Ask Admissionado

Hi,

I am a 27 year old Asian male who graduated in 2006. I have a BS from NYU Stern in Finance and International Business. I completed my freshman and sophomore years at Pennsylvania State University Park with a 3.68 GPA and transferred to NYU Stern, and had a 3.1 GPA.

I have taken the GMAT twice in the last 2 months and scored a 650 (47Q 33V) and a 680 (47Q and 36V)

I have been working as a proprietary trader in New York City for the past 6 years. I stayed at my first firm for 5 years. I had a short stint as an execution trader for 3 months last summer. I moved to my current firm in December and have been working there since. I have not had leadership positions in any of these roles.

In terms of extracurricular activity, I am an Eagle Scout and I have been a mentor in the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of New York for the past year.

I want to go to business school to delve into the fundamentals of company and investment valuation as my primary area of expertise is in technical analysis of stocks. I would ideally like to work in an investment bank or hedge fund as a research analyst after school and possibly move up to portfolio management or investment management. My dream is to be admitted to the Columbia University value investing program. I would also love to go back to NYU Stern or UCLA. I am targeting top 20 b-schools, please let me know if this is reasonable. I also have to decide whether to take the GMAT's again to improve to the 700+ level as well. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

-Michael