Profile Eval

Figure out where you wish to apply
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Profile Eval

by [email protected] » Fri Nov 29, 2013 2:58 pm
Hi, was wondering if a few people could give me an assessment of my profile. I'm considering applying to UW Foster, UM Ross, CM Tepper, Duke Fuqua, UV Darden. I'm starting to doubt whether I have a shot at any of those schools.

age - 30
undergrad - University of Washington
degree - chemical engineering
gpa - 3.5

Gmat 720

Work experience:
4 years as a process engineer for SNC-Lavalin (Canada's largest engineering firm, but my office was based in seattle)

Here's where things get tricky. I quit my job 4 years ago to play professional poker. I paid my way through college with poker winnings, was making a higher hourly rate playing poker on the side while woking as an engineer and decided to just go for it. Online play was eventually shut down in the US. Tried to wait it out for online to come back by playing poker "live" in casinos, but became really sick of that lifestyle and so here I am. The long term goal however was always to get back into the workforce via an mba and pursue a career on the business side of things, and I plan to have my essays reflect that (i.e - I won't make it sound like I'm going for an mba because I can't play online poker anymore).

Questions:
How bad does the poker playing look? I've received mix feedback from non experts. Some have told me it actually looks good, others have told me I need to lower my expectations (as well as my target schools).

Do I have a shot at the schools listed? Should I retake my gmat to overcompensate for other weaknesses in profile?

Very stressed, thank you for any and all feedback.
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by Jon@Admissionado » Sun Dec 01, 2013 1:29 am
Hey dude,
You definitely have a tough way ahead of you. Four years of just playing poker is four years out of the work market (essentially)... I think a LOT will ride on your story, and I see a few options (but there are for sure more)

a) Come clean - This is your mea culpa. You did it, you made money, it wasn't satisfying, you need to get back into the work market to do SPECIFIC THING X which is what you REALLY want to do

b) Professionalize - you were just a player, and now you want to move into the industry (Poker) as a manager

c) Show somehow how the experience of you playing poker is valuable for you to reach goal X (this one I like a bit less)

You don't need to retake your GMAT, GMAT alone is good enough for Harvard. It's the story and the profile that needs to be worked on. How do you show that those four years weren't just "lost time". Okay you made money, maybe even tons, but what did you LEARN what did you DO???

I'd also definitely suggest adding one or two lower ranked schools as safe schools, juuuust in case (it's harder to predict results with wild stories like yours).

But just because you are choosing more safe schools don't let it get you down - at least your story is unique and memorable! And this counts for a LOT!
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