The Beginning of my MBA application

Expert replies

yeah_well_the dude abides: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 5; Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2011 12:50 pm

by yeah_well_the dude abides » Tue Mar 15, 2011 12:25 pm

Hi all, new member here and I am fortunate to have stumbled upon this website. I am going to provide my backstory, then my plan to apply for an MBA:

I am 24 years old, with almost 2 years of work experience. 1 year working at a law firm (considered going into law, scored high 80% on LSAT, then decided against pursuing law for various reasons).

Now I am currently working at a major financial institution and have been doing so for almost a year. I am a financial planner.

I graduated from Pace University (NYC) <gasp!> with a 3.2 GPA in 2008. I know PACE isn't a great school, but truth be told, I wasn't focused on academics "back in the day." I can't change that so here's to hoping that doesn't greatly affect me in a negative way.

So, to sum up the above:

- approximately 2 years work experience.
- 3.2 GPA from a mediocre university.
- volunteered for gubernatorial campaign
- haven't touched the GMAT yet
- I plan on volunteering abroad before applying for my MBA

My target schools: Kellogg, Columbia, Booth and other programs ranked in the top 10.

I seek to work in international business, preferably as a consultant. My current employer has offices all over the world and my plan is to get international work and volunteer experience within the next few years. I want to have about 4-5 years of work experience before applying for my MBA.

I plan on writing the GMAT soon to get it over with because as mentioned above, I won't actually be applying for a few years.

So, any advice out there for me? Am I in big trouble for my underwhelming GPA from a mediocre school? Do you agree with my writing of the GMAT now to get it over with? Do you agree with my wanting to get 2-3 years more of work experience before applying?

I seek an MBA from an institution with an excellent international business program. Columbia is my first choice for this reason. I have been doing some research online but can anyone recommend other top institutions with excellent international business programs? I am going to do whatever it takes to get into a top institution and if I need to contact an admission consultant, then I shall. For the first time in my life, I actually have a concrete goal.

Thank you all for your time in reading my novel above, and I eagerly await any advice you can share!

Source: Beat The GMAT — The Application Process | Tue Mar 15, 2011 12:25 pm

dmateer25: Community Manager; Posts: 1049; Joined: Sun Apr 06, 2008 5:15 pmFollowed by: 27 members; Location: Pittsburgh, PA; Thanked: 113 times; GMAT Score:710

by dmateer25 » Tue Mar 15, 2011 4:41 pm

yeah_well_the dude abides wrote: So, any advice out there for me? Am I in big trouble for my underwhelming GPA from a mediocre school? Do you agree with my writing of the GMAT now to get it over with? Do you agree with my wanting to get 2-3 years more of work experience before applying?

I seek an MBA from an institution with an excellent international business program. Columbia is my first choice for this reason. I have been doing some research online but can anyone recommend other top institutions with excellent international business programs? I am going to do whatever it takes to get into a top institution and if I need to contact an admission consultant, then I shall. For the first time in my life, I actually have a concrete goal.

Thank you all for your time in reading my novel above, and I eagerly await any advice you can share!

Getting into a top 10 school is very difficult so you should always have some safety schools on your list. That said, I don't think your GPA is going to be a deal breaker. When you look at school profiles for a lot of the to MBA programs, you will see that the average GPA is around a 3.3.

Get the GMAT done as soon as possible! Trust me, it feel good to have the GMAT done with. You should start your studying soon and get this part of the application out of the way.

2 to 3 more years of experience would definitely be beneficial. However, you will want to show some progression in those 2 to 3 years.

bln123: Senior | Next Rank: 100 Posts; Posts: 59; Joined: Mon Jul 20, 2009 6:39 amFollowed by: 1 member; Thanked: 4 times

by bln123 » Wed Mar 16, 2011 12:21 am

So you are a US national (?), want to work internationally, have no international experience and aim to apply to US schools?

I'd advise you to look at top ranking international programmes, maybe in the region you later want to work in.
Generally, European programmes provide a good alternative to US programmes, especially because they are often only one year (i.e. less cost, faster payback).

yeah_well_the dude abides: Newbie | Next Rank: 10 Posts; Posts: 5; Joined: Thu Mar 10, 2011 12:50 pm

by yeah_well_the dude abides » Wed Mar 16, 2011 2:17 pm

dmateer25:

Appreciate the advice. Agreed with getting my GMAT over with. I'm going to look into a 3 month study plan because I do have "plenty" of time.

bln123:

As mentioned in my original post, I plan on gaining international experience between now and my MBA application. I plan on having at least 2 years of international work experience combined with several months of volunteering internationally.

I have looked into some of the international programs. I am interested in London Business School and Insead.

___________________________________________________

For now, I need to tackle the GMAT. If there's one trend among these top international schools, it's a ~700 GMAT.

I welcome any and all additional advice regarding my original post; but in the meantime, it's time to hit the books.

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