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Hello,

I am hoping to have my profile reviewed. I recently took the GMAT and my quant was a bit lower than I hoped I am seeking an overview analysis of my target schools and how well I match to them. Also if I should do anything specific to improve chances.


I am unique from most applicant in that I am pursuing a JD/MBA degree.

Here is my background:

1) I have 8 years of retail store management experience with 5 as store manager with 2 companies. One of them being in the Fortune 10. (This experience is pre-Bachelors).
At these two companies I received five promotions in 6 years.

2)LSAT 167 (94.3 Percentile)
GMAT 710 (91st Percentile)- Q43 (55th percentile) V44 (98th Percentile).
I was ill the morning of my GMAT test and time ran out as I went to submit the last IR question. This left me out of sorts during the Quant portion of the test. A 55th percentile is much lower than my practice scores but I have solid quant support in recent classes and can have my recommenders focus on this. I was able to calm my anxiety and focus during the Verbal section.

3) College info: Pepperdine University, GPA 3.511 (Graduated Cum Luade), Major Business Administration, year of graduation 2015.
I struggled to balance work and classes during the first half of undergraduate courses. During this time I worked a job requiring an average of 65 hours per week and had to care for my terminally ill father in-law, who passed away from cancer.

4) During my time at Pepperdine I was president/founder of a student club which provided an arena for students to learn and develop from the influence of the unique skills of others. The club focused on connecting military and civilian students to foster a safe environment for networking, skills development and collaboration by leveraging each member's unique attributes. The club is officially recognized and acts as a resource for about 60 students in many areas of their academic and professional lives.
https://bravery2business.com/
I have also been volunteering my time at a local animal shelter for the last 4 years.

5) I possess a certificate from Oxford University for Global Management awarded for my succesful participation in an intensive study abroad program.
I also have a certificate from HarvardX for their Intro to Contracts mooc course.

6) My short-term post-MBA goal is to gain experience working for either a business law firm or consulting firm. I will apply this experience in my long-term goal which is to found a company that provides legal and business consulting services focusing on startup and entrepreneurial ventures.

I am a first-generation college student and have been lucky enough to be influenced by great mentors. I want to use my knowledge and power gained from an MBA to give back and help others find success similar to mine.

I am planning on applying to the respective JD/MBA programs at the following schools: Duke, University of Virginia, University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern University, Vanderbilt University, Washington University in St. Louis, and Michigan Ann Arbor.

I would appreciate and feedback or thoughts you have from this.

Thank You,


Travis McElmurry

Travis-

MBA programs typically like to see at least two years of professional experience after college, so you are correct that in your case, with 8 years of experience in management at the retail level, you will be unique. They will certainly count your experience, but will not consider it in the same way they would consider professional post college experience. It's likely most top schools would want to see you log a few years of work after college before offering a slot at business school. Your one advantage here is the fact you are going for JD/MBA, since as you know, law school does not require any work experience. I think with the appropriate positioning including offering your perspective as a manager in the workplace, you could gain the attention of some of your schools. If you retook the GMAT and got what you are capable of getting, it would help even more, since most schools do accept applicants with little to no work experience (just a handful, though so you must be uber-competitive). THey will certainly like how engaged you have been, especially in starting up an organization from scratch in college. Let us know if we can be helpful as you pull things together.