Profile Evaluation

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Profile Evaluation

by awoldmoe » Wed Mar 22, 2017 5:15 am
Hello,

First and foremost, I would like to thank BEATtheGMAT for this awesome social network. I was constantly on this site throughout my GMAT studies, reading motivational debriefs and going through problems/explanations.

Anyways, I would love some honest feedback on my "profile". I am planning to apply to business school in 1.5 or 2.5 years; therefore, I would be in a class graduating in 2021 or 2022.

Stats
- Age: 24 (keep in mind, I will be 26-27 my first year at school)
- Gender: Male
- Ethnicity: Caucasian
- Undergrad: B.S. in Finance at a top 50 university (private school)
- GPA: 3.8
- GMAT First Attempt: July 18th, 2015 (Quant 47 Verbal 35 - Total Score 680, IR5 AWA5.5)
- GMAT Second Attempt: August 10th, 2016 (Quant 49 Verbal 36 - Total Score 710, IR3 AWA5.5)


Experience
- By the time I apply for business school, I will have had 3-4 years of work experience (4-5 years by the time I start school) in Big Pharma (think J&J). Additionally, I will have worked in the Midwest and the Northeast for different roles, both positions as a financial analyst/sr. financial analyst. My company has a corporate sponsorship program in which they sponsor (pay for) analysts to go back to top MBA programs full-time.

Noteworthy College Extracurricular Experience
- I played Division I tennis and was the captain for three years (this was about 20 hours a week)
- I had two internships during college (corporate finance and consulting) my junior and senior year

Noteworthy Post-College Extracurricular Leadership Experience
- I am a volunteer assistant coach at a reputable Division I college program out in the Northeast
- I have recently launched an Early Career Professionals (ECP) Network within my company; there are about 30 ECPs a part of this group and that number will continue to grow. The goal of the group is to create a new community and culture within the business in which early career professionals will have a major impact on business operations and business strategy (the business has been very supportive of this).

Target
- HBS
- Stanford
- Wharton
- Booth
- Kellogg
- Fuqua


Post-MBA
- I would like to stay with the company I work for and climb the corporate ladder. Additionally, I have had stretch dreams of working in the business/sports world as a president/commissioner of an organization, an Athletic Director, GM of a professional sports team, etc. Someday, I would like to lead thousands of people and make a major impact in the community and in the lives of those I lead.

Recommendation Comments:
HBS: My first boss was an HBS grad who I have an amazing relationship with who will be writing a recommendation letter for me in the future. Additionally, I worked very closely with other HBS grads who would be more than happy to write recommendations for me.
Kellogg: I have worked very closely (on the same team) with two Kellogg grads that could write recommendations for me.
Stanford/ Booth / Wharton / Fuqua: As of right now, I don't have any immediate connections at work/outside of work for recommendations. We have plenty of Stanford / Booth / Fuqua grads, but I haven't worked with any so far.
Collegiate Coaching: I have a great relationship with the Athletic Director of the University I coach at who would be more than willing to write a recommendation letter for me.


Concerns:
- I somehow scored an abysmal IR3 on my last GMAT attempt which is frustrating, especially because I work in corporate finance and am used to interpreting graphs, etc. I remember the IR section having a couple of questions that seemed very convoluted, which clearly stumped me.
- With the ECP Network I have started at work, we will be involved in Philanthropic work throughout the year, but is this adequate enough for top programs? I am not sure if I have enough time to add something on top of work, coaching, and the ECP Network.

Sorry for all the information! I truly appreciate your time.

Best,
Future MBA Prospect

GMAT/MBA Expert

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by mbaMissionKrista » Tue Mar 28, 2017 3:27 am
Hi awoldmoe

I highly recommend that you get in touch with us to set up a free consultation. There is lots to discuss, even with starting early. https://www.mbamission.com/consult/

You have a great GPA and a nice GMAT score, but to be truly competitive at the programs you are targeting, I'd really like to see you up above the school averages. Aim for 740 if you can. Your Quant score is already great -- 47 is pretty much the minimum that we recommend. So in many ways, you're my favorite sort of candidate because with just a bit or targeted tutoring, you can probably get your verbal up a bunch and get to that 740.

Schools will like the Division I sports angle and the Big Pharma. However, schools tend to be less keen on people who want to stay where they are...unless you are sponsored and will be taking on new responsibilities post-MBA. So really use these next few years to think about what you want to do and how the MBA will help you. The stretch dream is very interesting but a bit non-traditional...if you were going to pursue it in the MBA context, keep going with the extracurriculars in this world to really prove that you know this is what you want to do. (Also, look at Stern and UCLA who have specific sports-management programs. CBS too I believe.)

The IR3 is frustrating and not my favorite number. The challenge this year is we still don't know how schools will be considering the IR score. This is the year that nearly every candidate should have an IR (they started it in 2012). The good news is that you have an IR5 which helps mitigate the 3 and schools will see that. However, my main advice is to take the GMAT again and get that verbal up so you get your score to 740 or thereabouts.

To your point, make sure that through your ECP, you do some nice philanthropy. I think that should be fine. (i.e., you don't need to find some other community work. Just do it through the ECP.)

I hope that helps!
Krista