Looking to gauge my chances at some schools - specifically ones that are strong in the area I am trying to pivot into
GMAT: 700 48Q/37V
GPA: 3.2 from Top public school (think UVA, UMICH, UC Berkeley, etc.) Econ + Social Science (double major)
Work experience: 6 years @ matriculation. Boutique consulting firms (bounced around every year due to up and down nature of work), currently doing corporate strategy at live entertainment company
Age: 27, planning on applying R1
One on one volunteer experience (think Minds Matter, Big Brothers Big Sisters, etc.)
Strong recommendations
Target schools:
UCLA
USC
(maybe some east coast schools - Wharton, HBS etc.)
Looking to pivot to Real Estate Development specifically in California
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Profile Eval Request - Career Pivot
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MargaretStrother
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A good place to start is to see where you line up with the incoming class profile, and work outwards from there -- use the median, not the 80% spread, as your guide. Just following the numbers, I see you as competitive for USC, but a bit of a stretch for UCLA because your GPA and GMAT are slightly lower than UCLA's median. You'd struggle to be competitive for top-five business schools like Wharton or HBS, both because of those numbers and because one-on-one volunteer work carries less weight strategically than community leadership.
Now, to work outwards from there, what can you do to strengthen your chances? First, because you imply that your resume contains a degree of job-hopping, you'll need a strong set of goals that tie all of that together; you'll also want to emphasize any long-term organizational ties that you've maintained, whether with an alumni association or a volunteer group, to counterbalance any issues that a series of short job stints can raise with the adcom. I can't emphasize enough how important your goals will be here: have a clear, well-researched post-MBA trajectory laid out, one that is relevant to the school to which you are applying. You'll want to add a few more safer schools to your list, so that you don't end up having to do this twice.
You didn't ask, but: should you retake the GMAT? It depends how many times you've taken it already, but given that your GPA is relatively low for these programs, you might want to make a stronger showing here, to demonstrate that you have the determination and intellectual power to thrive in a rigorous, top MBA program. This is never what anyone wants to hear, but I'm just analyzing this in terms of giving yourself the best chance of success this year. If there's any way of getting your GMAT to align with the median for the schools you're applying to -- either by choosing schools where 700 is the median incoming GMAT, or by retaking the GMAT to get to, say, the 714 that UCLA is showing as their median this year -- you'll be helping your own chances immensely.
Good luck!
Margaret Strother
Now, to work outwards from there, what can you do to strengthen your chances? First, because you imply that your resume contains a degree of job-hopping, you'll need a strong set of goals that tie all of that together; you'll also want to emphasize any long-term organizational ties that you've maintained, whether with an alumni association or a volunteer group, to counterbalance any issues that a series of short job stints can raise with the adcom. I can't emphasize enough how important your goals will be here: have a clear, well-researched post-MBA trajectory laid out, one that is relevant to the school to which you are applying. You'll want to add a few more safer schools to your list, so that you don't end up having to do this twice.
You didn't ask, but: should you retake the GMAT? It depends how many times you've taken it already, but given that your GPA is relatively low for these programs, you might want to make a stronger showing here, to demonstrate that you have the determination and intellectual power to thrive in a rigorous, top MBA program. This is never what anyone wants to hear, but I'm just analyzing this in terms of giving yourself the best chance of success this year. If there's any way of getting your GMAT to align with the median for the schools you're applying to -- either by choosing schools where 700 is the median incoming GMAT, or by retaking the GMAT to get to, say, the 714 that UCLA is showing as their median this year -- you'll be helping your own chances immensely.
Good luck!
Margaret Strother
