My Profile - Thanks ahead of time

[achouboyz]

Hi Stacy/Amy,

My achilles heel is my low GPA, but here is my profile and what I have been doing to minimize damage of the past:

School:
- 2.58 Cum GPA from a top 20 Engineering school
- Dual degrees in Electrical Engineering and Economics
- 3.1 GPA last two years (82 credits), most of damage was Freshmen and Sophomore year.
- Paid 100% of tuition through scholarships and on my own.

so hopefully it gets slightly better from here on out...

Work:
- 2 years of sales experience as Account Manager for a high-tech Fortune 500 company. Lots of international experience selling to Europe/Asia and was directly responsible for $25M of company revenue.

- 4 years of sales experience as an Account Manager for a small software company. Consistently exceeding target and was responsible for 20% of company's total annual revenue.

Volunteering:
2 years of of continual work with Habitat for Humanity
2 years of SAT tutoring for underprivileged children.
2 years of Toastmasters club

Continual Education:
5 UCLA extension classes with focus on Accounting and Finance -- All As.

GMAT: 740.
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As you can see, my GPA was extremely low, but I have done quite a bit to mitigate the damage:

technical/quant degree
upward GPA improvement
paid own tuition
alternative transcript
sales experience
above avg GMAT
volunteering

I have two questions:

1) I notice that there are not many applicants with sales background in Business Schools, is that going to be an advantage given my work experience in consultative, high-tech sales? Or is this actually a bi-product of BSchools not wanting candidates with sales background (highly doubt though).

2) I am definately applying to UT-Austin since I believe UT only looks at last two years of GPA (huge advantage for me). Aside from UT-A, what do you think of my chances with some of the other top 20 schools?

Thanks for your help!!

[achouboyz]

A little bit more information after seeing the Sticky:

Undergrad: University of Maryland College Park

Company Name: Texas Instruments
- Was the lead sales contact to open-close multi-million dollar deals with companies such as Hearst Communications, Motorola, Philips and Alcatel-Lucent.

GMAT: 740, Q(49), V(41).

Thanks again!

[Alphaholic]

Go Terps! Good luck with your application. Both my roomates are engineers....but James A. can never compete with Robert H. 8)

[Amy]

Hi achouboyz,

I'm slightly biased, but I think a sales background is a huge advantage. The skills you develop in sales are the skills that are almost impossible to learn in a classroom, so by taking some of your negotiation and interpersonal skills into an MBA program and learning "hard" subject based skills like finance, marketing, etc, you should have a compelling skill set.

I think UT is perfectly reasonable for you. I might aim a bit higher actually - everyone has a weakness, and you have done an admirable job of addressing yours. My only question is your career progression - were you promoted at either job?

Good luck!

Amy

[achouboyz]

Amy,

Thank you so much for the quick, thoughtful response. I have been promoted in both companies with additional responsibilities and higher exposure accounts, so that is something that I will be able to leverage during my application process as well.

I have another question, my wife is currently a 1st year student at Fuqua. She has asked me repeatedly to utilize this to my advantage and apply as a partner. How big of a plus is it if I were apply to Fuqua while my wife is a current student? Is the advantage greatly diminished once she graduates (I apply in two years due to freaking 401k match realization)?

Thanks again, I really appreciate your professional insight!

[Amy]

Hi achouboyz,

The huge advantage of applying while your wife is a student is that you know the school very, very well. The admissions committee has an extra incentive to admit both partners when you are both applying to schools because it will be an added reason to attend, so perhaps the incentive is diminished, but I still think knowing the school well and having students to write side letters for you will be incredibly helpful.

Good luck!

Amy