Am I good enough for a top school?

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Am I good enough for a top school?

by casbroker » Fri Nov 09, 2007 8:18 am
Hi - I've made my way from forum to forum (starting with test advice, then to "I beat the GMAT", and now here) and would love your advice as to whether I have a reasonable shot at my top school choices which are (in order of preference):

1. HBS
2. IMD
3. Wharton
4. University of St. Gallen (in St. Gallen Switzerland)
5. London Business School

I graduated from the University of Georgia with a 3.41 GPA. I majored in Economics (3.9 major GPA) and minored in Statistics (4.0 GPA). My major flaw was that I was a pre-med major my first two years of college and got KILLED by organic chemistry. My last two years performance in school were stellar.

I got a 730 on my GMAT (Q48, V42, AWA 5.5). No plans on taking it again.

I've worked for the largest risk management/insurance broker for 4 years (will be 5 by the time I start school). I was promoted to Assistant Vice President after 2 years, transferred from North Carolina to New York City and was promoted again in April (not to VP though). I have two top industry designations: Associate in Risk Management (ARM) and Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU - the top industry designation). The CPCU requires 8 examinations covering undergraduate/graduate level coursework and a 3 year experience requirement. I taught the ARM class to a client team (averaging 10+ years of experience) when I had less than 2 years of industry experience.

I don't have much in terms of extracurricular - I'm a member of industry societies but not very active. I do some community service on an ad hoc basis but nothing regular.

I'm trying to learn German, know basic French (can read better than I can speak), and am conversational in Tamil.

Sorry for the long post but hopefully this will enable you to give me an educated guess on my potential for these schools.

Thanks!
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by Amy » Wed Nov 14, 2007 5:47 pm
Hi casbroker,

With this limited information I think you are in the right target zone for schools. It sounds like you have strong academics (I don't think anyone with a 730 GMAT would need to take it again.) It sounds like you have excellent leadership experience at work and in the industry, though the lack of extracurriculars may be an issue for you. Language skills are great. What are your goals?

I would focus your attention on essays and really making a case for why you need an MBA and what you will contribute to the programs you're interested in.

Good luck!

Amy
Amy
Consultant
Stacy Blackman Consulting

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by casbroker » Thu Nov 15, 2007 7:13 am
Thank you for the advice - I will focus on how an MBA is necessary for me to make the next move (I want to go into management consulting then come back to the insurance industry and eliminate the many inefficiencies I see).

The languages are for my own gain - nothing to do with career aspiration, even though it will probably help.