Advice Strengthening Profile

Free advice from the world's top MBA consultants
This topic has expert replies
Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Dec 03, 2016 8:53 pm

Advice Strengthening Profile

by swasome87 » Thu Jan 19, 2017 1:12 pm
Hi there,

I was wondering if an expert might mind chiming in on where I should really focus my efforts over the next few months prior to R1 deadlines. My profile is as follows:

1)Demographics: 30/f/Vietnamese-American (US citizen)

2)Educ: 3.95/4.0 BBA Accounting from top-70 private univ. (think Baylor, SMU), 3.85/4.0 M. Taxation (from same university), expected 720 GMAT

3)WE: 4.5 years at Big Four Tax. Early promoted to Senior Associate, led multiple (5) associate teams (2-3) at any given time and had heavy client interaction. 2 years as corporate tax accountant at F500 major US airline. Promoted after just one year, individual contributor but managed 3 different interns over three semesters.

4) EC: Undergrad Four years marching band, student leader of a volunteer income tax workstation for low-income individuals and also spearheaded a new program aimed at assisting international students with filing income taxes. Postgrad Involvement with women's civic orgs (think Junior League) for one year, involved in fundraising committee for charity gala, involvement in work culture committees. About to start volunteering with a women's shelter.

5) Goal: Gain more holistic view of business, switch from role in accounting into management consulting and eventually transition into corporate strategy (back into the airline industry if possible).

6) Target: Top choices are Booth and CBS

If I am targeting these schools, I am wondering if my time is better spent over the next few months trying to
get involved with pro bono consulting work, trying to attain a board position in my women's group, or dedicating weekly and consistent time to the shelter. I have had some admissions consultants tell me that AdComs won't even look at the nine months worth of contributions I will have made at application time to this shelter in my application. Or if it's really 'too late' to ramp up involvement with these EC's over the next nine months, should I just instead focus on bumping up my GMAT?

I have posted a somewhat similar q with regard to my overall profile in a specific forum before so please let me know if I should take this down

User avatar
Junior | Next Rank: 30 Posts
Posts: 11
Joined: Fri Jan 20, 2017 8:19 am
Thanked: 3 times

by TaterwaysConsulting » Fri Jan 20, 2017 10:29 am
Hi there,

Short Answer :

Focus on maximizing your GMAT score (Look at 740+) instead of investing time in doing patch up activities to 'project' a better EC.

Long Answer :

We think that you may have all the ingredients to make a great application. Things that will stand you in good stead are good GPAs and client facing work experience with Big4. Also your career aspirations show a good consistency with the work you have done.Think client facing strategy consulting as an extension of tax advisory as far as client interaction is concerned. A top notch GMAT score will round out your profile and will be a good projection of your overall academic prowess.

Using the next 9 months to ramp up EC will have two detrimental effects.Firstly with your job, we think you will have limited time to study for GMAT which will be further reduced due to the your involvement in EC activities. Secondly, the admissions team will be able to see through the depth of your EC experience both in your application and thereafter in your interview given your limited experience in these activities.

We would recommend :

1) Maximize your GMAT score - Take GMAT in early May so that you may have a second attempt if need be
2) Story boarding - Start listing the stories that you think are a true reflection of you for your target schools.

Since you are an 'early mover' in the application process, you might as well derive benefits from it by thinking on how you want to shape your application.

We will be happy to take the discussion forward at [email protected]

Cheers,

Team Taterways
www.taterways.com

Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts
Posts: 3
Joined: Sat Dec 03, 2016 8:53 pm

by swasome87 » Fri Jan 27, 2017 7:57 am
Thanks so much, Taterways Consulting! Definitely appreciate the insights you've provided and I think that makes a lot of sense. It is certainly difficult to juggle work and studying alone, so EC's definitely take away from time spent studying. Curious if any other experts would like to chime in with their thoughts. Thanks!

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
Master | Next Rank: 500 Posts
Posts: 298
Joined: Mon Jun 20, 2016 11:37 am
Thanked: 26 times
Followed by:11 members

by Donna@Stratus » Mon Jan 30, 2017 1:50 pm
swasome87 wrote:Hi there,

I was wondering if an expert might mind chiming in on where I should really focus my efforts over the next few months prior to R1 deadlines. My profile is as follows:

1)Demographics: 30/f/Vietnamese-American (US citizen)

2)Educ: 3.95/4.0 BBA Accounting from top-70 private univ. (think Baylor, SMU), 3.85/4.0 M. Taxation (from same university), expected 720 GMAT

3)WE: 4.5 years at Big Four Tax. Early promoted to Senior Associate, led multiple (5) associate teams (2-3) at any given time and had heavy client interaction. 2 years as corporate tax accountant at F500 major US airline. Promoted after just one year, individual contributor but managed 3 different interns over three semesters.

