Grateful for your help - lower quant and years of experience

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Hello Stacy,

You provide a great service to many a stressed MBA seeker and I thank you. Here's my situation:

I'm very interested in going back to school and either starting another company or being a manager of a new(er) division within an existing company. I'm interested in the following schools and would love if you could be blunt and tell me my chances:

MIT
Carnegie Mellon
UT Austin
University of Washington
Rice University
BYU

My profile is:
- GPA, major, school:
3.3 overall (3.7 last 60 upper-division courses), Finance, Washington State University

- GMAT with breakdown:
660 (42 Quant, 40 Verbal)

- resume highlights, including company name, job titles and promotions:
1.5 years at PopCap Games. First 3 months as finance intern, last 14 months as the primary analyst for the Social Gaming division. I was the 2nd person in the social gaming division and now we have the 4th largest game on Facebook, Bejeweled Blitz, for which I had a leadership role in organizing all our data collection and reporting. I've also been deeply involved in hiring over 10 people and was the direct manager of two interns. Since social networking is so new and I've been integral in establishing our company as an industry leader in growth and monetization, I can make the claim that I'm one of the most educated/experienced in this field.

- extracurricular involvements:
Church leadership positions, served a 2-year LDS mission, drummer in a rock band

- Other
Studied abroad in Mexico for 9 months and then backpacked extensively around latin america.
My partners and I placed 2nd in WSU's business plan competition and started the business while an undergrad; I was the first CEO. The company is still running and growing, I have moved on and am now an advisor.


I'm most worried about my lower quant score and amount of experience. Thanks in advance for your help.

-Dan
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by Lisa Anderson » Fri Oct 15, 2010 9:49 am
Dear Dan,

While you do not have much in terms of quantity, the quality of your work experience is exceptional for your tenure. Your experience is interesting, and a bit unique as most folks in social networking are not returning to school right now. I agree that your GMAT is the potential weakness of your profile. Your GPA is average, but your performance in your last 60 hours is strong and will be noted. If you move forward with your current GMAT score, then you have a good mix of reach (MIT, Tepper, UT-Austin), reasonable (Rice, U of Wash) and safety (BYU) options. Decisions will come down to the strength of your essays, recommendations and interviews. Your 660 is not out of range for any of these programs, but where you are below average, you will need to make a compelling case to be offered a seat in the class. Another school to consider if entrepreneurship is where you intend to keep your career is Babson. You are above average on several measures and the school has a strong curriculum for those wanting to start businesses immediately, or shortly thereafter.

Best of luck,
Lisa
Lisa Anderson
Consultant
Stacy Blackman Consulting

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by blazingmat » Sun Jan 23, 2011 11:12 pm
FYI,
BYU told me they want their applicants Quant in the 80th percentile.

Best Wishes,
Blazin