit this coming June. If I switch to external audit, I will kind of start at the bottom of the hierarchy once more, and becoming an intermediate consultant in external audit will probably happen in June 2014.

Furthermore, the structure in external audit is quite different to internal audit. In internal audit, if all goes well, I can become a senior consultant in June 2014, which will mean two promotions in three years (one year spent at each level).

In external audit, intermediate consultants can stay intermediates for up to two years. So becoming a senior consultant may not necessarily, and is not likely to, happen in three years.

From an MBA perspective, I don't really know how much these types of promotions would help with respect to career progression. Given how promotions will probably happen much more slowly and later on in external audit, would it make more sense to stay in internal audit? Or would it not matter if I switched to external audit?

And would the nature of the work matter with applying for an MBA? Or is it more the level of responsibility you are given in your work? I view external audit as a really standardised process whereas internal audit has much more variety and offers more in the way of interpersonal skills but I don't know if that would really matter.

Any help would be much appreciated!





TL;DR - I work in internal audit. In three years, I will most likely be promoted two times. I'm considering switching divisions to external audit. Promotions are a lot slower. In three years, I might only be promoted once. With the MBA in mind, would switching to external audit impact my application a lot, considering that my career progression wouldn't be as much as it would in internal audit?

blueirony, GREAT question.

Our strongest advice: If you're unhappy in internal audit, you need to make a change! Don't base this decision on trying to anticipate what the adcom wants to see; do what you'll be most motivated about on the job. If you're into your work, then it's MUCH more likely you're going to be motivated and inspired and be able to make a difference on the job - and that counts way (waaaaay!) more than titles do.

That being said: Sure, the adcoms do appreciate seeing fast-track promotions, but there's no global standard of how quickly candidates need to advance. Getting even just one promotion can sometimes signify that the applicant was ahead of his peers; it all depends on context, and every company (and industry) does things differently. So don't overthink this stuff.

If internal audit is a sucky job for you, then change it. You may even have a chance in your essays (when it comes time for that) to make a point about how you sought out a different opportunity for yourself, and then talk about the great things you were able to accomplish in external audit instead. (One thing we'll caution you even now: many adcom readers won't have a clue what the difference is between "internal audit" and "external audit" - EssaySnark certainly does not! Sometimes these terms need to be explained a bit in the essays.)

We're getting a little ahead of ourselves with talk of essays... One way you can look at this, beyond the obvious of getting out of a lame situation, is which job will give you more chance to make an impact? Whether that's internal vs external audit - or even working for a specific manager who's known to be good to work with - or if it just means always volunteering for the tough assignments - be on the lookout for ways to add value. You could even keep notes your projects: what was the original problem or baseline situation, what suggestions did you personally come up with, how did you contribute to the client's success, whatever. Start keeping a log of this stuff now, and you'll be in a prime position for developing your MBA application when it comes time for that next year.

And let us know what you decide to do on the job thing!
EssaySnark