4) EC: Undergrad Four years marching band, student leader of a volunteer income tax workstation for low-income individuals and also spearheaded a new program aimed at assisting international students with filing income taxes. Postgrad Involvement with women's civic orgs (think Junior League) for one year, involved in fundraising committee for charity gala, involvement in work culture committees. About to start volunteering with a women's shelter.

5) Goal: Gain more holistic view of business, switch from role in accounting into management consulting and eventually transition into corporate strategy (back into the airline industry if possible).

6) Target: Top choices are Booth and CBS

If I am targeting these schools, I am wondering if my time is better spent over the next few months trying to
get involved with pro bono consulting work, trying to attain a board position in my women's group, or dedicating weekly and consistent time to the shelter. I have had some admissions consultants tell me that AdComs won't even look at the nine months worth of contributions I will have made at application time to this shelter in my application. Or if it's really 'too late' to ramp up involvement with these EC's over the next nine months, should I just instead focus on bumping up my GMAT? I would focus on bumping up the GMAT over all else... and then I would research Booth and CBS- go for visits this spring, talk to current students and also try to have one big accomplishment with the extracurriculars- I disagree that whatever you have done in last 9 months does not matter- it all matters!
Feel free to contact us at Stratus for a free consult to learn more: https://stratusprep.com/

I have posted a somewhat similar q with regard to my overall profile in a specific forum before so please let me know if I should take this down

GMAT/MBA Expert

User avatar
Elite Legendary Member
Posts: 3135
Joined: Fri Apr 01, 2011 8:55 am
Location: Everywhere
Thanked: 589 times
Followed by:332 members

by Jon@Admissionado » Sat Feb 04, 2017 11:15 pm
swasome87 wrote:Hi there,

I was wondering if an expert might mind chiming in on where I should really focus my efforts over the next few months prior to R1 deadlines. My profile is as follows:

1)Demographics: 30/f/Vietnamese-American (US citizen)

2)Educ: 3.95/4.0 BBA Accounting from top-70 private univ. (think Baylor, SMU), 3.85/4.0 M. Taxation (from same university), expected 720 GMAT

3)WE: 4.5 years at Big Four Tax. Early promoted to Senior Associate, led multiple (5) associate teams (2-3) at any given time and had heavy client interaction. 2 years as corporate tax accountant at F500 major US airline. Promoted after just one year, individual contributor but managed 3 different interns over three semesters.

4) EC: Undergrad Four years marching band, student leader of a volunteer income tax workstation for low-income individuals and also spearheaded a new program aimed at assisting international students with filing income taxes. Postgrad Involvement with women's civic orgs (think Junior League) for one year, involved in fundraising committee for charity gala, involvement in work culture committees. About to start volunteering with a women's shelter.

5) Goal: Gain more holistic view of business, switch from role in accounting into management consulting and eventually transition into corporate strategy (back into the airline industry if possible).

6) Target: Top choices are Booth and CBS

If I am targeting these schools, I am wondering if my time is better spent over the next few months trying to
get involved with pro bono consulting work, trying to attain a board position in my women's group, or dedicating weekly and consistent time to the shelter. I have had some admissions consultants tell me that AdComs won't even look at the nine months worth of contributions I will have made at application time to this shelter in my application. Or if it's really 'too late' to ramp up involvement with these EC's over the next nine months, should I just instead focus on bumping up my GMAT?

I have posted a somewhat similar q with regard to my overall profile in a specific forum before so please let me know if I should take this down

I agree that the GMAT is important, but that doesn't mean you can't do other things too.

I also entirely disagree with the thought that "nice months don't matter." EVERYTHING matters.

That having been said, I have two pieces of advice regarding choosing where to invest your time:

1. Leadership - The position that will give you the most leadership opportunities is likely the one you want to invest in, as it will make the best story.

2. Impact - Your volunteer work will be a LOT more impressive (Especially in such a short time) if you have left a big IMPACT behind you. So it's better for run a fund-raiser for four months and raise 30,000$ than to go once a week and tutor students (from the perspective of its usefulness for your application)

I hope this helps!
Best,
Jon Frank
"Hands down the best MBA admissions consulting firm of all-time, and boy, what an incredible founder!" -- Raj Patil, Founder of Admissionado

Something for everyone:
https://admissionado.lpages.co/admissio ... nter-2018/
https://admissionado.lpages.co/50-essay ... ked-vol-4/
https://admissionado.lpages.co/case-studies-lp/
https://admissionado.com/mba/reviews/
https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Admis ... 700945.htm

Reach out, and let's gab. Our only requirement is that you don't prefer warm milk over cold milk. Everyone else, 100% welcome.
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 866-409-4753
Hit us up on WhatsApp.
Ping our satellite: 0884#&@-2#101101
Contact us via web form you lazy git: https://admissionado.com/contact/
Mostly, email Claudia.