Profile Review Request - Please

[ajpanico]

Undergrad: Loyola College in Maryland
GPA: 3.4 (Major Finance)
Work Experience: 5 years in Sales and Trading Risk Management with JPMorganChase; now Senior Associate
GMAT: 690 (Q44 V40)
Age: 27

I have pretty much narrowed my top 5 schools down to NYU, UCLA, USC, Duke, and U.Texas. I have a couple of questions:

1. Do you think I should re-take the GMAT or concentrate on applications.
2. Are my school selections reflective of a good range of acceptance probability? Is it worth it to add a higher ranked school to my list given my Profile.

Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[Stacey Oyler]

Hi,

Thanks for your post. Please see my comments below:

Undergrad: Loyola College in Maryland
GPA: 3.4 (Major Finance)
Work Experience: 5 years in Sales and Trading Risk Management with JPMorganChase; now Senior Associate
GMAT: 690 (Q44 V40)
Age: 27

Given your education and experience, you fall into a rather large applicant pool - those in financial services. This pool tends to have candidates with solid GPA's (3.5 or higher) and GMAT scores of 700+ (usually ranging between 730-750). Thus academically speaking, you fall a bit below the curve. You may wish to retake the GMAT, especially if you feel confident that you can score 700 or higher. If you choose to focus on your applications, be sure to find ways to stand out in the applicant pool so that your GMAT is less of a liability.

As for school selection, you may wish to add a higher ranked/reach school to your application, but it's important to remember these programs are quite competitive and odds of admission will be lower than that of the other schools on your list.

Please feel free to send your resume to [email protected] for a free detailed assessment.

Best,

Stacey