Ask Stacy Blackman

Hello,

First and foremost, I would like to thank BEATtheGMAT for this awesome social network. I was constantly on this site throughout my GMAT studies, reading motivational debriefs and going through problems/explanations.

Anyways, I would love some honest feedback on my "profile". I am planning to apply to business school in 1.5 or 2.5 years; therefore, I would be in the class graduating in 2021 or 2022.

Stats
- Age: 24 (keep in mind, I will be 26-27 my first year at school)
- Gender: Male
- Ethnicity: Caucasian
- Undergrad: B.S. in Finance at a top 50 university (private school)
- GPA: 3.8
- GMAT First Attempt: July 18th, 2015 (Quant 47 Verbal 35 - Total Score 680, IR5 AWA5.5)
- GMAT Second Attempt: August 10th, 2016 (Quant 49 Verbal 36 - Total Score 710, IR3 AWA5.5)


Experience
- By the time I apply for business school, I will have had 3-4 years of work experience in Big Pharma (think J&J). Additionally, I will have worked in the Midwest and the Northeast for different roles, both positions as a financial analyst/sr. financial analyst. My company has a corporate sponsorship program in which they sponsor (pay for) analysts to go back to top MBA programs full-time.

Noteworthy College Extracurricular Experience
- I played Division I tennis and was the captain for three years (this was about 20 hours a week)
- I had two internships during college (corporate finance and consulting) my junior and senior year

Noteworthy Post-College Extracurricular Experience
- I am a volunteer assistant coach at a reputable Division I college program out in the Northeast
- I have recently launched an Early Career Professionals (ECP) Network within my company; there are about 30 ECPs a part of this group and that number will continue to grow. The goal of the group is to create a new community and culture within the business in which early career professionals will have a major impact on business operations and business strategy (the business has been very supportive of this).

Target
- HBS
- Stanford
- Wharton
- Booth
- Kellogg
- Fuqua


Post-MBA
- I would like to stay with the company I work for and climb the corporate ladder. Additionally, I have had stretch dreams of working in the business/sports world as a president/commissioner of an organization, an Athletic Director, GM of a professional sports team, etc. Someday, I would like to lead thousands of people and make a major impact in the community and in the lives of those I lead.

Recommendation Comments:
HBS: My first boss was an HBS grad who I have an amazing relationship with who will be writing a recommendation letter for me in the future. Additionally, I worked very closely with other HBS grads who would be more than happy to write recommendations for me.
Kellogg: I have worked very closely (on the same team) with two Kellogg grads that could write recommendations for me.
Stanford/ Booth / Wharton / Fuqua: As of right now, I don't have any immediate connections at work/outside of work for recommendations. We have plenty of Stanford / Booth / Fuqua grads, but I haven't worked with any so far.
Collegiate Coaching: I have a great relationship with the Athletic Director of the University I coach at who would be more than willing to write a recommendation letter for me.


Concerns:
- I somehow scored an abysmal IR3 on my last GMAT attempt which is frustrating, especially because I work in corporate finance and am used to interpreting graphs, etc. I remember the IR section having a couple of questions that seemed very convoluted, which clearly stumped me.
- With the ECP Network I have started at work, we will be involved in Philanthropic work throughout the year, but is this adequate enough for top programs? I am not sure if I have enough time to add something on top of work, coaching, and the ECP Network.

Sorry for all the information! I truly appreciate your time.

Best,
Future MBA Prospect

Hi Margaret,

Thank you so much for taking the time to review my profile. To be honest, I am not sure if scoring a 730-740 is doable for me. It's not that I don't believe in myself, but I am not sure if I have the time capacity and mental capacity to achieve those extra 20-30 points. Although it's "only 20-30 points", those are the hardest 20-30 points to earn. It was "tough" to raise my score from a 680 to a 710 and would be multiple x's more difficult to make that jump again. I realize a 710 is still under my targeted schools' averages; however, I was hoping I achieved a score that would keep my application from being tossed in the trash. What are your thoughts on this? I understand that a 730-740 would help my chances immensely, but what if that's not possible for me? Could I still get into an HBS or GSB? Could I have other areas of my application offset my lower GMAT score (i.e. company sponsorship, undergraduate GPA, college athlete experience, leadership experiences)?

I definitely need to crank up my community involvement. Recently, I have signed up to be a leader of a 15-20 person team for a reputable non-profit organization. I am going to work on finding other opportunities in this area.

As far as international experience goes, I really don't have any experience outside of the U.S. On my collegiate team, I had teammates from India, Mexico, New Zealand, and Australia. On the college team I now coach, I have players from Japan and China. Although this isn't exactly what you're referring to, I have developed amazing connections with individuals from many different countries and learned to understand their backgrounds and mindsets, which has helped me form some life-long, true relationships. I will try to make a push to take a short-term assignment overseas, but that is always up-in-the-air, depending on if there are any open positions/opportunities within my company.

As far as consultations go, I am very interested. I plan on using a "multiple school-package" in which I can have some awesome guidance on my essays, interviews, etc. when the time comes in order to ensure I am giving myself the best chance to get into one of my dream schools.

Thank you for your time!
Future MBA Prospect