Fairly Nontraditional Student - Please Evaluate!

[Bretinflorida]

I've been a lurker on here for the last month or so but after taking my GMAT for the second time yesterday I figured that I would take the plunge.

The meat and potatoes...

I graduate in May from the University of Florida (top 50 business program) with a Bachelors in Business Administration. I'm a part of their Online Business Program and am not an on-campus student, though I will earn the same degree that they will.

I have worked full time running a RE/MAX brokerage for the last five years so the online program has worked well for me.

3.8 GPA/3.9 in Major, Magna Cum Laude

GMAT

First attempt (1/17/09)

Q35, V39 for a 610 Total. Earned a 6.0 on the AWA.

Second attempt (02/21/09)

Q38, V42 for a 670. I imagine my AWA will be a 6 again as I felt the essays went even better this attempt.

Schools I'm Considering Applications To

Dartmouth
Yale
Duke
UNC
Univ. of Texas - Austin
Univ. of Florida

With my quantitative score I doubt that I'm a candidate for any of the Chicago schools or my initial goal of Harvard.

Background

I'm a 33 year old white male. I turn 34 in April.

I graduated with my AA in Communications a year out of high school (1994). I then put my education on hold - I was a journalism major but got a job writing for the Kansas City Star so it seemed unnecessary.

I'm a lifelong songwriter and musician and after a few years of journalism decided to pursue my passion of music. I moved to Florida due to the large number of rock bands getting record deals at that time (late 90s) and formed a few bands over the following years. I also worked various jobs until 1998 when I began working for an accounting firm (private).

My day job was financial management for luxury condominium associations and I worked with a number of other private clients and businesses. I started as a clerk and advanced to the second in command (albeit at a small private corporation).

In 2001 I made the switch to working as the financial manager for a RE/MAX brokerage. I've now worked there for five years and am currently the Business Operations Manager for the brokerage, again second in command.

I continued to pursue music and my last band did extremely well. We recorded a CD with a major producer in California; however none of the labels bit so I left the group and went back to college at age 31. I'm now realizing that the Bachelors won't be enough to get anywhere in this tough job market so obtaining my MBA is a logical next step.

I wanted to give whomever gives their input a clear picture of my background so I hope I've summed it up well.

Thank you for your time!

[Bretinflorida]

By the way - you don't have to be a professional to comment. Any other students who had similar paths, similar scores, etc. I welcome your input.

I'm thinking as a R3 candidate I shouldn't even bother with Ivy and just apply to UF, Texas and perhaps one or two other top 25s (preferably with lower application fees and a better track record of admitting older, non traditional students.)

[Graham]

Dear BretinFlorida,

Thanks for your post!

You clearly have a unique background on several levels:

1) Music career
2) Non-traditional path to college
3) Boot-strapped/self-funded college degree by working
4) Extensive work experience in small business/finance

It's also great that you've secured such high marks from your online ugrad program and that you've risen rather quickly with the professional organizations you've joined.

Having said that, there are a few weaknesses that stand out to me:

1) Your overall GMAT result of 670 is well below the average at the top schools on your list like Yale, Dartmouth and Duke.

2) Your quantitative scores on both exams are a red flag. Your best score falls in the 55th percentile (roughly) - whereas most top schools like to see candidates with a minimum of the 70th percentile (and many prefer the 80th percentile and up). As such, I worry that the schools may simply not feel that your quant skills are up to the task. I recognize that your work experience has been quant-oriented, but most admissions officers do not mix academics and work experience when judging your academic aptitude, as such, they will be basing their assessment on your GMAT and coursework (the latter of which isn't bad - although it may be viewed as 'next-tier' due to the online nature of the program and overall ranking).

3) At 33/34 years, you are a good 4-5 years older than the average student. This puts a number of issues into play (as some programs have concerns about older applicants and their 'fit' with the full-time MBA).

So the real question is whether or not you might get into the programs on your list. The answer is that it might be possible - but not likely without a boost to your GMAT quant result. Even so, the timing of your applications concerns me. This year is likely going to go down as one of the most competitive in the history of MBA admissions. While there may be a top program that would have latched onto your unique background and looked the other way on the GMAT results, my sense is that it would have needed to be in R1 (when they can still bend the rules a bit), not R3 (when they are looking to round out the class and shore up their numbers).

Feel free to email your resume to [email protected] if you would like to set up a chat with one of our counselors to discuss your options further and devise a strategy for looking at the right set of target schools in R3 or pushing back to R1 of the next cycle.

Best of luck,

Graham