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I am planning to apply the following MBA in 2010: Darden, Stern, Cornell, and Tepper.

Here are my stats:

gmat: 690 (v 34, q 49)
gpa: 3.14 from Cornell Engineering majored in Operation Research. graduated in 7 semesters.
work experience: 4 years. I have worked for IBM about 1.2 year and a Fixed income hedge fund about 1.5 year and now I am with an automated trading firm. I am doing mostly programming/finance operation work.
extracurricular activities: My partner and I own a real estate investment that is worth about $720,000. I am responsible for negotiate rent contract, obtain mortgage, and maintenance of the property. My other extracurricular activity is to help sale and promote New Tang Dynasty Gala. Falungong organizes a yearly Chinese new year and I am involved with the promotion of the show. I am also a CFA level 2 candidate.
Career goal: I hope to make switch from IT/Operation to more finance related role. After MBA I plan to work in Asset Management and eventually become a Portfolio manager.

Dear jxia,

Thanks for your post! Please see my comments below:

I am planning to apply the following MBA in 2010: Darden, Stern, Cornell, and Tepper.

>>Just to be clear, this means you aren't applying until the fall of 2010 (with the intention of starting school in the fall of 2011)? Or did you mean that you are applying in 2009 to start classes in 2010? Given your age and amount of experience, I am thinking it must be the latter - but I just wanted to clarify...

Here are my stats:
gmat: 690 (v 34, q 49)
gpa: 3.14 from Cornell Engineering majored in Operation Research. graduated in 7 semesters.

>>Your GMAT is right around the average (in some cases just below) for your target schools. The verbal result is just barely above the minimum that most schools like to see (70th percentile). How many times have you taken the test?

>>While it is great that you graduated from Cornell in only seven semesters while pursuing a very rigorous major (Cornell engineering is highly respected), I am concerned about your overall GPA of 3.14. Where did this place you in the class?

>>Clearly, the interaction between your GMAT score of 690 and your GPA of 3.14 is a concern. On some levels, a low GMAT result takes away the argument that your 3.14 was merely due to the fact that Cornell is challenging (whereas with a 730+, you could more easily make that argument).

>>In short, while a candidate can make it through the process with one of these areas (GMAT or GPA) being below average, it's harder when both fall short. Since you can't go back and redo your grades at Cornell, you may want to consider a second sitting of the GMAT in order to secure a score that will be more competitive.

work experience: 4 years. I have worked for IBM about 1.2 year and a Fixed income hedge fund about 1.5 year and now I am with an automated trading firm. I am doing mostly programming/finance operation work.

>>It sounds like you've moved around quite a bit (schools can be suspicious of job-surfers) - but have more recently settled into applying your skills in the finance sector (the last two jobs). I'd be curious to know more about the extent of your team interactions, any international experience, client-facing tasks, etc. Overall, your experience clearly has potential - a lot of it will come down to how you link it together and present it in your application materials (essays, resume, data forms, recs, etc).

extracurricular activities: My partner and I own a real estate investment that is worth about $720,000. I am responsible for negotiate rent contract, obtain mortgage, and maintenance of the property. My other extracurricular activity is to help sale and promote New Tang Dynasty Gala. Falungong organizes a yearly Chinese new year and I am involved with the promotion of the show. I am also a CFA level 2 candidate.

>>You seem to have a couple of varied outside activities. Since you work in finance/quantitiative fields, the cultural show/gala may be of greater interest to the adcom on the margin. Of course, your real estate efforts have perhaps given you a chance to showcase more leadership responsibility and entrepreneurial savvy - so that should be considered as well. CFA Level 2 is nice to have, but it's value in the admissions world is less than on the Street. Do you have other hobbies or community service which you have pursued? How active were you at Cornell?

Career goal: I hope to make switch from IT/Operation to more finance related role. After MBA I plan to work in Asset Management and eventually become a Portfolio manager.

>>Your goals sound reasonable, especially as you should be able to tie them very directly to your past experiences (two most recent posts) and to your CFA, etc.

>>Overall, you have the beginnings of a decent candidacy, but you'll ideally need to address the GMAT (which could in turn help your case on the GPA front), devise a plan to effectively link your various jobs (and explain why you've moved around a bit more than average). Finally, you need to think of ways to showcase your activities and cultural interests so as to stand out from the other engineers and finance folks in the pool. Feel free to send along your resume to [email protected] if you'd like to chat further about your profile and admissions odds.

Best of luck,

Graham