Older canidate profile evaluation

[odb]

Hi Stacy and Lisa,

Originally I was planning on apply to the part time program here in Dallas. But my letter of rec and my GMAT score have me thinking I should try to get an idea of other schools where I might be a competitive candidate.

My three big concerns:
1. My cumulative undergraduate GPA
2. My age
3. The impression that after a stellar start, my career has fizzled.

Male 39
Undergraduate studies
-Texas A&M College Station 1994
B.A Biology - 2.38 GPA
-Texas A&M College Station 1996
B.B.A Business Analysis/MIS - 2.55 gpa (including the biology degree) 3.05 if you just count the classes I took after I graduated with the biology degree and finished my BBA.

- GMAT
680 48Q/35V

- Big4 right out of school, then I followed my Sr Manager to a regional firm.
Started a dot com with a partner and grew it to 75 employees before the crash. I was responsible for everything related to the business infrastructure, later became responsible for product management.
After the crash, I went for a health care provider as the IT Security officer.
The parent company shut down my business unit and I returned to IT Security/Audit consulting with Jefferson Wells.
18 months later I was offered a position as a manager at a regional firm.
This firm shut down my office a year later and I have spent the 3 years doing independent contracting.

All said and done I have 12 years of experience. Primarily in the Audit field but with some industry and startup time as well.

Interesting facts about myself.
- over the course of my career, I have worked in 3 different countries for a total of 2 years.
-Cancer survior


Goals for an MBA-
Ideal plan - MBA ->Bain, Mckinsey, etc -> take another stab at a start up or Back into industry on the operations or finance side of the house.

Realistic plan - MBA -> Big 4 ->Back into industry as a director of IT Audit for a 500 or make partner

Thanks!

[Lisa Anderson]

Dear odb,

How competitive your profile is varies depending on the type of program--full-time v. executive program. With over 12 years of experience, you are a prime candidate for an executive MBA program. These programs are designed for folks with 10+ years and who will be continuing in the same industry/career path. The benefit to you is that you are in class with your peers as you will learn as much from them as from the book/professor/course materials. For an executive program, you would be a strong applicant assuming you have well-written essays and a solid rationale for why you need a MBA in relation to your future career goals.

If you are thinking you want to pursue a full-time program, then you are still competitive, but there will be questions you should explicitly address in your applications--primarily, why you want to do a full-time rather than an executive program. While your GPA is low, it was from quite a while back and you have scored well on the GMAT recently. As for the impression your career gives, that will partly depend on how you present it on your resume and in your essays. Focus on showing how you continued to develop and progress with each new role and highlighting your managerial skill set.

Good luck,
Lisa

[odb]

Lisa,

Thank you for the feedback. Ideally, I would like to do a full time program or a well respected (and recruited) professional program. My concern with attending an Executive program is that I would like to learn a new skill set and have the ability to pursue a different career path upon completion.

It is my understanding that eMBA programs tend to concentrate on providing networking opportunities, while adding a lighter academic experience. This makes them perfect for an establish individual who would like to remain in their current career path.