Please share your insights?

[beatthegmat]

Posting on behalf of 'gonzoswim':

***

Hello Stacy and thank you in advance for your input. Here are my stats:

27 years old Hispanic Ivy League Graduate
3.09 GPA - business major
GMAT 670 (43Q, 39V)
Captain of the Varsity Swim Team

I have 4.5 years experience to date in Fixed Income Sales - 2 bulge bracket firms and now work for a small boutique of about 100 people.

It has always been a goal of mine to pursue an MBA. I believe it will help me reach my goal of one day running my own investment firm. My short term goal is to move from the sales side of the business to the buy side/ investment management side of the business. In addition, I work as an ocean lifeguard on the weekends during the summer and I am a member of a masters swim team.

A few things to note: I love the industry that I work in (sales and trading), however I am getting tired of being an institutional salesman. I would rather be the person making the portfolio decisions rather than the one trying to convince other people of his ideas. In addition, I believe business school will give me the opportunity to refine some of the skills I lack that are necessary to achieve my long term goal. In other words, I have a good idea which classes I would like to take.

Also, I am with my third company now, but my reasons for leaving my previous positions are justified. Without getting into detail, my moves show upward progression as well as promotion. Given my experience in the markets, I also believe that I would be a solid addition to a class in that I would be able to share first hand experiences on how the bond market reacts to various situations.

I realize that my GPA is in the lower end of the range for many top schools but I think it is important to note that the slope is straight up. My GPA during my first two semesters was about 2.4. I had a lot on my plate between swimming 4 hours a day and pledging a fraternity. I was able to bring it all the way up to almost 3.1. In fact, my last four semesters average around 3.45. I will not be able to ask my current supervisor for a letter of recommendation as I believe it will be career suicide. The person who had my job before me left for b-school after only 6-months with the company, and my boss has vocally expressed the bad taste it has left in his mouth. I will likely have to go to my previous employers for recommendations which should not be a problem.

Schools I am considering:

Cornell NYU (most likely part-time)
Columbia (as a long shot, although I am a legacy there)
Georgetown
Yale - reach, but its close to nyc so I would like to give it a shot. Dartmouth - reach

Questions:

Do you think it will help that I am Hispanic?
Will the fact that my gpa is upward sloping and the fact that I was an athlete help me enough?
Are there any other schools I should consider?
What do you think of my extra-curriculars?
Obviously I was paid to lifeguard, but I clearly do not do it for the money. Also, I can probably use it to demonstrate leadership.
I'm running out of time for R2, but do you think I should retake the GMAT or focus on my essays?
Is the fact that I can not use my direct supervisor for a recommendation a problem?
Do you think I have a shot at NYU full-time?

I realize most people recommend applying full-time if you want to change careers, but I think in my case I fall somewhere in the middle both with my test scores and the fact that I'm not completely changing careers, just changing the side of the business.

Thanks again for your help.

[Amy]

Hi Gonzoswim,

It sounds like you have a great idea of where you are going, and how your past work experience and your MBA will get you there. That is very important, and should be highlighted in your essays.

I think your list of schools is actually quite realistic. It shows a range of possibility, and I think you will have luck with at least one or two of them. Your academic profile is a bit of a concern, as well as your limited extracurriculars. It is good that your GPA goes up, but I'm not sure it trends up dramatically enough to change an OK GPA to a great GPA in the minds of the admissions committee.

If you are applying for R2 this year, you may want to focus on your essays. I do think retaking the GMAT could be helpful, but it may not be worth the time at this point.

I'm not concerned about your recommendation strategy, you'll just have to explain why you didn't use your current supervisor in the optional essay.

Being an underrepresented minority is never a problem and could be an asset - at the very least in terms of the support you will receive from the school and fellow students in the application process - however, schools are most concerned about admitting students with high potential, regardless of ethnicity. From what you have mentioned, you sound like a good candidate, and you will just have to focus on communicating that very strongly and getting past any academic weakness that is perceived.

Good luck!

Amy